We show that the connected sum of two copies of real projective 3-space does not admit a real projective structure. This is the first known example of a connected 3-manifold without a real projective structure.
In this paper we study the set of projective maps between compact proper convex real projective manifolds. We show that this set contains only finitely many distinct homotopy classes and each homotopy class has the structure of a real projective manifold. When the target manifold is strictly convex, our results imply that each non-trivial homotopy class contains at most one projective map. These results are motivated by the theory of holomorphic maps between compact complex manifolds.
We prove that non-compact finite volume hyperbolic 3-manifolds that satisfy a mild cohomological condition (infinitesimal rigidity) admit a family of properly convex deformations of their complete hyperbolic structure where the ends become generalized cusps of type 1 or type 2. We also discuss methods for controlling which types of cusp occur. Using these methods we produce the first known example of a 1-cusped hyperbolic 3-manifold that admits a convex projective structure with a type 2 cusp. We also use these techniques to produce new 1-cusped manifolds that admit a convex projective structu…
We consider Gromov-Thurston examples of negatively curved n-manifolds which do not admit metrics of constant sectional curvature. We show that for each n some of the Gromov-Thurston manifolds admit strictly convex real-projective structures.
To a hyperbolic manifold one can associate a canonical projective structure and ask whether it can be deformed or not. In a cusped manifold, one can ask about the existence of deformations that are trivial on the boundary. We prove that if the canonical projective structure of a cusped manifold is infinitesimally projectively rigid relative to the boundary, then infinitely many Dehn fillings are projectively rigid. We analyze in more detail the figure eight knot and the Withehead link exteriors, for which we can give explicit infinite families of slopes with projectively rigid Dehn fillings.
We prove entropy rigidity for finite volume strictly convex projective manifolds in dimensions $\geq 3$, generalizing the work of arXiv:1708.03983 to the finite volume setting. The rigidity theorem uses the techniques of Besson, Courtois, and Gallot's entropy rigidity theorem. It implies uniform lower bounds on the volume of any finite volume strictly convex projective manifold in dimensions $\geq 3$.
In order to obtain a closed orientable convex projective four-manifold with small positive Euler characteristic, we build an explicit example of convex projective Dehn filling of a cusped hyperbolic four-manifold through a continuous path of projective cone-manifolds.
In this paper we compute the mapping class group of simply-connected closed smooth manifolds $M$ with integral homology $H_{*}(M) \cong \mathbb Z \oplus \mathbb Z \oplus \mathbb Z$ provided that $\dim M \ne 4$.
We give an elementary proof of the fact that any orientable 3-manifold admits a framing (i.e. is parallelizable) and any non-orientable 3-manifold admits a projective framing. The proof uses only basic facts about immersions of surfaces in 3-space.
Y. Benoist proved that if a closed three-manifold M admits an indecomposable convex real projective structure, then M is topologically the union along tori and Klein bottles of finitely many sub-manifolds each of which admits a complete finite volume hyperbolic structure on its interior. We describe some initial results in the direction of a potential converse to Benoist's theorem. We show that a cusped hyperbolic three-manifold may, under certain assumptions, be deformed to convex projective structures with totally geodesic torus boundary. Such structures may be convexly glued together whenev…
It is an important question whether it is possible to put a geometry on a given manifold or not. It is well known that any simply connected closed manifold admitting a real projective structure must be a sphere. Therefore, any simply connected manifold $M$ which is not a sphere $(\dim M \geq 4)$ does not admit a real projective structure. Cooper and Goldman gave an example of a $3$-dimensional manifold not admitting a real projective structure and this is the first known example. In this article, by generalizing their work we construct a manifold $M^n$ with the infinite fundamental group $\mat…
A strictly convex real projective orbifold is equipped with a natural Finsler metric called the Hilbert metric. In the case that the projective structure is hyperbolic, the Hilbert metric and the hyperbolic metric coincide. We prove that the marked Hilbert length spectrum determines the projective structure only up to projective duality. A corollary is the existence of non-isometric diffeomorphic strictly convex projective manifolds (and orbifolds) that are isospectral. The corollary follows from work of Goldman and Choi, and Benoist.
We extend the canonical cell decomposition due to Epstein and Penner of a hyperbolic manifold with cusps to the strictly convex setting. It follows that a sufficiently small deformation of the holonomy of a finite volume strictly convex real projective manifold is the holonomy of some nearby projective structure with radial ends, provided the holonomy of each cusp has a fixed point.
In this paper, we exploit a subtle indeterminacy in the definition of the spherical Kervaire-Milnor invariant which was discovered by R. Stong to construct non-spin 4-manifolds with even intersection form and prescribed signature.
This study of properly or strictly convex real projective manifolds introduces notions of parabolic, horosphere and cusp. Results include a Margulis lemma and in the strictly convex case a thick-thin decomposition. Finite volume cusps are shown to be projectively equivalent to cusps of hyperbolic manifolds. This is proved using a characterization of ellipsoids in projective space. Except in dimension 3, there are only finitely many topological types of strictly convex manifolds with bounded volume. In dimension 4 and higher, the diameter of a closed strictly convex manifold is at most 9 times …
Recent work of Ballas, Cooper, and Leitner identifies $(n+1)$ types of $n$-dimensional convex projective cusps, one of which is the standard hyperbolic cusp. Work of Ballas-Marquis, and Ballas-Danciger-Lee give examples of these exotic (non-hyperbolic) type cusps in dimension $3$. Here an extension of the techniques of Ballas-Marquis shows the existence of all cusp types in all dimensions, except diagonalizable (type $n$).
Suppose $E$ is an end of an irreducible, properly convex, real-projective $n$-manifold $M$. If $π_1E$ contains a subgroup of finite index isomorphic to ${\mathbb Z}^{n-1}$, and $E\hookrightarrow M$ is $π_1$-injective, then $E$ is a generalized cusp. We list some consequences when all ends are of this type. Under certain hypotheses we prove the holonomy of a properly convex manifold is irreducible.
This paper uses work of Haettel to classify all subgroups of PGL(4,R) isomorphic to (R^3 , +), up to conjugacy. We use this to show there are 4 families of generalized cusps up to projective equivalence in dimension 3.
We try to understand the geometric properties of $n$-manifolds ($n\geq 2$) with geometric structures modeled on $(\bR P^n, \PGL(n+1, \bR))$, i.e., $n$-manifolds with projectively flat torsion free affine connections. We define the notion of $i$-convexity of such manifolds due to Carriére for integers $i$, $1 \leq i \leq n-1$, which are generalization of convexity. Given a real projective $n$-manifold $M$, we show that the failure of an $(n-1)$-convexity of $M$ implies an existence of a certain geometric object, $n$-crescent, in the completion $\che M$ of the universal cover $\tilde M$ of $M$. …
An (flat) affine $3$-manifold is a $3$-manifold with an atlas of charts to an affine space ${\mathbf R}^3$ with transition maps in the affine transformation group $Aff({\mathbf R}^3)$. Equivalently an affine $3$-manifold is a $3$-manifold with a flat torsion-free affine connection. We show that a closed affine $3$-manifold is either irreducible or is finitely covered by an affine Hopf manifold. A real projective $3$-manifold is a manifold with an atlas of charts to a real projective space ${\mathbf R} P^3$ with transition maps in the projective transformation group $PGL(4, {\mathbf R})$. Using…
We prove global results about actions of cocompact lattices in higher-rank simple Lie groups on closed manifolds endowed with either a projective class of connections or a conformal class of pseudo-Riemannian metrics of signature $(p,q)$, with $\min(p,q) \geq 2$. In the continuity of a recent article, provided that such a structure is locally equivalent to its model $\mathbf{X}$, the main question treated here is the completeness of the associated $(G,\mathbf{X})$-structure. Because of the similarities between the model spaces of projective geometry and non-Lorentzian conformal geometry, a num…
We introduce a natural subset of the unit tangent bundle of a convex projective manifold, the biproximal unit tangent bundle; it is closed and invariant under the geodesic flow, and we prove that the geodesic flow is topologically mixing on it whenever the manifold is irreducible. We also show that, for higher-rank, irreducible, compact convex projective manifolds, the geodesic flow is topologically mixing on each connected component of the non-wandering set.
We study a properly convex real projective manifold with (possibly empty) compact, strictly convex boundary, and which consists of a compact part plus finitely many convex ends. We extend a theorem of Koszul which asserts that for a compact manifold without boundary the holonomies of properly convex structures form an open subset of the representation variety. We also give a relative version for non-compact (G,X)-manifolds of the openess of their holonomies.
Given an orientable ideally triangulated $3$--manifold $M$, we define a system of real valued equations and inequalities whose solutions can be used to construct projective structures on $M$. These equations represent a unifying framework for the classical Thurston gluing equations in hyperbolic geometry and their more recent counterparts in Anti-de Sitter and half-pipe geometry. Moreover, these equations can be used to detect properly convex structures on $M$. The paper also includes a few explicit examples where the equations are used to construct properly convex structures.
In this survey, we study representations of finitely generated groups into Lie groups, focusing on the deformation spaces of convex real projective structures on closed manifolds and orbifolds, with an excursion on projective structures on surfaces. We survey the basics of the theory of character varieties, geometric structures on orbifolds, and Hilbert geometry. The main examples of finitely generated groups for us will be Fuchsian groups, 3-manifold groups and Coxeter groups.
In this paper, we demonstrate that the complete hyperbolic structure of various two-bridge knots and links cannot be deformed to an inequivalent strictly convex projective structure. We also prove a complementary result showing that under certain rigidity hypotheses, branched covers of amphicheiral knots admit non-trivial, strictly convex deformations near their complete hyperbolic structure.
We prove two results relating 3-manifold groups to fundamental groups occurring in complex geometry. Let N be a compact, connected, orientable 3-manifold. If N has non-empty, toroidal boundary, and π_1(N) is a Kaehler group, then N is the product of a torus with an interval. On the other hand, if N has either empty or toroidal boundary, and π_1(N) is a quasi-projective group, then all the prime components of N are graph manifolds.
We study a secondary invariant, called the Meyer function, on the fundamental group of the complement of the dual variety of a smooth projective variety. This invariant have played an important role when studying the local signatures of fibered 4-manifolds from topological point of view. As an application of our study, we define a local signature for generic non-hyperelliptic fibrations of genus 4 and 5 and compute some examples.