Let $\mathcal{T}_{q+1}$ be the $(q+1)$-regular tree and let $G$ be a group of automorphisms acting transitively on the vertices and on the boundary of $\mathcal{T}_{q+1}$. We give an upper bound for the growth of cocycles with values in any unitary representation of the group $G$. This bound is optimal by projecting the Haagerup cocycle onto an appropriate subspace of $\ell^{2}(E)$. We also obtain a description of functions conditionally of negative type which are unbounded.
Let T be a k-regular tree (k>2) and A its automorphism group. We analyze a generic finitely generated subgroup Gamma of A. We show that Gamma is free and establish a trichotomy on the closure of Gamma: it is either discrete, compact or has index at most 2 in A.
Every Ree group $R(q)$, with $q\neq 3$ an odd power of 3, is the automorphism group of an abstract regular polytope, and any such polytope is necessarily a regular polyhedron (a map on a surface). However, an almost simple group $G$ with $R(q) < G \leq \mathsf{Aut}(R(q))$ is not a C-group and therefore not the automorphism group of an abstract regular polytope of any rank.
We show that for all integers $m\geq 2$, and all integers $k\geq 2$, the orthogonal groups $\Orth^{\pm}(2m,\Fk)$ act on abstract regular polytopes of rank $2m$, and the symplectic groups $\Sp(2m,\Fk)$ act on abstract regular polytopes of rank $2m+1$.
The work of Greither and Pareigis details the enumeration of the Hopf-Galois structures (if any) on a given separable field extension. For an extension $L/K$ which is classically Galois with $G=Gal(L/K)$ the Hopf algebras in question are of the form $(L[N])^{G}$ where $N\leq B=Perm(G)$ is a regular subgroup that is normalized by the left regular representation $λ(G)\leq B$. We consider the case where both $G$ and $N$ are isomorphic to a dihedral group $D_n$ for any $n\geq 3$. Using the normal block systems inherent to the left regular representation of each $D_n$,(and every other regular permu…
Let X be a locally compact geodesically complete CAT(0) space and G be a discrete group acting properly and cocompactly on X. We show that G contains an element acting as a hyperbolic isometry on each indecomposable de Rham factor of X. It follows that if X is a product of d factors, then G contains free abelian group of rank d.
In this note, we give new examples of type I groups generalizing a previous result of Ol'shanskii. More precisely, we prove that all closed non-compact subgroups of Aut(T_d) acting transitively on the vertices and on the boundary of a d-regular tree and satisfying Tits' independence property are type I groups. We claim no originality as we use standard ingredients: the polar decomposition of those groups and the admissibility of all their irreducible unitary representations.
A group is called $Λ$-free if it has a free Lyndon length function in an ordered abelian group $Λ$, which is equivalent to having a free isometric action on a $Λ$-tree. A group has a regular free length function in $Λ$ if and only if it has a free isometric action on a $Λ$-tree so that all branch points belong to the orbit of the base point. In this paper we prove that every finitely presented $Λ$-free group $G$ can be embedded into a finitely presented group with a regular free length function in $Λ$ so that the length function on $G$ is preserved by the embedding. Next, we prove that every f…
We construct a new family of groups that is non-contracting and weakly regular branch over the derived subgroup. This gives the first example of an infinite family of groups acting on a $d$-adic tree, with $d \geq 2$, with these properties.
We investigate a family of groups acting on a regular tree, defined by prescribing the local action almost everywhere. We study lattices in these groups and give examples of compactly generated simple groups of finite asymptotic dimension (actually one) not containing lattices. We also obtain examples of simple groups with simple lattices, and we prove the existence of (infinitely many) finitely generated simple groups of asymptotic dimension one. We also prove various properties of these groups, including the existence of a proper action on a CAT(0) cube complex.
This is the first paper in a series of three where we take on the unified theory of non-Archimedean group actions, length functions and infinite words. Our main goal is to show that group actions on Z^n-trees give one a powerful tool to study groups. All finitely generated groups acting freely on -trees also act freely on some Z^n-trees, but the latter ones form a much larger class. The natural effectiveness of all constructions for $Z^n-actions (which is not the case for R-trees) comes along with a robust algorithmic theory. In this paper we describe the algebraic structure of finitely genera…
Motivated by the theory of Riemann surfaces, we classify all possibilities for finite simple groups acting faithfully on a compact Riemann surface of genus at least 2 in such a way that all non-trivial elements have at most three fixed points on each non-regular orbit and at most four fixed points in total. In each case we also give information about the branching datum of the surface. There is a shorter version of this article (submitted for publication), and in this extended version we give many more details about the GAP code that we use for the calculations. We also explicitly include a le…
Suppose that $A$ is a finite nilpotent group of odd order acting good in the sense of \cite{EGJ} on the group $G$ of odd order. Under some additional assumptions we prove that the Fitting height of $G$ is bounded above by the sum of the numbers of primes dividing $|A|$ and $|C_G(A)|$ counted with multiplicities.
We extend Burger--Mozes theory of closed, non-discrete, locally quasiprimitive automorphism groups of locally finite, connected graphs to the semiprimitive case, and develop a generalization of Burger--Mozes universal groups acting on the regular tree $T_{d}$ of degree $d\in\mathbb{N}_{\ge 3}$. Three applications are given: First, we characterize the automorphism types which the quasi-center of a non-discrete subgroup of $\mathrm{Aut}(T_{d})$ may feature in terms of the group's local~action. In doing so, we explicitly construct closed, non-discrete, compactly generated subgroups of $\mathrm{Au…
In the present paper we continue studying regular free group actions on $\mathbb{Z}^n$-trees. We show that every finitely generated $\mathbb{Z}^n$-free group $G$ can be embedded into a finitely generated $\mathbb{Z}^n$-free group $H$ acting regularly on the underlying $\mathbb{Z}^n$-tree (we call $H$ a {\em regular $\mathbb{Z}^n$-completion} of $G$) so that the action of $G$ is preserved. Moreover, if $G$ is effectively represented as a group of $\mathbb{Z}^n$-words then the construction of $H$ is effective and $H$ is also effectively represented as a group of $\mathbb{Z}^n$-words.
Using Singer polygons, we construct locally finite affine buildings of types ~A_2 and ~C_2 which admit uniform lattices acting regularly on panels. This construction produces very explicit descriptions of these buildings as well as very short presentations of the lattices. All but one of the ~C_2-buildings are necessarily exotic. To the knowledge of the author, these are the first presentations of lattices in buildings of type ~C_2. Integral and rational group homology for the lattices is also calculated.
Let $G$ be a finitely generated regular branch group acting by automorphisms on a regular rooted tree $T$. It is well-known that stabilizers of infinite rays in $T$ (aka parabolic subgroups) are weakly maximal subgroups in $G$, that is, maximal among subgroups of infinite index. We show that, given a finite subgroup $Q\leq G$, $G$ possesses uncountably many automorphism equivalence classes of weakly maximal subgroups containing $Q$. In particular, for Grigorchuk-Gupta-Sidki type groups this implies that they have uncountably many automorphism equivalence classes of weakly maximal subgroups tha…
We establish three independent results on groups acting on trees. The first implies that a compactly generated locally compact group which acts continuously on a locally finite tree with nilpotent local action and no global fixed point is virtually indicable; that is to say, it has a finite index subgroup which surjects onto $\mathbf{Z}$. The second ensures that irreducible cocompact lattices in a product of non-discrete locally compact groups such that one of the factors acts vertex-transitively on a tree with a nilpotent local action cannot be residually finite. This is derived from a genera…
The group of isometries W of a regular rooted tree, and many of its subgroups with branching structure, have groups of automorphisms induced by conjugation in W. This fact has stimulated the computation of the group of automorphisms of such well-known examples as the group G studied by R. Grigorchuk, and the group H studied by N. Gupta and the second author. In this paper, we pursue the larger theme of towers of automorphisms of groups of tree isometries such as G and H. We describe this tower for all groups acting on the binary rooted tree which decompose as infinitely iterated wreath product…
We explore the structure of the p-adic automorphism group Gamma of the infinite rooted regular tree. We determine the asymptotic order of a typical element, answering an old question of Turan. We initiate the study of a general dimension theory of groups acting on rooted trees. We describe the relationship between dimension and other properties of groups such as solvability, existence of dense free subgroups and the normal subgroup structure. We show that subgroups of Gamma generated by three random elements are full-dimensional and that there exist finitely generated subgroups of arbitrary di…
We prove that any group acting essentially without a fixed point at infinity on an irreducible finite-dimensional CAT(0) cube complex contains a rank one isometry. This implies that the Rank Rigidity Conjecture holds for CAT(0) cube complexes. We derive a number of other consequences for CAT(0) cube complexes, including a purely geometric proof of the Tits Alternative, an existence result for regular elements in (possibly non-uniform) lattices acting on cube complexes, and a characterization of products of trees in terms of bounded cohomology.
This article takes the inspiration from two milestones in the study of non minimal actions of groups on the circle: Duminy's theorem about the number of ends of semi-exceptional leaves and Ghys' freeness result in analytic regularity. Our first result concerns groups of analytic diffeomorphisms with infinitely many ends: if the action is non expanding, then the group is virtually free. The second result is a Duminy's theorem for minimal codimension one foliations: either non expandable leaves have infinitely many ends, or the holonomy pseudogroup preserves a projective structure.
We investigate invariant random subgroups in groups acting on rooted trees. Let $\mathrm{Alt}_f(T)$ be the group of finitary even automorphisms of the $d$-ary rooted tree $T$. We prove that a nontrivial ergodic IRS of $\mathrm{Alt}_f(T)$ that acts without fixed points on the boundary of $T$ contains a level stabilizer, in particular it is the random conjugate of a finite index subgroup. Applying the technique to branch groups we prove that an ergodic IRS in a finitary regular branch group contains the derived subgroup of a generalized rigid level stabilizer. We also prove that every weakly bra…
Let $(W,S)$ be a Coxeter system with Davis complex $Σ$. The polyhedral automorphism group $G$ of $Σ$ is a locally compact group under the compact-open topology. If $G$ is a discrete group (as characterised by Haglund--Paulin), then the set $\mathcal V_u(G)$ of uniform lattices in $G$ is discrete. Whether the converse is true remains an open problem. Under certain assumptions on $(W,S)$, we show that $\mathcal V_u(G)$ is non-discrete and contains rationals (in lowest form) with denominators divisible by arbitrarily large powers of any prime less than a fixed integer. We explicitly construct our…
Let $G \leq \mathrm{GL}(V)$ be a group with a unique subnormal quasisimple subgroup $E(G)$ that acts absolutely irreducibly on $V$. A base for $G$ acting on $V$ is a set of vectors with trivial pointwise stabiliser in $G$. In this paper we determine the minimal base size of $G$ when $E(G)/Z(E(G))$ is a finite simple group of Lie type in cross-characteristic. We show that $G$ has a regular orbit on $V$, with specific exceptions, for which we find the base size.
We prove that groups acting boundedly and order-primitively on linear orders or acting extremly proximality on a Cantor set (the class including various Higman-Thomson groups and Neretin groups of almost automorphisms of regular trees, also called groups of spheromorphisms) are uniformly simple. Explicit bounds are provided.
This note describes the first example of a group that is amenable, but cannot be obtained by subgroups, quotients, extensions and direct limits from the class of groups locally of subexponential growth. It has a balanced presentation \[Δ= < b,t|[b,t^2]b^{-1},[[[b,t^{-1}],b],b]>.\] I show that it acts transitively on a 3-regular tree, and that $Γ=< b,b^{t^{-1}}$ stabilizes a vertex and acts by restriction on a binary rooted tree. $Γ$ is a "fractal group", generated by a 3-state automaton, and is a discrete analogue of the monodromy action of iterates of f(z)=z^2-1 on associated coverings of the…
If $\mathcal C$ is a class of complexes closed under taking full subcomplexes and covers and $\mathcal G$ is the class of groups admitting proper and cocompact actions on one-connected complexes in $\mathcal C$, then $\mathcal G$ is closed under taking finitely presented subgroups. As a consequence the following classes of groups are closed under taking finitely presented subgroups: groups acting geometrically on regular $CAT(0)$ simplicial complexes of dimension $3$, $k$-systolic groups for $k\geq 6$, and groups acting geometrically on $2$-dimensional negatively curved complexes. We also show…
Let $Γ$ be a discrete group acting by isometries on a product $X=X_1\times X_2$ of Hadamard spaces. We further require that $X_1$, $X_2$ are locally compact and $Γ$ contains two elements projecting to a pair of independent rank one isometries in each factor. Apart from discrete groups acting by isometries on a product of CAT(-1)-spaces, the probably most interesting examples of such groups are Kac-Moody groups over finite fields acting on the Davis complex of their associated twin building. In a previous article we showed that the regular geometric limit set $\Lim$ splits as a product $F_Γ\tim…
