We associate cube complexes called completions to each subgroup of a right-angled Coxeter group (RACG). A completion characterizes many properties of the subgroup such as whether it is quasiconvex, normal, finite-index or torsion-free. We use completions to show that reflection subgroups are quasiconvex, as are one-ended Coxeter subgroups of a 2-dimensional RACG. We provide an algorithm that determines whether a given one-ended, 2-dimensional RACG is isomorphic to some finite-index subgroup of another given RACG. In addition, we answer several algorithmic questions regarding quasiconvex subgroups. Finally, we give a new proof of Haglund's result that quasiconvex subgroups of RACGs are separable.
We investigate the planarity of the boundaries of right-angled Coxeter groups. We show that non-planarity of the defining graph does not necessarily imply non-planarity of every boundary of the associated right-angled Coxeter group, although it does in many cases. Our techniques yield a characterization of the triangle-free defining graphs such that the associated right-angled Coxeter group has boundary a Menger curve.
Let W be a 2-dimensional right-angled Coxeter group. We characterise such W with linear and quadratic divergence, and construct right-angled Coxeter groups with divergence polynomial of arbitrary degree. Our proofs use the structure of walls in the Davis complex.
We show that the Morse boundary of a right-angled Coxeter group may contain embedded circles that do not arise as the boundary of a Morse Fuchsian subgroup visible in the defining graph.
We determine the factorial growth rate of the number of finite index subgroups of right-angled Artin groups as a function of the index. This turns out to depend solely on the independence number of the defining graph. We also make a conjecture for right-angled Coxeter groups and prove that it holds in a limited setting.
In this paper we study the right-angled Coxeter groups that acts geometrically on the Salvetti complex of a certain right-angled Artin group, which we refer to as Croke-Kleiner spaces. We prove that any right-angled Coxeter group that acts geometrically on the Croke-Kleiner spaces acts with $π/2$ angles between reflecting axes, while the quasi-isometric right-angled Artin group can act with angles that are any real number in the range $(0, π/2]$. The contrast between the two examples shows that in this case a right-angled Coxeter group is geometrically more "rigid" than its quasi isometric cou…
In this paper, we show that the boundary $\partialΣ(W,S)$ of a right-angled Coxeter system $(W,S)$ is minimal if and only if $W_{\tilde{S}}$ is irreducible, where $W_{\tilde{S}}$ is the minimum parabolic subgroup of finite index in $W$. We also provide several applications and remarks. In particular, we obtain that for a right-angled Coxeter system $(W,S)$, the set $\{w^{\infty} | w\in W, o(w)=\infty\}$ is dense in the boundary $\partialΣ(W,S)$.
We introduce a new quasi-isometry invariant of 2-dimensional right-angled Coxeter groups, the hypergraph index, that partitions these groups into infinitely many quasi-isometry classes, each containing infinitely many groups. Furthermore, the hypergraph index of any right-angled Coxeter group can be directly computed from the group's defining graph. The hypergraph index yields an upper bound for a right-angled Coxeter group's order of thickness, order of algebraic thickness and divergence function. Finally, given an integer n>1, we give examples of right-angled Coxeter groups which are thick o…
We provide geometric conditions on a pair of hyperplanes of a CAT(0) cube complex that imply divergence bounds for the cube complex. As an application, we classify all right-angled Coxeter groups with quadratic divergence and show right-angled Coxeter groups cannot exhibit a divergence function between quadratic and cubic. This generalizes a theorem of Dani-Thomas that addressed the class of 2-dimensional right-angled Coxeter groups. As another application, we provide an inductive graph theoretic criteria on a right-angled Coxeter group's defining graph which allows us to recognize arbitrary i…
Let $Γ$ be a connected, triangle-free, planar graph with at least five vertices that has no separating vertices or edges. If the graph $Γ$ is $\mathcal{CFS}$, we prove that the right-angled Coxeter group $G_Γ$ is virtually a Seifert manifold group or virtually a graph manifold group and we give a complete quasi-isometry classification of these such groups. Otherwise, we prove that $G_Γ$ is hyperbolic relative to a collection of $\mathcal{CFS}$ right-angled Coxeter subgroups of $G_Γ$. Consequently, the divergence of $G_Γ$ is linear, or quadratic, or exponential. We also generalize right-angled …
We give explicit necessary and sufficient conditions for the abstract commensurability of certain families of 1-ended, hyperbolic groups, namely right-angled Coxeter groups defined by generalized theta-graphs and cycles of generalized theta-graphs, and geometric amalgams of free groups whose JSJ graphs are trees of diameter at most 4. We also show that if a geometric amalgam of free groups has JSJ graph a tree, then it is commensurable to a right-angled Coxeter group, and give an example of a geometric amalgam of free groups which is not quasi-isometric (hence not commensurable) to any group w…
We completely classify the possible divergence functions for right-angled Coxeter groups (RACGs). In particular, we show that the divergence of any such group is either polynomial, exponential or infinite. We prove that a RACG is strongly thick of order k if and only if its divergence function is a polynomial of degree k+1. Moreover, we show that the exact divergence function of a RACG can easily be computed from its defining graph by an invariant we call the hypergraph index.
We consider the question of determining whether a given group (especially one generated by involutions) is a right-angled Coxeter group. We describe a group invariant, the involution graph, and we characterize the involution graphs of right-angled Coxeter groups. We use this characterization to describe a process for constructing candidate right-angled Coxeter presentations for a given group or proving that one cannot exist. We provide some first applications. In addition, we provide an elementary proof of rigidity of the defining graph for a right-angled Coxeter group. We also recover a resul…
This paper introduces a new class of right-angled Coxeter groups with totally disconnected Morse boundaries. We construct this class recursively by examining how the Morse boundary of a right-angled Coxeter group changes if we glue a graph to its defining graph. More generally, we present a method to construct amalgamated free products of CAT(0) groups with totally disconnected Morse boundaries that act geometrically on CAT(0) spaces that have a treelike block decomposition.
We prove the strong Atiyah conjecture for right-angled Artin groups and right-angled Coxeter groups. More generally, we prove it for groups which are certain finite extensions or elementary amenable extensions of such groups.
In this paper, we construct a right-angled 5-polytope P of finite volume such that all the right-angled Coxeter groups with Fuchsian ends obtained from P are locally rigid.
Let $W$ be a right-angled Coxeter group corresponding to a finite non-discrete graph $\mathcal{G}$ with at least $3$ vertices. Our main theorem says that $\mathcal{G}^c$ is connected if and only if for any infinite index quasiconvex subgroup $H$ of $W$ and any finite subset $\{ γ_1, \ldots , γ_n \} \subset W \setminus H$ there is a surjection $f$ from $W$ to a finite alternating group such that $f (γ_i) \notin f (H)$. A corollary is that a right-angled Artin group splits as a direct product of cyclic groups and groups with many alternating quotients in the above sense. Similarly, finitely gene…
Using a variant of an unpublished argument due to Agol, we show that an irreducible right-angled Coxeter group on ${n \geq 3}$ vertices embeds as a thin subgroup of a uniform arithmetic lattice in an indefinite orthogonal group $\mathrm{O}(p, q)$ for some $p, q \geq 1$ satisfying $p+q=n$.
We investigate the combinatorial and geometric properties of automorphism groups of universal right-angled Coxeter groups, which are the automorphism groups of free products of copies of Z_2. It is currently an open question as to whether or not these automorphism groups have non-positive curvature. Analogous to Outer Space as a model for Out(F_n), we prove that the natural combinatorial and topological model for their outer automorphism groups can \emph{not} be given an equivariant CAT(0) metric. This is particularly interesting as there are very few non-trivial examples of proving that a mod…
For any right-angled Coxeter group $Γ$ on $k$ generators, we construct proper actions of $Γ$ on $\mathrm{O}(p,q+1)$ by right and left multiplication, and on the Lie algebra $\mathfrak{o}(p,q+1)$ by affine transformations, for some $p,q\in\mathbb N$ with $p+q+1=k$. As a consequence, any virtually special group admits proper affine actions on some $\mathbb R^n$: this includes e.g. surface groups, hyperbolic 3-manifold groups, examples of word hyperbolic groups of arbitrarily large virtual cohomological dimension, etc. We also study some examples in cohomological dimension two and four, for which…
In this paper, we investigate a relation between finite graphs, simplicial flag complexes and right-angled Coxeter groups, and we provide a class of reconstructible finite graphs. We show that if $Γ$ is a finite graph which is the 1-skeleton of some simplicial flag complex $L$ which is a homology manifold of dimension $n \ge 1$, then the graph $Γ$ is reconstructible.
For arbitrary integer n, we describe a large class of right-angled Coxeter systems for which the visual baundary (of the corresponding Coxeter-Davis complex) is homeomorphic to the n-dimensional Sierpiński compactum. We also provide a necessary and sufficient condition for a planar simplicial complex L under which the right-angled Coxeter system whose nerve is L has the visual boundary homeomorphic to the Sierpiński curve.
We establish a spectral gap for stable commutator length (scl) of integral chains in right-angled Artin groups (RAAGs). We show that this gap is not uniform, i.e. there are RAAGs and integral chains with scl arbitrarily close to zero. We determine the size of this gap up to a multiplicative constant in terms of the opposite path length of the defining graph. This result is in stark contrast with the known uniform gap 1/2 for elements in RAAGs. We prove an analogous result for right-angled Coxeter groups. In a second part of this paper we relate certain integral chains in RAAGs to the fractiona…
By gluing together the sides of eight copies of an all-right angled hyperbolic 6-dimensional polytope, two orientable hyperbolic 6-manifolds with Euler characteristic -1 are constructed. They are the first known examples of orientable hyperbolic 6-manifolds having the smallest possible volume.
The main theme of this paper is higher virtual algebraic fibering properties of right-angled Coxeter groups (RACGs), with a special focus on those whose defining flag complex is a finite building. We prove for particular classes of finite buildings that their random induced subcomplexes have a number of strong properties, most prominently that they are highly connected. From this we are able to deduce that the commutator subgroup of a RACG, with defining flag complex a finite building of a certain type, admits an epimorphism to $\mathbb{Z}$ whose kernel has strong topological finiteness proper…
We show that every graph product of finitely generated abelian groups acts properly and cocompactly on a CAT(0) cubical complex. The complex generalizes (up to subdivision) the Salvetti complex of a right-angled Artin group and the Coxeter complex of a right-angled Coxeter group. In the right-angled Artin group case it is related to the embedding into a right-angled Coxeter group described by Davis and Januszkiewicz. We compare the approaches and also adapt the argument that the action extends to finite index supergroup that is a graph product of finite groups.
We find a sufficient condition for a nerve of a hyperbolic right-angled Coxeter group, under which the boundary of the group is homeomorphic to the Menger curve. We show that this condition is satisfied by many triangulations of surfaces with boundary and other 2-complexes, as well as by some triangulations of disks $D^n$ for arbitrary $n\geq3$.
Much is known about random right-angled Coxeter groups (i.e., right-angled Coxeter groups whose defining graphs are random graphs under the Erdös-Rényi model). In this paper, we extend this model to study random general Coxeter groups and give some results about random Coxeter groups, including some information about the homology of the nerve of a random Coxeter group and results about when random Coxeter groups are $δ$-hyperbolic and when they have the FC-type property.
We provide a new method of constructing non-quasiconvex subgroups of hyperbolic groups by utilizing techniques inspired by Stallings' foldings. The hyperbolic groups constructed are in the natural class of right-angled Coxeter groups (RACGs for short) and can be chosen to be 2-dimensional. More specifically, given a non-quasiconvex subgroup of a (possibly non-hyperbolic) RACG, our construction gives a corresponding non-quasiconvex subgroup of a hyperbolic RACG. We use this to construct explicit examples of non-quasiconvex subgroups of hyperbolic RACGs including subgroups whose generators are a…
We construct a family of right-angled Coxeter groups which provide counter-examples to questions about the stable boundary of a group, one-endedness of quasi-geodesically stable subgroups, and the commensurability types of right-angled Coxeter groups.
In a seminal paper, Stallings introduced folding of morphisms of graphs. One consequence of folding is the representation of finitely-generated subgroups of a finite-rank free group as immersions of finite graphs. Stallings's methods allow one to construct this representation algorithmically, giving effective, algorithmic answers and proofs to classical questions about subgroups of free groups. Recently Dani--Levcovitz used Stallings-like methods to study subgroups of right-angled Coxeter groups, which act geometrically on CAT(0) cube complexes. In this paper we extend their techniques to fund…
Given a graph $Γ$, its auxiliary \emph{square-graph} $\square(Γ)$ is the graph whose vertices are the non-edges of $Γ$ and whose edges are the pairs of non-edges which induce a square (i.e., a $4$-cycle) in $Γ$. We determine the threshold edge-probability $p=p_c(n)$ at which the Erd{\H o}s--Rényi random graph $Γ=Γ_{n,p}$ begins to asymptotically almost surely have a square-graph with a connected component whose squares together cover all the vertices of $Γ_{n,p}$. We show $p_c(n)=\sqrt{\sqrt{6}-2}/\sqrt{n}$, a polylogarithmic improvement on earlier bounds on $p_c(n)$ due to Hagen and the autho…
Associated to any finite flag complex L there is a right-angled Coxeter group W_L and a contractible cubical complex Sigma_L (the Davis complex) on which W_L acts properly and cocompactly, and such that the link of each vertex is L. It follows that if L is a generalized homology sphere, then Sigma_L is a contractible homology manifold. We prove a generalized version of the Singer Conjecture (on the vanishing of the reduced weighted L^2_q-cohomology above the middle dimension) for the right-angled Coxeter groups based on barycentric subdivisions in even dimensions. We also prove this conjecture…
Associated to any finite flag complex L there is a right-angled Coxeter group W_L and a cubical complex Σ_L on which W_L acts properly and cocompactly. Its two most salient features are that (1) the link of each vertex of Σ_L is L and (2) Σ_L is contractible. It follows that if L is a triangulation of S^{n-1}, then Σ_L is a contractible n-manifold. We describe a program for proving the Singer Conjecture (on the vanishing of the reduced L^2-homology except in the middle dimension) in the case of Σ_L where L is a triangulation of S^{n-1}. The program succeeds when n < 5. This implies the Charney…
We study homomorphisms from Kähler groups to Coxeter groups. As an application, we prove that a cocompact complex hyperbolic lattice (in complex dimension at least 2) does not embedd into a Coxeter group or a right-angled Artin group. This is in contrast with the case of real hyperbolic lattices.
We study global fixed points for actions of Coxeter groups on nonpositively curved singular spaces. In particular, we consider property FA_n, an analogue of Serre's property FA for actions on CAT(0) complexes. Property FA_n has implications for irreducible representations and complex of groups decompositions. In this paper, we give a specific condition on Coxeter presentations that implies FA_n and show that this condition is in fact equivalent to FA_n for n=1 and 2. As part of the proof, we compute the Gersten-Stallings angles between special subgroups of Coxeter groups.
For right-angled Coxeter groups $W_Γ$, we obtain a condition on $Γ$ that is necessary and sufficient to ensure that $W_Γ$ is thick and thus not relatively hyperbolic. We show that Coxeter groups which are not thick all admit canonical minimal relatively hyperbolic structures; further, we show that in such a structure, the peripheral subgroups are both parabolic (in the Coxeter group-theoretic sense) and strongly algebraically thick. We exhibit a polynomial-time algorithm that decides whether a right-angled Coxeter group is thick or relatively hyperbolic. We analyze random graphs in the Erdós-R…
We determine which amalgamated products of surface groups identified over multiples of simple closed curves are not fundamental groups of 3-manifolds. We prove each surface amalgam considered is virtually the fundamental group of a 3-manifold. We prove that each such surface group amalgam is abstractly commensurable to a right-angled Coxeter group from a related family. In an appendix, we determine the quasi-isometry classes among these surface amalgams and their related right-angled Coxeter groups.
We show that the characteristic series for the greedy normal form of a Coxeter group is always a rational series, and prove a reciprocity formula for this series when the group is right-angled and the nerve is Eulerian. As corollaries we obtain many of the known rationality and reciprocity results for the growth series of Coxeter groups as well as some new ones.
Let $C(L)$ be the right-angled Coxeter group defined by an abstract triangulation $L$ of $\mathbb{S}^2$. We show that $C(L)$ is isomorphic to a hyperbolic right-angled reflection group if and only if $L$ can be realized as an acute triangulation. The proof relies on the theory of CAT(-1) spaces. A corollary is that an abstract triangulation of $\mathbb{S}^2$ can be realized as an acute triangulation exactly when it satisfies a combinatorial condition called "flag no-square". We also study generalizations of this result to other angle bounds, other planar surfaces and other dimensions.
A Coxeter group acts properly and cocompactly by isometries on the Davis complex for the group; we call the quotient of the Davis complex under this action the Davis orbicomplex for the group. We prove the set of finite covers of the Davis orbicomplexes for the set of one-ended Coxeter groups is not topologically rigid. We exhibit a quotient of a Davis complex by a one-ended right-angled Coxeter group which has two finite covers that are homotopy equivalent but not homeomorphic. We discuss consequences for the abstract commensurability classification of Coxeter groups.
Bowditch's JSJ tree for splittings over 2-ended subgroups is a quasi-isometry invariant for 1-ended hyperbolic groups which are not cocompact Fuchsian. Our main result gives an explicit, computable "visual" construction of this tree for certain hyperbolic right-angled Coxeter groups. As an application of our construction we identify a large class of such groups for which the JSJ tree, and hence the visual boundary, is a complete quasi-isometry invariant, and thus the quasi-isometry problem is decidable. We also give a direct proof of the fact that among the Coxeter groups we consider, the coco…
We study properties of generic elements of groups of isometries of hyperbolic spaces. Under general combinatorial conditions, we prove that loxodromic elements are generic (i.e. they have full density with respect to counting in balls for the word metric) and translation length grows linearly. We provide applications to a large class of relatively hyperbolic groups and graph products, including right-angled Artin groups and right-angled Coxeter groups.
We show that two uniform lattices of a regular right-angled Fuchsian building are commensurable, provided the chamber is a polygon with at least six edges. We show that in an arbitrary Gromov-hyperbolic regular right-angled building associated to a graph product of finite groups, a uniform lattice is commensurable with the graph product provided all of its quasiconvex subgroups are separable. We obtain a similar result for uniform lattices of the Davis complex of Gromov-hyperbolic two-dimensional Coxeter groups. We also prove that every extension of a uniform lattice of a CAT(0) square complex…
Given a Coxeter system $(W,S)$ and a multiparameter $\mathbf{q}$ of real numbers indexed by $S$, one can define the weighted $L^2$-cohomology groups and associate to them a nonnegative real number called the weighted $L^2$-Betti number. We show that for ranges of $\mathbf{q}$ depending on certain subgroups of $W$, the weighted $L^2$-cohomology groups of $W$ are concentrated in low dimensions. We then prove new vanishing results for the weighted $L^2$-cohomology of certain low-dimensional Coxeter groups. Our arguments rely on computing the $L^2$-cohomology of certain complexes called ruins, as …
