In this paper we study the Borel structure of the space of left-orderings $\mathrm{LO}(G)$ of a group $G$ modulo the natural conjugacy action, and by using tools from descriptive set theory we find many examples of countable left-orderable groups such that the quotient space $\mathrm{LO}(G)/G$ is not standard. This answers a question of Deroin, Navas, and Rivas. We also prove that the countable Borel equivalence relation induced from the conjugacy action of $\mathbb{F}_{2}$ on $\mathrm{LO}(\mathbb{F}_{2})$ is universal, and leverage this result to provide many other examples of countable left-orderable groups $G$ such that the natural $G$-action on $\mathrm{LO}(G)$ induces a universal countable Borel equivalence relation.
We introduce a Dehornoy-like ordering of groups, which is a generalization of the Dehornoy ordering of the braid groups. Under a weak assumption which we call Property F, we show that Dehornoy-like orderings have properties similar to the Dehornoy ordering, and produce isolated left orderings. We also construct new examples of Dehornoy-like ordering and isolated orderings and study their more precise properties.
Let G be a left orderable group and LO(G) the space of all left orderings. We investigate the circumstances under which a left ordering < of G can correspond to an isolated point in LO(G), in particular we extend known results to cover the case of uncountable groups. With minor technical restrictions on the group G, we also find that no dense left ordering is isolated in LO(G), and that the closure of the set of all dense left orderings of G yields a dense G-delta set within a Cantor set of left orderings in LO(G). Lastly, we show that certain conditions on a discrete left ordering of G can gu…
Every left-invariant ordering of a group is either discrete, meaning there is a least element greater than the identity, or dense. Corresponding to this dichotomy, the spaces of left, Conradian, and bi-orderings of a group are naturally partitioned into two subsets. This note investigates the structure of this partition, specifically the set of dense orderings of a group and its closure within the space of orderings. We show that for bi-orderable groups this closure will always contain the space of Conradian orderings---and often much more. In particular, the closure of the set of dense orderi…
We give a new method to construct isolated left orderings of groups whose positive cones are finitely generated. Our construction uses an amalgamated free product of two groups having an isolated ordering. We construct a lot of new examples of isolated orderings, and give an example of isolated left orderings having various properties which previously known isolated orderings do not have.
For any left orderable group G, we recall from work of McCleary that isolated points in the space of left orderings correspond to basic elements in the free lattice ordered group over G. We then establish a new connection between the kernels of certain maps in the free lattice ordered group over G, and the topology on the space of left orderings of G. This connection yields a simple proof that no left orderable group has countably infinitely many left orderings. When we take G to be the free group of rank n, this connection sheds new light on the space of left orderings of the free group: by a…
We show that the restriction of the Dehornoy ordering to an appropriate free subgroup of the three-strand braid group defines a left ordering of the free group on k generators, k>1, that has no convex subgroups.
We show that no left-ordering on a free product of (left-orderable) groups is isolated. In particular, we show that the space of left-orderings of free product of finitely generated groups is homeomorphic to the Cantor set. With the same techniques, we also give a new and constructive proof of the fact that the natural conjugation action of the free group (on two or more generators) on its space of left-orderings has a dense orbit.
We study the space of left-orderings on groups with finitely many Conradian orderings. We show that, within this class of groups, having an isolated left-ordering is equivalent to having finitely many left-orderings.
We show that the space of left-orderings of a countable virtually solvable group is either finite or homeomorphic to a Cantor set. We also provide an explicit description of the space of left-orderings of $SOL=\Z^2\rtimes_T\Z$.
We generalize a result of T. Koberda by showing that the natural action of the automorphism group on the space of left-orderings is faithful for all nonabelian bi-orderable groups G, as well as for a certain class of left-orderable groups that includes the braid groups. As a corollary we show that the action of the automorphism group of G on the boundary of G is faithful whenever G is bi-orderable and hyperbolic. We also analyze the action of the commensurator of G on its space of virtual left-orderings.
In Chapter 1 we give the basic background and notations. We also give a new characterization of the Conrad property for orderings. In Chapter 2, we use the new characterization of the Conradian property to give a classification of groups admitting (only) finitely many Conradian orderings §2.1. Using this classification we deduce a structure theorem for the space of Conradian orderings §2.2. In addition, we are able to give a structure theorem for the space of left-orderings on a group by studying the possibility of approximating a given ordering by its conjugates §2.3. In Chapter 3 we show tha…
Work of Linnell shows that the space of left-orderings of a group is either finite or uncountable, and in the case that the space is finite, the isomorphism type of the group is known---it is what is known as a Tararin group. By defining semiconjugacy of circular orderings in a general setting (that is, for arbitrary circular orderings of groups that may not act on $S^1$), we can view the subspace of left-orderings of any group as a single semiconjugacy class of circular orderings. Taking this perspective, we generalize the result of Linnell, to show that every semiconjugacy class of circular …
Let $M(S)$ be the Banach algebra of all bounded regular Borel measures on a locally compact Hausdorff semitopological semigroup $S$ with variation norm and convolution as multiplication. We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for $M(S)^{*}$ to have a topologically left invariant mean.
For a group $G$, we construct a quasi morphism from its left orderings and the map from the space of left orderings to the second bounded cohomology. We show that these maps reflect various properties of the group orderings.
We show that if a nontrivial group admits a locally invariant ordering, then it admits uncountably many locally invariant orderings. For the case of a left-orderable group, we provide an explicit construction of uncountable families of locally invariant orderings; for a general group we provide an existence theorem that applies compactness to yield uncountably many locally invariant orderings. Along the way, we define and investigate the space of locally invariant orderings of a group, the natural group actions on this space, and their relationship to the space of left-orderings.
Let G be a group and let O_G denote the set of left orderings on G. Then O_G can be topologized in a natural way, and we shall study this topology to answer three conjectures. In particular we shall show that O_G can never be countably infinite. Furthermore in the case G is a countable nonabelian free group, we shall show that O_G is homeomorphic to the Cantor set and that the positive cone of a left order on G is not finitely generated. Generalizations to locally indicable groups will also be considered.
In this paper, we introduce the notion of circular orderability for quandles. We show that the set all right (respectively left) circular orderings of a quandle is a compact topological space. We also show that the space of right (respectively left) orderings of a quandle embeds in its space of right (respectively left) circular orderings. Examples of quandles that are not left circularly orderable and examples of quandles that are neither left nor right circularly orderable are given.
We introduce a condition on Garside groups that we call Dehornoy structure. An iteration of such a structure leads to a left order on the group. We show conditions for a Garside group to admit a Dehornoy structure, and we apply these criteria to prove that the Artin groups of type A and I 2 (m), m $\ge$ 4, have Dehornoy structures. We show that the left orders on the Artin groups of type A obtained from their Dehornoy structures are the Dehornoy orders. In the case of the Artin groups of type I 2 (m), m $\ge$ 4, we show that the left orders derived from their Dehornoy structures coincide with …
Motivated by the recent result that left-orderability of a group $G$ is intimately connected to circular orderability of direct products $G \times \mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$, we provide necessary and sufficient cohomological conditions that such a direct product be circularly orderable. As a consequence of the main theorem, we arrive at a new characterization for the fundamental group of a rational homology 3-sphere to be left-orderable. Our results imply that for mapping class groups of once-punctured surfaces, and other groups whose actions on $S^1$ are cohomologically rigid, the products $G \t…
We study left orderable groups by using dynamical methods. We apply these techniques to study the space of orderings of these groups. We show for instance that for the case of (non-Abelian) free groups, this space is homeomorphic to the Cantor set. We also study the case of braid groups (for which the space of orderings has isolated points but contains homeomorphic copies of the Cantor set). To do this we introduce the notion of the Conradian soul of an order as the maximal subgroup which is convex and restricted to which the original ordering satisfies the so called conradian property, and we…
In this article we study the space of left- and bi-invariant orderings on a torsion-free nilpotent group $G$. We will show that generally the set of such orderings is equipped with a faithful action of the automorphism group of $G$. We prove a result which allows us to establish the same conclusion when $G$ is assumed to be merely residually torsion-free nilpotent. In particular, we obtain faithful actions of mapping class groups of surfaces. We will draw connections between the structure of orderings on residually torsion-free nilpotent, hyperbolic groups and their Gromov boundaries, and we s…
We study the topological space of left-orderings of the braid group, and its subspace of Nielsen-Thurston orderings. Our main result is that no Nielsen-Thurston ordering is isolated in the space of braid orderings. In the course of the proof, we classify the convex subgroups and calculate the Conradian soul for any Nielsen-Thurston ordering of B_n. We also prove that for a large class of Nielsen-Thurston orderings, including all those of infinite type, a stronger result holds: they are approximated by their own conjugates. On the other hand, we suggest an example of a Nielsen-Thurston ordering…
The braid group $B_{n}$, endowed with Artin's presentation, admits two distinguished involutions. One is the anti-automorphism ${\rm{rev}}: B_{n} \to B_{n}$, $v \mapsto \bar{v}$, defined by reading braids in the reverse order (from right to left instead of left to right). Another one is the conjugation $τ:x \mapsto Δ^{-1}x Δ$ by the generalized half-twist (Garside element). More generally, the involution ${\rm{rev}}$ is defined for all Artin groups (equipped with Artin's presentation) and the involution $τ$ is defined for all Artin groups of finite type. A palindrome is an element invariant un…
Let G be a countable group. We show there is a topological relationship between the space CO(G) of circular orders on G and the moduli space of actions of G on the circle; as well as an analogous relationship for spaces of left orders and actions on the line. In particular, we give a complete characterization of isolated left and circular orders in terms of strong rigidity of their induced actions of G on $S^1$ and R. As an application of our techniques, we give an explicit construction of infinitely many nonconjugate isolated points in the spaces CO(F_{2n}) of circular orders on free groups d…
Let G be a group and let O_G denote the set of left orderings on G. Then O_G can be topologized in a natural way, and we shall study this topology to show that O_G can never be countably infinite. This paper retrieves correct parts of the withdrawn paper arXiv:math/0607470.
We classify $C$-orderable groups admitting only finitely many $C$-orderings. We show that if a $C$-orderable group has infinitely many $C$-orderings, then it actually has uncountably many $C$-orderings, and none of these is isolated in the space of $C$-orderings. As a relevant example, we carefully study the case of Baumslag-Solitar's group B(1,2). We show that B(1,2) has four $C$-orderings, each of which is bi-invariant, but its space of left-orderings is homeomorphic to the Cantor set.
We describe a simple scheme for constructing finitely generated monoids in which left-divisibility is a linear ordering and for practically investigating these monoids. The approach is based on subword reversing, a general method of combinatorial group theory, and connected with Garside theory, here in a non-Noetherian context. As an application we describe several families of ordered groups whose space of left-invariant orderings has an isolated point, including torus knot groups and some of their amalgamated products.
It is well-known that the direct product of left-orderable groups is left-orderable and that, under a certain condition, the semi-direct product of left-orderable groups is left-orderable. We extend this result and show that, under a similar condition, the Zappa-Szep product of left-orderable groups is left-orderable. Moreover, we find conditions that ensure the existence of a partial left and right invariant ordering (bi-order) in the Zappa-Szep product of bi-orderable groups and prove some properties.
We are concerned with mapping class groups of surfaces with nonempty boundary. We present a very natural method, due to Thurston, of finding many different left orderings of such groups. The construction involves equipping the surface with a hyperbolic structure, embedding the universal cover in the hyperbolic plane, and extending the action of the mapping class group on it to its limit points on the circle at infinity. We classify all orderings of braid groups which arise in this way. Moreover, restricting to a certain class of ``nonpathological'' orderings, we prove that there are only finit…
We study equivalence relations $\mathcal R(Γ\curvearrowright G)$ that arise from left translation actions of countable groups on their profinite completions. Under the assumption that the action $Γ\curvearrowright G$ is free and has spectral gap, we describe precisely when $\mathcal R(Γ\curvearrowright G)$ is orbit equivalent or Borel reducible to another such equivalence relation $\mathcal R(Λ\curvearrowright H)$. As a consequence, we provide explicit uncountable families of free ergodic probability measure preserving (p.m.p.) profinite actions of $SL_2(\mathbb Z)$ and its non-amenable subgro…
This is a draft of a book submitted for publication by the AMS. Its theme is the remarkable interplay, accelerating in the last few decades, between topology and the theory of orderable groups, with applications in both directions. It begins with an introduction to orderable groups and their algebraic properties. Many of the algebraic results are proved by topological methods, via consideration of the space of orderings. After a discussion Hölder's theorem and some dynamical aspects of orderable groups, we provide explicit orderings of important groups in topology: free groups and most surface…
A natural topology on the space of left orderings of an arbitrary semi-group is introduced. It is proved that this space is compact and that for free abelian groups it is homeomorphic to the Cantor set. An application of this result is a new proof of the existence of universal Grobner bases.
We are concerned with orderable groups and particularly those with orderings invariant not only under multiplication, but also under a given automorphism or family of automorphisms. Several applications to topology are given: we prove that the fundamental groups of hyperbolic nonorientable surfaces, and the groups of certain fibred knots are bi-orderable. Moreover, we show that the pure braid groups associated with hyperbolic nonorientable surfaces are left-orderable.
We prove that, if $G$ is a second-countable topological group with a compatible right-invariant metric $d$ and $(μ_{n})_{n \in \mathbb{N}}$ is a sequence of compactly supported Borel probability measures on $G$ converging to invariance with respect to the mass transportation distance over $d$ and such that $\left(\mathrm{spt} \, μ_{n}, d\!\!\upharpoonright_{\mathrm{spt} \, μ_{n}}, μ_{n}\!\!\upharpoonright_{\mathrm{spt} \, μ_{n}}\right)_{n \in \mathbb{N}}$ concentrates to a fully supported, compact $mm$-space $\left(X,d_{X},μ_{X}\right)$, then $X$ is homeomorphic to a $G$-invariant subspace of …
Let G be a group and H be a subgroup of G. We say that H is left relatively convex in G if the left G-set G/H has at least one G-invariant order; when G is left orderable, this holds if and only if H is convex in G under some left ordering of G. We give a criterion for H to be left relatively convex in G that generalizes a famous theorem of Burns and Hale and has essentially the same proof. We show that all maximal cyclic subgroups are left relatively convex in free groups, in right-angled Artin groups, and in surface groups that are not the Klein-bottle group. The free-group case extends a re…
In this work we exhibit flexibility phenomena for some (countable) groups acting by order preserving homeomorphisms of the line. More precisely, we show that if a left orderable group admits an amalgam decomposition of the form $G=\mathbb{F}_n*_{\mathbb Z} \mathbb{F}_m$ where $n+m\geq 3$, then every faithful action of $G$ on the line by order preserving homeomorphisms can be approximated by another action (without global fixed points) that is not semi-conjugated to the initial action. We deduce that $\mathcal{LO}(G)$, the space of left orders of $G$, is a Cantor set. In the special case where …
This paper gives necessary and sufficient conditions that the free product with amalgamation of circularly-ordered groups admit a circular ordering extending the given orderings of the factors. Our result follows from establishing a categorical framework that allows the problem to be restated in terms of amalgamating certain left-ordered central extensions, where we are able to apply work of Bludov and Glass.
We prove that, if a topological group $G$ has an open subgroup of infinite index, then every net of tight Borel probability measures on $G$ UEB-converging to invariance dissipates in $G$ in the sense of Gromov. In particular, this solves a 2006 problem by Pestov: for every left-invariant (or right-invariant) metric $d$ on the infinite symmetric group $\mathrm{Sym}(\mathbb{N})$, compatible with the topology of pointwise convergence, the sequence of the finite symmetric groups $\left(\mathrm{Sym}(n),d\!\!\upharpoonright_{\mathrm{Sym}(n)},μ_{\mathrm{Sym}(n)}\right)_{n \in \mathbb{N}}$ equipped wi…
