Let $ρ:Γ\rightarrow PSL_d(\mathbb{K})$ be a Zariski dense Borel-Anosov representation, for $\mathbb{K}$ equal to $\mathbb{R}$ or $\mathbb{C}$. Let $o$ be a form of signature $(p,d-p)$ on $\mathbb{K}^d$ (where $0<p<d)$. Let $\mathsf{S}^o$ be the corresponding geodesic copy of the Riemannian symmetric space of $PSO(o)$, inside the Riemannian symmetric space of $PSL_d(\mathbb{K})$. For certain choices of $o$ and every $t$ large enough, we show exponential bounds for the number of $γ\inΓ$ for which the distance between $\mathsf{S}^o$ and $ργ\cdot\mathsf{S}^o$ is smaller than $t$. Under an extra assumption, satisfied for instance when the boundary of $Γ$ is connected, we show an asymptotic as $t\rightarrow\infty$ for the counting function relative to a functional in the interior of the dual limit cone.
We propose several common extensions of the classes of Anosov subgroups and geometrically finite Kleinian groups among discrete subgroups of semisimple Lie groups. We relativize various dynamical and coarse geometric characterizations of Anosov subgroups given in our earlier work, extending the class from intrinsically hyperbolic to relatively hyperbolic subgroups. We prove implications and equivalences between the various relativizations.
We study infinite covolume discrete subgroups of higher rank semisimple Lie groups, motivated by understanding basic properties of Anosov subgroups from various viewpoints (geometric, coarse geometric and dynamical). The class of Anosov subgroups constitutes a natural generalization of convex cocompact subgroups of rank one Lie groups to higher rank. Our main goal is to give several new equivalent characterizations for this important class of discrete subgroups. Our characterizations capture "rank one behavior" of Anosov subgroups and are direct generalizations of rank one equivalents to conve…
We extend several notions and results from the classical Patterson-Sullivan theory to the setting of Anosov subgroups of higher rank semisimple Lie groups, working primarily with invariant Finsler metrics on associated symmetric spaces. In particular, we prove the equality between the Hausdorff dimensions of flag limit sets, computed with respect to a suitable Gromov (pre-)metric on the flag manifold, and the Finsler critical exponents of Anosov subgroups.
Let $S$ be a compact orientable surface, and $\Mod(S)$ its mapping class group. Then there exists a constant $M(S)$, which depends on $S$, with the following property. Suppose $a,b \in \Mod(S)$ are independent (i.e., $[a^n,b^m]\not=1$ for any $n,m \not=0$) pseudo-Anosov elements. Then for any $n,m \ge M$, the subgroup $<a^n,b^m>$ is free of rank two, and convex-cocompact in the sense of Farb-Mosher. In particular all non-trivial elements in $<a^n,b^m>$ are pseudo-Anosov. We also show that there exists a constant $N$, which depends on $a,b$, such that $<a^n,b^m>$ is free of rank two and convex-…
Let X be a hyperbolic surface and H the fundamental group of a hyperbolic 3-manifold that fibers over the circle with fiber X. Using the Birman exact sequence, H embeds in the mapping class group Mod(Y) of the surface Y obtained by removing a point from X. We prove that a subgroup G in H is convex cocompact in Mod(Y) if and only if G is finitely generated and purely pseudo-Anosov. We also prove a generalization of this theorem with H replaced by an arbitrary Gromov hyperbolic extension of the fundamental group of X, and an additional hypothesis of quasi-convexity of G in H. Along the way, we o…
We prove that a word hyperbolic group which admits a $P_{2q+1}$-Anosov representation into $\mathsf{PGL}(4q+2, \mathbb{R})$ contains a finite-index subgroup which is either free or a surface group. As a consequence, we give an affirmative answer to Sambarino's question for Borel Anosov representations into $\mathsf{SL}(4q+2,\mathbb{R})$.
We consider the hyperelliptic handlebody group on a closed surface of genus $g$. This is the subgroup of the mapping class group on a closed surface of genus $g$ consisting of isotopy classes of homeomorphisms on the surface that commute with some fixed hyperelliptic involution and that extend to homeomorphisms on the handlebody. We prove that the logarithm of the minimal dilatation (i.e, the minimal entropy) of all pseudo-Anosov elements in the hyperelliptic handlebody group of genus $g$ is comparable to $1/g$. This means that the asymptotic behavior of the minimal pseudo-Anosov dilatation of…
We give a geometric interpretation of the maximal Satake compactification of symmetric spaces $X=G/K$ of noncompact type, showing that it arises by attaching the horofunction boundary for a suitable $G$-invariant Finsler metric on $X$. As an application, we establish the existence of natural bordifications, as orbifolds-with-corners, of locally symmetric spaces $X/Γ$ for arbitrary discrete subgroups $Γ< G$. These bordifications result from attaching $Γ$-quotients of suitable domains of proper discontinuity at infinity. We further prove that such bordifications are compactifications in the case…
Let $Γ$ be a one-ended, torsion-free hyperbolic group and let $G$ be a semisimple Lie group with finite center. Using the canonical JSJ splitting due to Sela, we define amalgam Anosov representations of $Γ$ into $G$ and prove that they form a domain of discontinuity for the action of $\mathrm{Out}(Γ)$. In the appendix, we prove, using projective Anosov Schottky groups, that if the restriction of the representation to every Fuchsian or rigid vertex group of the JSJ splitting of $Γ$ is Anosov, with respect to a fixed pair of opposite parabolic subgroups, then $ρ$ is amalgam Anosov.
For positive integers $p$ and $q$ let $G:=\textrm{PSO}(p,q)$ be the projective indefinite special-orthogonal group of signature $(p,q)$. We study counting problems in the Riemannian symmetric space $X_G$ of $G$ and in the pseudo-Riemannian hyperbolic space $\mathbb{H}^{p,q-1}$. Let $S\subset X_G$ be a totally geodesic copy of $X_{\textrm{PSO}(p,q-1)}$. We look at the orbit of $S$ under the action of a projective Anosov subgroup of $G$. For certain choices of such a geodesic copy we show that the number of points in this orbit which are at distance at most $t$ from $S$ is finite and asymptotic …
We prove that if $ϕ,ψ\in Out(F_N)$ are hyperbolic iwips (irreducible with irreducible powers) such that $<ϕ,ψ>\le Out(F_N)$ is not virtually cyclic then some high powers of $ϕ$ and $ψ$ generate a free subgroup of rank two, all of whose nontrivial elements are again hyperbolic iwips. Being a hyperbolic iwip element of $Out(F_N)$ is strongly analogous to being a pseudo-Anosov element of a mapping class group, so the above result provides analogs of "purely pseudo-Anosov" free subgroups of $Out(F_N)$.
We study the geometry and dynamics of discrete infinite covolume subgroups of higher rank semisimple Lie groups. We introduce and prove the equivalence of several conditions, capturing "rank one behavior'' of discrete subgroups of higher rank Lie groups. They are direct generalizations of rank one equivalents to convex cocompactness. We also prove that our notions are equivalent to the notion of Anosov subgroup, for which we provide a closely related, but simplified and more accessible reformulation, avoiding the geodesic flow of the group. We show moreover that the Anosov condition can be rel…
We prove a Morse Lemma for coarsely regular quasigeodesics in nonpositively curved symmetric spaces and euclidean buildings X. The main application is a simpler coarse geometric characterization of Morse subgroups of the isometry groups Isom(X) as undistorted subgroups which are coarsely uniformly regular. We show furthermore that they must be word hyperbolic. We introduced this class of discrete subgroups in our earlier paper, in the context of symmetric spaces, where various equivalent geometric and dynamical characterizations of word hyperbolic Morse subgroups were established, including th…
We show that all groups in a very large class of Coxeter groups are locally quasiconvex and have uniform membership problem solvable in quadratic time. If a group in the class satisfies a further hypothesis it is subgroup separable and relevant homomorphisms are also calculable in quadratic time. The algorithm also decides if a finitely generated subgroup has finite index.
We construct the first examples of finitely presented groups with quadratic Dehn function containing a finitely generated infinite torsion subgroup. These examples are "optimal" in the sense that the Dehn function of any such finitely presented group must be at least quadratic. Moreover, we show that for any $n\geq2^{48}$ such that $n$ is either odd or divisible by $2^9$, any infinite free Burnside group with exponent $n$ is a quasi-isometrically embedded subgroup of a finitely presented group with quadratic Dehn function satisfying the Congruence Extension Property.
This survey is based on a series of lectures that we gave at MSRI in Spring 2015 and on a series of papers, mostly written jointly with Joan Porti. Our goal here is to: 1. Describe a class of discrete subgroups $Γ<G$ of higher rank semisimple Lie groups, which exhibit some "rank 1 behavior". 2. Give different characterizations of the subclass of Anosov subgroups, which generalize convex-cocompact subgroups of rank 1 Lie groups, in terms of various equivalent dynamical and geometric properties (such as asymptotically embedded, RCA, Morse, URU). 3. Discuss the topological dynamics of discrete su…
Consider the modular group $\mbox{PSL}(2,\mathbb{Z})=\langle x, \, y \,|\, x^2=y^3=1\rangle$ generated by the transformations $x: z\mapsto -1/z$ and $y:z\mapsto (z-1)/z$. Let $H$ be the proper subgroup $\langle y,\,v\,|\, y^3=v^3=1\rangle$ of $\mbox{PSL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$, where $v=xyx$. The reference (M. Ashiq and Q. Mushtaq, {\em Actions of a subgroup of the modular group on an imaginary quadratic field}, Quasigropus and Related Systems {\bf 14} (2006), 133--146) proposed results concerning the action of $H$ on the subset $\{\frac{a+\sqrt{-n}}{c}\,|\, a,b=\frac{a^2+n}{c}, c \in \mathbb{Z}, c\ne…
We give a quadratic lower bound on the dimension of the space of conjugacy classes of subgroups of SL(n,R) that are limits under conjugacy of the diagonal subgroup. We give the first explicit examples of abelian n-1 dimensional subgroups of SL(n,R) which are not such a limit, however all such abelian groups are limits of the diagonal group iff n < 5.
We prove uniform north-south dynamics type results for the action of $φ\in Out(F_{N})$ on the space of projectivized geodesic currents $\mathbb{P}Curr(S)=\mathbb{P}Curr(F_{N})$, where $φ$ is induced by a pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism on a compact surface S with boundary such that $π_{1}(S)=F_{N}$. As an application, we show that for a subgroup $H\le Out(F_N)$, containing an iwip, either $H$ contains a hyperbolic iwip or $H$ is contained in the image in $Out(F_N)$ of the mapping class group of a surface with a single boundary component.
Bob Oliver conjectures that if $p$ is an odd prime and $S$ is a finite $p$-group, then the Oliver subgroup $\X(S)$ contains the Thompson subgroup $J_e(S)$. A positive resolution of this conjecture would give the existence and uniqueness of centric linking systems for fusion systems at odd primes. Using ideas and work of Glauberman, we prove that if $p \geq 5$, $G$ is a finite $p$-group, and $V$ is an elementary abelian $p$-group which is an F-module for $G$, then there exists a quadratic offender which is 2-subnormal (normal in its normal closure) in $G$. We apply this to show that Oliver's co…
We begin an investigation of the action of pseudo-Anosov elements of $\mathrm{Out}(\mathbf{F}_{2})$ on the Markoff-type varieties \[ \mathbb{X}_κ:\:x^{2}+y^{2}+z^{2}=xyz+2+κ\] over finite fields $\mathbb{F}_{p}$ with $p$ prime. We first make a precise conjecture about the permutation group generated by $\mathrm{Out}(\mathbf{F}_{2})$ on $\mathbb{X}_{-2}(\mathbb{F}_{p})$ that shows there is no obstruction at the level of the permutation group to a pseudo-Anosov acting `generically'. We prove that this conjecture is sharp. We show that for a fixed pseudo-Anosov $g\in\mathrm{Out}(\mathbf{F}_{2})$,…
We prove Clifford theoretic results on the representations of finite groups which only hold in characteristic $2$. Let $G$ be a finite group, let $N$ be a normal subgroup of $G$ and let $φ$ be an irreducible $2$-Brauer character of $N$ which is self-dual. We prove that there is a unique self-dual irreducible Brauer character $θ$ of $G$ such that $φ$ occurs with odd multiplicity in the restriction of $θ$ to $N$. Moreover this multiplicity is $1$. Conversely if $θ$ is an irreducible $2$-Brauer character of $G$ which is self-dual but not of quadratic type, the restriction of $θ$ to $N$ is a sum o…
The Johnson graph $J(v, k)$ has as vertices the $k$-subsets of $\mathcal{V}=\{1,\ldots, v\}$, and two vertices are joined by an edge if their intersection has size $k-1$. An \emph{$X$-strongly incidence-transitive code} in $J (v, k)$ is a proper vertex subset $Γ$ such that the subgroup $X$ of graph automorphisms leaving $Γ$ invariant is transitive on the set $Γ$ of `codewords', and for each codeword $Δ$, the setwise stabiliser $X_Δ$ is transitive on $Δ\times (\mathcal{V}\setminus Δ)$. We classify the \emph{$X$-strongly incidence-transitive codes} in $J(v,k)$ for which $X$ is the symplectic gro…
Generalizing a theorem of Springer, we construct an extended Arason filtration by subgroups for the Witt group of quadratic forms of a general valued field, relating these subgroups with Witt-like groups of the residue field, in arbitrary characteristic. These Witt-like groups involve totally singular quadratic forms. In the case of a discretely valued field, we recover the original Arason filtration.
