We show a rigid connection between two classical objects: the R.Thompson group F and the Dunce hat. A diagram group of a directed 2-complex contains a copy of F if and only if the complex contains a copy of the Dunce hat.
We say that a countable discrete group $Γ$ satisfies the invariant von Neumann subalgebras rigidity (ISR) property if every $Γ$- invariant von Neumann subalgebra $\mathcal{M}$ in $L(Γ)$ is of the form $L(Λ)$ for some normal subgroup $Λ\lhd Γ$. We show many ``negatively curved" groups, including all torsion free non-amenable hyperbolic groups and torsion free groups with positive first $L^2$-Betti number under a mild assumption, and certain finite direct product of them have this property. We also discuss whether the torsion-free assumption can be relaxed.
We show that any infinite collection $(Γ_n)_{n\in \mathbb N}$ of icc, hyperbolic, property (T) groups satisfies the following von Neumann algebraic \emph{infinite product rigidity} phenomenon. If $Λ$ is an arbitrary group such that $L(\oplus_{n\in \mathbb N} Γ_n)\cong L(Λ)$ then there exists an infinite direct sum decomposition $Λ=(\oplus_{n \in \mathbb N} Λ_n )\oplus A$ with $A$ icc amenable such that, for all $n\in \mathbb N$, up to amplifications, we have $L(Γ_n) \cong L(Λ_n)$ and $L(\oplus_{k\geq n} Γ_k )\cong L((\oplus_{k\geq n} Λ_k) \oplus A)$. The result is sharp and complements the pre…
Let $G$ be a non-compact semisimple Lie group with finite centre and finitely many components. We show that any finitely generated group $Γ$ which is quasi-isometric to an irreducible lattice in $G$ has the $R_\infty$-property, namely, that there are infinitely $ϕ$-twisted conjugacy classes for every automorphism $ϕ$ of $Γ$. Also, we show that any lattice in $G$ has the $R_\infty$-property, extending our earlier result for irreducible lattices.
In this article we study property (T) groups arising from Rips construction in geometric group theory in the spirit of \cite{CDK19} and certain inductive limit groups from this class. Using interplay between Popa's deformation/rigidity and methods in geometric group theory we are able to extend the class of groups considered in \cite{CDK19} that remembers semidirect product features while passing to the group von Neumann algebras. Combining these results with the method developed in \cite{CDHK20} we are able to produce more examples of property (T) group factors with trivial fundamental group.…
We introduce and investigate the rigidity property of rank gradient in the case of the group $\mathcal G$ of intermediate growth constructed by the first author. We show that $\mathcal G$ is normally $(f,g)$-RG rigid where $f(n)=\log(n)$ and $g(n) =\log(\log(n)).$
We prove several cases of Zimmer's conjecture for actions of higher-rank cocompact lattices on low dimensional manifolds. For example, if $Γ$ is a cocompact lattice in $\mathrm{Sl}(n, \mathbb R)$, $M$ is a compact manifold, and $ω$ a volume form on $M$ we show that any homomorphism $ρ\colon Γ\rightarrow \mathrm{Diff}(M)$ has finite image if the dimension of $M$ is less than $n-1$ and that any homomorphism $ρ\colon Γ\rightarrow \mathrm{Diff}(M,ω)$ has finite image if the dimension of $M$ is less than $n$. The key step in the proof is to show any such action has uniform subexponential growth of …
Let $Γ$ be a non-elementary Kleinian group and $H<Γ$ a finitely generated, proper subgroup. We prove that if $Γ$ has finite co-volume, then the profinite completions of $H$ and $Γ$ are not isomorphic. If $H$ has finite index in $Γ$, then there is a finite group onto which $H$ maps but $Γ$ does not. These results streamline the existing proofs that there exist full-sized groups that are profinitely rigid in the absolute sense. They build on a circleof ideas that can be used to distinguish among the profinite completions of subgroups of finite index in other contexts, e.g. limit groups. We const…
We show that the (topological) full group of a minimal pseudogroup over the Cantor set satisfies various rigidity phenomena of topological dynamical and combinatorial nature. Our main result applies to its possible homomorphisms into other groups of homeomorphisms, and implies that arbitrary homomorphisms between the full groups of a vast class of pseudogroups must extend to continuous morphisms between pseudogroups (in particular giving rise to equivariant maps at the level of spaces). As applications, we obtain explicit obstructions to the existence of embeddings between full groups in terms…
Actions of a locally compact group G on a measure space X give rise to unitary representations of G on Hilbert spaces. We review results on the rigidity of these actions from the spectral point of view, that is, results about the existence of a spectral gap for associated averaging operators and their consequences. We will deal both with spaces X with an infinite measure as well as with spaces with an invariant probability measure. The spectral gap property has several striking applications to group theory, geometry, ergodic theory, operator algebras, graph theory, theoretical computer science…
We give a criterion for the rigidity of actions on homogeneous spaces. Let $G$ be a real Lie group, $Λ$ a lattice in $G$, and $Γ$ a subgroup of the affine group Aff$(G)$ stabilizing $Λ$. Then the action of $Γ$ on $G/Λ$ has the rigidity property in the sense of S. Popa, if and only if the induced action of $Γ$ on $\mathbb{P}(\frak{g})$ admits no $Γ$-invariant probability measure, where $\frak{g}$ is the Lie algebra of $G$. This generalizes results of M. Burger, and A. Ioana and Y. Shalom. As an application, we establish rigidity for the action of a class of groups acting by automorphisms on nil…
In \cite{Kramer11} Kramer proves for a large class of semisimple Lie groups that they admit just one locally compact $σ$-compact Hausdorff topology compatible with the group operations. We present two different methods of generalising this to the group of rational points of an absolutely quasi-simple algebraic group over a non-archimedean local field (the second method only achieves this on the additional hypothesis that the group is isotropic). The first method of argument involves demonstrating that, given any topological group $G$ which is totally disconnected, locally compact, $σ$-compact,…
We give a sufficient condition for parameter rigidity of actions of solvable Lie groups, by vanishing of (uncountably many) first cohomologies of the orbit foliations. In some cases, we can prove that vanishing of finitely many cohomologies is sufficient. For this purpose we use a rigidity property of quasiisometry. As an application we prove some actions of 2-step solvable Lie groups on mapping tori are parameter rigid. Special cases of these actions are considered in a paper of Matsumoto and Mitsumatsu. We also remark on the relation between transitive locally free actions of solvable Lie gr…
We consider expansive group actions on a compact metric space containing a special fixed point denoted by $0$, and endomorphisms of such systems whose forward trajectories are attracted toward $0$. Such endomorphisms are called asymptotically nilpotent, and we study the conditions in which they are nilpotent, that is, map the entire space to $0$ in a finite number of iterations. We show that for a large class of discrete groups, this property of nil-rigidity holds for all expansive actions that satisfy a natural specification-like property and have dense homoclinic points. Our main result in p…