We prove that, if a group is relatively hyperbolic, the parabolic subgroups are virtually nilpotent if and only if there exists a hyperbolic space with bounded geometry on which it acts geometrically finitely.
This provides, by use of M. Bonk and O. Schramm embedding theorem, a very short proof of the finiteness of asymptotic dimension of relatively hyperbolic groups with virtually nilpotent parabolic subgroups (which is known to imply Novikov conjectures
The purpose of this note is to provide a short alternate proof that (combined with a theorem proven by Szczepanski) shows that a group which is relatively hyperbolic in the sense of the definition of Gromov is relatively hyperbolic in the sense of the definition of Farb.
Dehn fillings for relatively hyperbolic groups generalize the topological Dehn surgery on a non-compact hyperbolic $3$-manifold such as a hyperbolic knot complement. We prove a rigidity result saying that if two non-elementary relatively hyperbolic groups without suitable splittings have sufficiently many isomorphic Dehn fillings, then these groups are in fact isomorphic. Our main application is a solution to the isomorphism problem in the class of non-elementary relatively hyperbolic groups with residually finite parabolic groups and with no suitable splittings.
We show that if a group is not virtually cyclic and is hyperbolic relative to a family of proper subgroups, then it has a hyperbolically embedded subgroup which contains a finitely generated non-abelian free group as a finite index subgroup.
Solvability of the conjugacy problem for relatively hyperbolic groups was announced by Gromov [Hyperbolic groups, MSRI publications 8 (1987)]. Using the definition of Farb of a relatively hyperbolic group in the strong sense [B Farb, Relatively hyperbolic groups, Geom. Func. Anal. 8 (1998) 810-840], we prove this assertion. We conclude that the conjugacy problem is solvable for fundamental groups of complete, finite-volume, negatively curved manifolds, and for finitely generated fully residually free groups.
In this paper we prove that if some relatively hyperbolic groups have Bowditch boundary homeomorphic to the $n$-sphere, then they are also relatively hyperbolic with respect to another set of parabolic subgroups and its Bowditch boundary is homeomorphic to the $n-1$-dimensional Sierpiński carpet.
We show the equivalence of several characterizations of relative hyperbolicity for metric spaces, and obtain extra information about geodesics in a relatively hyperbolic space. We apply this to characterize hyperbolically embedded subgroups in terms of nice actions on (relatively) hyperbolic spaces. We also study the divergence of (properly) relatively hyperbolic groups, in particular showing that it is at least exponential. Our main tool is the generalization of a result proved by Bowditch for hyperbolic spaces: if a family of paths in a space satisfies a list of properties specific to geodes…
We explore the combination theorem for a group G splitting as a graph of relatively hyperbolic groups. Using the fine graph approach to relative hyperbolicity, we find short proofs of the relative hyperbolicity of G under certain conditions. We then provide a criterion for the relative quasiconvexity of a subgroup H depending on the relative quasiconvexity of the intersection of H with the vertex groups of G. We give an application towards local relative quasiconvexity.
We introduce a number of new tools for the study of relatively hyperbolic groups. First, given a relatively hyperbolic group G, we construct a nice combinatorial Gromov hyperbolic model space acted on properly by G, which reflects the relative hyperbolicity of G in many natural ways. Second, we construct two useful bicombings on this space. The first of these, "preferred paths", is combinatorial in nature and allows us to define the second, a relatively hyperbolic version of a construction of Mineyev. As an application, we prove a group-theoretic analog of the Gromov-Thurston 2πTheorem in the …
Baker and Riley proved that a free group of rank 3 can be contained in a hyperbolic group as a subgroup for which the Cannon-Thurston map is not well-defined. By using their result, we show that the phenomenon occurs for not only a free group of rank 3 but also every non-elementary hyperbolic group. In fact it is shown that a similar phenomenon occurs for every non-elementary relatively hyperbolic group.
Let $Γ$ be a finitely generated group which is hyperbolic relative to a finite family $\{H_1,...,H_n\}$ of subgroups. We prove that $Γ$ is uniformly embeddable in a Hilbert space if and only if each subgroup $H_i$ is uniformly embeddable in a Hilbert space.
We introduce a new quasi-isometry invariant, called the divergence spectrum, to study finitely generated groups. We compare the concept of divergence spectrum with the other classical notions of divergence and we examine the divergence spectra of relatively hyperbolic groups. We show the existence of an infinite collection of right-angled Coxeter groups which all have exponential divergence but they all have different divergence spectra. We also study Morse boundaries of relatively hyperbolic groups and examine their connection with Bowditch boundaries.
In this paper, we prove a limit set intersection theorem in relatively hyperbolic groups. Our approach is based on a study of dynamical quasiconvexity of relatively quasiconvex subgroups. Using dynamical quasiconvexity, many well-known results on limit sets of geometrically finite Kleinian groups are derived in general convergence groups. We also establish dynamical quasiconvexity of undistorted subgroups in finitely generated groups with nontrivial Floyd boundary.
In this paper it is proved that relative hyperbolicity is an invariant of quasi-isometry. As a byproduct of the arguments, simplified definitions of relative hyperbolicity are obtained. In particular we obtain a new definition very similar to the one of hyperbolicity, relying on the existence for every quasi-geodesic triangle of a central left coset of peripheral subgroup.
For any finitely generated, non-elementary, torsion-free group $G$ that is hyperbolic relative to $\mathbb P$, we show that there exists a group $G^*$ containing $G$ such that $G^*$ is hyperbolic relative to $\mathbb P$ and $G$ is not relatively quasiconvex in $G^*$. This generalizes a result of I. Kapovich for hyperbolic groups. We also prove that any torsion-free group $G$ that is non-elementary and hyperbolic relative to $\mathbb P$, contains a rank 2 free subgroup $F$ such that the group generated by "randomly" chosen elements $r_1,...,r_m$ in $F$ is aparabolic, malnormal in $G$ and quasic…
We show that for any group $G$ that is hyperbolic relative to subgroups that admit a proper affine isometric action on a uniformly convex Banach space, then $G$ acts properly on a uniformly convex Banach space as well.
We show that Out(G) is residually finite if G is a one-ended group that is hyperbolic relative to virtually polycyclic subgroups. More generally, if G is one-ended and hyperbolic relative to proper residually finite subgroups, the group of outer automorphisms preserving the peripheral structure is residually finite. We also show that Out(G) is virtually p-residually finite for every prime p if G is one-ended and toral relatively hyperbolic, or infinitely-ended and virtually p-residually finite.
We show that every virtually torsion-free subgroup of the outer automorphism group of a conjugacy separable relatively hyperbolic group is residually finite. As a direct consequence, we obtain that the outer automorphism group of a limit group is residually finite.
We study different notions of quasiconvexity for a subgroup $H$ of a relatively hyperbolic group $G.$ The first result establishes equivalent conditions for $H$ to be relatively quasiconvex. As a corollary we obtain that the relative quasiconvexity is equivalent to the dynamical quasiconvexity. This answers to a question posed by D. Osin \cite{Os06}. In the second part of the paper we prove that a subgroup $H$ of a finitely generated relatively hyperbolic group $G$ acts cocompactly outside its limit set if and only if it is (absolutely) quasiconvex and every its infinite intersection with a pa…
It was proved by Mineyev and Yaman that, if $(Γ, Γ')$ is a relatively hyperbolic pair, the comparison map $$ H_b^k(Γ, Γ'; V) \to H^k(Γ, Γ'; V) $$ is surjective for every $k \ge 2$, and any bounded $Γ$--module $V$. By exploiting results of Groves and Manning, we give another proof of this result. Moreover, we prove the opposite implication under weaker hypotheses than the ones required by Mineyev and Yaman.
An automorphism $α$ of a group $G$ is normal if it fixes every normal subgroup of $G$ setwise. We give an algebraic description of normal automorphisms of relatively hyperbolic groups. In particular, we prove that for any relatively hyperbolic group $G$, $Inn(G)$ has finite index in the subgroup $Aut_n(G)$ of normal automorphisms. If, in addition, $G$ is non-elementary and has no non-trivial finite normal subgroups, then $Aut_n(G)=Inn(G)$. As an application, we show that $Out(G)$ is residually finite for every finitely generated residually finite group $G$ with more than one end.
We show that every virtually torsion-free subgroup of the outer automorphism group of a conjugacy separable hyperbolic group is residually finite. As a result, we are able to prove that the group of outer automorphisms of every finitely generated Fuchsian group and of every free-by-finite group is resudually finite. We also generalize the main result for relatively hyperbolic groups.
We present a careful approximation of the geodesics in trees of hyperbolic or relatively hyperbolic groups. As an application we prove a combination theorem for finite graphs of relatively hyperbolic groups, with both Farb's and Gromov's definitions.
We prove the existence of Cannon-Thurston maps for Kleinian groups corresponding to pared manifolds whose boundary is incompressible away from cusps. We also describe the structure of these maps in terms of ending laminations.
We study the geometry of nonrelatively hyperbolic groups. Generalizing a result of Schwartz, any quasi-isometric image of a non-relatively hyperbolic space in a relatively hyperbolic space is contained in a bounded neighborhood of a single peripheral subgroup. This implies that a group being relatively hyperbolic with nonrelatively hyperbolic peripheral subgroups is a quasi-isometry invariant. As an application, Artin groups are relatively hyperbolic if and only if freely decomposable. We also introduce a new quasi-isometry invariant of metric spaces called metrically thick, which is sufficien…
Tree-graded spaces are generalizations of R-trees. They appear as asymptotic cones of groups (when the cones have cut points). Since many questions about endomorphisms and automorphisms of groups, solving equations over groups, studying embeddings of a group into another group, etc. lead to actions of groups on the asymptotic cones, it is natural to consider actions of groups on tree-graded spaces. We develop a theory of such actions which generalizes the well known theory of groups acting on R-trees. As applications of our theory, we describe, in particular, relatively hyperbolic groups with …
In this paper we show that the existence of a non-parabolic local cut point in the Bowditch boundary $\partial(G,\mathbb{P})$ of a relatively hyperbolic group $(G,\mathbb{P})$ implies that $G$ splits over a $2$-ended subgroup. This theorem generalizes a theorem of Bowditch from the setting of hyperbolic groups to relatively hyperbolic groups. As a consequence we are able to generalize a theorem of Kapovich and Kleiner by classifying the homeomorphism type of $1$-dimensional Bowditch boundaries of relatively hyperbolic groups which satisfy certain properties, such as no splittings over $2$-ende…
In this paper, we study the Hausdorff dimension of the Floyd and Bowditch boundaries of a relatively hyperbolic group, and show that for the Floyd metric and shortcut metrics respectively, they are are both equal to a constant times the growth rate of the group. In the proof, we study a special class of conical points called uniformly conical points and establish that, in both boundaries, there exists a sequence of Alhfors regular sets with dimension tending to the Hausdorff dimension and these sets consist of uniformly conical points.
We define relatively quasiconvex subgroups of relatively hyperbolic groups in the sense of Osin and show that such subgroups have expected properties. Also we state several definitions equivalent to the definition of relatively hyperbolic groups in the sense of Osin.
We show that a relatively hyperbolic group quasi-isometrically embeds in a product of finitely many trees if the peripheral subgroups do, and we provide an estimate on the minimal number of trees needed. Applying our result to the case of 3-manifolds, we show that fundamental groups of closed 3-manifolds have linearly controlled asymptotic dimension at most 8. To complement this result, we observe that fundamental groups of Haken 3-manifolds with non-empty boundary have asymptotic dimension 2.
For relatively hyperbolic groups, we investigate conditions guaranteeing that the subgroup generated by two relatively quasiconvex subgroups $Q_1$ and $Q_2$ is relatively quasiconvex and isomorphic to $Q_1 \ast_{Q_1 \cap Q_2} Q_2$. The main theorem extends results for quasiconvex subgroups of word-hyperbolic groups, and results for discrete subgroups of isometries of hyperbolic spaces.
Suppose that all hyperbolic groups are residually finite. The following statements follow: In relatively hyperbolic groups with peripheral structures consisting of finitely generated nilpotent subgroups, quasiconvex subgroups are separable; Geometrically finite subgroups of non-uniform lattices in rank one symmetric spaces are separable; Kleinian groups are subgroup separable. We also show that LERF for finite volume hyperbolic 3-manifolds would follow from LERF for closed hyperbolic 3-manifolds. The method is to reduce, via combination and filling theorems, the separability of a quasiconvex s…
We prove that a non-elementary relatively hyperbolic group is statistically hyperbolic with respect to every finite generating set. We also establish statistical hyperbolicity for certain direct products of two groups, one of which is relatively hyperbolic.
Using a probabilistic argument we show that the second bounded cohomology of an acylindrically hyperbolic group $G$ (e.g., a non-elementary hyperbolic or relatively hyperbolic group, non-exceptional mapping class group, ${\rm Out}(F_n)$, \dots) embeds via the natural restriction maps into the inverse limit of the second bounded cohomologies of its virtually free subgroups, and in fact even into the inverse limit of the second bounded cohomologies of its hyperbolically embedded virtually free subgroups. This result is new and non-trivial even in the case where $G$ is a (non-free) hyperbolic gro…
A group theoretic version of Dehn surgery is studied. Starting with an arbitrary relatively hyperbolic group $G$ we define a peripheral filling procedure, which produces quotients of $G$ by imitating the effect of the Dehn filling of a complete finite volume hyperbolic 3--manifold $M$ on the fundamental group $π_1(M)$. The main result of the paper is an algebraic counterpart of Thurston's hyperbolic Dehn surgery theorem. We also show that peripheral subgroups of $G$ 'almost' have the Congruence Extension Property and the group $G$ is approximated (in an algebraic sense) by its quotients obtain…
We build quasi--isometry invariants of relatively hyperbolic groups which detect the hyperbolic parts of the group; these are variations of the stable dimension constructions previously introduced by the authors. We prove that, given any finite collection of finitely generated groups $\mathcal{H}$ each of which either has finite stable dimension or is non-relatively hyperbolic, there exist infinitely many quasi--isometry types of one--ended groups which are hyperbolic relative to $\mathcal{H}$. The groups are constructed using small cancellation theory over free products.
We discuss the notion of the universal relatively hyperbolic structure on a group which is used in order to characterize relatively hyperbolic structures on the group. We also study relations between relatively hyperbolic structures on a group and relative quasiconvexity for subgroups of the group.
We show that the aspherical manifolds produced via the relative strict hyperbolization of polyhedra enjoy many group-theoretic and topological properties of open finite volume negatively pinched manifolds, including relative hyperbolicity, nonvanishing of simplicial volume, co-Hopf property, finiteness of outer automorphism group, absence of splitting over elementary subgroups, and acylindricity. In fact, some of these properties hold for any compact aspherical manifold with incompressible aspherical boundary components, provided the fundamental group is hyperbolic relative to fundamental grou…
The asymptotic bound for a length-based attack on the Conjugacy Search Problem in relatively hyperbolic groups is cubic for hyperbolic elements and a "small" polynomial for parabolic elements, depending on the Conjugacy Search Problem for the peripheral subgroups. The bound for relatively hyperbolic groups in this paper is a significant improvement on previous work.
Consider a group G and a family $\mathcal{A}$ of subgroups of G. We say that vertex finiteness holds for splittings of G over $\mathcal{A}$ if, up to isomorphism, there are only finitely many possibilities for vertex stabilizers of minimal G-trees with edge stabilizers in $\mathcal{A}$. We show vertex finiteness when G is a toral relatively hyperbolic group and $\mathcal{A}$ is the family of abelian subgroups. We also show vertex finiteness when G is hyperbolic relative to virtually polycyclic subgroups and $\mathcal{A}$ is the family of virtually cyclic subgroups; if moreover G is one-ended, …
Suppose a group $G$ is relatively hyperbolic with respect to a collection $\PP$ of its subgroups and also acts properly, cocompactly on a $\CAT(0)$ (or $δ$--hyperbolic) space $X$. The relatively hyperbolic structure provides a relative boundary $\partial(G,\PP)$. The $\CAT(0)$ structure provides a different boundary at infinity $\partial X$. In this article, we examine the connection between these two spaces at infinity. In particular, we show that $\partial (G,\PP)$ is $G$--equivariantly homeomorphic to the space obtained from $\partial X$ by identifying the peripheral limit points of the sam…
In this paper we give new requirements that a tree of $δ$-hyperbolic spaces has to satisfy in order to be $δ$-hyperbolic itself. As an application, we give a simple proof that limit groups are relatively hyperbolic.
Let $G$ be a group hyperbolic relative to a finite collection of subgroups $\mathcal P$. Let $\mathcal F$ be the family of subgroups consisting of all the conjugates of subgroups in $\mathcal P$, all their subgroups, and all finite subgroups. Then there is a cocompact model for $E_{\mathcal F} G$. This result was known in the torsion-free case. In the presence of torsion, a new approach was necessary. Our method is to exploit the notion of dismantlability. A number of sample applications are discussed.
The paper consists of two parts. In the first one we show that a relatively hyperbolic group $G$ splits as a star graph of groups whose central vertex group is finitely generated and the other vertex groups are maximal parabolic subgroups. As a corollary we obtain that every group which admits 3-discontinuous and 2-cocompact action by homeomorphisms on a compactum is finitely generated with respect to a system of parabolic subgroups. The second part essentially uses the methods of topological entourages developed in the first part. Using also Floyd metrics we obtain finer properties of finitel…
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 demonstrate the quasi-isometry invariance of two important geometric structures for relatively hyperbolic groups: the coned space and the cusped space. As applications, we produce a JSJ-decomposition for relatively hyperbolic groups which is invariant under quasi-isometries and outer automorphisms, as well as a related splitting of the quasi-isometry groups of relatively hyperbolic groups.
We consider a coarse version of the marked length spectrum rigidity: given a group with two left invariant metrics, if the marked length spectrum (the translation length function) under the two metrics are the same, then the two metrics are uniformly close. We prove the rigidity theorem for relatively hyperbolic groups. This generalizes a result of Fujiwara.
We study automorphisms of a relatively hyperbolic group G. When G is one-ended, we describe Out(G) using a preferred JSJ tree over subgroups that are virtually cyclic or parabolic. In particular, when G is toral relatively hyperbolic, Out(G) is virtually built out of mapping class groups and subgroups of GL_n(Z) fixing certain basis elements. When more general parabolic groups are allowed, these subgroups of GL_n(Z) have to be replaced by McCool groups: automorphisms of parabolic groups acting trivially (i.e. by conjugation) on certain subgroups. Given a malnormal quasiconvex subgroup P of a h…
We describe the kernel of the canonical map from the Floyd boundary of a relatively hyperbolic group to its Bowditch boundary. Using our methods we then prove that a finitely generated group $H$ admitting a quasi-isometric map $ϕ$ into a relatively hyperbolic group $G$ is relatively hyperbolic with respect to a system of subgroups whose image under $ϕ$ is situated in a uniformly bounded distance from the parabolic subgroups of $G$.
Let $G$ be a relatively hyperbolic group that admits a decomposition into a finite graph of relatively hyperbolic groups structure with quasi-isometrically (qi) embedded condition. We prove that the set of conjugates of all the vertex and edge groups satisfy the limit set intersection property for conical limit points. This result is motivated by the work of Sardar for graph of hyperbolic groups.
We prove that there is an algorithm to determine whether a tuple of elements in a toral relatively hyperbolic group G is in the automorphic orbit of the other tuple.
