Let X be a proper hyperbolic geodesic metric space and let G be a closed subgroup of the isometry group Iso(X) of X. We show that if G is not amenable then its second continuous bounded cohomology group with coefficients the regular representation does not vanish. This yields some structure results for such groups.
The isometry group of a compact n-dimensional hyperbolic manifold is known to be finite. We show that for every n > 2, every finite group is realized as the full isometry group of some compact hyperbolic n-manifold. The cases n = 2 and n = 3 have been proven by Greenberg and Kojima, respectively. Our proof is non constructive: it uses counting results from subgroup growth theory and the strong approximation theorem to show that such manifolds exist.
Let $\mathcal{X}_S$ denote the class of spaces homeomorphic to two closed orientable surfaces of genus greater than one identified to each other along an essential simple closed curve in each surface. Let $\mathcal{C}_S$ denote the set of fundamental groups of spaces in $\mathcal{X}_S$. In this paper, we characterize the abstract commensurability classes within $\mathcal{C}_S$ in terms of the ratio of the Euler characteristic of the surfaces identified and the topological type of the curves identified. We prove that all groups in $\mathcal{C}_S$ are quasi-isometric by exhibiting a bilipschitz …
This paper overviews recent developments in the classification up to quasi-isometry of finitely generated groups, and more specifically of relatively hyperbolic groups.
For a proper geodesic metric space $X$, the Morse boundary $\partial_*X$ focuses on the hyperbolic-like directions in the space $X$. It is a quasi-isometry invariant. That is, a quasi-isometry between two hyperbolic spaces induces a homeomorphism on their boundaries. In this paper, we investigate additional structures on the Morse boundary $\partial_*X$ which determine $X$ up to a quasi-isometry. We prove that, for $X$ and $Y$ proper, cocompact spaces, a homeomorphism $f$ between their Morse boundaries is induced by a quasi-isometry if and only if $f$ and $f^{-1}$ are bihölder, or quasi-symmet…
We classify the normal subgroups K of the tetrahedral group Delta=[3,5,3]^+, the even subgroup of the Coxeter group Gamma=[3,5,3], with Delta/K isomorphic to a finite simple group L_2(q). We determine their normalisers N(K) in the isometry group of hyperbolic 3-space H^3, the isometry groups N(K)/K of the associated hyperbolic 3-manifolds H^3/K, and the symmetry groups N_{Gamma}(K)/K of the icosahedral tessellations of these manifolds, giving a detailed analysis of how L_2(q) acts on these tessellations.
Let X be an arbitrary hyperbolic geodesic metric space and let G be a countable non-elementary weakly acylindrical group of isometries of X. We show that the second bounded cohomology group of G with real coefficients or with coefficients in the regular representation is infinite dimensional. The result holds for any subgroup of the mapping class group of a non-exceptional surface of finite type not containing a normal subgroup which virtually split as a direct product.
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 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 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 prove that for every countable group G there exists a hyperbolic 3-manifold M such that the isometry group of M, the mapping class group of M, and the outer automorphism group of the fundamental group of M are isomorphic to G.
We prove that given a fixed radius $r$, the set of isometry-invariant probability measures supported on ``periodic'' radius $r$-circle packings of the hyperbolic plane is dense in the space of all isometry-invariant probability measures on the space of radius $r$-circle packings. By a periodic packing, we mean one with cofinite symmetry group. As a corollary, we prove the maximum density achieved by isometry-invariant probability measures on a space of radius $r$-packings of the hyperbolic plane is the supremum of densities of periodic packings. We also show that the maximum density function v…
Given a CAT(0) cube complex X, we show that if Aut(X) $\neq$ Isom(X) then there exists a full subcomplex of X which decomposes as a product with $\mathbb{R}^n$. As applications, we prove that if X is $δ$-hyperbolic, cocompact and 1-ended, then Aut(X) $=$ Isom(X) unless X is quasi-isometric to $\mathbb{H}^2$, and extend the rank-rigidity result of Caprace-Sageev to any lattice $ Γ\leq$ Isom(X).
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.
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…
Two groups have a common model geometry if they act properly and cocompactly by isometries on the same proper geodesic metric space. The Milnor-Schwarz lemma implies that groups with a common model geometry are quasi-isometric; however, the converse is false in general. We consider free products of uniform lattices in isometry groups of rank-1 symmetric spaces and prove, within each quasi-isometry class, residually finite groups that have a common model geometry are abstractly commensurable. Our result gives the first examples of hyperbolic groups that are quasi-isometric but do not virtually …
This paper shows that every Gromov hyperbolic group can be described by a finite subdivision rule acting on the 3-sphere. This gives a boundary-like sequence of increasingly refined finite cell complexes which carry all quasi-isometry information about the group. This extends a result from Cannon and Swenson in 1998 that hyperbolic groups can be described by a recursive sequence of overlapping coverings by possibly wild sets, and demonstrates the existence of non-cubulated groups that can be represented by subdivision rules.
This is a survey of higher-dimensional Kleinian groups, i.e., discrete isometry groups of the hyperbolic n-space for n greater than 3. Our main emphasis is on the topological and geometric aspects of higher-dimensional Kleinian groups and their contrast with the discrete groups of isometry of the hyperbolic 3-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.
The rank of a hierarchically hyperbolic space is the maximal number of unbounded factors in a standard product region. For hierarchically hyperbolic groups, this coincides with the maximal dimension of a quasiflat. Examples for which the rank coincides with familiar quantities include: the dimension of maximal Dehn twist flats for mapping class groups, the maximal rank of a free abelian subgroup for right-angled Coxeter and Artin groups, and, for the Weil--Petersson metric, the rank is the integer part of half the complex dimension of Teichmüller space. We prove that any quasiflat of dimension…
We make a few observations on the absence of geometric and topological rigidity for acylindrically hyperbolic and relatively hyperbolic groups. In particular, we demonstrate the lack of a well-defined limit set for acylindrical actions on hyperbolic spaces, even under the assumption of universality. We also prove a statement about relatively hyperbolic groups inspired by a remark by Groves, Manning, and Sisto about the quasi-isometry type of combinatorial cusps. Finally, we summarize these results in a table in order to assert a meta-statement about the decay of metric rigidity as the conditio…
On the one hand, we construct a continuous family of non-isometric proper CAT(-1) spaces on which the isometry group ${\rm Isom}(\mathbf{H}^{n})$ of the real hyperbolic $n$-space acts minimally and cocompactly. This provides the first examples of non-standard CAT(0) model spaces for simple Lie groups. On the other hand, we classify all continuous non-elementary actions of ${\rm Isom}(\mathbf{H}^{n})$ on the infinite-dimensional real hyperbolic space. It turns out that they are in correspondence with the exotic model spaces that we construct.
We show that the number of isometry classes of cusped hyperbolic $3$-manifolds that bound geometrically grows at least super-exponentially with their volume, both in the arithmetic and non-arithmetic settings.
Convex cocompact groups in real hyperbolic spaces with limit set a Pontryagin sphere
Mathematisches Institut der Universität Bonn(波恩大学数学研究所);Seoul National University(首尔大学);Univ Rennes, CNRS, IRMAR - UMR 6625(雷恩大学、法国国家科学研究中心、IRMAR联合研究实验室);Binghamton University(宾汉姆顿大学)
The problem of classifying, upto isometry (or similarity), the orientable spherical, Euclidean and hyperbolic 3-manifolds that arise by identifying the faces of a Platonic solid is formulated in the language of Coxeter groups. In the spherical and hyperbolic cases, this allows us to complete the classification begun by Lorimer, Richardson and Rubinstein and Best.
Let $G$ be a group. An element $g$ in $G$ is called reversible if it is conjugate to $g^{-1}$ within $G$, and called strongly reversible if it is conjugate to its inverse by an order two element of $G$. Let $\textbf{H}_{\mathbb H}^n$ be the $n$-dimensional quaternionic hyperbolic space. Let $\mathrm{PSp}(n,1)$ be the isometry group of $\textbf{H}_{\mathbb H}^n$. In this paper, we classify reversible and strongly reversible elements in $\mathrm{Sp}(n)$ and $\mathrm{Sp}(n,1)$. Also, we prove that all the elements of $\mathrm{PSp}(n,1)$ are strongly reversible.
The large-scale geometry of hyperbolic metric spaces exhibits many distinctive features, such as the stability of quasi-geodesics (the Morse Lemma), the visibility property, and the homeomorphism between visual boundaries induced by a quasi-isometry. We prove a number of closely analogous results for spaces of rank $n \ge 2$ in an asymptotic sense, under some weak assumptions reminiscent of nonpositive curvature. For this purpose we replace quasi-geodesic lines with quasi-minimizing (locally finite) $n$-cycles of $r^n$ volume growth; prime examples include $n$-cycles associated with $n$-quasif…
Sela introduced limit groups in his work on the Tarski problem, and showed that each limit group has a cyclic hierarchy. In this paper, a class of relatively hyperbolic groups, equipped with a hierarchy similar to the one for limit groups, is shown to be closed under quasi-isometry. Additionally, these groups share some of the properties of limit groups. In particular, groups quasi-isometric to limit groups are shown to be LERF and virtually toral relatively hyperbolic.
For real hyperbolic spaces, the dynamics of individual isometries and the geometry of the limit set of nonelementary discrete isometry groups have been studied in great detail. Most of the results were generalised to discrete isometry groups of simply connected Riemannian manifolds of pinched negative curvature. For symmetric spaces of higher rank, which contain isometrically embedded Euclidean planes, the situation becomes far more complicated. This paper is devoted to the study of the geometric limit set of ``nonelementary'' discrete isometry groups of higher rank symmetric spaces. We obtain…
We prove that there exists no irreducible representation of the identity component of the isometry group ${\rm PO}(1,n)$ of the real hyperbolic space of dimension $n$ into the group ${\rm O}(2,\infty)$, if $n\geq 3$. This is motivated by the existence of irreducible representations (arising from the spherical principal series) of ${\rm PO}(1,n)^{\circ}$ into the groups ${\rm O}(p,\infty)$ for other values of $p$.
Suppose G is a hyperbolic group whose boundary has topological dimension k. If the boundary is quasisymmetrically homeomorphic to an Ahlfors k-regular metric space, then, modulo a finite normal subgroup, G is isomorphic to a uniform lattice in the isometry group of hyperbolic (k+1)-space.
We propose the study of Markov chains on groups as a "quasi-isometry invariant" theory that encompasses random walks. In particular, we focus on certain classes of groups acting on hyperbolic spaces including (non-elementary) hyperbolic and relatively hyperbolic groups, acylindrically hyperbolic 3-manifold groups, as well as fundamental groups of certain graphs of groups with edge groups of subexponential growth. For those, we prove a linear progress result and various applications, and these lead to a Central Limit Theorem for random walks on groups quasi-isometric to the ones we consider.
Given a quasi-median graph $X$, the crossing graph $ΔX$ and the contact graph $ΓX$ are natural hyperbolic models of $X$. In this article, we show that the asymptotic translation length in $ΔX$ or $ΓX$ of an isometry of $X$ is always rational. Moreover, if $X$ is hyperbolic, these rational numbers can be written with denominators bounded above uniformly; this is not true in full generality. Finally, we show that, if the quasi-median graph $X$ is constructible in some sense, then there exists an algorithm computing the translation length of every computable isometry. Our results encompass contac…
Given a group $G$ acting geometrically on a systolic complex $X$ and a hyperbolic isometry $h \in G$, we study the associated action of $h$ on the systolic boundary $\partial X$. We show that $h$ has a canonical pair of fixed points on the boundary and that it acts trivially on the boundary if and only if it is virtually central. The key tool that we use to study the action of $h$ on $\partial X$ is the notion of a $K$-displacement set of $h$, which generalises the classical minimal displacement set of $h$. We also prove that systolic complexes equipped with a geometric action of a group are a…
The geodesic length spectrum of a complete, finite volume, hyperbolic 3-orbifold M is a fundamental invariant of the topology of M via Mostow-Prasad Rigidity. Motivated by this, the second author and Reid defined a two-dimensional analogue of the geodesic length spectrum given by the multiset of isometry types of totally geodesic, immersed, finite-area surfaces of M called the geometric genus spectrum. They showed that if $M$ is arithmetic and contains a totally geodesic surface, then the geometric genus spectrum of M determines its commensurability class. In this paper we define a coarser inv…
For finitely supported random walks on finitely generated groups $G$ we prove that the identity map on $G$ extends to a continuous equivariant surjection from the Martin boundary to the Floyd boundary, with preimages of conical points being singletons. This yields new results for relatively hyperbolic groups. Our key estimate relates the Green and Floyd metrics, generalizing results of Ancona for random walks on hyperbolic groups and of Karlsson for quasigeodesics. We then apply these techniques to obtain some results concerning the harmonic measure on the limit sets of geometrically finite is…
We study quasi-isometry invariants of Gromov hyperbolic spaces, focussing on the l_p-cohomology and closely related invariants such as the conformal dimension, combinatorial modulus, and the Combinatorial Loewner Property. We give new constructions of continuous l_p-cohomology, thereby obtaining information about the l_p-equivalence relation, as well as critical exponents associated with l_p-cohomology. As an application, we provide a flexible construction of hyperbolic groups which do not have the Combinatorial Loewner Property, extending and complementing earlier examples. Another consequenc…
Let $V$ be a vector space endowed with a non-degenerate quadratic form $Q$. If the base field $\mathbb{F}$ is different from $\mathbb{F}_2$, it is known that every isometry can be written as a product of reflections. In this article, we detail the structure of the poset of all minimal length reflection factorizations of an isometry. If $\mathbb{F}$ is an ordered field, we also study factorizations into positive reflections, i.e., reflections defined by vectors of positive norm. We characterize such factorizations, under the hypothesis that the squares of $\mathbb{F}$ are dense in the positive …