In this note, we announce the first results on quasi-isometric rigidity of non-nilpotent polycyclic groups. In particular, we prove that any group quasi-isometric to the three dimenionsional solvable Lie group Sol is virtually a lattice in Sol. We prove analogous results for groups quasi-isometric to $R \ltimes R^n$ where the semidirect product is defined by a diagonalizable matrix of determinant one with no eigenvalues on the unit circle. Our approach to these problems is to first classify all self quasi-isometries of the solvable Lie group. Our classification of self quasi-isometries for $R \ltimes \R^n$ proves a conjecture made by Farb and Mosher in [FM4].
Our techniques for studying quasi-isometries extend to some other classes of groups and spaces. In particular, we characterize groups quasi-isometric to any lamplighter group, answering a question of de la Harpe [dlH]. Also, we prove that certain Diestel-Leader graphs are not quasi-isometric to any finitely generated group, verifying a conjecture of Diestel and Leader from [DL] and answering a question of Woess from [SW],[Wo1]. We also prove that certain non-unimodular, non-hyperbolic solvable Lie groups are not quasi-isometric to finitely generated groups.
The results in this paper are contributions to Gromov's program for classifying finitely generated groups up to quasi-isometry [Gr2]. We introduce a new technique for studying quasi-isometries, which we refer to as "coarse differentiation".
In this paper, which is the continuation of [EFW2], we complete the proof of the quasi-isometric rigidity of Sol and the lamplighter groups. The results were announced in [EFW1].
We give a new proof that compact infra-solvmanifolds with isomorphic fundamental groups are smoothly diffeomorphic. More generally, we prove rigidity results for manifolds which are constructed using affine actions of virtually polycyclic groups on solvable Lie groups. Our results are derived from rigidity properties of subgroups in solvable linear algebraic groups.
Almost-isometries are quasi-isometries with multiplicative constant one. Lifting a pair of metrics on a compact space gives quasi-isometric metrics on the universal cover. Under some additional hypotheses on the metrics, we show that there is no almost-isometry between the universal covers. We show that Riemannian manifolds which are almost-isometric have the same volume growth entropy. We establish various rigidity results as applications.
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…
Let BS(1,n)= < a,b: aba^{-1}=b^n >. We prove that any finitely-generated group quasi-isometric to BS(1,n) is (up to finite groups) isomorphic to BS(1,n). We also show that any uniform group of quasisimilarities of the real line is bilipschitz conjugate to an affine group.
We prove that if $Γ$ is a lattice in the group of isometries of a symmetric space of non-compact type without euclidean factors, then the virtual cohomological dimension of $Γ$ equals its proper geometric dimension.
In this paper we initiate a study of the topological group $PPQI(G,H)$ of pattern-preserving quasi-isometries for $G$ a hyperbolic Poincare duality group and $H$ an infinite quasiconvex subgroup of infinite index in $G$. Suppose $\partial G$ admits a visual metric $d$ with $dim_H < dim_t +2$, where $dim_H$ is the Hausdorff dimension and $dim_t$ is the topological dimension of $(\partial G,d)$. a) If $Q_u$ is a group of pattern-preserving uniform quasi-isometries (or more generally any locally compact group of pattern-preserving quasi-isometries) containing $G$, then $G$ is of finite index in $…
We classify measures on a homogeneous space which are invariant under a certain solvable subgroup and ergodic under its unipotent radical. Our treatment is independent of characteristic. As a result we get the first measure classification for the action of semisimple subgroups without any characteristic restriction.
We show that for some negatively curved solvable Lie groups, all self quasiisometries are almost isometries. We prove this by showing that all self quasisymmetric maps of the ideal boundary (of the solvable Lie groups) are bilipschitz with respect to the visual metric. We also define parabolic visual metrics on the ideal boundary of Gromov hyperbolic spaces and relate them to visual metrics.
In this paper we provide the final steps in the proof, announced by Eskin-Fisher-Whyte, of quasi-isometric rigidity of a class of non-nilpotent polycyclic groups. To this end, we prove a rigidity theorem on the boundaries of certain negatively curved homogeneous spaces and combine it with work of Eskin-Fisher-Whyte and Peng on the structure of quasi-isometries of certain solvable Lie groups.
First let $G$ be a completely solvable Lie group. We recall the proof of the following result: Any closed subgroup of $G$ possesses a unique syndetic hull in $G$. As a consequence we conclude that any uniform subgroup $Γ$ of $G$ is strongly rigid in the sense of G. D. Mostow: If $α:Γ\to G$ is a homomorphism of Lie groups such that $α(Γ)$ is uniform in $G$, then there is an automorphism $φ$ of $G$ such that $φ\,|\,Γ=α$. Now let $G$ be an arbitrary (exponential) solvable Lie group. We discuss certain conditions on closed subgroups of $G$ which are sufficient for the existence of a syndetic hull.
Let $M\stackrel{ρ_0}{\curvearrowleft}S$ be a $C^\infty$ locally free action of a connected simply connected solvable Lie group $S$ on a closed manifold $M$. Roughly speaking, $ρ_0$ is parameter rigid if any $C^\infty$ locally free action of $S$ on $M$ having the same orbits as $ρ_0$ is $C^\infty$ conjugate to $ρ_0$. In this paper we prove two types of result on parameter rigidity. First let $G$ be a connected semisimple Lie group with finite center of real rank at least $2$ without compact factors nor simple factors locally isomorphic to $\mathrm{SO}_0(n,1)$ $(n\geq2)$ or $\mathrm{SU}(n,1)$ $(…
A measure-scaling quasi-isometry between two connected graphs is a quasi-isometry that is quasi-$κ$-to-one in a natural sense for some $κ>0$. For non-amenable graphs, all quasi-isometries are quasi-$κ$-to-one for any $κ>0$, while for amenable ones there exists at most one possible such $κ$. For an amenable graph $X$, we show that the set of possible $κ$ forms a subgroup of $\mathbb{R}_{>0}$ that we call the (measure-)scaling group of $X$. This group is invariant under measure-scaling quasi-isometries. In the context of Cayley graphs, this implies for instance that two uniform lattices in a giv…
In this paper, we prove that certain spaces are not quasi-isometric to Cayley graphs of finitely generated groups. In particular, we answer a question of Woess and prove a conjecture of Diestel and Leader by showing that certain homogeneous graphs are not quasi-isometric to a Cayley graph of a finitely generated group. This paper is the first in a sequence of papers proving results announced in [EFW0]. In particular, this paper contains many steps in the proofs of quasi-isometric rigidity of lattices in Sol and of the quasi-isometry classification of lamplighter groups. The proofs of those res…
We show that every group acting freely and vertex-transitively by isometries on a product of two regular trees of finite valence is boundary rigid. That means that every CAT(0) space that admits a geometric action of any such group has the visual boundary homeomorphic to a join of two copies of the Cantor set.
Let $G$ be a simply connected, solvable Lie group and $Γ$ a lattice in $G$. The deformation space $\mathcal{D}(Γ,G)$ is the orbit space associated to the action of $\Aut(G)$ on the space $\mathcal{X}(Γ,G)$ of all lattice embeddings of $Γ$ into $G$. Our main result generalises the classical rigidity theorems of Mal'tsev and Saitô for lattices in nilpotent Lie groups and in solvable Lie groups of real type. We prove that the deformation space of every Zariski-dense lattice $Γ$ in $G$ is finite and Hausdorff, provided that the maximal nilpotent normal subgroup of $G$ is connected. This implies th…
In this paper we find all solvable subgroups of Diff^omega(S^1) and classify their actions. We also investigate the C^r local rigidity of actions of the solvable Baumslag-Solitar groups on the circle. The investigation leads to two novel phenomena in the study of infinite group actions on compact manifolds. We exhibit a finitely generated group Gamma and a manifold M such that: * Gamma has exactly countably infinitely many effective real-analytic actions on M, up to conjugacy in Diff^omega(M); * every effective, real analytic action of Gamma on M is C^r locally rigid, for some r>=3, and for ev…
Given a discrete group $Γ$, a finite factor $\mathcal N$ and a real number $p\in [1, +\infty)$ with $p\neq 2,$ we are concerned with the rigidity of actions of $Γ$ by linear isometries on the $L_p$-spaces $L_p(\mathcal N)$ associated to $\mathcal N$. More precisely, we show that, when $Γ$ and $\mathcal N$ have both Property (T) and under some natural ergodicity condition, such an action $π$ is locally rigid in the group $G$ of linear isometries of $L_p(\mathcal N)$, that is, every sufficiently small perturbation of $π$ is conjugate to $π$ under $G$. As a consequence, when $Γ$ is an ICC Kazhdan…
We define a complete Riemannian manifold X to be large-scale conformally rigid if all groups that are quasi-isometric to some complete Riemannian manifold of bounded geometry conformal to X are quasi-isometric to X. We prove that many 3-manifolds, including Euclidean 3-space, hyperbolic 3-space and the product of the hyperbolic plane with the real line are large-scale conformally rigid. This implies new characterizations of groups that can act properly, cocompactly by isometries on those manifolds.
A Coxeter group acts properly and cocompactly by isometries on the Davis complex for the group; we call the quotient of the Davis complex under this action the Davis orbicomplex for the group. We prove the set of finite covers of the Davis orbicomplexes for the set of one-ended Coxeter groups is not topologically rigid. We exhibit a quotient of a Davis complex by a one-ended right-angled Coxeter group which has two finite covers that are homotopy equivalent but not homeomorphic. We discuss consequences for the abstract commensurability classification of Coxeter groups.
We prove the following rank rigidity result for proper CAT(0) spaces with one-dimensional Tits boundaries: Let $Γ$ be a group acting properly discontinuously, cocompactly, and by isometries on such a space $X$. If the Tits diameter of $\partial X$ equals $π$ and $Γ$ does not act minimally on $\partial X$, then $\partial X$ is a spherical building or a spherical join. If $X$ is also geodesically complete, then $X$ is a Euclidean building, higher rank symmetric space, or a nontrivial product. Much of the proof, which involves finding a Tits-closed convex building-like subset of $\partial X$, doe…
Proper proximality of a countable group is a notion that was introduced by Boutonnet, Ioana and Peterson as a tool to study rigidity properties of certain von Neumann algebras associated to groups or ergodic group actions. In the present paper, we establish the proper proximality of many groups acting on nonpositively curved spaces. First, these include many countable groups $G$ acting properly nonelementarily by isometries on a proper $\mathrm{CAT}(0)$ space $X$. More precisely, proper proximality holds in the presence of rank one isometries or when $X$ is a locally thick affine building with…
We approach the quasi-isometric classification questions on Lie groups by considering low dimensional cases and isometries alongside quasi-isometries. First, we present some new results related to quasi-isometries between Heintze groups. Then we will see how these results together with the existing tools related to isometries can be applied to groups of dimension 4 and 5 in particular. Thus we take steps towards determining all the equivalence classes of groups up to isometry and quasi-isometry. We completely solve the classification up to isometry for simply connected solvable groups in dimen…
Given an irreducible non-spherical non-affine (possibly non-proper) building $X$, we give sufficient conditions for a group $G < \Aut(X)$ to admit an infinite-dimensional space of non-trivial quasi-morphisms. The result applies to all irreducible (non-spherical and non-affine) Kac-Moody groups over integral domains. In particular, we obtain finitely presented simple groups of infinite commutator width, thereby answering a question of Valerii G. Bardakov from the Kourovka notebook. Independently of these considerations, we also include a discussion of rank one isometries of proper CAT(0) spaces…
In this paper the notion of Measure Equivalence (ME) of countable groups is studied. ME was introduced by Gromov as a measure-theoretic analog of quasi-isometries. All lattices in the same locally compact group are Measure Equivalent; this is one of the motivations for this notion. The main result of this paper is ME rigidity of higher rank lattices: any countable group which is ME to a lattice in a simple Lie group G of higher rank, is commensurable to a lattice in G.
We show that quasiconformal maps on many Carnot groups must be biLipschitz. In particular, this is the case for 2-step Carnot groups with reducible first layer. These results have implications for the rigidity of quasiisometries between negatively curved solvable Lie groups.
We study discrete groups from the view point of a dimension gap in connection to CAT(0) geometry. Developing studies by Brady-Crisp and Bridson, we show that there exist finitely presented groups of geometric dimension 2 which do not act properly on any proper CAT(0) spaces of dimension 2 by isometries, although such actions exist on CAT(0) spaces of dimension 3. Another example is the fundamental group, G, of a complete, non-compact, complex hyperbolic manifold M with finite volume, of complex-dimension n > 1. The group G is acting on the universal cover of M, which is isometric to H^n_C. It …
We provide new examples of translation actions on locally compact groups with the "local spectral gap property" introduced in \cite{BISG15}. This property has applications to strong ergodicity, the Banach-Ruziewicz problem, orbit equivalence rigidity, and equidecomposable sets. The main group of study here is the group $\text{Isom}(\mathbb{R}^d)$ of orientation-preserving isometries of the euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^d$, for $d \geq 3$. We prove that the translation action of a countable dense subgroup $Γ$ on Isom$(\mathbb R^d)$ has local spectral gap, whenever the translation action of the ro…
We describe all the self quasisymmetric maps on the ideal boundary of a particular negatively curved solvable Lie group. As applications, we prove a Liouville type theorem, and derive some rigidity properties for quasiisometries of the solvable Lie group.
Two groups are virtually isomorphic if they can be obtained one from the other via a finite number of steps, where each step consists in taking a finite extension or a finite index subgroup (or viceversa). Virtually isomorphic groups are always quasi-isometric, and a group G is quasi-isometrically rigid if every group quasi-isometric to G is virtually isomorphic to G. In this survey we describe quasi-isometric rigidity results for fundamental groups of manifolds which can be decomposed into geometric pieces. After stating by now classical results on lattices in semisimple Lie groups, we focus …
For $i= 1,2$, let $G_i$ be cocompact groups of isometries of hyperbolic space $\Hyp^n$ of real dimension $n$, $n \geq 3$. Let $H_i \subset G_i$ be infinite index quasiconvex subgroups satisfying one of the following conditions: 1) limit set of $H_i$ is a codimension one topological sphere. 2) limit set of $H_i$ is an even dimensional topological sphere. 3) $H_i$ is a codimension one duality group. This generalizes (1). In particular, if $n = 3$, $H_i$ could be any freely indecomposable subgroup of $G_i$. 4) $H_i$ is an odd-dimensional Poincare Duality group $PD(2k+1)$. This generalizes (2). We…
Torsion subgroups and fixed-point rigidity in CAT(0) geometry
Qiuzhen College, Tsinghua University（清华大学邱班）；Keio University（庆应义塾大学）；Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University（首都师范大学多学科研究院）；University of Geneva（日内瓦大学）；Uppsala University（乌普萨拉大学）；Tsinghua University（清华大学）；BIMSA（北京国际数学研究中心）
We study $2$-dimensional Artin groups of hyperbolic type from the viewpoint of measure equivalence, and establish rigidity theorems. We first prove that they are boundary amenable. So is every group acting discretely by simplicial isometries on a connected piecewise hyperbolic $\mathrm{CAT}(-1)$ simplicial complex with countably many simplices in finitely many isometry types, assuming that vertex stabilizers are boundary amenable. Consequently, they satisfy the Novikov conjecture. We then show that measure equivalent $2$-dimensional Artin groups of hyperbolic type have isomorphic fixed set gra…
We study lattices in non-positively curved metric spaces. Borel density is established in that setting as well as a form of Mostow rigidity. A converse to the flat torus theorem is provided. Geometric arithmeticity results are obtained after a detour through superrigidity and arithmeticity of abstract lattices. Residual finiteness of lattices is also studied. Riemannian symmetric spaces are characterised amongst CAT(0) spaces admitting lattices in terms of the existence of parabolic isometries.
In this paper we study certain groups of bilipschitz maps of the boundary minus a point of a negatively curved space that is an abelian-by-cyclic solvable Lie group, where the extension is given by a matrix whose eigenvalues all lie outside of the unit circle. The case where the extension matrix is diagonal was previously studied by Dymarz. As an application, combined with work of Eskin-Fisher-Whyte and Peng, we provide the last steps in the proof of quasi-isometric rigidity for a class of lattices in solvable Lie groups.
We say that a Lie algebra $\gfr$ is quasi-state rigid if every Ad-invariant continuous Lie quasi-state on it is the directional derivative of a homogeneous quasimorphism. Extending work of Entov and Polterovich, we show that every reductive Lie algebra, as well as the algebras $\C^n \rtimes Ł{u}(n)$, $n \geq 1$, are rigid. On the other hand, a Lie algebra which surjects onto the three-dimensional Heisenberg algebra is not rigid. For Lie algebras of dimension $\leq 3$ and for solvable Lie algebras which split over a codimension one abelian ideal, we show that this is the only obstruction to rig…
We describe the structure of quasiflats in two-dimensio\-nal Artin groups. We rely on the notion of metric systolicity developed in our previous work. Using this weak form of non-positive curvature and analyzing in details the combinatorics of tilings of the plane we describe precisely the building blocks for quasiflats in all two-dimensional Artin groups -- atomic sectors. This allows us to provide useful quasi-isometry invariants for such groups -- completions of atomic sectors, stable lines, and the intersection pattern of certain abelian subgroups. These are described combinatorially, in t…
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 …
We prove that if a quasi-isometry of warped cones is induced by a map between the base spaces of the cones, the actions must be conjugate by this map. The converse is false in general, conjugacy of actions is not sufficient for quasi-isometry of the respective warped cones. For a general quasi-isometry of warped cones, using the asymptotically faithful covering constructed in a previous work with Jianchao Wu, we deduce that the two groups are quasi-isometric after taking Cartesian products with suitable powers of the integers. Secondly, we characterise geometric properties of a group (coarse e…
We show that every finitely-generated non-amenable linear group over a field of characteristic zero admits an ergodic action which is rigid in the sense of Popa. If this group has trivial solvable radical, we prove that these actions can be chosen to be free. Moreover, we give a positive answer to a question raised by Ioana and Shalom concerning the existence of such a free action for $\mathbb{F}_2\times\Z$. More generally, we show that for groups $Γ$ considered by Fernos in \cite{Fer}, e.g. Zariski-dense subgroups in PSL$_n(\R)$, the product group $Γ\times \Z$ admit a free ergodic rigid actio…
Given a bounded valence, bushy tree T, we prove that any cobounded quasi-action of a group G on T is quasiconjugate to an action of G on another bounded valence, bushy tree T'. This theorem has many applications: quasi-isometric rigidity for fundamental groups of finite, bushy graphs of coarse PD(n) groups for each fixed n; a generalization to actions on Cantor sets of Sullivan's Theorem about uniformly quasiconformal actions on the 2-sphere; and a characterization of locally compact topological groups which contain a virtually free group as a cocompact lattice. Finally, we give the first exam…
