An algebraic classification of some solvable groups of homeomorphisms
Collin Bleak
备注：
29 pages, 1 figure, preprint. This version has an improved introduction (better references, for instance), and a completely re-written section on the split group. The section on the split group is more detailed and corrects a minor inaccuracy
We produce two separate algebraic descriptions of the isomorphism classes of the solvable subgroups of the group PLo(I) of piecewise-linear orientation-preserving homeomorphisms of the unit interval under the operation of composition, and also of the solvable subgroups of the generalized R. Thompson groups F_n. The first description is as a set of isomorphism classes of groups which is closed under three algebraic operations, and the second is as the set of isomorphism classes of subgroups of a countable collection of easily described groups. We show the two descriptions are equivalent.
Let $PL_0(I)$ represent the group of orientation-preserving piecewise-linear homeomorphisms of the unit interval which admit finitely many breaks in slope, under the operation of composition. We find a non-solvable group $W$ and show that $W$ embeds in every non-solvable subgroup of $PL_0(I)$. We find mild conditions under which other non-solvable subgroups ($B$, $(\wr\Z\wr)^{\infty}$, $(\Z\wr)^{\infty}$, and $^{\infty}(\wr\Z)$) embed in subgroups of $PL_0(I)$. We show that all solvable subgroups of $PL_0(I)$ embed in all non-solvable subgroups of $PL_0(I)$. These results continue to apply if …
We investigate subgroups of the group PLo(I) of piecewise-linear, orientation-preserving homeomorphisms of the unit interval with finitely many breaks in slope, under the operation of composition, and also subgroups of the generalized Thompson groups F_n. We find geometric criteria determining the derived length of any such group, and use this criteria to produce a geometric classification of the solvable and non-solvable subgroups of PLo(I) and of the F_n. We also show that any standard restricted wreath product C wr T (of non-trivial groups) that embeds in PLo(I) or F_n must have T isomorphi…
We investigate subgroups of the group PLo(I) of piecewise-linear, orientation preserving homeomorphisms of the unit interval with finitely many breaks in slope, and also subgroups of Thompson's group F. We find geometric criteria determining the derived length of any such group, and use this criteria to classify the solvable and non-solvable subgroups of PLo(I) and of F. Let H be a subgroup of PL_o(I) or F. We find that H is solvable if and only if H is isomorphic to a group in a well described class R of groups. We also find that H is non-solvable if and only if we can embed a copy of a speci…
For the class of solvable groups of homeomorphisms of the line preserving orientation and containing a freely acting element, we establish the metabelianity of the quotient group $G/H_G$, where the elements of the normal subgroup $H_G$ are stabilizers of the minimal set. This fact is an important element in the classification theorem, used, in particular, in the study of the Thompson's group $F$.
We study actions of groups by homeomorphisms on $\mathbf{R}$ (or an interval) that are minimal, have solvable germs at $\pm \infty$ and contain a pair of elements of a certain type. We call such actions coherent. We establish that such an action is rigid, i.e. any two such actions of the same group are topologically conjugate. We also establish that the underlying group is always non elementary amenable, but satisfies that every proper quotient is solvable. As a first application, we demonstrate that any coherent group action $G<Homeo^+(\mathbf{R})$ that produces a nonamenable equivalence rela…
In this partly expository paper, we study the set A of groups of orientation-preserving homeomorphisms of the circle S^1 which do not admit non-abelian free subgroups. We use classical results about homeomorphisms of the circle and elementary dynamical methods to derive various new and old results about the groups in A. Of the known results, we include some results from a family of results of Beklaryan and Malyutin, and we also give a new proof of a theorem of Margulis. Our primary new results include a detailed classification of the solvable subgroups of R. Thompson's group T .
We study algebraic properties of groups of PL or smooth homeomorphisms of unit cubes in any dimension, fixed pointwise on the boundary, and more generally PL or smooth groups acting on manifolds and fixing pointwise a submanifold of codimension 1 (resp. codimension 2), and show that such groups are locally indicable (resp. circularly orderable). We also give many examples of interesting groups that can act, and discuss some other algebraic constraints that such groups must satisfy, including the fact that a group of PL homeomorphisms of the n-cube (fixed pointwise on the boundary) contains no …
This manuscript represents the author's PhD dissertation thesis.The first part studies decision problems in Thompson's groups F,T,V and some generalizations. The simultaneous conjugacy problem is determined to be solvable for Thompson's group F and suitable larger groups of piecewise-linear homeomorphisms of the unit interval. We determine algorithms to compute roots and centralizers in these groups and to detect periodic points and their behavior by looking at a particular diagram associated to an element. In the second part, we describe the structure of subgroups of the group of all homeomor…
Let $G$ be a semisimple affine algebraic group defined over a field $k$ of characteristic zero. We describe all the maximal connected solvable subgroups of $G$, defined over $k$, up to conjugation by rational points of $G$.
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.
We represent the coordinate ring of algebraic hulls (which are generalizations of the Malcev completions of nilpotent groups for solvable groups) of solvmanifolds $G/Γ$ by using Miller's exponential iterated integrals (which are extensions of Chen's iterated integrals) of invariant differential forms.
Given a transitive permutation group, a fundamental object for studying its higher transitivity properties is the permutation action of its isotropy subgroup. We reverse this relationship and introduce a universal construction of infinite permutation groups that takes as input a given system of imprimitivity for its isotropy subgroup. This produces vast families kaleidoscopic groups. We investigate their algebraic properties, such as simplicity and oligomorphy; their homological properties, such as acyclicity or contrariwise large Schur multipliers; their topological properties, such as unique…
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A new approach to classification of solvable spherical subgroups of semisimple algebraic groups is considered. This approach is completely different from the known approach by D. Luna and provides an explicit classification.
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We show that the group of piecewise linear homeomorphisms of any compact PL manifold does not admit a Polish group topology. This uses a) new results on the relationship between topologies on groups of homeomorphisms, their algebraic structure, and the topology of the underlying manifold, and b) new results on the structure of certain subgroups of PL(M). The proof also shows that the group of piecewise projective homeomorphisms of the circle has no Polish group topology.
We show that the abstract commensurator of an S-arithmetic subgroup of a solvable algebraic group over Q is isomorphic to the Q-points of an algebraic group, and compare this with examples of nonlinear abstract commensurators of S-arithmetic groups in positive characteristic. In particular, we include a description of the abstract commensurator of the lamplighter group.
The sets of closed and closed-normal subgroups of a profinite group carry a natural profinite topology. Through a combination of algebraic and topological methods the size of these subgroup spaces is calculated, and the spaces partially classified up to homeomorphism.
Guba and Sapir asked if the simultaneous conjugacy problem was solvable in Diagram Groups or, at least, for Thompson's group F. We give a solution to the latter question using elementary techniques which rely purely on the description of F as the group of piecewise linear orientation-preserving homeomorphisms of the unit interval. The techniques we develop extend the ones used by Brin and Squier allowing us to compute roots and centralizers as well. Moreover, these techniques can be generalized to solve the same question in larger groups of piecewise-linear homeomorphisms.
For an arbitrary connected solvable spherical subgroup H of a connected semisimple algebraic group G we compute the group N_G(H), the normalizer of H in G. Thereby we complete a classification of all (not necessarily connected) solvable spherical subgroups in semisimple algebraic groups.
The closure of a braid in a closed orientable surface $Σ$ is a link in $Σ\times S^1$. We classify such closed surface braids up to isotopy and homeomorphism (with a small indeterminacy for isotopy of closed sphere braids), algebraically in terms of the surface braid group. We find that in positive genus, braids close to isotopic links if and only if they are conjugate, and close to homeomorphic links if and only if they are in the same orbit of the outer action of the mapping class group on the surface braid group modulo its center.
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A subgroup H of an algebraic group G is said to be strongly solvable if H is contained in a Borel subgroup of G. This paper is devoted to establishing relationships between the following three combinatorial classifications of strongly solvable spherical subgroups in reductive complex algebraic groups: Luna's general classification of arbitrary spherical subgroups restricted to the strongly solvable case, Luna's 1993 classification of strongly solvable wonderful subgroups, and the author's 2011 classification of strongly solvable spherical subgroups. We give a detailed presentation of all the t…
Let $G$ be a linear algebraic group over an algebraically closed field $k$ and $\mathrm{Aut}_{\mathrm{alg}}(G)$ the group of all algebraic group automorphisms of $G$. For every $φ\in \mathrm{Aut}_{\mathrm{alg}}(G)$ let $\mathcal{R}(φ)$ denote the set of all orbits of the $φ$-twisted conjugacy action of $G$ on itself (given by $(g,x)\mapsto gxφ(g^{-1})$, for all $g,x\in G$). We say that $G$ has the algebraic $R_\infty$-property if $\mathcal{R}(φ)$ is infinite for every $φ\in \mathrm{Aut}_{\mathrm{alg}}(G)$. In \citep{bb} we have shown that this property is satisfied by every connected non-solva…
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Let Gamma be an S-arithmetic subgroup of a solvable algebraic group G over an algebraic number field F, such that the finite set S contains at least one place that is nonarchimedean. We construct a certain group H, such that if L is any local field and alpha is any homomorphism from Gamma to GL(n,L), then alpha virtually extends (modulo a bounded error) to a continuous homomorphism defined on some finite-index subgroup of H. In the special case where F is the field of rational numbers, the real-rank of G is 0, and Gamma is Zariski-dense in G, we may let H = G_S. We also point out a generalizat…
Let $S$ be an orientable, connected surface with infinitely-generated fundamental group. The main theorem states that if the genus of $S$ is finite and at least 4, then the isomorphism type of the pure mapping class group associated to $S$, denoted $\mathrm{PMap}(S)$, detects the homeomorphism type of $S$. As a corollary, every automorphism of $\mathrm{PMap}(S)$ is induced by a homeomorphism, which extends a theorem of Ivanov from the finite-type setting. In the process of proving these results, we show that $\mathrm{PMap}(S)$ is residually finite if and only if $S$ has finite genus, demonstra…
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We study a large class of amenable locally compact groups containing all solvable algebraic groups over a local field and their discrete subgroups. We show that the isoperimetric profile of these groups is in some sense optimal among amenable groups. We use this fact to compute the probability of return of symmetric random walks, and to derive various other geometric properties which are likely to be only satisfied by these groups.
Let $D$ be a division ring with center $F$ and $N$ a subnormal subgroup of the multiplicative group $D^*$ of $D$. Assume that $N$ contains a non-abelian solvable subgroup. In this paper, we study the problem on the existence of non-abelian free subgroups in $N$. In particular, we show that if either $N$ is algebraic over $F$ or $F$ is uncountable, then $N$ contains a non-abelian free subgroup.
We prove that the growth rate of an endomorphism of a finitely generated nilpotent group equals to the growth rate of induced endomorphism on its abelinization, generalizing the corresponding result for an automorphism in [14]. We also study growth rates of endomorphisms for specific solvable groups, lattices of Sol, providing a counterexample to a known result in [5] and proving that the growth rate is an algebraic number.
We say that a group is anti-solvable if all of its composition factors are non-abelian. We consider a particular family of anti-solvable finite groups containing the simple alternating groups for $n\neq 6$ and all 26 sporadic simple groups. We prove that, if $K$ is a perfect field and $X$ is a homogeneous space of a smooth algebraic $K$-group $G$ with finite geometric stabilizers lying in this family, then $X$ is dominated by a $G$-torsor. In particular, if $G=\mathrm{SL}_n$, all such homogeneous spaces have rational points.
We prove a uniform version of the Tits alternative. As a consequence, we obtain uniform lower bounds for the Cheeger constant of Cayley grahs of finitely generated non virtually solvable linear groups in arbitrary characteristic. Also we show that the algebraic entropy of discrete subgroups of a given Lie group is uniformly bounded away from zero.
We show that the group cohomology of torsion-free virtually polycyclic groups and the continuous cohomology of simply connected solvable Lie groups can be computed by the rational cohomology of algebraic groups. Our results are generalizations of certian results on the cohomology of solvmanifolds and infra-solvmanifolds. Moreover as an application of our results, we give a simple proof of the surprising cohomology vanishing theorem given by Dekimpe-Igodt.
