Consider a hyperbolic group G and a quasiconvex subgroup H of infinite index. We construct a set-theoretic section s of the quotient map (of sets) from G to G/H such that s(G/H) is a net in G; that is, any element of G is a bounded distance from s(G/H). This section arises naturally as a set of points minimizing word-length in each fixed coset gH. The left action of G on G/H induces an action on s(G/H), which we use to prove that H contains no infinite subgroups normal in G.
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.
In this paper, we state two combination theorems for relatively quasiconvex subgroups in a relatively hyperbolic group. Applications are given to the separability of double cosets of certain relatively quasiconvex subgroups and the existence of closed surface subgroups in relatively hyperbolic groups.
We provide a new method of constructing non-quasiconvex subgroups of hyperbolic groups by utilizing techniques inspired by Stallings' foldings. The hyperbolic groups constructed are in the natural class of right-angled Coxeter groups (RACGs for short) and can be chosen to be 2-dimensional. More specifically, given a non-quasiconvex subgroup of a (possibly non-hyperbolic) RACG, our construction gives a corresponding non-quasiconvex subgroup of a hyperbolic RACG. We use this to construct explicit examples of non-quasiconvex subgroups of hyperbolic RACGs including subgroups whose generators are a…
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 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…
We prove that non-elementary hyperbolic groups grow exponentially more quickly than their infinite index quasiconvex subgroups. The proof uses the classical tools of automatic structures and Perron-Frobenius theory. We also extend the main result to relatively hyperbolic groups and cubulated groups. These extensions use the notion of growth tightness and the work of Dahmani, Guirardel, and Osin on rotating families.
We show that two uniform lattices of a regular right-angled Fuchsian building are commensurable, provided the chamber is a polygon with at least six edges. We show that in an arbitrary Gromov-hyperbolic regular right-angled building associated to a graph product of finite groups, a uniform lattice is commensurable with the graph product provided all of its quasiconvex subgroups are separable. We obtain a similar result for uniform lattices of the Davis complex of Gromov-hyperbolic two-dimensional Coxeter groups. We also prove that every extension of a uniform lattice of a CAT(0) square complex…
In this paper, we study strongly quasiconvex subgroups in a finitely generated $3$--manifold group $π_1(M)$. We prove that if $M$ is a compact, orientable $3$--manifold that does not have a summand supporting the Sol geometry in its sphere-disc decomposition then a finitely generated subgroup $H \le π_1(M)$ has finite height if and only if $H$ is strongly quasiconvex. On the other hand, if $M$ has a summand supporting the Sol geometry in its sphere-disc decomposition then $π_1(M)$ contains finitely generated, finite height subgroups which are not strongly quasiconvex. We also characterize stro…
For a finitely generated group, there are two recent generalizations of the notion of a quasiconvex subgroup of a word-hyperbolic group, namely a stable subgroup and a Morse or strongly quasiconvex subgroup. Durham and Taylor defined stability and proved stability is equivalent to convex cocompactness in mapping class groups. Another natural generalization of quasiconvexity is given by the notion of a Morse or strongly quasiconvex subgroup of a finitely generated group, studied recently by Tran and Genevois. In general, a subgroup is stable if and only if the subgroup is Morse and hyperbolic. …
We associate cube complexes called completions to each subgroup of a right-angled Coxeter group (RACG). A completion characterizes many properties of the subgroup such as whether it is quasiconvex, normal, finite-index or torsion-free. We use completions to show that reflection subgroups are quasiconvex, as are one-ended Coxeter subgroups of a 2-dimensional RACG. We provide an algorithm that determines whether a given one-ended, 2-dimensional RACG is isomorphic to some finite-index subgroup of another given RACG. In addition, we answer several algorithmic questions regarding quasiconvex subgro…
Let $1 \to K \longrightarrow G \stackrelπ\longrightarrow Q$ be an exact sequence of hyperbolic groups. Let $Q_1 < Q$ be a quasiconvex subgroup and let $G_1=π^{-1}(Q_1)$. Under relatively mild conditions (e.g. if $K$ is a closed surface group or a free group and $Q$ is convex cocompact), we show that infinite index quasiconvex subgroups of $G_1$ are quasiconvex in $G$. Related results are proven for metric bundles, developable complexes of groups, and graphs of groups.
We define a new condition on relatively hyperbolic Dehn filling which allows us to control the behavior of a relatively quasiconvex subgroups which need not be full. As an application, in combination with a recent result of Cooper and Futer, we provide a new proof of the virtual fibering of non-compact finite-volume hyperbolic 3-manifolds, a result first proved by Wise. Additionally, we explain how the results of [2, Appendix A] can be generalized to the relative setting to control the relative height of relatively quasiconvex subgroups under appropriate Dehn fillings.
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.
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…
A group is coherent if all its finitely generated subgroups are finitely presented. In this article we provide a criterion for positively determining the coherence of a group. This criterion is based upon the notion of the perimeter of a map between two finite 2-complexes which is introduced here. In the groups to which this theory applies, a presentation for a finitely generated subgroup can be computed in quadratic time relative to the sum of the lengths of the generators. For many of these groups we can show in addition that they are locally quasiconvex. As an application of these results w…
The notions of stable and Morse subgroups of finitely generated groups generalize the concept of a quasiconvex subgroup of a word-hyperbolic group. For a word-hyperbolic group $G$, Kapovich provided a partial algorithm which, on input a finite set $S$ of $G$, halts if $S$ generates a quasiconvex subgroup of $G$ and runs forever otherwise. In this paper, we give various detection and decidability algorithms for stability and Morseness of a finitely generated subgroup of mapping class groups, right-angled Artin groups, toral relatively hyperbolic groups, and finitely generated groups discriminat…
A Kleinian group $Γ< \mathrm{Isom}(\mathbb H^3)$ is called convex cocompact if any orbit of $Γ$ in $\mathbb H^3$ is quasiconvex or, equivalently, $Γ$ acts cocompactly on the convex hull of its limit set in $\partial \mathbb H^3$. Subgroup stability is a strong quasiconvexity condition in finitely generated groups which is intrinsic to the geometry of the ambient group and generalizes the classical quasiconvexity condition above. Importantly, it coincides with quasiconvexity in hyperbolic groups and convex cocompactness in mapping class groups. Using the Morse boundary, we develop an equivalent…
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 characterize convex cocompact subgroups of mapping class groups that arise as subgroups of specially embedded right-angled Artin groups. That is, if the right-angled Artin group G in Mod(S) satisfies certain conditions that imply G is quasi-isometrically embedded in Mod(S), then a purely pseudo-Anosov subgroup H of G is convex cocompact in Mod(S) if and only if it is combinatorially quasiconvex in G. We use this criterion to construct convex cocompact subgroups of Mod(S) whose orbit maps into the curve complex have small Lipschitz constants.
We obtain a number of results regarding freeness, quasiconvexity and separability for subgroups of Coxeter groups, Artin groups and one-relator groups with torsion.
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…
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…
We introduce a strong notion of quasiconvexity in finitely generated groups, which we call stability. Stability agrees with quasiconvexity in hyperbolic groups and is preserved under quasi-isometry for finitely generated groups. We show that the stable subgroups of mapping class groups are precisely the convex cocompact subgroups. This generalizes a well-known result of Behrstock and is related to questions asked by Farb-Mosher and Farb.
We introduce the notions of geometric height and graded (geometric) relative hyperbolicity in this paper. We use these to characterize quasiconvexity in hyperbolic groups, relative quasiconvexity in relatively hyperbolic groups, and convex cocompactness in mapping class groups and $Out(F_n)$. Corrigendum: there is an unfortunate mistake in the statement and the proof of Proposition 5.1. This affects one direction of the implications of the main theorem. A correction is given, that states that given a quasi-convex subgroup of a hyperbolic (or relatively hyperbolic) group, the graded relative hy…
We show that all groups in a very large class of Coxeter groups are locally quasiconvex and have uniform membership problem solvable in quadratic time. If a group in the class satisfies a further hypothesis it is subgroup separable and relevant homomorphisms are also calculable in quadratic time. The algorithm also decides if a finitely generated subgroup has finite index.
We obtain a number of finiteness results for groups acting on Gromov-hyperbolic spaces. In particular we show that a torsion-free locally quasiconvex hyperbolic group has only finitely many conjugacy classes of $n$-generated one-ended subgroups. We also show that the rank problem is solvable for the class of torsion-free locally quasiconvex hyperbolic groups (even though it is unsolvable for the class of all torsion-free hyperbolic groups). We apply our results to 3-manifold groups. Namely, suppose $G$ is the fundamental group of a closed hyperbolic 3-manifold fibering over a circle and suppos…
We introduce and study the notion of relative rigidity for pairs $(X,\JJ)$ where 1) $X$ is a hyperbolic metric space and $\JJ$ a collection of quasiconvex sets 2) $X$ is a relatively hyperbolic group and $\JJ$ the collection of parabolics 3) $X$ is a higher rank symmetric space and $\JJ$ an equivariant collection of maximal flats Relative rigidity can roughly be described as upgrading a uniformly proper map between two such $\JJ$'s to a quasi-isometry between the corresponding $X$'s. A related notion is that of a $C$-complex which is the adaptation of a Tits complex to this context. We prove t…
We prove that finitely generated purely loxodromic subgroups of a right-angled Artin group $A(Γ)$ fulfill equivalent conditions that parallel characterizations of convex cocompactness in mapping class groups $\text{Mod}(S)$. In particular, such subgroups are quasiconvex in $A(Γ)$. In addition, we identify a milder condition for a finitely generated subgroup of $A(Γ)$ that guarantees it is free, undistorted, and retains finite generation when intersected with $A(Λ)$ for subgraphs $Λ$ of $Γ$. These results have applications to both the study of convex cocompactness in $\text{Mod}(S)$ and the way…
Hierarchically hyperbolic spaces (HHSs) are a large class of spaces that provide a unified framework for studying the mapping class group, right-angled Artin and Coxeter groups, and many 3--manifold groups. We investigate strongly quasiconvex subsets in this class and characterize them in terms of their contracting properties, relative divergence, the coarse median structure, and the hierarchical structure itself. Along the way, we obtain new tools to study HHSs, including two new equivalent definitions of hierarchical quasiconvexity and a version of the bounded geodesic image property for str…
We give a new, effective proof of the separability of cubically convex-cocompact subgroups of special groups. As a consequence, we show that if $G$ is a virtually compact special hyperbolic group, and $Q\leq G$ is a $K$-quasiconvex subgroup, then any $g\in G-Q$ of word-length at most $n$ is separated from $Q$ by a subgroup whose index is polynomial in $n$ and exponential in $K$. This generalizes a result of Bou-Rabee and the authors on residual finiteness growth and a result of the second author on surface groups.
For every dimension d, there is an infinite family of convex co-compact reflection groups of isometries of hyperbolic d-space --- the superideal (simplicial and cubical) reflection groups --- with the property that a random group at any density less than a half (or in the few relators model) contains quasiconvex subgroups commensurable with some member of the family, with overwhelming probability.
We prove that stability -- a strong quasiconvexity property -- pulls back under proper actions on proper metric spaces. This result has several applications, including that convex cocompact subgroups of both mapping class groups and outer automorphism groups of free groups are stable. We also characterize stability in relatively hyperbolic groups whose parabolic subgroups have linear divergence.
We show the mapping class group, CAT(0) groups, the fundamental groups of closed 3-manifolds, and certain relatively hyperbolic groups have a local-to-global property for Morse quasi-geodesics. This allows us to generalize combination theorems of Gitik for quasiconvex subgroups of hyperbolic groups to the stable subgroups of these groups. In the case of the mapping class group, this gives combination theorems for convex cocompact subgroups. We show a number of additional consequences of this local-to-global property, including a Cartan-Hadamard type theorem for detecting hyperbolicity locally …
Let $W$ be a right-angled Coxeter group corresponding to a finite non-discrete graph $\mathcal{G}$ with at least $3$ vertices. Our main theorem says that $\mathcal{G}^c$ is connected if and only if for any infinite index quasiconvex subgroup $H$ of $W$ and any finite subset $\{ γ_1, \ldots , γ_n \} \subset W \setminus H$ there is a surjection $f$ from $W$ to a finite alternating group such that $f (γ_i) \notin f (H)$. A corollary is that a right-angled Artin group splits as a direct product of cyclic groups and groups with many alternating quotients in the above sense. Similarly, finitely gene…
We introduce the notion of controlled Floyd separation between geodesic rays starting at the identity in a finitely generated group G. Two such geodesic rays are said to be Floyd separated with respect to quasigeodesics if the (Floyd) length of c-quasigeodesics (for fixed but arbitrary c) joining points on the geodesic rays is asymptotically bounded away from zero. This is always satisfied by Morse geodesics. The main purpose of this paper is to furnish an example of a finitely generated group $G$ such that 1) all finitely presented subgroups of G are hyperbolic, 2) G has an uncountable family…
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…
Bowditch characterized relative hyperbolicity in terms of group actions on fine hyperbolic graphs with finitely many edge orbits and finite edge stabilizers. In this paper, we define generalized fine actions on hyperbolic graphs, in which the peripheral subgroups are allowed to stabilize finite sub-graphs rather than stabilizing a point. Generalized fine actions are useful for studying groups that act relatively geometrically on a CAT(0) cube complex, which were recently defined by the first two authors. Specifically, we show that a group acting relatively geometrically on a CAT(0) cube comple…
We study the closed group of homeomorphisms of the boundary of real hyperbolic space generated by a cocompact Kleinian group $G_1$ and a quasiconformal conjugate $h^{-1}G_2 h$ of a cocompact group $G_2$. We show that if the conjugacy $h$ is not conformal then this group contains a non-trivial one parameter subgroup. This leads to rigidity results; for example, Mostow rigidity is an immediate consequence. We are also able to prove a relative version of Mostow rigidity, called pattern rigidity. For a cocompact group $G$, by a $G$-invariant pattern we mean a $G$-invariant collection of closed pro…
We give a generalized and self-contained account of Haglund-Paulin's wallspaces and Sageev's construction of the CAT(0) cube complex dual to a wallspace. We examine criteria on a wallspace leading to finiteness properties of its dual cube complex. Our discussion is aimed at readers wishing to apply these methods to produce actions of groups on cube complexes and understand their nature. We develop the wallspace ideas in a level of generality that facilitates their application. Our main result describes the structure of dual cube complexes arising from relatively hyperbolic groups. Let H_1,...,…
We consider two manifestations of non-positive curvature: acylindrical actions on hyperbolic spaces and quasigeodesic stability. We study these properties for the class of hierarchically hyperbolic groups, which is a general framework for studying many important families of groups, including mapping class groups, right-angled Coxeter and Artin groups, most 3-manifold groups, and many others. A group that admits an acylindrical action on a hyperbolic space may admit many such actions on different hyperbolic spaces, so it is natural to search for a "best" one. The set of all cobounded acylindric…
