45 pages, 2 figures. To appear in Geom. Topol. v2: Updated to address concerns of the referee. Added theorem that an infinite, nonparabolic relatively quasiconvex subgroup H of a relatively hyperbolic group has finite index in its commensurator. Added several new geometric results to Section 7. Theorem 8.9 on packing relative to peripheral subgroups is new
We introduce the bounded packing property for a subgroup of a countable discrete group G. This property gives a finite upper bound on the number of left cosets of the subgroup that are pairwise close in G. We establish basic properties of bounded packing, and give many examples; for instance, every subgroup of a countable, virtually nilpotent group has bounded packing. We explain several natural connections between bounded packing and group actions on CAT(0) cube complexes.
Our main result establishes the bounded packing of relatively quasiconvex subgroups of a relatively hyperbolic group, under mild hypotheses. As an application, we prove that relatively quasiconvex subgroups have finite height and width, properties that strongly restrict the way families of distinct conjugates of the subgroup can intersect. We prove that an infinite, nonparabolic relatively quasiconvex subgroup of a relatively hyperbolic group has finite index in its commensurator. We also prove a virtual malnormality theorem for separable, relatively quasiconvex subgroups, which is new even in the word hyperbolic case.
In this note, we prove that separable subgroups have bounded packing in ambient groups. The notion bounded packing was introduced by Hruska and Wise and in particular, our result answers positively a question of theirs, asking whether each subgroup of a virtually polycyclic group has the bounded packing property.
In this paper, we show that any subgroup of a semidirect product of Z^n with Z has bounded packing as long as the action of Z on Z^n is by diagonalizable automorphisms all of whose eigenvalues are real. We use this result to show that any subgroup in a polycyclic group of length 3 or less has bounded packing. We also introduce the notion of coset growth and obtain a bound for the coset growth of subgroup H=<t> in the semidirect product of Z^2 with Z.
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…
Let $G$ be a group and $H$ a subgroup of $G$. This note introduces an equivalent definition of hyperbolic embedded subgroup based on Bowditch's approach to relatively hyperbolic groups in terms of fine graphs.
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.
A subgroup of a group $G$ is called algebraic if it can be expressed as a finite union of solution sets to systems of equations. We prove that a non-elementary subgroup $H$ of an acylindrically hyperbolic group $G$ is algebraic if and only if there exists a finite subgroup $K$ of $G$ such that $C_G(K) \leq H \leq N_G(K)$. We provide some applications of this result to free products, torsion-free relatively hyperbolic groups, and ascending chains of algebraic subgroups in acylindrically hyperbolic groups.
A group $G$ is called subgroup conjugacy separable if for every pair of non-conjugate finitely generated subgroups of $G$, there exists a finite quotient of $G$ where the images of these subgroups are not conjugate. It is proved that the fundamental group of a hyperbolic 3-manifold (closed or with cusps) is subgroup conjugacy separable.
There is a family of hyperbolic groups known as hyperbolic hydra which contain heavily distorted free subgroups. We prove the existence of Cannon--Thurston maps (that is, maps of the boundaries induced by subgroup inclusion) for these free subgroups. It is known that Cannon--Thurston maps between hyperbolic space boundaries can exist even in the presence of arbitrarily heavy (even non-recursive) distortion. The hyperbolic hydra examples show that Cannon--Thurston maps can exist even between hyperbolic group boundaries in the presence of arbitrarily heavy primitive recursive distortion.
For relatively hyperbolic groups, we investigate conditions guaranteeing that the subgroup generated by two quasiconvex subgroups $Q$ and $R$ is quasiconvex and isomorphic to $Q \ast_{Q\cap R} R$. Our results generalized known combination theorems for quasiconvex subgroups of word-hyperbolic groups. Some applications are presented.
Let $G$ be a group hyperbolic relative to a collection of subgroups $\{H_λ,λ\in Λ\} $. We say that a subgroup $Q\le G$ is hyperbolically embedded into $G$, if $G$ is hyperbolic relative to $\{H_λ,λ\in Λ\} \cup \{Q\} $. In this paper we obtain a characterization of hyperbolically embedded subgroups. In particular, we show that if an element $g\in G$ has infinite order and is not conjugate to an element of $H_λ$, $λ\in Λ$, then the (unique) maximal elementary subgroup contained $g$ is hyperbolically embedded into $G$. This allows to prove that if $G$ is boundedly generated, then $G$ is elementar…
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.
Brady proved that there are hyperbolic groups with finitely presented subgroups that are not of type $FP_3$ (and hence not hyperbolic). We reprove Brady's theorem by presenting a new construction. Our construction uses Bestvina-Brady Morse theory, but does not involve branched coverings.
We consider two families of subgroups of a group. Each subgroup which belongs to one family is contained in some subgroup which belongs to the other family. We then discuss relations of relative hyperbolicity for the group with respect to the two families, respectively. If the group is supposed to be hyperbolic relative to the two families, respectively, then we consider relations of relative quasiconvexity for a subgroup of the group with respect to the two families, respectively.
Let G be a finitely generated relatively hyperbolic group. We show that if no peripheral subgroup of G is hyperbolic relative to a collection of proper subgroups, then the fixed subgroup of every automorphism of G is relatively quasiconvex. It follows that the fixed subgroup is itself relatively hyperbolic with respect to a natural family of peripheral subgroups. If all peripheral subgroups of G are slender (respectively, slender and coherent), our result implies that the fixed subgroup of every automorphism of G is finitely generated (respectively, finitely presented). In particular, this hap…
Let $G$ be a finite group of odd order, $\F$ a finite field of odd characteristic $p$ and $\B$ a finite--dimensional symplectic $\F G$-module. We show that $\B$ is $\F G$-hyperbolic, i.e., it contains a self--perpendicular $\F G$-submodule, iff it is $\F N$-hyperbolic for every cyclic subgroup $N$ of $G$.
We construct hyperbolic groups with the following properties: The boundary of the group has big dimension, it is separated by a Cantor set and the group does not split. This shows that Bowditch's theorem that characterizes splittings of hyperbolic groups over 2-ended groups in terms of the boundary can not be extended to splittings over more complicated subgroups.
We prove that for any finitely generated relatively hyperbolic group G and any symmetric endomorphism f of G with relatively quasiconvex image, Fixf is relatively quasiconvex subgroup of G.
We prove the bounded packing property for any abelian subgroup of a group acting properly and cocompactly on a CAT(0) cube complex. A main ingredient of the proof is a cubical flat torus theorem. This ingredient is also used to show that central HNN extensions of maximal free-abelian subgroups of compact special groups are virtually special, and to produce various examples of groups that are not cocompactly cubulated.
We construct an example of a torsion free freely indecomposable finitely presented non-quasiconvex subgroup $H$ of a word hyperbolic group $G$ such that the limit set of $H$ is not the limit set of a quasiconvex subgroup of $G$. In particular, this gives a counterexample to the conjecture of G.Swarup that a finitely presented one-ended subgroup of a word hyperbolic group is quasiconvex if and only if it has finite index in its virtual normalizer.
We show that if H is a quasiconvex subgroup of a hyperbolic group G then the relative Cayley graph Y (also known as the Schreier coset graph) for G/H is Gromov-hyperbolic. We also observe that in this situation if G is torsion-free and non-elementary and H has infinite index in G then the simple random walk on Y is transient.
We show that if $H$ is a quasiconvex subgroup of infinite index in a non-elementary hyperbolic group $G$ then the Schreier coset graph $X$ for $G$ relative to $H$ is non-amenable (that is, $X$ has positive Cheeger constant). We present some corollaries regading the Martin boundary and Martin compactification of $X$ and the co-growth of $H$ in $G$.
We construct new examples of CAT(0) groups containing non finitely presented subgroups that are of type $FP_2$, these CAT(0) groups do not contain copies of $\mathbb{Z}^3$. We also give a construction of groups which are of type $F_n$ but not $F_{n+1}$ with no free abelian subgroups of rank greater than $\lceil\frac{n}{3}\rceil$.
Let G be a group, H a hyperbolically embedded subgroup of G, V a normed G-module, U an H-invariant submodule of V. We propose a general construction which allows to extend 1-quasi-cocycles on H with values in U to 1-quasi-cocycles on G with values in V. As an application, we show that every group G with a non-degenerate hyperbolically embedded subgroup has dim H^2_b (G, l^p(G))=\infty for p\in [1, \infty). This covers many previously known results in a uniform way. Applying our extension to quasimorphisms and using Bavard duality, we also show that hyperbolically embedded subgroups are undisto…
We generalise the constructions of Brady and Lodha to give infinite families of hyperbolic groups, each having a finitely presented subgroup that is not of type $F_3$. By calculating the Euler characteristic of the hyperbolic groups constructed, we prove that infinitely many of them are pairwise non isomorphic. We further show that the first of these constructions cannot be generalised to dimensions higher than $3$.
A result of Gersten states that if $G$ is a hyperbolic group with integral cohomological dimension $\mathsf{cd}_{\mathbb{Z}}(G)=2$ then every finitely presented subgroup is hyperbolic. We generalize this result for the rational case $\mathsf{cd}_{\mathbb{Q}}(G)=2$. In particular, our result applies to the class of torsion-free hyperbolic groups $G$ with $\mathsf{cd}_{\mathbb{Z}}(G)=3$ and $\mathsf{cd}_{\mathbb{Q}}(G)=2$ discovered by Bestvina and Mess.
We prove that the generalised word problem of a finitely generated subgroup of a finitely generated virtually free group is context-free, that a hyperbolic group must be virtually free if it has a torsion-free quasiconvex subgroup of infinite index with context-free generalised word problem, and that, for any hyperbolic group, the generalised word problem of a torsion-free quasiconvex subgroup is recognised by a real-time Turing machine.
Let N be a finitely generated normal subgroup of a Gromov hyperbolic group G. We establish criteria for N to have solvable conjugacy problem and be conjugacy separable in terms of the corresponding properties of G/N. We show that the hyperbolic group from F. Haglund's and D. Wise's version of Rips's construction is hereditarily conjugacy separable. We then use this construction to produce first examples of finitely generated and finitely presented conjugacy separable groups that contain non-(conjugacy separable) subgroups of finite index.
We prove that, for a finitely generated group hyperbolic relative to virtually abelian subgroups, the generalised word problem for a parabolic subgroup is the language of a real-time Turing machine. Then, for a hyperbolic group, we show that the generalised word problem for a quasiconvex subgroup is a real-time language under either of two additional hypotheses on the subgroup. By extending the Muller-Schupp theorem we show that the generalised word problem for a finitely generated subgroup of a finitely generated virtually free group is context-free. Conversely, we prove that a hyperbolic gro…
Let $m$ and $k$ be integers such that $|m|, \, |k| >1$ and $\gcd (m,k)=1$. We show that all Baumslag-Solitar groups $BS(m,mk)$ are non-residually finite groups hyperbolic relative to residually finite subgroups. By a result of Osin (2007), this implies that there exists a non-residually finite hyperbolic group, thus solving a long-standing open problem of Gromov (1987). We also show that all $BS(m, mk)$ are non-Hopfian groups hyperbolic relative to Hopfian subgroups.
An interesting question about quasiconvexity in a hyperbolic group concerns finding classes of quasiconvex subsets that are closed under finite intersections. A known example is the class of all quasiconvex subgroups. However, not much is yet learned about the structure of arbitrary quasiconvex subsets. In this work we study the properties of products of quasiconvex subgroups; we show that such sets are quasiconvex, their finite intersections have a similar algebraic representation and, thus, are quasiconvex too.
A group $G$ is called subgroup conjugacy separable (abbreviated as SCS) if any two finitely generated and non-conjugate subgroups of $G$ remain non-conjugate in some finite quotient of $G$. An into-conjugacy version of SCS is abbreviated by SICS. We prove that if $G$ is a hyperbolic group, $H_1$ is a quasiconvex subgroup of $G$, and $H_2$ is a subgroup of $G$ which is elementwise conjugate into $H_1$, then there exists a finite index subgroup of $H_2$ which is conjugate into $H_1$. As corollary, we deduce that fundamental groups of closed hyperbolic 3-manifolds and torsion-free small cancellat…
We introduce a new invariant of finitely generated groups, the ambiguity function, and prove that every finitely generated acylindrically hyperbolic group has a linearly bounded ambiguity function. We use this result to prove that the relative exponential growth rate $\lim \limits_{n \rightarrow \infty} \sqrt[n]{\vert B^{X}_H(n) \vert}$ of a subgroup $H$ of an acylindrically hyperbolic group $G$ exists with respect to every finite generating set $X$ of $G$, if $H$ contains a loxodromic element of $G$. Further we prove that the relative exponential growth rate of every finitely generated subgro…
In this paper we provide a procedure to obtain a non-trivial HHS structure on a hyperbolic space. In particular, we prove that given a finite collection $\mathcal{F}$ of quasi-convex subgroups of a hyperbolic group $G$, there is an HHG structure on $G$ that is compatible with $\mathcal{F}$. We will use this to provide explicit descriptions of the Gromov Boundary of hyperbolic HHS and HHG, and we recover results from Hamenstädt, Manning, Trang for the case when $G$ is hyperbolic relative to $\mathcal{F}$. Further applications in the construction of new HHG will be presented in a subsequent pape…
Suppose that a finitely generated group $G$ is hyperbolic relative to a collection of subgroups $\mathbb{P}=\{P_1,\dots,P_m\}$. Let $H_1,H_2$ be subgroups of $G$ such that $H_1$ is relatively quasiconvex with respect to $\mathbb{P}$ and $H_2$ is not parabolic. Suppose that $H_2$ is elementwise conjugate into $H_1$. Then there exists a finite index subgroup of $H_2$ which is conjugate into $H_1$. The minimal length of the conjugator can be estimated. In the case where $G$ is a limit group, it is sufficient to assume only that $H_1$ is a finitely generated and $H_2$ is an arbitrary subgroup of $…
Let $G$ be a non-elementary hyperbolic group. Let $w$ be a group word such that the set $w[G]$ of all its values in $G$ does not coincide with $G$ or 1. We show that the width of verbal subgroup $w(G)=<w[G]>$ is infinite. That is, there is no such $l\in\mathbb Z$ that any $g\in w(G)$ can be represented as a product of $\le l$ values of $w$ and their inverses.
This article is part of the program of studying large-scale geometric properties of totally disconnected locally compact groups, TDLC-groups, by analogy with the theory for discrete groups. We provide a characterization of hyperbolic TDLC-groups, in terms of homological isoperimetric inequalities. This characterization is used to prove the main result of the article: for hyperbolic TDLC-groups with rational discrete cohomological dimension $\leq 2$, hyperbolicity is inherited by compactly presented closed subgroups. As a consequence, every compactly presented closed subgroup of the automorphis…
The main result of this paper is that given a group $G$ acting geometrically by isometries on a CAT(0) space $X$ and a cyclic subgroup $H$ of $G$ generated by a rank-1 isometry of $X$, $H$ has bounded packing in $G$. We give two proofs of this result. The first one is by a characterization of rank-$1$ isometries by Hamenstadt. The second proof follows directly from some results of Dahmani-Guirardel-Osin and Sisto. Then using Mihailova's construction, we show the existence of a finitely generated subgroup of the direct product of two free groups $\mathbb F_2\times \mathbb F_2$ without the bound…
Around subgroups of Artin groups: derived subgroups and acylindrical hyperbolicity in the even FC-case
Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Bilbao-Sarriko Universidad del País Vasco EHU/UPV（巴斯克大学经济与企业学院）；Departamento de Matemt́icas Universidad de Zaragoza（萨拉戈萨大学数学系）
We give an explicit construction of a maximal torsion-free finite-index subgroup of a certain type of Coxeter group. The subgroup is constructed as the fundamental group of a finite and non-positively curved polygonal complex. First we consider the special case where the universal cover of this polygonal complex is a hyperbolic building, and we construct finite-index embeddings of the fundamental group into certain cocompact lattices of the building. We show that in this special case the fundamental group is an amalgam of surface groups over free groups. We then consider the general case, and …
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.
Let G be a group which is hyperbolic relative to a collection of subgroups A, and it is also hyperbolic relative to a collection of subgroups B. Suppose that the collection A contains B. We characterize, for subgroups of G, when quasicovexity relative to A implies quasiconvexity relative to B. We also show that quasiconvexity relative to B implies quasiconvexity relative to A. Some applications are discussed.
A group G is acylindrically hyperbolic if it admits a non-elementary acylindrical action on a hyperbolic space. We prove that every acylindrically hyperbolic group G has a generating set X such that the corresponding Cayley graph is a (non-elementary) quasi-tree and the action of G on the Cayley graph is acylindrical. Our proof utilizes the notions of hyperbolically embedded subgroups and projection complexes. As a by-product, we obtain some new results about hyperbolically embedded subgroups and quasi-convex subgroups of acylindrically 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…
