Groups acting on tree-graded spaces and splittings of relatively hyperbolic groups

Tree-graded spaces are generalizations of R-trees. They appear as asymptotic cones of groups (when the cones have cut-points). Since many questions about endomorphisms and automorphisms of groups, solving equations over groups, studying embeddings of a group into another group, etc. lead to actions of groups on the asymptotic cones, it is natural to consider actions of groups on tree-graded spaces. We develop a theory of such actions which generalizes the well-known theory of groups acting on R-trees. As applications of our theory, we describe, in particular, relatively hyperbolic groups with infinite groups of outer automorphisms, and co-Hopfian relatively hyperbolic groups.     

Thick metric spaces,relative hyperbolicity,and quasi-isometric rigidity

We study the geometry of non-relatively 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 non-relatively 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 sufficient for a metric space to be non-hyperbolic relative to any non-trivial collection of subsets. Thick finitely generated groups include: mapping class groups of most surfaces; outer automorphism groups of most free groups; certain Artin groups; and others. Non-uniform lattices in higher rank semisimple Lie groups are thick and hence non-relatively hyperbolic, in contrast with rank one which provided the motivating examples of relatively hyperbolic groups. Mapping class groups are the first examples of non-relatively hyperbolic groups having cut points in any asymptotic cone, resolving several questions of Drutu and Sapir about the structure of relatively hyperbolic groups. Outside of group theory, Teichmüller spaces for surfaces of sufficiently large complexity are thick with respect to the Weil–Peterson metric, in contrast with Brock–Farb’s hyperbolicity result in low complexity.     

Operator norm localization property of relative hyperbolic group and graph of groups

In this article we study the spaces which have operator norm localization property. We prove that a finitely generated group Γ which is strongly hyperbolic with respect to a collection of finitely generated subgroups {H₁,…,Hn} has operator norm localization property if and only if each Hi, i=1,2,…,n, has operator norm localization property. Furthermore we prove the following result. Let π be the fundamental group of a connected finite graph of groups with finitely generated vertex groups GP. If GP has operator norm localization property for all vertices P then π has operator norm localization property.     

Expansive Convergence Groups are Relatively Hyperbolic

Let a discrete group G act by homeomorphisms of a compactum in a way that the action is properly discontinuous on triples and cocompact on pairs. We prove that such an action is geometrically finite. The converse statement was proved by P. Tukia [T3]. So, we have another topological characterisation of geometrically finite convergence groups and, by the result of A. Yaman [Y2], of relatively hyperbolic groups. Further, if G is finitely generated then the parabolic subgroups are finitely generated and undistorted. This answer to a question of B. Bowditch and eliminates restrictions in some known theorems about relatively hyperbolic groups. Received: April 2007, Revision: May 2008, Accepted: August 2008     

Fundamental groups of asymptotic cones

We show that for any metric space M satisfying certain natural conditions, there is a finitely generated group G, an ultrafilter ω, and an isometric embedding ι of M to the asymptotic cone Cone_ω(G) such that the induced homomorphism ι^*:π₁(M)→π₁(Cone_ω(G)) is injective. In particular, we prove that any countable group can be embedded into a fundamental group of an asymptotic cone of a finitely generated group.     

Every finitely generated group is weakly exact

We show that every finitely generated group admits weak analogues of an invariant expectation, whose existence characterizes exact groups. This fact has a number of applications. We show that Hopf G-modules are relatively injective, which implies that bounded cohomology groups with coefficients in all Hopf G-modules vanish in all positive degrees. We also prove a general fixed point theorem for actions of finitely generated groups on ?_∞-type spaces. Finally, we define the notion of weak exactness for certain Banach algebras.     

The Divergence of the Special Linear Group over a Function Ring

We compute the divergence of the finitely generated group SL _n (𝒪_𝒮), where 𝒮 is a finite set of valuations of a function field and 𝒪_𝒮 is the corresponding ring of 𝒮-integer points. As an application, we deduce that all its asymptotic cones are without cut-points.     

Algebraically and verbally closed subgroups and retracts of finitely generated nilpotent groups

We study algebraically and verbally closed subgroups and retracts of finitely generated nilpotent groups. A special attention is paid to free nilpotent groups and the groups UT _n (Z) of unitriangular (n×n)-matrices over the ring Z of integers for arbitrary n. We observe that the sets of retracts of finitely generated nilpotent groups coincides with the sets of their algebraically closed subgroups. We give an example showing that a verbally closed subgroup in a finitely generated nilpotent group may fail to be a retract (in the case under consideration, equivalently, fail to be an algebraically closed subgroup). Another example shows that the intersection of retracts (algebraically closed subgroups) in a free nilpotent group may fail to be a retract (an algebraically closed subgroup) in this group. We establish necessary conditions fulfilled on retracts of arbitrary finitely generated nilpotent groups. We obtain sufficient conditions for the property of being a retract in a finitely generated nilpotent group. An algorithm is presented determining the property of being a retract for a subgroup in free nilpotent group of finite rank (a solution of a problem of Myasnikov). We also obtain a general result on existentially closed subgroups in finitely generated torsion-free nilpotent with cyclic center, which in particular implies that for each n the group UT _n (Z) has no proper existentially closed subgroups.     

The isomorphism problem for toral relatively hyperbolic groups

We provide a solution to the isomorphism problem for torsion-free relatively hyperbolic groups with abelian parabolics. As special cases we recover solutions to the isomorphism problem for: (i) torsion-free hyperbolic groups (Sela, [60] and unpublished); and (ii) finitely generated fully residually free groups (Bumagin, Kharlampovich and Miasnikov [14]). We also give a solution to the homeomorphism problem for finite volume hyperbolic n-manifolds, for n≥3. In the course of the proof of the main result, we prove that a particular JSJ decomposition of a freely indecomposable torsion-free relatively hyperbolic group with abelian parabolics is algorithmically constructible.     

Maximal inequality and ergodic theorems for Markov groups

The paper shows that for actions of Markov semigroups, in particular, of finitely generated word hyperbolic groups, the Cesàro means of spherical averages converge almost everywhere for any function from the class L _p , p > 1.     

Average-case complexity and decision problems in group theory

We investigate the average-case complexity of decision problems for finitely generated groups, in particular, the word and membership problems. Using our recent results on “generic-case complexity”, we show that if a finitely generated group G has word problem solvable in subexponential time and has a subgroup of finite index which possesses a non-elementary word-hyperbolic quotient group, then the average-case complexity of the word problem of G is linear time, uniformly with respect to the collection of all length-invariant measures on G. This results applies to many of the groups usually studied in geometric group theory: for example, all braid groups B_n, all groups of hyperbolic knots, many Coxeter groups and all Artin groups of extra-large type.     

Assouad–Nagata dimension of connected Lie groups

We prove that the asymptotic Assouad–Nagata dimension of a connected Lie group G equipped with a left-invariant Riemannian metric coincides with its topological dimension of G/C where C is a maximal compact subgroup. To prove it we will compute the Assouad–Nagata dimension of connected solvable Lie groups and semisimple Lie groups. As a consequence we show that the asymptotic Assouad–Nagata dimension of a polycyclic group equipped with a word metric is equal to its Hirsch length and that some wreath-type finitely generated groups can not be quasi-isometrically embedded into any cocompact lattice on a connected Lie group.     

Unsolvable Problems About Small Cancellation and Word Hyperbolic Groups

We apply a construction of Rips to show that a number of algorithmicproblems concerning certain small cancellation groups and, inparticular, word hyperbolic groups, are recursively unsolvable.Given any integer k > 2, there is no algorithm to determinewhether or not any small cancellation group can be generatedby either two elements or more than k elements. There is a smallcancellation group E such that there is no algorithm to determinewhether or not any finitely generated subgroup of E is all ofE, or is finitely presented, or has a finitely generated secondintegral homology group.     

Groups with T1 primitive ideal spaces

We give a simple necessary and sufficient condition for the group C¹-algebra of a connected locally compact group to have a T₁ primitive ideal space, i.e., to have the property that all primitive ideals are maximal. A companion result settles the same question almost entirely for almost connected groups. As a by-product of the method used, we show that every point in the primitive ideal space of the group C¹-algebra of a connected locally compact group is at least locally closed. Finally, we obtain an analog of these results for discrete finitely generated groups; in particular the primitive ideal space of the group C¹-algebra of a discrete finitely generated solvable group is T₁ if and only if the group is a finite extension of a nilpotent group.     

Asymptotic windings of horocycles

Let Γ be a torsion-free hyperbolic group. We study Γ-limit groups which, unlike the fundamental case in which Γ is free, may not be finitely presentable or geometrically tractable. We define model Γ-limit groups, which always have good geometric properties (in particular, they are always relatively hyperbolic). Given a strict resolution of an arbitrary Γ-limit group L, we canonically construct a strict resolution of a model Γ-limit group, which encodes all homomorphisms L → Γ that factor through the given resolution. We propose this as the correct framework in which to study Γ-limit groups algorithmically. We enumerate all Γ-limit groups in this framework.     

Flows, fixed points and rigidity for Kleinian groups

The main application of the techniques developed in this paper is 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 proper subsets of the boundary of hyperbolic space which is discrete in the space of compact subsets minus singletons. Such a pattern arises for example as the collection of translates of limit sets of finitely many infinite index quasiconvex subgroups of G. We prove that (in dimension at least three) for G ₁, G ₂ cocompact Kleinian groups, any quasiconformal map pairing a G ₁-invariant pattern to a G ₂-invariant pattern must be conformal. This generalizes a previous result of Schwartz who proved rigidity in the case of limit sets of cyclic subgroups, and Biswas and Mj (Pattern rigidity in hyperbolic spaces: duality and pd subgroups, arxiv:math.GT/08094449, 2008) who proved rigidity for Poincare Duality subgroups. Pattern rigidity is a consequence of the study conducted in this paper of 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 flow, i.e. a non-trivial one parameter subgroup. Mostow rigidity is an immediate consequence.     

Φ-Harmonic functions on discrete groups and the first ℓΦ-cohomology

We study the first cohomology groups of a countable discrete group G with coefficients in a G-module ?^Φ(G), where Φ is an N-function of class Δ₂(0) ∩ ?₂(0). Developing the ideas of Puls and Martin-Valette for a finitely generated group G, we introduce the discrete Φ-Laplacian and prove a theorem on the decomposition of the space of Φ-Dirichlet finite functions into the direct sum of the spaces of Φ-harmonic functions and ?^Φ(G) (with an appropriate factorization). We prove also that if a finitely generated group G has a finitely generated infinite amenable subgroup with infinite centralizer then \(\bar H^1\) (G, ?^Φ(G)) = 0. In conclusion, we show the triviality of the first cohomology group for the wreath product of two groups one of which is nonamenable.     

Une alternative sur l'entropie des groupesAn alternative about entropy of groups

We prove the following alternative: either there exists a finitely generated group with exponential growth whose entropy is zero, or there exists a universal constant M>0 such that the entropy of all non-elementary hyperbolic groups with cyclic centralizers and their non-elementary subgroups is at least M. To cite this article: V. Guirardel, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 334 (2002) 743–746.