arXiv research

New criteria for non-isometric group actions in metric spaces.

Characterizes convex cocompact actions in projective space with dynamical properties.

Paradan and Vergne generalised the quantisation commutes with reduction principle of Guillemin and Sternberg from symplectic to Spin$^c$-manifolds. We extend their result to noncompact groups and manifolds. This leads to a result for cocompact actions, and a result for non-cocompact actions for reduction at zero. The r…

We establish a Lichnerowicz type vanishing theorem for non-compact spin manifolds admiting proper cocompact actions, when the action group is unimodular.

Given a group action on a simplicial complex such that each simplex stabiliser admits a cocompact model of classifying space for proper actions, we give conditions implying the existence of a cocompact model of classifying space for proper actions for the whole group. This is used to generalise previous combination res…

Sharp growth tightness proven for group quotients.

The paper explores generic free subgroups and statistical hyperbolicity in group actions.

We first introduce an invariant index for G-equivariant elliptic differential operators on a locally compact manifold M admitting a proper cocompact action of a locally compact group G. It generalizes the Kawasaki index for orbifolds to the case of proper cocompact actions. Our invariant index is used to show that an a…

This paper presents a study of the asymptotic geometry of groups with contracting elements, with emphasis on a subclass of statistically convex-cocompact (SCC) actions. The class of SCC actions includes relatively hyperbolic groups, CAT(0) groups with rank-1 elements and mapping class groups, among others. We exploit a…

Survey recent constructions of cyclic cocycles for Lie groups.

We study a notion of convex cocompactness for discrete subgroups of the projective general linear group acting (not necessarily irreducibly) on real projective space, and give various characterizations. A convex cocompact group in this sense need not be word hyperbolic, but we show that it still has some of the good pr…

New spaces found without certain actions, using special subgroups.

We introduce and systematically study the concept of a growth tight action. This generalizes growth tightness for word metrics as initiated by Grigorchuk and de la Harpe. Given a finitely generated, non-elementary group $G$ acting on a $G$--space $\mathcal{X}$, we prove that if $G$ contains a strongly contracting eleme…

We characterize convex cocompact subgroups of the mapping class group of a surface in terms of uniform convergence actions on the zero locus of the limit set. We also construct subgroups that act as uniform convergence groups on their limit sets, but are not convex cocompact.

New geometric generalizations of subgroup containment found for Lie groups.

Let $G$ be a group that admits a cocompact classifying space for proper actions $X$. We derive a formula for the Bredon cohomological dimension for proper actions of $G$ in terms of the relative cohomology with compact support of certain pairs of subcomplexes of $X$. We use this formula to compute the Bredon cohomologi…

Study of groups acting on complex projective varieties.

Study bounds on lattice actions on compact pseudo-Riemannian manifolds.

New statistical convex-cocompactness found for non-orientable surfaces.

The problem of equivariant rigidity is the $Γ$-homeomorphism classification of $Γ$-actions on manifolds with compact quotient and with contractible fixed sets for all finite subgroups of $Γ$. In other words, this is the classification of cocompact $E_{fin}Γ$-manifolds. We use surgery theory, algebraic $K$-theory, and t…

Study index theory on Lie group homogeneous spaces using topological and analytic methods.

We study discrete, cocompact, isometric actions of groups on Hadamard spaces, and the induced actions on ideal boundaries. For a class of groups generalizing fundamental groups of three-dimensional graph manifolds, we find a set of invariants for the action which determine the boundary action up to equivariant homeomor…

Study geodesics on orbifolds and manifolds with group actions.

Anosov representations of word hyperbolic groups into higher-rank semisimple Lie groups are representations with finite kernel and discrete image that have strong analogies with convex cocompact representations into rank-one Lie groups. However, the most naive analogy fails: generically, Anosov representations do not a…

We characterize strongly Morse quasi-geodesics in Outer space as quasi-geodesics which project to quasi-geodesics in the free factor graph. We define convex cocompact subgroups of $Out(F_n)$ as subgroups such that an orbit map in the free factor graph is a quasi-isometric embedding, and we characterize such groups via …

We show that the mapping class group of a closed surface admits a cocompact classifying space for proper actions of dimension equal to its virtual cohomological dimension.

Morse inequalities for noncompact manifolds with group action.

Sharpness of actions on reductive homogeneous spaces proven for various groups.

We develop a theory of convex cocompact subgroups of the mapping class group MCG of a closed, oriented surface S of genus at least 2, in terms of the action on Teichmuller space. Given a subgroup G of MCG defining an extension L_G: 1--> pi_1(S) --> L_G --> G -->1 we prove that if L_G is a word hyperbolic group then G i…

There is a forgetful map from the mapping class group of a punctured surface to that of the surface with one fewer puncture. We prove that finitely generated purely pseudo-Anosov subgroups of the kernel of this map are convex cocompact in the sense of B. Farb and L. Mosher. In particular, we obtain an affirmative answe…

The paper shows contracting elements are exponentially generic in various groups.

We show that tree almost automorphism groups, including Neretin groups, satisfy the analogue of the $F_\infty$-finiteness condition in the world of totally disconnected groups: They possess a cellular action on a contractible cellular complex such that the stabilizers are open and compact and the restriction of the act…

The paper classifies fiber structures of discontinuity domains for Anosov representations.

Study shows mapping class group dimension for surfaces with punctures.

Defines an equivariant index for proper actions by $H imes G$.

We prove a Lichnerowicz type vanishing theorem for non-compact spin manifolds admiting proper cocompact actions. This extends a previous result of Ziran Liu who proves it for the case where the acting group is unimodular.

Holomorphic actions on complex spaces for nilpotent groups.

We introduce a Hopf algebroid associated to a proper Lie group action on a smooth manifold. We prove that the cyclic cohomology of this Hopf algebroid is equal to the de Rham cohomology of invariant differential forms. When the action is cocompact, we develop a generalized Hodge theory for the de Rham cohomology of inv…

Generalizing a classical theorem of Carlson and Toledo, we prove that any Zariski dense isometric action of a Kähler group on the real hyperbolic space of dimension at least 3 factors through a homomorphism onto a cocompact discrete subgroup of PSL(2,R). We also study actions of Kähler groups on infinite dimensional re…

Moebius rigidity proven for negatively curved surfaces without cocompactness.

Let G be a group and let M be a CAT(0) proper metric space (e.g. a simply connected complete Riemannian manifold of non-positive sectional curvature or a locally finite tree). Isometric actions of G on M are (by definition) points in the space R := Hom(G, Isom(M)) with the compact open topology. Sample theorems: 1. The…

Paper constructs Witten and elliptic genera for noncompact manifolds with proper actions.

This article gives an up-to-date account of the theory of discrete group actions on non-Riemannian homogeneous spaces. As an introduction of the motifs of this article, we begin by reviewing the current knowledge of possible global forms of pseudo-Riemannian manifolds with constant curvatures, and discuss what kind of …

For a convex cocompact subgroup $G<Mod(S)$, and points $x,y \in Teich(S)$ we obtain asymptotic formulas as $R\to \infty$ of $|B_{R}(x)\cap Gy|$ as well as the number of conjugacy classes of pseudo-Anosov elements in $G$ of dilatation at most $R$. We do this by developing an analogue of Patterson-Sullivan theory for the…

This paper proves the existence of a smooth embedding for symmetrical manifolds.

The study examines how perturbations of lattice actions on group boundaries behave.

We prove geometric superrigidity for actions of cocompact lattices in semisimple Lie groups of higher rank on infinite dimensional Riemannian manifolds of nonpositive curvature and finite telescopic dimension.

We study the index of the $G$-invariant elliptic pseudo-differential operator acting on a complete Riemannian manifold, where a unimodular, locally compact group $G$ acts properly and cocompactly. An $L^2$-index formula was obtained using the heat kernel method.