arXiv research

Generic groups can't move spaces but have rich actions.

Compact Lie group actions with a free point are determined by two vector fields.

We examine free orientation-reversing group actions on orientable handlebodies, and free actions on nonorientable handlebodies. A classification theorem is obtained, giving the equivalence classes and weak equivalence classes of free actions in terms of algebraic invariants that involve Nielsen equivalence. This is app…

The study extends group actions from surfaces to 3-manifolds using $G$-cobordisms.

We give a simple proof of the finite presentation of Sela's limit groups by using free actions on R^n-trees. We first prove that Sela's limit groups do have a free action on an R^n-tree. We then prove that a finitely generated group having a free action on an R^n-tree can be obtained from free abelian groups and surfac…

Let $Λ_0$ be an ordered abelian group. We show how an $\mathrm{ATF}(\mathbb{Z}\timesΛ_0)$ group -- that is, a group admitting a free affine action without inversions on a $\mathbb{Z}\timesΛ_0$-tree -- admits a natural graph of groups decomposition, where vertex groups inherit actions on $Λ_0$-trees. Using recent work o…

Conditions for reducing quasi-actions to tree actions and group properties.

Let $(M,ω)$ be a connected symplectic manifold on which a connected Lie group $G$ acts properly and in a Hamiltonian fashion with moment map $μ:M \lra \mf g^*$. Our purpose is investigate multiplicity-free actions, giving criteria to decide a multiplicity freenes of the action. As an application we give the complete cl…

Develops a spectral sequence for Lie group actions on manifolds.

New method constructs proper affine actions of groups in higher dimensions.

New EZ-structure maps mapping class group actions.

We show that every real analytic action of a connected supersoluble Lie group on a compact surface with nonzero Euler characteristic has a fixed point. This implies that E. Lima's fixed point free $C^{\infty}$ action on $S^2$ of the affine group of the line cannot be approximated by analytic actions. An example is give…

Example of group action on surface that can't extend to 3-manifold.

For n>2, the action of the outer automorphism group of the rank n free group F_n on the SU(2)-character variety Hom(F_n,SU(2))/SU(2)$ is ergodic with respect to the Lebesgue measure class.

In this paper we present a new characterization of free group actions (in classical differential geometry), involving dynamical systems and representations of the corresponding transformation groups. In fact, given a dynamical system, we provide conditions including the existence of "sufficiently many" representations …

Study automorphism groups' action on Jacobi diagrams, leading to new decompositions.

We classify smooth locally free actions of the real affine group on closed orientable three-dimensional manifolds up to smooth conjugacy. As a corollary, there exists a non-homogeneous action when the manifold is the unit tangent bundle of a closed surface with a hyperbolic metric.

We construct an action of the braid group B_{2g+2} on the free group F_{2g} extending an action of B_4 on F_2 introduced earlier by Reutenauer and the author. Our action induces a homomorphism from B_{2g+2} into the symplectic modular group Sp_{2g}(Z). In the special case g=2 we show that the latter homomorphism is sur…

In this article we study the space of left- and bi-invariant orderings on a torsion-free nilpotent group $G$. We will show that generally the set of such orderings is equipped with a faithful action of the automorphism group of $G$. We prove a result which allows us to establish the same conclusion when $G$ is assumed …

This article announces joint work with Frank Connolly and Jim Davis. We generalize our classification of pseudo-free involutions on the n-torus, by studying the action of the associated infinite group with torsion in the universal cover. Included is a non-Riemannian example obtained from the restriction of the action o…

Relations between parameter rigidity of locally free Lie group actions on closed manifolds and the 1st leafwise cohomology of the orbit foliations are discussed. Some computational results of the leafwise cohomology are included.

Conditions for hyperbolic and relatively hyperbolic extensions of free groups using automorphisms with fixed points.

This paper studies the generic behavior of $k$-tuple elements for $k\ge 2$ in a proper group action with contracting elements, with applications towards relatively hyperbolic groups, CAT(0) groups and mapping class groups. For a class of statistically convex-cocompact action, we show that an exponential generic set of …

Proves small cancellation free products have geometric actions on CAT(0) cube complexes.

Let $p$ be an odd regular prime, and let $G_p$ denote the extraspecial $p$--group of order $p^{3}$ and exponent $p$. We show that $G_p$ acts freely and smoothly on $S^{2p-1} \times S^{2p-1}$. For $p=3$ we explicitly construct a free smooth action of a Lie group $\widetilde{G}_3$ containing $G_3$ on $S^{5} \times S^{5}$…

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…

Study on spectral sequence for abelian Lie group actions, with bounds and applications.

A free action of a finite group on an odd-dimensional sphere is said to be almost linear if the action restricted to each cyclic or 2-hyperelementary subgroup is conjugate to a free linear action. We begin this survey paper by reviewing the status of almost linear actions on the 3-sphere. We then discuss almost linear …

This paper is concerned with fixed-point free $S^1$-actions (smooth or locally linear) on orientable 4-manifolds. We show that the fundamental group plays a predominant role in the equivariant classification of such 4-manifolds. In particular, it is shown that for any finitely presented group with infinite center, ther…

Study automorphism group actions on Jacobi diagrams spaces.

We use the notion of fixity for representations of finite groups to construct free and smooth actions on products of spheres. In particular we show that a finite p-group (for p>3) will act freely and smoothly on a product of two spheres if and only if it does not contain a rank 3 elementary abelian subgroup. We show th…

In this paper, we study the regularized mean curvature flow starting from invariant hypersurfaces in a Hilbert space equipped with an isometric almost free Hilbert Lie group action whose orbits are minimal regularizable submanifolds, where "almost free" means that the stabilizers of the group action are finite. First w…

Finite groups act freely on surfaces but not on 3-manifolds.

The paper studies fundamental groups of orbit configuration spaces and proves their torsion-freeness.

Free groups' automorphisms have bounded orbits.

The paper proves conditions for the isomorphism between standard and dual Artin groups.

An almost-direct product of free groups is an iterated semidirect product of finitely generated free groups in which the action of the constituent free groups on the homology of one another is trivial. We determine the structure of the cohomology ring of such a group. This is used to analyze the topological complexity …

Crooked planes are piecewise linear surfaces that were introduced by Drumm in the early 1990s to construct fundamental domains for properly discontinuous actions of free groups on Minkowski 3-space. In a previous paper, we introduced analogues of these surfaces, called AdS crooked planes, in the 3-dimensional anti-de S…

Free finite group actions on non-positively curved 3-manifolds

Let $M$ be a simply connected closed $4$-manifold. It is proved that any (possibly finite) compact Lie group acting effectively and homologically trivially on $M$ by homeomorphisms is an abelian group of rank at most two. As applications, let $\mathrm{Aut}(F_{n})$ be the automorphism group of the free group of rank $n.…

In a previous article, analytic 1-submanifolds had been classified w.r.t. their symmetry under a given regular and separately analytic Lie group action on an analytic manifold. It was shown that such an analytic 1-submanifold is either free or (via the exponential map) analytically diffeomorphic to the unit circle or a…

We survey some results and questions about free actions of infinite groups on products of spheres and euclidean spaces, and give some new co-compact examples.

Graphically discrete groups have strong rigidity properties.

Let $M^{r}$ be a connected orientable manifold with the Euler characteristic $χ(M)\not \equiv 0\operatorname{mod}6$. Denote by $\mathrm{SAut}(F_{n})$ the unique subgroup of index two in the automorphism group of a free group. Then any group action of $\mathrm{SAut}(F_{n})$ (and thus the special linear group $\mathrm{SL…

We construct an action of the free group $F_n$ on the homotopy category of projective modules over a finite dimensional zigzag algebra. The main theorem in the paper is that this action is faithful. We describe the relationship between homotopy classes of paths in the punctured disc and complexes of projective zigzag m…

If $G$ is a semisimple Lie group of real rank at least 2 and $Γ$ is an irreducible lattice in $G$, then every homomorphism from $Γ$ to the outer automorphism group of a finitely generated free group has finite image.

The pants graph of a free group is constructed and studied.

In this paper, we study the action of $\text{Homeo}_0(M)$, the identity component of the group of homeomorphisms of an $n$-dimensional manifold $M$ with an $\mathbb{F}_p$-free action, on another manifold $N$ of dimension $n+k<2n$. We prove that if $M$ is not an $\mathbb{F}_p$-homology sphere, then $N\cong M\times K$ fo…