Robust quasi-isometric embeddings inapproximable by Anosov representations

Abstract

Let $\mathbb{K}=\mathbb{R}$ or $\mathbb{C}$. For all but finitely many $m\in \mathbb{N}$, we exhibit the first examples of non-locally rigid, Zariski dense, robust quasi-isometric embeddings of hyperbolic groups in $\mathsf{SL}_m(\mathbb{K})$ which are not limits of Anosov representations. As a consequence, we show that higher rank analogues of Sullivan's structural stabilty theorem and of the density theorem for Kleinian groups fail for Anosov representations in $\mathsf{SL}_m(\mathbb{C}), m\geq 30$.