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Cristóbal Rivas

Publications and source records attributed to Cristóbal Rivas.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Free product of bi-orderable group is bi-orderable: A simple dynamical proof

We give a new proof of Vinogradov's theorem asserting that free product of biorderable groups is biorderable. Our proof relies on a simple dynamical construction that provides a bi-ordering of the free product that extends the bi-orderings on the factors. Furthermore, if the bi-orders of the factors are invariant under some automorphisms, then the bi-ordering on the product turns out to be invariant under the product automorphism.

math.GR↗
arXiv2024

Locally moving groups and laminar actions on the line

We prove various results that, given a sufficiently rich subgroup $G$ of the group of homeomorphisms on the real line, describe the structure of the other possible actions of $G$ on the line, and address under which conditions such actions must be semi-conjugate to the natural defining action of $G$. The main assumption is that $G$ should be locally moving, meaning that for every open interval the subgroup of elements fixing pointwise its complement, acts on it without fixed points. We show that when $G$ is a locally moving group, every $C^1$ action of $G$ on the real line is semi-conjugate to its standard action or to a non-faithful action. The situation is much wilder when considering actions by homeomorphisms: for a large class of groups, we describe uncountably many conjugacy classes of faithful minimal actions. Next, we prove structure theorems for $C^0$ actions, based on the study of laminar actions, which are actions on the line preserving a lamination. When $G$ is a group of homeomorphisms of the line acting minimally, and with a non-trivial compactly supported element, then any faithful minimal action of $G$ on the line is either laminar or conjugate to its standard action. Moreover, when $G$ is a locally moving group with a suitable finite generation condition, for any faithful minimal laminar action there is a map from the lamination to the line, called a horograding, which is equivariant with respect to the action on the lamination and the standard one, and with some extra suitable conditions. This establishes a tight relation between all minimal actions on the line of such groups, and their standard actions. Finally, based on an analysis of the space of harmonic actions, we show that for a large class of locally moving groups, the standard action is locally rigid, in the sense that sufficiently small perturbations in the compact-open topology give semi-conjugate actions.

math.GR↗
arXiv2024

Solvable Groups and Affine Actions on the Line

We prove a structural result for orientation-preserving actions of finitely generated solvable groups on real intervals, considered up to semi-conjugacy. As applications we obtain new answers to a problem first considered by J. F. Plante, which asks under which conditions an action of a solvable group on a real interval is semi-conjugate to an action on the line by affine transformations. We show that this is always the case for actions by $C^1$ diffeomorphisms on closed intervals. For arbitrary actions by homeomorphisms, for which this result is no longer true (as shown by Plante), we show that a semi-conjugacy to an affine action still exists in a local sense, at the level of germs near the endpoints. Finally for a vast class of solvable groups, including all solvable linear groups, we show that the family of affine actions on the line is robust, in the sense that any action by homeomorphisms on the line which is sufficiently close to an affine action must be semi-conjugate to an affine action. This robustness fails for general solvable groups, as illustrated by a counterexample.

math.GR↗
arXiv2024

A realisation result for moduli spaces of group actions on the line

Given a finitely generated group $G$, the possible actions of $G$ on the real line (without global fixed points), considered up to semi-conjugacy, can be encoded by the space of orbits of a flow on a compact space $(Y, Φ)$ naturally associated with $G$ and uniquely defined up to flow equivalence, that we call the \emph{Deroin space} of $G$. We show a realisation result: every expansive flow $(Y, Φ)$ on a compact metrisable space of topological dimension 1, satisfying some mild additional assumptions, arises as the Deroin space of a finitely generated group. This is proven by identifying the Deroin space of an explicit family of groups acting on suspension flows of subshifts, which is a variant of a construction introduced by the second and fourth authors. This result provides a source of examples of finitely generated groups satisfying various new phenomena for actions on the line, related to their rigidity/flexibility properties and to the structure of (path-)connected components of the space of actions.

math.GR↗
arXiv2024

On the critical regularity of nilpotent groups acting on the interval: the metabelian case

Let $G$ be a torsion-free, finitely-generated, nilpotent and metabelian group. In this work we show that $G$ embeds into the group of orientation preserving $C^{1+α}$-diffeomorphisms of the compact interval, for all $α< 1/k$ where $k$ is the torsion-free rank of $G/A$ and $A$ is a maximal abelian subgroup. We show that in many situations the corresponding $1/k$ is critical in the sense that there is no embedding of $G$ with higher regularity. A particularly nice family where this happens, is the family of $(2n+1)$-dimensional Heisenberg groups, for which we can show that the critical regularity equals $1+1/n$.

math.GR↗
arXiv2022

Virtual critical regularity of mapping class group actions on the circle

We show that if $G_1$ and $G_2$ are non-solvable groups, then no $C^{1,τ}$ action of $(G_1\times G_2)*\mathbb{Z}$ on $S^1$ is faithful for $τ>0$. As a corollary, if $S$ is an orientable surface of complexity at least three then the critical regularity of an arbitrary finite index subgroup of the mapping class group $\mathrm{Mod}(S)$ with respect to the circle is at most one, thus strengthening a result of the first two authors with Baik.

math.GR↗
arXiv2021

Regular left-orders on groups

A regular left-order on finitely generated group $G$ is a total, left-multiplication invariant order on $G$ whose corresponding positive cone is the image of a regular language over the generating set of the group under the evaluation map. We show that admitting regular left-orders is stable under extensions and wreath products and give a classification of the groups all whose left-orders are regular left-orders. In addition, we prove that solvable Baumslag-Solitar groups $B(1,n)$ admits a regular left-order if and only if $n\geq -1$. Finally, Hermiller and Sunic showed that no free product admits a regular left-order, however we show that if $A$ and $B$ are groups with regular left-orders, then $(A*B)\times \mathbb{Z}$ admits a regular left-order.

math.GR↗
arXiv2021

Direct products, overlapping actions, and critical regularity

We address the problem of computing the critical regularity of groups of homeomorphisms of the interval. Our main result is that if $H$ and $K$ are two non-solvable groups then a faithful $C^{1,τ}$ action of $H\times K$ on a compact interval $I$ is {\em not overlapping} for all $τ>0$, which by definition means that there must be non-trivial $h\in H$ and $k\in K$ with disjoint support. As a corollary we prove that the right-angled Artin group $(F_2\times F_2)*\mathbb{Z}$ has critical regularity one, which is to say that it admits a faithful $C^1$ action on $I$, but no faithful $C^{1,τ}$ action. This is the first explicit example of a group of exponential growth which is without nonabelian subexponential growth subgroups, whose critical regularity is finite, achieved, and known exactly. Another corollary we get is that Thompson's group $F$ does not admit a faithful $C^1$ overlapping action on $I$, so that $F*\mathbb{Z}$ is a new example of a locally indicable group admitting no faithful $C^1$--action on $I$.

math.GR↗
arXiv2021

Two new families of finitely generated simple groups of homeomorphisms of the real line

The goal of this article is to exhibit two new families of finitely generated simple groups of homeomorphisms of $\mathbf{R}$. These families are strikingly different from existing families owing to the nature of their actions on $\mathbf{R}$, and exhibit surprising algebraic and dynamical features. In particular, one construction provides the first examples of finitely generated simple groups of homeomorphisms of the real line which also admit a minimal action by homeomorphisms on the circle. This provides new examples of finitely generated simple groups with infinite commutator width, and the first such left orderable examples. Another construction provides the first examples of finitely generated simple left orderable groups that admit minimal actions by homeomorphisms on the torus.

math.GR↗
arXiv2019

One-dimensional actions of Higman's group

We build a faithful action of Higman's group on the line by homeomorphisms, answering a question of Yves de Cornulier. As a by-product we obtain many quasimorphisms from the Higman group into the reals. We also show that every action by $C^1$-diffeomorphisms of Higman's group on the line or the circle is trivial.

math.GR↗
arXiv2019

Uniformly perfect finitely generated simple left orderable groups

We show that the finitely generated simple left orderable groups $G_ρ$ constructed by the first two authors in arXiv:1807.06478 are uniformly perfect - each element in the group can be expressed as a product of three commutators of elements in the group. This implies that the group does not admit any homogeneous quasimorphism. Moreover, any nontrivial action of the group on the circle, which lifts to an action on the real line, admits a fixed point. Most strikingly, it follows that the groups are examples of left orderable monsters, which means that any faithful action on the real line without a global fixed point is globally contracting. This answers Question 4 from the 2018 ICM proceedings article of the third author. (This question has also been answered simultaneously and independently, using completely different methods, by Matte Bon and Triestino in arXiv:1811.12256.) To prove our results, we provide a certain characterisation of elements of the group $G_ρ$ which is a useful new tool in the study of these examples.

math.GR↗
arXiv2018

The space of relative orders and a generalization of Morris indicability theorem

We introduce the space of relative orders on a group and show that it is compact whenever the group is finitely generated. We use this to show that if $G$ is a finitely generated group acting by order preserving homeomorphism of on the line, then if some stabilizer of a point is proper and co-amenable subgroup, then $G$ surjects onto $\mathbb{Z}$. This is a generalization of a theorem of Morris.

math.GR↗
arXiv2017

Orderings and flexibility of some subgroups of $Homeo_+(\mathbb{R})$

In this work we exhibit flexibility phenomena for some (countable) groups acting by order preserving homeomorphisms of the line. More precisely, we show that if a left orderable group admits an amalgam decomposition of the form $G=\mathbb{F}_n*_{\mathbb Z} \mathbb{F}_m$ where $n+m\geq 3$, then every faithful action of $G$ on the line by order preserving homeomorphisms can be approximated by another action (without global fixed points) that is not semi-conjugated to the initial action. We deduce that $\mathcal{LO}(G)$, the space of left orders of $G$, is a Cantor set. In the special case where $G=π_1(Σ)$ is the fundamental group of a closed hyperbolic surface, we found finer techniques of perturbation. For instance, we exhibit a single representation whose conjugacy class in dense in the space of representations. This entails that the space of representations without global fixed points of $π_1(Σ)$ into $Homeo_+(\mathbb R)$ is connected, and also that the natural conjugation action of $π_1(Σ)$ on $\mathcal{LO}(π_1(Σ))$ has a dense orbit.

math.GR↗
arXiv2017

On the number of circular orders on a group

We give a classification and complete algebraic description of groups allowing only finitely many (left multiplication invariant) circular orders. In particular, they are all solvable groups with a specific semi-direct product decomposition. This allows us to also show that the space of circular orders of any group is either finite or uncountable. As a special case and first step, we show that the space of circular orderings of an infinite Abelian group has no isolated points, hence is homeomorphic to a cantor set.

math.GR↗
arXiv2016

Quasi-invariant measures for some amenable groups acting on the line

In this note we show that if $G$ is a solvable group acting on the line, and if there is $T\in G$ having no fixed points, then there is a Radon measure $μ$ on the line quasi-invariant under $G$. In fact, our method allows for the same conclusion for $G$ inside a class of groups that is closed under extensions and contains all solvable groups and all groups of subexponential growth.

math.DS↗
arXiv2011

On groups with finitely many Conradian orderings

We study the space of left-orderings on groups with finitely many Conradian orderings. We show that, within this class of groups, having an isolated left-ordering is equivalent to having finitely many left-orderings.

math.GR↗
arXiv2011

Left-orderings on free products of groups

We show that no left-ordering on a free product of (left-orderable) groups is isolated. In particular, we show that the space of left-orderings of free product of finitely generated groups is homeomorphic to the Cantor set. With the same techniques, we also give a new and constructive proof of the fact that the natural conjugation action of the free group (on two or more generators) on its space of left-orderings has a dense orbit.

math.GR↗