arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Genevieve S. Walsh.
The aim of these notes is to connect the theory of hyperbolic and relatively hyperbolic groups to the theory of manifolds and Kleinian groups. We also give definitions and many examples of relatively hyperbolic groups and their boundaries. We survey some of the extensive work that has been done in the field. These notes are based on lectures given by the third author at CIRM in the Summer of 2018.
We prove that if a proper metric space is quasi-isometric to a finitely generated group and to a space with a horoball over a finitely generated group, then that space is quasi-isometric to a rank-one symmetric space or the real line.
Given a hyperbolic group $G$ and a maximal infinite cyclic subgroup $\langle g \rangle$, we define a {\it drilling of $G$ along $g$}, which is a relatively hyperbolic group pair $(\widehat{G}, P)$. This is inspired by the well-studied procedure of drilling a hyperbolic $3$--manifold along an embedded geodesic. We prove that, under suitable conditions, a hyperbolic group with $2$-sphere boundary admits a drilling where the resulting relatively hyperbolic group pair $(\widehat{G}, P)$ has relatively hyperbolic boundary $S^2$. This allows us to reduce the Cannon Conjecture (in the residually finite case) to a relative version, which is likely to be more tractable.
We introduce a class of cusped hyperbolic $3$-manifolds that we call mixed-platonic, composed of regular ideal hyperbolic polyhedra of more than one type, which includes certain previously-known examples. We establish basic facts about mixed-platonic manifolds which allow us to conclude, among other things, that there is no mixed-platonic hyperbolic knot complement with hidden symmetries.
In this article, we prove a version of Martin and Skora's conjecture that convergence groups on the $2$-sphere are covered by Kleinian groups. Given a relatively hyperbolic group pair $(G,\mathcal{P})$ with planar boundary and no Sierpinski carpet or cut points in its boundary, and with $G$ one ended and virtually having no $2$-torsion, we show that $G$ is virtually Kleinian. We also give applications to various versions of the Cannon conjecture and to convergence groups acting on $S^2$.
We study the Bowditch boundaries of relatively hyperbolic group pairs, focusing on the case where there are no cut points. We show that if $(G,\mathcal{P})$ is a rigid relatively hyperbolic group pair whose boundary embeds in $S^2$, then the action on the boundary extends to a convergence group action on $S^2$. More generally, if the boundary is connected and planar with no cut points, we show that every element of $\mathcal{P}$ is virtually a surface group. This conclusion is consistent with the conjecture that such a group $G$ is virtually Kleinian. We give numerous examples to show the necessity of our assumptions.
In this expository note, we illustrate phenomena and conjectures about boundaries of hyperbolic groups by considering the special cases of certain amalgams of hyperbolic groups. While doing so, we describe fundamental results on hyperbolic groups and their boundaries by Bowditch and Haissinsky, along with special treatments for the boundaries of free groups by Otal and Cashen.
Let $C(L)$ be the right-angled Coxeter group defined by an abstract triangulation $L$ of $\mathbb{S}^2$. We show that $C(L)$ is isomorphic to a hyperbolic right-angled reflection group if and only if $L$ can be realized as an acute triangulation. The proof relies on the theory of CAT(-1) spaces. A corollary is that an abstract triangulation of $\mathbb{S}^2$ can be realized as an acute triangulation exactly when it satisfies a combinatorial condition called "flag no-square". We also study generalizations of this result to other angle bounds, other planar surfaces and other dimensions.
In a talk at the Cornell Topology Festival in 2005, W. Thurston discussed a graph which we call "The Big Dehn Surgery Graph", B. Here we explore this graph, particularly the link of S^3, and prove facts about the geometry and topology of B. We also investigate some interesting subgraphs and pose what we believe are important questions about B.
In this article we examine the conjecture of Neumann and Reid that the only hyperbolic knots in the $3$-sphere which admit hidden symmetries are the figure-eight knot and the two dodecahedral knots. Knots whose complements cover hyperbolic reflection orbifolds admit hidden symmetries, and we verify the Neumann-Reid conjecture for knots which cover small hyperbolic reflection orbifolds. We also show that a reflection orbifold covered by the complement of an AP knot is necessarily small. Thus when $K$ is an AP knot, the complement of $K$ covers a reflection orbifold exactly when $K$ is either the figure-eight knot or one of the dodecahedral knots.
We show here that the Nielsen core of the bumping set of the domain of discontinuity of a Kleinian group $Γ$ is the boundary of the characteristic submanifold of the associated 3-manifold with boundary. Some examples of interesting characteristic submanifolds are given. We also give a construction of the characteristic submanifold directly from the Nielsen core of the bumping set. The proofs are from "first principles", using properties of uniform domains and the fact that quasi-conformal discs are uniform domains.
We investigate commensurability classes of hyperbolic knot complements in the generic case of knots without hidden symmetries. We show that such knot complements which are commensurable are cyclically commensurable, and that there are at most $3$ hyperbolic knot complements in a cyclic commensurability class. Moreover if two hyperbolic knots have cyclically commensurable complements, then they are fibered with the same genus and are chiral. A characterisation of cyclic commensurability classes of complements of periodic knots is also given. In the non-periodic case, we reduce the characterisation of cyclic commensurability classes to a generalization of the Berge conjecture.
Suppose M is a cusped finite-volume hyperbolic 3-manifold and T is an ideal triangulation of M with essential edges. We show that any incompressible surface S in M that is not a virtual fiber can be isotoped into spunnormal form in T . The proof is based directly on ideas of W. Thurston.
These are notes based on a series of talks that the author gave at the "Interactions between hyperbolic geometry and quantum groups" conference held at Columbia University in June of 2009.
We prove that the automorphism group of the braid group on four strands acts faithfully and geometrically on a CAT(0) 2-complex. This implies that the automorphism group of the free group of rank two acts faithfully and geometrically on a CAT(0) 2-complex, in contrast to the situation for rank three and above.
We show that a hyperbolic 2-bridge knot complement is the unique knot complement in its commensurability class. We also discuss constructions of commensurable hyperbolic knot complements and put forth a conjecture on the number of hyperbolic knot complements in a commensurability class.
We show that all two-bridge knot and link complements are virtually fibered. We also show that spherical Montesinos knot and link complements are virtually fibered. This is accomplished by showing that such knot complements are finitely covered by great circle link complements.