arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Ilya Kapovich.
We prove that if $G$ is a non-uniform lattice in a rank-one semi-simple Lie group $\ne Isom(\H^2_\R)$ then $G$ is quasi-isometrically co-Hopf. This means that every quasi-isometric embedding $G\to G$ is coarsely onto and thus is a quasi-isometry.
We show how to derive hyperbolicity of the free factor complex of $F_N$ from the Handel-Mosher proof of hyperbolicity of the free splitting complex of $F_N$, thus obtaining an alternative proof of a theorem of Bestvina-Feighn. We also show that under the natural map $τ$ from the free splitting complex to free factor complex, a geodesic $[x,y]$ maps to a path that is uniformly Hausdorff-close to a geodesic $[τ(x),τ(y)]$ .
We introduce and study the space of \emph{subset currents} on the free group $F_N$. A subset current on $F_N$ is a positive $F_N$-invariant locally finite Borel measure on the space $\mathfrak C_N$ of all closed subsets of $\partial F_N$ consisting of at least two points. While ordinary geodesic currents generalize conjugacy classes of nontrivial group elements, a subset current is a measure-theoretic generalization of the conjugacy class of a nontrivial finitely generated subgroup in $F_N$, and, more generally, in a word-hyperbolic group. The concept of a subset current is related to the notion of an "invariant random subgroup" with respect to some conjugacy-invariant probability measure on the space of closed subgroups of a topological group. If we fix a free basis $A$ of $F_N$, a subset current may also be viewed as an $F_N$-invariant measure on a "branching" analog of the geodesic flow space for $F_N$, whose elements are infinite subtrees (rather than just geodesic lines) of the Cayley graph of $F_N$ with respect to $A$.
Let $G$ be a group given by the presentation [ ,] where $k\ge 2$ and where the $u_i\in F(b_1,..., b_k)$ and $w_i\in F(a_1,..., a_k)$ are random words. Generically such a group is a small cancellation group and it is clear that $(a_1,...,a_k)$ and $(b_1,...,b_k)$ are generating $n$-tuples for $G$. We prove that for generic choices of $u_1,..., u_k$ and $v_1,..., v_k$ the "once-stabilized" tuples $(a_1,..., a_k,1)$ and $(b_1,...,b_k,1)$ are not Nielsen equivalent in $G$. This provides a counter-example for a Wiegold-type conjecture in the setting of word-hyperbolic groups. We conjecture that in the above construction at least $k$ stabilizations are needed to make the tuples $(a_1,..., a_k)$ and $(b_1,...,b_k)$ Nielsen equivalent.
Motivated by the work of McCarthy and Papadopoulos for subgroups of mapping class groups, we construct domains of proper discontinuity in the compactified Outer space and in the projectivized space of geodesic currents for any "sufficiently large" subgroup of $Out(F_N)$ (that is, a subgroup containing a hyperbolic iwip). As a corollary we prove that for $N\ge 3$ the action of $Out(F_N)$ on the subset of $\mathbb PCurr(F_N)$ consisting of all projectivized currents with full support is properly discontinuous.
We prove that if $T$ is an $\mathbb R$-tree with a minimal free isometric action of $F_N$, then the $Out(F_N)$-stabilizer of the projective class $[T]$ is virtually cyclic. For the special case where $T=T_+(ϕ)$ is the forward limit tree of an atoroidal iwip element $ϕ\in Out(F_N)$ this is a consequence of the results of Bestvina, Feighn and Handel, via very different methods. We also derive a new proof of the Tits alternative for subgroups of $Out(F_N)$ containing an iwip (not necessarily atoroidal): we prove that every such subgroup $G\le Out(F_N)$ is either virtually cyclic or contains a free subgroup of rank two. The general case of the Tits alternative for subgroups of $Out(F_N)$ is due to Bestvina, Feighn and Handel.
We say that a subset $S\subseteq F_N$ is \emph{spectrally rigid} if whenever $T_1, T_2\in cv_N$ are points of the (unprojectivized) Outer space such that $||g||_{T_1}=||g||_{T_2}$ for every $g\in S$ then $T_1=T_2$ in $\cvn$. It is well-known that $F_N$ itself is spectrally rigid; it also follows from the result of Smillie and Vogtmann that there does not exist a finite spectrally rigid subset of $F_N$. We prove that if $A$ is a free basis of $F_N$ (where $N\ge 2$) then almost every trajectory of a non-backtracking simple random walk on $F_N$ with respect to $A$ is a spectrally rigid subset of $F_N$.
A \emph{geodesic current} on a free group $F$ is an $F$-invariant measure on the set $\partial^2 F$ of pairs of distinct points of $\partial F$. The space of geodesic currents on $F$ is a natural companion of Culler-Vogtmann's Outer space $cv(F)$ and studying them together yields new information about both spaces as well as about the group $Out(F)$. The main aim of this paper is to introduce and study the notion of {\it geometric entropy} $h_T(μ)$ of a geodesic current $μ$ with respect to a point $T$ of $cv(F)$, which can be viewed as a length function on $F$. The geometric entropy is defined as the slowest rate of exponential decay of $μ$-measures of bi-infinite cylinders in $F$, as the $T$-length of the word defining such a cylinder goes to infinity. We obtain an explicit formula for $h_{T'}(μ_T)$, where $T,T'$ are arbitrary points in $cv(F)$ and where $μ_T$ denotes a Patterson-Sullivan current corresponding to $T$. It involves the volume entropy $h(T)$ and the extremal distortion of distances in $T$ with respect to distances in $T'$. It follows that, given $T$ in the projectivized outer space $CV(F)$, $h_{T'}(μ_T)$ as function of $T'\in CV(F)$ achieves a strict global maximum at $T'=T$. We also show that for any $T\in cv(F)$ and any geodesic current $μ$ on $F$, $h_T(μ)\le h(T)$, where the equality is realized when $μ=μ_T$. For points $T\in cv(F)$ with simplicial metric (where all edges have length one), we relate the geometric entropy of a current and the measure-theoretic entropy.
We prove that if $ϕ,ψ\in Out(F_N)$ are hyperbolic iwips (irreducible with irreducible powers) such that $<ϕ,ψ>\le Out(F_N)$ is not virtually cyclic then some high powers of $ϕ$ and $ψ$ generate a free subgroup of rank two, all of whose nontrivial elements are again hyperbolic iwips. Being a hyperbolic iwip element of $Out(F_N)$ is strongly analogous to being a pseudo-Anosov element of a mapping class group, so the above result provides analogs of "purely pseudo-Anosov" free subgroups of $Out(F_N)$.
We compare the random group model of Gromov and the model of generic groups of Arzhantseva and Ol'shanskii.
Let $F_N$ be a free group of rank $N\ge 2$, let $μ$ be a geodesic current on $F_N$ and let $T$ be an $\mathbb R$-tree with a very small isometric action of $F_N$. We prove that the geometric intersection number $ $ is equal to zero if and only if the support of $μ$ is contained in the dual algebraic lamination $L^2(T)$ of $T$. Applying this result, we obtain a generalization of a theorem of Francaviglia regarding length spectrum compactness for currents with full support. As another application, we define the notion of a \emph{filling} element in $F_N$ and prove that filling elements are "nearly generic" in $F_N$. We also apply our results to the notion of \emph{bounded translation equivalence} in free groups.
For the free group $F_{N}$ of finite rank $N \geq 2$ we construct a canonical Bonahon-type continuous and $Out(F_N)$-invariant \emph{geometric intersection form} \[ <, >: \bar{cv}(F_N)\times Curr(F_N)\to \mathbb R_{\ge 0}. \] Here $\bar{cv}(F_N)$ is the closure of unprojectivized Culler-Vogtmann's Outer space $cv(F_N)$ in the equivariant Gromov-Hausdorff convergence topology (or, equivalently, in the length function topology). It is known that $\bar{cv}(F_N)$ consists of all \emph{very small} minimal isometric actions of $F_N$ on $\mathbb R$-trees. The projectivization of $\bar{cv}(F_N)$ provides a free group analogue of Thurston's compactification of the Teichmüller space. As an application, using the \emph{intersection graph} determined by the intersection form, we show that several natural analogues of the curve complex in the free group context have infinite diameter.
Motivated by results on generic-case complexity in group theory, we apply the ideas of effective Baire category and effective measure theory to study complexity classes of functions which are "fractionally computable" by a partial algorithm. For this purpose it is crucial to specify an allowable effective density, $δ$, of convergence for a partial algorithm. The set $\mathcal{FC}(δ)$ consists of all total functions $ f: Σ^\ast \to \{0,1 \}$ where $Σ$ is a finite alphabet with $|Σ| \ge 2$ which are "fractionally computable at density $δ$". The space $\mathcal{FC}(δ) $ is effectively of the second category while any fractional complexity class, defined using $δ$ and any computable bound $β$ with respect to an abstract Blum complexity measure, is effectively meager. A remarkable result of Kautz and Miltersen shows that relative to an algorithmically random oracle $A$, the relativized class $\mathcal{NP}^A$ does not have effective polynomial measure zero in $\mathcal{E}^A$, the relativization of strict exponential time. We define the class $\mathcal{UFP}^A$ of all languages which are fractionally decidable in polynomial time at ``a uniform rate'' by algorithms with an oracle for $A$. We show that this class does have effective polynomial measure zero in $\mathcal{E}^A$ for every oracle $A$. Thus relaxing the requirement of polynomial time decidability to hold only for a fraction of possible inputs does not compensate for the power of nondeterminism in the case of random oracles.
Using geodesic currents, we provide a theoretical justification for some of the experimental results regarding the behavior of Whitehead's algorithm on non-minimal inputs, that were obtained by Haralick, Miasnikov and Myasnikov via pattern recognition methods. In particular we prove that the images of "random" elements of a free group $F$ under the automorphisms of $F$ form "clusters" that share similar normalized Whitehead graphs and similar behavior with respect to Whitehead's algorithm.
We prove that for $k\ge 5$ there does not exist a continuous map $\partial CV(F_k)\to\mathbb PCurr(F_k)$ that is either $Out(F_k)$-equivariant or $Out(F_k)$-anti-equivariant. Here $\partial CV(F_k)$ is the "length-function" boundary of Culler-Vogtmann's Outer space $CV(F_k)$, and $\mathbb PCurr(F_k)$ is the space of projectivized geodesic currents for $F_{k}$. We also prove that, if $k\ge 3$, for the action of $Out(F_k)$ on $\mathbb PCurr(F_{k})$ and for the diagonal action of $Out(F_k)$ on the product space $\partial CV(F_k)\times \mathbb PCurr(F_k)$ there exist unique non-empty minimal closed $Out(F_k)$-invariant sets. Our results imply that for $k\ge 3$ any continuous $Out(F_k)$-equivariant embedding of $CV(F_k)$ into $\mathbb PCurr(F_k)$ (such as the Patterson-Sullivan embedding) produces a new compactification of Outer space, different from the usual "length-function" compactification $\bar{CV(F_k)}=CV(F_k)\cup \partial CV(F_k)$.
We show that for any positive integer $m\ge 1$, $m$-relator quotients of the modular group $M = PSL(2,\mathbb{Z})$ generically satisfy a very strong Mostow-type \emph{isomorphism rigidity}. We also prove that such quotients are generically "essentially incompressible". By this we mean that their "absolute $T$-invariant", measuring the smallest size of any possible finite presentation of the group, is bounded below by a function which is almost linear in terms of the length of the given presentation. We compute the precise asymptotics of the number $I_m(n)$ of \emph{isomorphism types} of $m$-relator quotients of $M$ where all the defining relators are cyclically reduced words of length $n$ in $M$. We obtain other algebraic results and show that such quotients are complete, Hopfian, co-Hopfian, one-ended, word-hyperbolic groups.
A remarkable result of McShane states that for a punctured torus with a complete finite volume hyperbolic metric we have \[ \sum_γ \frac{1}{e^{\ell(γ)}+1}={1/2} \] where $γ$ varies over the homotopy classes of essential simple closed curves and $\ell(γ)$ is the length of the geodesic representative of $γ$. We prove that there is no reasonable analogue of McShane's identity for the Culler-Vogtmann outer space of a free group.
Motivated by Bonahon's result for hyperbolic surfaces, we construct an analogue of the Patterson-Sullivan-Bowen-Margulis map from the Culler-Vogtmann outer space $CV(F_k)$ into the space of projectivized geodesic currents on a free group. We prove that this map is a topological embedding. We also prove that for every $k\ge 2$ the minimum of the volume entropy of the universal covers of finite connected volume-one metric graphs with fundamental group of rank $k$ and without degree-one vertices is equal to $(3k-3)\log 2$ and that this minimum is realized by trivalent graphs with all edges of equal lengths, and only by such graphs.