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Pierre Py

Publications and source records attributed to Pierre Py.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2025

Profinite rigidity of K\"ahler groups: Riemann surfaces and subdirect products

This paper establishes strong profinite rigidity results for K\"ahler groups, showing that certain groups are determined within the class of residually finite K\"ahler groups by their profinite completion. Examples include products of surface groups and certain groups with exotic finiteness properties studied earlier by Dimca-Papadima-Suciu and Llosa Isenrich. Consequently, there are aspherical smooth projective varieties that are determined up to homeomorphism by their algebraic fundamental group. The main tool is the following: the holomorphic fibrations of a closed K\"ahler manifold over hyperbolic 2-orbifolds can be recovered from the profinite completion of its fundamental group. We also prove profinite invariance of the BNS invariant.

math.GT↗
arXiv2023

Groups with exotic finiteness properties from complex Morse theory

Recent constructions have shown that interesting behaviours can be observed in the finiteness properties of K\"ahler groups and their subgroups. In this work, we push this further and exhibit, for each integer $k$, new hyperbolic groups admiting surjective homomorphisms to $\mathbb{Z}$ and to $\mathbb{Z}^{2}$, whose kernel is of type $\mathscr{F}_{k}$ but not of type $\mathscr{F}_{k+1}$. By a fibre product construction, we also find examples of nonnormal subgroups of K\"ahler groups with exotic finiteness properties.

math.GT↗
arXiv2022

Subgroups of hyperbolic groups, finiteness properties and complex hyperbolic lattices

We prove that in a cocompact complex hyperbolic arithmetic lattice $\Gamma < {\rm PU}(m,1)$ of the simplest type, deep enough finite index subgroups admit plenty of homomorphisms to $\mathbb{Z}$ with kernel of type $\mathscr{F}_{m-1}$ but not of type $\mathscr{F}_{m}$. This provides many finitely presented non-hyperbolic subgroups of hyperbolic groups and answers an old question of Brady. Our method also yields a proof of a special case of Singer's conjecture for aspherical K\"ahler manifolds.

math.GR↗
arXiv2020

Irrational pencils and Betti numbers

We study irrational pencils with isolated critical points on compact aspherical complex manifolds. We prove that if the set of critical points is nonempty, the homology of the kernel of the morphism induced by the pencil on fundamental groups is not finitely generated. This generalizes a result by Dimca, Papadima and Suciu. By considering self-products of the Cartwright-Steger surface, this allows us to build new examples of smooth projective varieties whose fundamental group has a non-finitely generated homology.

math.GT↗
arXiv2020

Mapping class groups, multiple Kodaira fibrations, and CAT(0) spaces

We study several geometric and group theoretical problems related to Kodaira fibrations, to more general families of Riemann surfaces, and to surface-by-surface groups. First we provide constraints on Kodaira fibrations that fiber in more than two distinct ways, addressing a question by Catanese and Salter about their existence. Then we show that if the fundamental group of a surface bundle over a surface is a ${\rm CAT}(0)$ group, the bundle must have injective monodromy (unless the monodromy has finite image). Finally, given a family of closed Riemann surfaces (of genus $\ge 2$) with injective monodromy $E\to B$ over a manifold $B$, we explain how to build a new family of Riemann surfaces with injective monodromy whose base is a finite cover of the total space $E$ and whose fibers have higher genus. We apply our construction to prove that the mapping class group of a once punctured surface virtually admits injective and irreducible morphisms into the mapping class group of a closed surface of higher genus.

math.GT↗
arXiv2018

Hyperbolic spaces, principal series and ${\rm O}(2,\infty)$

We prove that there exists no irreducible representation of the identity component of the isometry group ${\rm PO}(1,n)$ of the real hyperbolic space of dimension $n$ into the group ${\rm O}(2,\infty)$, if $n\geq 3$. This is motivated by the existence of irreducible representations (arising from the spherical principal series) of ${\rm PO}(1,n)^{\circ}$ into the groups ${\rm O}(p,\infty)$ for other values of $p$.

math.GR↗
arXiv2018

Self-representations of the Moebius group

Contrary to the finite-dimensional case, the Moebius group admits interesting self-representations when infinite-dimensional. We construct and classify all these self-representations. The proofs are obtained in the equivalent setting of isometries of Lobachevsky spaces and use kernels of hyperbolic type, in analogy to the classical concepts of kernels of positive and negative type.

math.GR↗
arXiv2016

Cubulable K\"ahler groups

We prove that a K\"ahler group which is cubulable, i.e. which acts properly discontinuously and cocompactly on a CAT(0) cubical complex, has a finite index subgroup isomorphic to a direct product of surface groups, possibly with a free Abelian factor. Similarly, we prove that a closed aspherical K\"ahler manifold with a cubulable fundamental group has a finite cover which is biholomorphic to a topologically trivial principal torus bundle over a product of Riemann surfaces. Along the way, we prove a factorization result for essential actions of K\"ahler groups on irreducible, locally finite CAT(0) cubical complexes, under the assumption that there is no fixed point in the visual boundary.

math.GT↗
arXiv2015

A remark about weak fillings

Let $L$ be a closed totally real submanifold of $\mathbb{C}^{n}$, $n\ge 2$, which is not Lagrangian. We observe that small enough tubular neighborhoods of $L$ give exotic examples of weak fillings of $ST^{\ast}L$ endowed with its standard contact structure.

math.SG↗
arXiv2014

Some noncoherent, nonpositively curved K\"ahler groups

If $\Gamma$ is any nonuniform lattice in the group ${\rm PU}(2,1)$, let $\overline{\Gamma}$ be the quotient of $\Gamma$ obtained by filling the cusps of $\Gamma$ (i.e. killing the center of parabolic subgroups). Assuming that such a lattice $\Gamma$ has positive first Betti number, we prove that for any sufficiently deep subgroup of finite index $\Gamma_{1} < \Gamma$, the group $\overline{\Gamma_{1}}$ is noncoherent. The proof relies on previous work of M. Kapovich as well as of C. Hummel and V. Schroeder.

math.GT↗
arXiv2012

Coxeter groups and K\"ahler groups

We study homomorphisms from K\"ahler groups to Coxeter groups. As an application, we prove that a cocompact complex hyperbolic lattice (in complex dimension at least 2) does not embedd into a Coxeter group or a right-angled Artin group. This is in contrast with the case of real hyperbolic lattices.

math.GT↗
arXiv2012

An exotic deformation of the hyperbolic space

On the one hand, we construct a continuous family of non-isometric proper CAT(-1) spaces on which the isometry group ${\rm Isom}(\mathbf{H}^{n})$ of the real hyperbolic $n$-space acts minimally and cocompactly. This provides the first examples of non-standard CAT(0) model spaces for simple Lie groups. On the other hand, we classify all continuous non-elementary actions of ${\rm Isom}(\mathbf{H}^{n})$ on the infinite-dimensional real hyperbolic space. It turns out that they are in correspondence with the exotic model spaces that we construct.

math.GT↗
arXiv2010

K\"ahler groups, real hyperbolic spaces and the Cremona group

Generalizing a classical theorem of Carlson and Toledo, we prove that any Zariski dense isometric action of a K\"{a}hler group on the real hyperbolic space of dimension at least 3 factors through a homomorphism onto a cocompact discrete subgroup of PSL(2,R). We also study actions of K\"{a}hler groups on infinite dimensional real hyperbolic spaces, describe some exotic actions of PSL(2,R) on these spaces, and give an application to the study of the Cremona group.

math.AG↗
arXiv2009

On continuity of quasi-morphisms for symplectic maps

We discuss $C^0$-continuous homogeneous quasi-morphisms on the identity component of the group of compactly supported symplectomorphisms of a symplectic manifold. Such quasi-morphisms extend to the $C^0$-closure of this group inside the homeomorphism group. We show that for standard symplectic balls of any dimension, as well as for compact oriented surfaces, other than the sphere, the space of such quasi-morphisms is infinite-dimensional. In the case of surfaces, we give a user-friendly topological characterization of such quasi-morphisms. We also present an application to Hofer's geometry on the group of Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms of the ball.

math.DS↗
arXiv2007

Quelques plats pour la métrique de Hofer

We show, by an elementary and explicit construction, that the group of Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms of certain symplectic manifolds, endowed with Hofer's metric, contains subgroups quasi-isometric to Euclidean spaces of arbitrary dimension.

math.DG↗
arXiv2005

Quasi-morphismes et invariant de Calabi

In this paper, we give two elementary constructions of homogeneous quasi-morphisms defined on the group of Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms of certain closed connected symplectic manifolds (or on its universal cover). The first quasi-morphism, denoted by $\calabi\_{S}$, is defined on the group of Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms of a closed oriented surface $S$ of genus greater than 1. This construction is motivated by a question of M. Entov and L. Polterovich. If $U\subset S$ is a disk or an annulus, the restriction of $\calabi\_{S}$ to the subgroup of diffeomorphisms which are the time one map of a Hamiltonian isotopy in $U$ equals Calabi's homomorphism. The second quasi-morphism is defined on the universal cover of the group of Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms of a symplectic manifold for which the cohomology class of the symplectic form is a multiple of the first Chern class.

math.SG↗