arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Sylvain Barré.
The group of automorphisms of the free group on two generators is known to act geometrically, in an essentially unique way, on a 2-dimensional CAT(0) space X. We prove that X contains precisely two Hamiltonian surfaces. By this we mean a surface in X which visits every vertex and every edge precisely once.
Reporting on a computer--assisted search for nonpositively curved CW complexes of intermediate rank conducted some years ago. Not intended for publication.
Ring puzzles are tessellations of the Euclidean plane respecting local constraints around vertices. Such puzzles may arise in geometric group theory, for example, as embedded flat planes in certain CAT(0) complexes of dimension 2. In the present paper, we solve the odd ring puzzle problem, which is associated with the unique odd Moebius--Kantor CAT(0) complex by the method of Sidon sequences. We prove that there are precisely three families of such puzzles, two uncountable families, and a finite family of twelve exceptional puzzles.
A sequence $a_0<a_1<\ldots<a_n$ of nonnegative integers is called a Sidon sequence if the sums of pairs $a_i+a_j$ are all different. In this paper we construct CAT(0) groups and spaces from Sidon sequences. The arithmetic condition of Sidon is shown to be equivalent to nonpositive curvature, and the number of ways to represent an integer as an alternating sum of triples $a_i-a_j+a_k$ of integers from the Sidon sequence, is shown to determine the structure of the space of embedded flat planes in the associated CAT(0) complex.
We study the distribution of roots of rank 2 in nonpositively curved 2-complexes with Moebius--Kantor links. For every face in such a complex, the parity of the number of roots of rank 2 in a neighbourhood of the face is a well-defined geometric invariant determined by the root distribution. We study the relation between the root distribution and the parity distribution. We prove that there exist parity distributions in flats which are disallowed in Moebius--Kantor complexes. This contrasts with the fact that every root distribution can be realized. We classify the root distributions associated with an even parity distribution (i.e., such that every face is even) on a flat plane. We prove that there exists up to isomorphism a unique even simply connected Moebius--Kantor complex -- namely, the Pauli complex.
We introduce concepts of intermediate rank for countable groups that "interpolate" between consecutive values of the classical (integer-valued) rank. Various classes of groups are proved to have intermediate rank behaviors. We are especially interested in interpolation between rank 1 and rank 2. For instance, we construct groups "of rank 7/4". Our setting is essentially that of non positively curved spaces, where concepts of intermediate rank include polynomial rank, local rank, and mesoscopic rank. The resulting framework has interesting connections to operator algebras. We prove property RD in many cases where intermediate rank occurs. This gives a new family of groups satisfying the Baum-Connes conjecture. We prove that the reduced $C^*$-algebras of groups of rank 7/4 have stable rank 1.
We prove that the braid group $B_4$ on 4 strings, as well as its central quotient $B_4/< z>$, have the property RD of Haagerup-Jolissaint. It follows that the automorphism group $\Aut(F_2)$ of the free group $F_2$ on 2 generators has property RD. We also prove that the braid group $B_4$ is a group of intermediate rank (of dimension 3). Namely, we show that both $B_4$ and its central quotient have exponential mesoscopic rank, i.e., that they contain exponentially many large flat balls which are not included in flats.
We consider spaces for which there is a notion of harmonicity for complex valued functions defined on them. For instance, this is the case of Riemannian manifolds on one hand, and (metric) graphs on the other hand. We observe that it is then possible to define an "amazing" notion of holomorphic functions on them, and show how rigid it is in some cases.