Dimension and rank for mapping class groups
Geometric Topology
2008-11-15 v4 Group Theory
Abstract
We study the large scale geometry of the mapping class group, MCG. Our main result is that for any asymptotic cone of MCG, the maximal dimension of locally compact subsets coincides with the maximal rank of free abelian subgroups of MCG. An application is an affirmative solution to Brock-Farb's Rank Conjecture which asserts that MCG has quasi-flats of dimension N if and only if it has a rank N free abelian subgroup. We also compute the maximum dimension of quasi-flats in Teichmuller space with the Weil-Petersson metric.
Cite
@article{arxiv.math/0512352,
title = {Dimension and rank for mapping class groups},
author = {Jason A. Behrstock and Yair N. Minsky},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/0512352},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
Incorporates referee's suggestions. To appear in Annals of Mathematics