English

Intersection form, laminations and currents on free groups

Geometric Topology 2010-05-19 v2 Group Theory

Abstract

Let FNF_N be a free group of rank N2N\ge 2, let μ\mu be a geodesic current on FNF_N and let TT be an R\mathbb R-tree with a very small isometric action of FNF_N. We prove that the geometric intersection number <T,μ><T, \mu> is equal to zero if and only if the support of μ\mu is contained in the dual algebraic lamination L2(T)L^2(T) of TT. 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 FNF_N and prove that filling elements are "nearly generic" in FNF_N. We also apply our results to the notion of \emph{bounded translation equivalence} in free groups.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0711.4337,
  title  = {Intersection form, laminations and currents on free groups},
  author = {Ilya Kapovich and Martin Lustig},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0711.4337},
  year   = {2010}
}

Comments

revised version, to appear in GAFA

R2 v1 2026-06-21T09:47:54.591Z