Related papers: Trees, contraction groups, and Moufang sets

Let $T$ be a tree and $e$ an edge in $T$. If $C$ is a component of $T\setminus e$ and both $C$ and its complement are infinite we say that $C$ is a half-tree. The main result of this paper is that if $G$ is a closed subgroup of the…

Firstly, we prove that every closed subgroup $H$ of type-preserving automorphisms of a locally finite thick affine building $\Delta$ of dimension $\geq 2$ that acts strongly transitively on $\Delta$ is Moufang. If moreover $\Delta$ is…

Let $G$ be a group acting $2$-transitively on the boundary of a locally finite tree, and exclude the situation (which is a genuine exception) where $G$ has both $\mathrm{P}\Gamma\mathrm{L}_3(4)$ and $\mathrm{P}\Gamma\mathrm{L}_3(5)$ as…

A Moufang set is essentially a doubly transitive permutation group such that each point stabilizer contains a normal subgroup which is regular on the remaining vertices; these regular normal subgroups are called the root groups, and they…

Let $G$ be an abstract Kac-Moody group over a finite field and $\bar{G}$ be the closure of the image of $G$ in the automorphism group of its positive building. We show that if the Dynkin diagram associated to $G$ is irreducible and neither…

We study contraction groups for automorphisms of totally disconnected locally compcat groups using the scale of the automorphism as a tool. The contraction group is shown to be unbounded when the inverse automorphism has non-trivial scale…

We prove that Moufang sets with abelian root groups arising at infinity of a locally finite tree all come from rank one simple algebraic groups over local fields.

Given a uniquely 2-divisible group $G$, we study a commutative loop $(G,\circ)$ which arises as a result of a construction in \cite{baer}. We investigate some general properties and applications of $\circ$ and determine a necessary and…

Let $T$ be a locally finite tree all of whose vertices have valency at least $6$. We classify, up to isomorphism, the closed subgroups of $\mathrm{Aut}(T)$ acting $2$-transitively on the set of ends of $T$ and whose local action at each…

Automorphism groups of locally finite trees provide a large class of examples of simple totally disconnected locally compact groups. It is desirable to understand the connections between the global and local structure of such a group.…

Consider a group G and a family $\mathcal{A}$ of subgroups of G. We say that vertex finiteness holds for splittings of G over $\mathcal{A}$ if, up to isomorphism, there are only finitely many possibilities for vertex stabilizers of minimal…

We study Hecke algebras of groups acting on trees with respect to geometrically defined subgroups. In particular, we consider Hecke algebras of groups of automorphisms of locally finite trees with respect to vertex and edge stabilizers and…

Let $T$ be a locally finite tree without vertices of degree $1$. We show that among the closed subgroups of $\mathrm{Aut}(T)$ acting with a bounded number of orbits, the Chabauty-closure of the set of topologically simple groups is the set…

For the class of solvable groups of homeomorphisms of the line preserving orientation and containing a freely acting element, we establish the metabelianity of the quotient group $G/H_G$, where the elements of the normal subgroup $H_G$ are…

We study a notion of deformation for simplicial trees with group actions (G-trees). Here G is a fixed, arbitrary group. Two G-trees are related by a deformation if there is a finite sequence of collapse and expansion moves joining them. We…

We prove a purely topological characterization of the Moufang property for disconnected compact polygons in terms of convergence groups. As a consequence, we recover the fact that a locally finite thick affine building of rank 3 is a…

A generalized Baumslag-Solitar group (GBS group) is a finitely generated group $G$ which acts on a tree with all edge and vertex stabilizers infinite cyclic. We show that Out(G) either contains non-abelian free groups or is virtually…

The Poisson boundary of a finite direct product of affine automorphism groups of homogeneous trees is considered. The Poisson boundary is shown to be a product of ends of trees with a hitting measure for spread-out, aperiodic measures of…

Let $G$ be a hyperbolic group that splits as a graph of free groups with cyclic edge groups. We prove that, unless $G$ is isomorphic to a free product of free and surface groups, every finite abelian group $M$ appears as a direct summand in…

Let G be a Lie group over a local field of positive characteristic which admits a contractive automorphism f (i.e., the forward iterates f^n(x) of each group element x converge to the neutral element 1). We show that then G is a torsion…