Related papers: Surface subgroups from linear programming

We present two constructions, both inspired by ideas from graph theory, of sequences random surfaces of growing area, whose systoles grow logarithmically as a function of their area. This also allows us to prove a new lower bound on the…

Classes of graphs with bounded expansion are a generalization of both proper minor closed classes and degree bounded classes. Such classes are based on a new invariant, the greatest reduced average density (grad) of G with rank r,…

Stallings remarked that an outer automorphism of a free group may be thought of as a subdivision of a graph followed by a sequence of folds. In this thesis, we prove that automorphisms of fundamental groups of graphs of groups satisfying…

We give upper bounds, linear in rank, to the topological dimensions of the Gromov boundaries of the intersection graph, the free factor graph and the cyclic splitting graph of a finitely generated free group.

Given a group $G = H_1 \ast_A H_2$ which is the free product of two finitely generated groups $H_1$ and $H_2$ with amalgamation over a cyclic subgroup $A$ which is malnormal in $G$, we study relations between the structure of its subgroups…

For any positive integer $n$, we exhibit a cofinite subgroup $\Gamma_n$ of the mapping class group of a surface of genus at most two such that $\Gamma_n$ admits an epimorphism onto a free group of rank $n$. We conclude that…

Let M be a compact, connected surface, possibly with a finite set of points removed from its interior. Let d,n be positive integers, and let N be a d-fold covering space of M. We show that the covering map induces an embedding of the n-th…

We prove that all finitely generated fully residually free groups (limit groups) have a sequence of finite dimensional unitary representations that `strongly converge' to the regular representation of the group. The corresponding statement…

Let $$1 \to H \to G \to Q \to 1$$ be an exact sequence where $H= \pi_1(S)$ is the fundamental group of a closed surface $S$ of genus greater than one, $G$ is hyperbolic and $Q$ is finitely generated free. The aim of this paper is to provide…

Let S be a principally embedded sl_2 subalgebra in sl_n for n > 2. A special case of results of the third author and Gregg Zuckerman implies that there exists a positive integer b(n) such that for any finite-dimensional irreducible sl_n…

In this paper we construct a faithful representation of the mapping class group of the genus two surface into a group of matrices over the complex numbers. Our starting point is the Lawrence-Krammer representation of the braid group B_n,…

We prove that if a normal subgroup of the extended mapping class group of a closed surface has an element of sufficiently small support then its automorphism group and abstract commensurator group are both isomorphic to the extended mapping…

We study random covers of a closed hyperbolic surface $\Sigma$, subject to the condition that, for $k\geq 2$, the fundamental group is isomorphic to the free group $F_k$. We show that asymptotically they distribute according to a specific…

We study a natural model of random 2-dimensional cubical complex which is a subcomplex of an n-dimensional cube, and where every possible square $2$-face is included independently with probability p. Our main result is to exhibit a sharp…

For the completion B of a local geometric normal domain, V. Srinivas asked which subgroups of Cl B arise as the image of the map from Cl A to Cl B on class groups as A varies among normal geometric domains with B isomorphic to the…

Let $\varphi:V\times V\to W$ be a bilinear map of finite vector spaces $V$ and $W$ over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$. We present asymptotic bounds on the number of isomorphism classes of bilinear maps under the natural action of…

In this paper, we study the geometric and dynamical properties of maximal representations of surface groups into Hermitian Lie groups of rank 2. Combining tools from Higgs bundle theory, the theory of Anosov representations, and…

Let $S$ be a compact Riemann surface and $G$ a group of conformal automorphisms of $S$ with $S_0 = S/G$. $S$ is a finite regular branched cover of $S_0$. If $U$ denotes the unit disc, let $\Gamma$ and $\Gamma_0$ be the Fuchsian groups with…

A normal subgroup of the (extended) mapping class group of a surface is said to be geometric if its automorphism group is the mapping class group. We prove that in the case of the Cantor tree surface, every normal subgroup is geometric. We…

We show that on an arbitrary finitely generated non virtually solvable linear group, any two independent random walks will eventually generate a free subgroup. In fact, this will hold for an exponential number of independent random walks.