Related papers: Distortion and Tits alternative in smooth mapping …

If $\G$ is a finitely generated group with generators $\{g_1,...,g_j\}$ then an infinite order element $f \in \G$ is a {\em distortion element} of $\G$ provided $\displaystyle{\liminf_{n \to \infty} |f^n|/n = 0,}$ where $|f^n|$ is the word…

In this paper we determine for relatively minimal elliptic surfaces with positive Euler number the image of the natural representation of the group of orientation preserving self-diffeomorphisms on $\Hbar$, the second homology group reduced…

Watanabe's theta graph diffeomorphism, constructed using Watanabe's clasper surgery construction which turns trivalent graphs in 4-manifolds into parameterized families of diffeomorphisms of 4-manifolds, is a diffeomorphism of $S^4$…

Let S be a compact orientable surface and f be an element of the group Homeo_{0}(S) of homeomorphisms of S isotopic to the identity. Denote by F a lift of f to the universal cover of S. In this article, the following result is proved: if…

We introduce subgroups ${\mathcal{B}}_g< {\mathcal H}_g$ of the mapping class group $Mod(\Sigma_g)$ of a closed surface of genus $g \ge 0$ with a Cantor set removed, which are extensions of Thompson's group $V$ by a direct limit of mapping…

We prove that the mapping class group of a surface obtained from removing a Cantor set from either the 2-sphere, the plane, or the interior of the closed 2-disk has no proper countable-index subgroups. The proof is an application of the…

In this paper we formulate and prove a structure theorem for area preserving diffeomorphisms of genus zero surfaces with zero entropy. As an application we relate the existence of faithful actions of a finite index subgroup of the mapping…

We consider the Lie group of smooth diffeomorphisms Diff$(M)$ of a simple polytope $M$ in the euclidean space. Simple polytopes are special cases of manifolds with corners. The geometric setting allows to study in particular, the subgroup…

Let $X$ be a (smooth) compact complex surface. We show that the torsion subgroup of the biholomorphic automorphism group $\operatorname{Aut}(X)$ is virtually nilpotent. Moreover, we study the Tits alternative of $\operatorname{Aut}(X)$ and…

Let $M$ and $N$ be smooth manifolds, with $M$ closed and connected. If the $C^r$--diffeomorphism group of $M$ is elementarily equivalent to the $C^s$--diffeomorphism group of $N$ for some $r,s\in[1,\infty)\cup\{0,\infty\}$, then $r=s$ and…

We consider the group of smooth diffeomorphisms of the circle. We show that any recurrent $f$ (in the sense that $\{f^n\}_{n \in Z}$ is not discrete) is in fact a distortion element (in the sense that its iterates can be written as short…

We build the first examples of diffeomorphisms that are distorted in a group of $C^r$ diffeomorphisms yet undistorted in the corresponding group of $C^s$ diffeomorphisms, where $r < s$. This explicit construction is performed for the closed…

Let S be a compact connected surface and let f be an element of the group Homeo\_0(S) of homeomorphisms of S isotopic to the identity. Denote by \tilde{f} a lift of f to the universal cover of S. Fix a fundamental domain D of this universal…

We provide information on diffeotopy groups of exotic smoothings of punctured 4-manifolds, extending previous results on diffeotopy groups of exotic $\mathbb{R}^4$'s. In particular, we prove that for a smoothable 4-manifold $M$ and for a…

A theorem of Cantat and Urech says that an analog of the classical Tits alternative holds for the group of birational automorphisms of a compact complex Kaehler surface. We established in our previous paper the following Tits-type…

Let $M$ be a compact orientable surface equipped with a volume form $\omega$, $P$ be either $\mathbb{R}$ or $S^1$, $f:M\to P$ be a $C^{\infty}$ Morse map, and $H$ be the Hamiltonian vector field of $f$ with respect to $\omega$. Let also…

Let S be a closed surface of genus g >= 2 and z in S a marked point. We prove that the subgroup of the mapping class group Map(S,z) corresponding to the fundamental group pi_1(S,z) of the closed surface does not lift to the group of…

We say that a fixed point of a diffeomorphism is non-degenerate if 1 is not an eigenvalue of the linearization at the fixed point. We use pseudo-holomorphic curves techniques to prove the following: the inclusion map $$i: \text{Diff} ^{1}…

This paper is a continuation of our 2005 paper on complex topology and its implication on invertibility (or non-invertibility). In this paper, we will try to classify the complexity of inversion into 3 different classes. We will use…

Let $X$ be a compact orientable non-Haken 3-manifold modeled on the Thurston geometry $\text{Nil}$. We show that the diffeomorphism group $\text{Diff}(X)$ deformation retracts to the isometry group $\text{Isom}(X)$. Combining this with…