Related papers: Big mapping class groups and rigidity of the simpl…
Let $A$ be a separable (not necessarily unital) simple $C^*$-algebra with strict comparison. We show that if $A$ has tracial approximate oscillation zero then $A$ has stable rank one and the canonical map $\Gamma$ from the Cuntz semigroup…
Let $\Gamma$ be a word hyperbolic group with a cyclic JSJ decomposition that has only rigid vertex groups, which are all fundamental groups of closed surface groups. We show that any group $H$ quasi-isometric to $\Gamma$ is abstractly…
Given a conjugacy class $\mathcal{C}$ in a group $G$ we define a new graph, $\Gamma(\mathcal{C})$, whose vertices are elements of $\mathcal{C}$; two vertices $g,h\in \mathcal{C}$ are connected in $\Gamma(\mathcal{C})$ if $[g,h]=1$ and…
Let $J$ be a semisimple Lie group with all simple factors of real rank at least two. Let $\Gamma<J$ be a lattice. We prove a very general local rigidity result about actions of $J$ or $\Gamma$. This shows that almost all so-called "standard…
Let $\bold G$ be a reductive algebraic group defined over $\Q$, and let $\Gamma$ be an arithmetic subgroup of $\bold G(\Q)$. Let $X$ be the symmetric space for $\bold G(\R)$, and assume $X$ is contractible. Then the cohomology (mod torsion)…
Any simple group-grading of a finite dimensional complex algebra induces a natural family of digraphs. We prove that $|E\circ E^{\text{op}}\cup E^{\text{op}}\circ E|\geq |E|$ for any digraph $\Gamma =(V,E)$ without parallel edges, and…
Let $\Gamma$ be a simple undirected graph on a finite vertex set and let $A$ be its adjacency matrix. Then $\Gamma$ is {\it singular} if $A$ is singular. The problem of characterising singular graphs is easy to state but very difficult to…
We define a general notion of centrally $\Gamma$-graded sets and groups and of their graded products, and prove some basic results about the corresponding categories: most importantly, they form braided monoidal categories. Here, $\Gamma$…
Let $A$ be a group acting by automorphisms on the group $G.$ \textit{The commuting graph $\Gamma(G,A)$ of $A$-orbits} of this action is the simple graph with vertex set $\{x^{A} : 1\ne x \in G \}$, the set of all $A$-orbits on $G\setminus…
We prove that a group $\Gamma$ admits a discrete topological (equivalently, smooth) action on some simply-connected 3-manifold if and only if $\Gamma$ has a Cayley complex embeddable -- with certain natural restrictions -- in one of the…
We prove that if $\Gamma$ is a countable group without a subgroup isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z}^2$ that acts faithfully and minimally by orientation preserving homeomorphisms on the circle, then it has a free orbit. We give examples showing…
Consider homogeneous G/H and G/F, for an S-algebraic group G. A lattice {\Gamma} acts on the left strictly conservatively. The following rigidity results are obtained: morphisms, factors and joinings defined apriori only in the measurable…
Let $G$ be a collineation group of a thick finite generalised hexagon or generalised octagon $\Gamma$. If $G$ acts primitively on the points of $\Gamma$, then a recent result of Bamberg et al. shows that $G$ must be an almost simple group…
We prove that if a countable group $\Gamma$ contains infinite commuting subgroups $H, H'\subset \Gamma$ with $H$ non-amenable and $H'$ ``weakly normal'' in $\Gamma$, then any measure preserving $\Gamma$-action on a probability space which…
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…
We classify regular generically free actions of finite groups on the projective plane, up to conjugation in the Cremona group.
Let $\Sigma$ be a surface with either boundary or marked points, equipped with an arbitrary framing. In this note we determine the action of the associated "framed mapping class group" on the homology of $\Sigma$ relative to its boundary…
We present a rigidity theorem for the action of the mapping class group $\pi_0(\mathrm{Diff}(M))$ on the space $\mathcal{R}^+(M)$ of metrics of positive scalar curvature for high dimensional manifolds $M$. This result is applicable to a…
We investigate analogues of some of the classical results in homogeneous dynamics in non-linear setting. Let $G$ be a closed subgroup of the group of automorphisms of a biregular tree and $\Gamma<G$ a discrete subgroup. For a large class of…
The problem of equivariant rigidity is the $\Gamma$-homeomorphism classification of $\Gamma$-actions on manifolds with compact quotient and with contractible fixed sets for all finite subgroups of $\Gamma$. In other words, this is the…