Related papers: Rigidity of matrix group actions on CAT(0) spaces …

We investigate CAT(0) metric spaces whose associated Tits boundary is compact. Prominent examples of such spaces are of course the euclidean ones. However there exist non trivial geodesically complete CAT(0) spaces with compact Tits…

The purpose of this paper is to investigate torsion-free groups which act properly and cocompactly on CAT(0) metric spaces which have isolated flats, as defined by Hruska. Our approach is to seek results analogous to those of Sela,…

Consider the action of $SL(n+1,\mathbb{R})$ on $\mathbb{S}^n$ arising as the quotient of the linear action on $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}\setminus\{0\}$. We show that for a semigroup $\mathfrak{S}$ of $SL(n+1,\mathbb{R})$, the following are…

All sigma-compact, locally compact groups acting sharply n-transitively and continuously on compact spaces M have been classified, except for n=2,3 when M is infinite and disconnected. We show that no such actions exist for n=2 and that…

Consider an effective Hamiltonian circle action on a compact symplectic $2n$-dimensional manifold $(M, \omega)$. Assume that the fixed set $M^{S^1}$ is {\em minimal}, in two senses: it has exactly two components, $X$ and $Y$, and $\dim(X) +…

A general fixed point theorem for isometries in terms of metric functionals is proved under the assumption of the existence of a conical bicombing. It is new even for isometries of Banach spaces as well as for non-locally compact…

In this paper, we consider minimal group actions of countable groups on compact Hausdorff spaces by homeomorphisms. We show that the existence of a point with finite stabilizer imposes strong restrictions on the dynamics: the residual set…

For any right-angled Artin group $A_{\Gamma}$ we construct a finite-dimensional space $\mathcal{O}_{\Gamma}$ on which the group $\text{Out}(A_{\Gamma})$ of outer automorphisms of $A_{\Gamma}$ acts with finite point stabilizers. We prove…

This is the second of two papers but has been written so as to have minimal dependence on the first paper (which is also on this archive). Let G be a group and let M be a CAT(0) proper metric space (e.g. a simply connected complete…

We obtain a sufficient and necessary condition for a finite group to act effectively on a closed flat manifold. Let \ $G=E_{n}(R)$, $EU_{n}(R,\Lambda ),$ $\mathrm{SAut}(F_{n})$ or $\mathrm{SOut}(F_{n}).$ As applications, we prove that when…

We consider certain strengthenings of property (T) relative to Banach spaces that are satisfied by high rank Lie groups. Let X be a Banach space for which, for all k, the Banach--Mazur distance to a Hilbert space of all k-dimensional…

We exhibit a variety of groups that act properly and even cocompactly on median graphs (a.k.a. one-skeletons of CAT(0) cube complexes), with quasi-isometric groups that do not admit any proper action on a median graph. This answes a…

Let $G$ be the group of orientation-preserving isometries of a rank-one symmetric space $X$ of non-compact type. We study local rigidity of certain actions of a solvable subgroup $\Gamma \subset G$ on the boundary of $X$, which is…

We present a simple approach to questions of topological orbit equivalence for actions of countable groups on topological and smooth manifolds. For example, for any action of a countable group $\Gamma$ on a topological manifold where the…

Let $G$ be a topological group with finite Kazhdan set, let $\Omega$ be a standard Borel space and $\mu$ a finite measure on $\Omega$. We prove that for any $p\in [1, \infty)$, any affine isometric action $G \curvearrowright L_p(\Omega,…

We investigate the cocompact action of Higman's group on a CAT(0) square complex associated to its standard presentation. We show that this action is in a sense intrinsic, which allows for the use of geometric techniques to study the…

We prove that any smooth action of $\mathbb Z^{m-1}, m\ge 3$ on an $m$-dimensional manifold that preserves a measure such that all non-identity elements of the suspension have positive entropy is essentially algebraic, i.e. isomorphic up to…

Let $X$ be an $n$-dimensional simply connected manifold of pinched sectional curvature $-a^2 \leq K \leq -1$. There exist a positive constant $C(n,a)$ such that for any finitely generated discrete group $\Gamma$ acting on $X$, then either…

Any compact surface supports a continuous action of the orientation preserving affine group of the real line which is fixed point free (Lima and Plante). It is generally admitted that this action can be taken smooth although it is not easy…

In this paper, we study a circle action on a compact oriented manifold with a discrete fixed point set. The fixed point data consists of the weights of the $S^1$-representations at the fixed points. We prove various results and properties…