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In this paper we give a criterion for pairs of isometries of a nonpositively curved metric space to generate a free group. This criterion holds only in singular spaces, for example in Euclidean buildings. The original motivation for our…

In this article we prove that the set of torsion-free groups acting by isometries on a hyperbolic metric space whose entropy is bounded above and with a compact quotient is finite. The number of such groups can be estimated in terms of the…

An irreducible representation of the free group on two generators X,Y into SL(2,C) is determined up to conjugation by the traces of X,Y and XY. We study the diagonal slice of representations for which X,Y and XY have equal trace. Using the…

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,…

Let X be a locally compact geodesically complete CAT(0) space and G be a discrete group acting properly and cocompactly on X. We show that G contains an element acting as a hyperbolic isometry on each indecomposable de Rham factor of X. It…

The main result of this paper is that given a group $G$ acting geometrically by isometries on a CAT(0) space $X$ and a cyclic subgroup $H$ of $G$ generated by a rank-1 isometry of $X$, $H$ has bounded packing in $G$. We give two proofs of…

We study those groups that act properly discontinuously, cocompactly, and isometrically on CAT(0) spaces with isolated flats and the Relative Fellow Traveller Property. The groups in question include word hyperbolic CAT(0) groups as well as…

We show that for any positive integer $n$ there exists a constant $C(n)>0$ such that any $n$-generated group $G$, which acts by isometries on a $\delta$-hyperbolic space (with $\delta>0$), is either free or has a nontrivial element with…

Through highly non-constructive methods, works by Bestvina, Culler, Feighn, Morgan, Paulin, Rips, Shalen, and Thurston show that if a finitely presented group does not split over a virtually solvable subgroup, then the space of its discrete…

We study groups acting on CAT(0) square complexes. In particular we show if Y is a nonpositively curved (in the sense of A. D. Alexandrov) finite square complex and the vertex links of Y contain no simple loop consisting of five edges, then…

In this paper, we investigate finitely generated groups of isometries of CAT(0) spaces containing some central hyperbolic isometry, and study CAT(0) groups. We show that every CAT(0) group $\Gamma$ has the semi-direct product structure…

Suppose $N$ is a diffuse, property T von Neumann algebra and X is an arbitrary finite generating set of selfadjoint elements for N. By using rigidity/deformation arguments applied to representations of N in full matrix algebras, we deduce…

Jorgensen's inequality gives a necessary condition for a non-elementary two generator group of isometries of real hyperbolic 2-space to be discrete. We give analogues of Jorgensen's inequality for non-elementary groups of isometries of…

We generalize and strengthen the theorem of Gromov that every compact Riemannian manifold of diameter at most D has a set of generators g_1,...,g_k of length at most 2D and relators of the form g_ig_m = g_j . In particular, we obtain an…

This is the second in a series of papers about torsion-free groups which act properly and cocompactly on a CAT(0) metric space with isolated flats and relatively thin triangles. Our approach is to adapt the methods of Sela and others for…

We show that, for many choices of finite tuples of generators $X = (x_1, \dots , x_d)$ of a tracial von Neumann algebra $(M, \tau)$ satisfying certain decomposition properties (non-primeness, possessing a Cartan subalgebra, or property…

To every Gromov hyperbolic space X one can associate a space at infinity called the Gromov boundary of X. Gromov showed that quasi-isometries of hyperbolic metric spaces induce homeomorphisms on their boundaries, thus giving rise to a…

Let $K$ be a field, and let $R = K[X]$ be the polynomial ring in an infinite collection $X$ of indeterminates over $K$. Let ${\mathfrak S}_{X}$ be the symmetric group of $X$. The group ${\mathfrak S}_{X}$ acts naturally on $R$, and this in…

We prove a variety of fixed-point theorems for groups acting on CAT$(0)$ spaces. Fixed points are obtained by a bootstrapping technique, whereby increasingly large subgroups are proved to have fixed points: specific configurations in the…

We give a generalization to convex co-compact semigroups of a beautiful theorem of Patterson-Sullivan, telling that the critical exponent (that is the exponential growth rate) equals the Hausdorff dimension of the limit set (that is the…