Related papers: Tits-type alternative for certain groups acting on…
Let G be a semisimple algebraic group over a field k. We introduce the higher Tits indices of G as the set of all Tits indices of G over all field extensions K/k. In the context of quadratic forms this notion coincides with the notion of…
We prove the strong Tits alternative for the 3-dimensional tame automorphism group over a field K of characteristic zero.
It is known that the identity component of the automorphism group of a projective algebraic variety is an algebraic group. This is not true in general for quasi-projective varieties. In this note we address the question: given an affine…
We introduce the notion of a probabilistic identity of a residually finite group. We prove that a finitely generated linear group satisfies a probabilistic identity if and only if it is virtually solvable. As an application, we prove a…
Let $Aut_{alg}(X)$ be the subgroup of the group of regular automorphisms $Aut(X)$ of an affine algebraic variety $X$ generated by all connected algebraic subgroups. We prove that if $dim X \ge 2$ and if $Aut_{alg}(X)$ is rich enough,…
We show that the automorphism group of a one-dimensional full shift (the group of reversible cellular automata) does not satisfy the Tits alternative. That is, we construct a finitely-generated subgroup which is not virtually solvable yet…
By an additive action on an algebraic variety $X$ we mean a regular effective action $\mathbb{G}_a^n\times X\to X$ with an open orbit of the commutative unipotent group $\mathbb{G}_a^n$. In this paper, we give a classification of additive…
This is a survey on the automorphism groups in various classes of affine algebraic surfaces and the algebraic group actions on such surfaces. Being infinite-dimensional, these automorphism groups share some important features of algebraic…
For groups of diffeomorphisms of $\T^2$ containing an Anosov diffeomorphism, we give a complete classification for polycyclic Abelian-by-Cyclic group actions on $\T^2$ up to both topological conjugacy and smooth conjugacy under mild…
We give a necessary and sufficient condition on a matrix for its centralizer in $\sf{GL}(n,\mathbb{Z})$ to be polycyclic, or equivalently in this case, not to contain a non-abelian free subgroup. We give a simple condition on the matrix…
We generalize to the super context, the known fact that if an affine algebraic group $G$ over a commutative ring $k$ acts freely (in an appropriate sense) on an affine scheme $X$ over $k$, then the dur sheaf $X\tilde{\tilde{/}}G$ of…
In this note we show that many subgroups of mapping class groups of infinite-type surfaces without boundary have trivial centers, including all normal subgroups. Using similar techniques, we show that every nontrivial normal subgroup of a…
We explore the topological full group [[G]] of an essentially principal etale groupoid G on a Cantor set. When G is minimal, we show that [[G]] (and its certain normal subgroup) is a complete invariant for the isomorphism class of the etale…
Let G be a torsion--free abelian group of finite rank. The automorphism group Aut(G) acts on the set of maximal independent subsets of G. The orbits of this action are the isomorphism classes of indecomposable decompositions of G. G…
Let $G$ be a group with a non-elementary action on a (not necessarily discrete) $\tilde{A}_2$-buildings. We prove that, given a random walk on $G$, isometries in $G$ are strongly regular hyperbolic with high probability. As a consequence,…
We describe a family of rational affine surfaces S with huge groups of automorphisms in the following sense: the normal subgroup of Aut(S) generated by all its algebraic subgroups is not generated by any countable family of such subgroups,…
Let $\mathbb{K}$ be an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. An affine algebraic variety $X$ over $\mathbb{K}$ is toral if it is isomorphic to a closed subvariety of a torus $(\mathbb{K}^*)^d$. We study the group…
We prove the following extension of Tits' simplicity theorem. Let $k$ be an infinite field, $G$ an algebraic group defined and quasi-simple over $k,$ and $G(k)$ the group of $k$-rational points of $G.$ Let $G(k)^+$ be the subgroup of $G(k)$…
There exists a covariant non-injective functor from the space of generic Riemann surfaces to the so-called toric AF-algebras; such a functor maps isomorphic Riemann surfaces to the stably isomorphic toric AF-algebras. We use the functor to…
Let $X$ be a variety of dimension $n$, and let $\mathrm{Aut}(X)$ be its automorphism group. When $X$ is quasi-affine, we prove that a solvable subgroup of $\mathrm{Aut}(X)$ that is generated by an irreducible family of automorphisms…