Related papers: Groups acting distally and minimally on $\mathbb S…

Consider the action of $GL(n,\mathbb{Q_p})$ on the $p$-adic unit sphere $\mathcal{S}_n$ arising from the linear action on $\mathbb{Q}_p^n\setminus\{0\}$. We show that for the action of a semigroup $\mathfrak{S}$ of $GL(n,\mathbb{Q}_p)$ on…

Let $\Gamma$ be a countable group and $(X, \Gamma)$ a compact topological dynamical system. We study the question of the existence of an intermediate $C^*$-subalgebra $\mathcal{A}$ $$C^{*}_{r}(\Gamma)<\mathcal{A}<C(X)\rtimes_r\Gamma,$$…

Let $\Gamma$ be a finitely generated group and $X$ be a minimal compact $\Gamma$-space. We assume that the $\Gamma$-action is micro-supported, i.e. for every non-empty open subset $U \subseteq X$, there is an element of $\Gamma$ acting…

Given a finitely generated linear group $G$ over $\mathbb{Q}$, we construct a simple group $\Gamma$ that has the same finiteness properties as $G$ and admits $G$ as a quasi-retract. As an application, we construct a simple group of type…

For a group $G,$ let $\Gamma(G)$ denote the graph defined on the elements of $G$ in such a way that two distinct vertices are connected by an edge if and only if they generate $G$. Moreover let $\Gamma^*(G)$ be the subgraph of $\Gamma(G)$…

For any symplectic form $\omega$ on $T^2\times S^2$ we construct infinitely many nonisomorphic finite groups which admit effective smooth actions on $T^2\times S^2$ that are trivial in cohomology but which do not admit any effective…

Let $\Gamma$ be a finitely generated torsion-free group. We show that the statement of $\Gamma$ being virtually abelian is equivalent to the statement that the $*$-regular closure of the group ring $\mathbb{C}[\Gamma]$ in the algebra of…

Answering a question of Glasner, we show that any finitely generated nonabelian free group has a minimal null action which is a RIM non-open extension of an effective strongly proximal action.

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…

Motivated by the analysis of Schr\"odinger operators with periodic potentials we consider the following abstract situation: Let $\Delta_X$ be the Laplacian on a non-compact Riemannian covering manifold $X$ with a discrete isometric group…

We consider sequences of finitely generated discrete subgroups Gamma_i=rho_i(Gamma) of a rank 1 Lie group G, where the representations rho_i are not necessarily faithful. We show that, for algebraically convergent sequences (Gamma_i),…

We show that every finitely-generated non-amenable linear group over a field of characteristic zero admits an ergodic action which is rigid in the sense of Popa. If this group has trivial solvable radical, we prove that these actions can be…

We show that if G is an infinitely generated locally (polycyclic-by-finite) group with cohomology almost everywhere finitary, then every finite subgroup of G acts freely and orthogonally on some sphere.

We show that every countable non-abelian free group $\Gamma $ admits a spherically transitive action on a rooted tree $T$ such that the action of $\Gamma $ on the boundary of $T$ is not essentially free. This reproves a result of Bergeron…

We show that on an arbitrary finitely generated non virtually solvable linear group, any two independent random walks will eventually generate a free subgroup. In fact, this will hold for an exponential number of independent random walks.

Let \Gamma be a finitely presentable pro-p group with a nontrivial finitely generated closed normal subgroup N of infinite index. Then def(\Gamma)\leq 1, and if def(\Gamma)=1 then \Gamma is a pro-p duality group of dimension 2, N is a free…

Let $M$ be a four-holed sphere and $\Gamma$ the mapping class group of $M$ fixing $\partial M$. The group $\Gamma$ acts on the space ${\mathcal M}_{\mathcal B}(SU(2))$ of SU(2)-gauge equivalence classes of flat SU(2)-connections on $M$ with…

Let $\Gamma$ be a group acting on with finite stabilizers and finite fundamental domain on a building of type $\tilde A_2$. We prove that any non-trivial normal subgroup of $\Gamma$ is of finite index in $\Gamma$.

Let $\Gamma$ be a torsion free discrete group acting cocompactly on a two dimensional euclidean building $\Delta$. The centralizer of an element of $\Gamma$ is either a Bieberbach group or is described by a finite graph of finite cyclic…

Given a finite group $G$, the generating graph $\Gamma(G)$ of $G$ has as vertices the non-identity elements of $G$ and two vertices are adjacent if and only if they are distinct and generate $G$ as group elements. Let $G$ be a 2-generated…