Related papers: Length functions on groups and actions on graphs

Let $L$ be a length function on a group $G$, and let $M_L$ denote the operator of pointwise multiplication by $L$ on $\ell^2(G)$. Following Connes, $M_L$ can be used as a "Dirac" operator for the reduced group C*-algebra $C_r^*(G)$. It…

In comparison to graphs, combinatorial methods for the isomorphism problem of finite groups are less developed than algebraic ones. To be able to investigate the descriptive complexity of finite groups and the group isomorphism problem, we…

We give a geometric description of the Poisson boundaries of certain extensions of free and hyperbolic groups. In particular, we get a full description of the Poisson boundaries of free-by-cyclic groups. We rely upon the description of…

Our first result gives a partial converse to a well-known theorem of A. Ancona for hyperbolic groups. We prove that a group $G$, equipped with a symmetric probability measure whose finite support generates $G$, is hyperbolic if it is…

Let G be a finitely generated group and Cay(G, S) be the Cayley graph of G with respect to a finite generating set S. We characterize the Gromov hyperbolicity of G in terms of the genericity of contracting elements in Cay(G, S).

For every hyperbolic group and more general hyperbolic graphs, we construct an equivariant ideal bicombing: this is a homological analogue of the geodesic flow on negatively curved manifolds. We then construct a cohomological invariant…

We consider finitely generated group endowed with a word metric. The group acts on itself by isometries, which induces an action on its horofunction boundary. The conjecture is that nilpotent groups act trivially on their reduced boundary.…

The following short note provides an alternative proof of a result of Coornaert: namely, that given a non-elementary word-hyperbolic group $G$ with a finite generating set $X$, there exist constants $\lambda,D > 1$ such that \[…

Let $H$ be a hyperbolic group, $A$ and $B$ be subgroups of $H$, and $gr(H,A,B)$ be the growth function of the double cosets $AhB, h \in H$. We prove that the behavior of $gr(H,A,B)$ splits into two different cases. If $A$ and $B$ are not…

Let T_1,..., T_d be homogeneous trees with degrees q_1+1,..., q_d+1>=3, respectively. For each tree, let h:T_j->Z be the Busemann function with respect to a fixed boundary point (end). Its level sets are the horocycles. The horocyclic…

We examine residual properties of word-hyperbolic groups, adapting a method introduced by Darren Long to study the residual properties of Kleinian groups.

We address the following natural extension problem for group actions: Given a group $G$, a subgroup $H\le G$, and an action of $H$ on a metric space, when is it possible to extend it to an action of the whole group $G$ on a (possibly…

For group actions on hyperbolic CAT(0) square complexes, we show that the acylindricity of the action is equivalent to a weaker form of acylindricity phrased purely in terms of stabilisers of points, which has the advantage of being much…

For finitely generated groups H and G, equipped with word metrics, a translation-like action of H on G is a free action such that each element of H acts by a map which has finite distance from the identity map in the uniform metric. For…

We define a new notion of contracting element of a group and we show that contracting elements coincide with hyperbolic elements in relatively hyperbolic groups, pseudo-Anosovs in mapping class groups, rank one isometries in groups acting…

In this note we study the limiting behaviour of real valued functions on hyperbolic groups as we travel along typical geodesic rays in the Gromov boundary of the group. Our results apply to group homomorphisms, certain quasimorphisms and to…

There are many "minimax" complexity functions in mathematics: width of a tree or a link, Heegaard genus of a 3-manifold, the Cheeger constant of a Riemannian manifold. We define such a function w, "width", on countable (or finite) groups…

In 1996, Gersten proved that finitely presented subgroups of a word hyperbolic group of integral cohomological dimension 2 are hyperbolic. We use isoperimetric inequalities over arbitrary rings to extend this result to any ring. In…

Given isometric actions by a group G on finitely many \delta-hyperbolic metric spaces, we provide a sufficient condition that guarantees the existence of a single element in G that is hyperbolic for each action. As an application we prove a…

We develop a discrete spectral framework for Dirichlet $L$-functions that reveals a combinatorial structure underlying their special values and connects this to their zeros. Our approach approximates the classical Dirichlet series by finite…