Related papers: Commutator length of symplectomorphisms

Let $\Gamma$ be a finite index subgroup of the mapping class group $MCG(\Sigma)$ of a closed orientable surface $\Sigma$, possibly with punctures. We give a precise condition (in terms of the Nielsen-Thurston decomposition) when an element…

Let $K$ be a compact Lie group of positive dimension. We show that for most unitary $K$-modules the corresponding symplectic quotient is not regularly symplectomorphic to a linear symplectic orbifold (the quotient of a unitary module of a…

The well-known Eckmann-Hilton Principle may be applied to prove that fundamental groups of $H$-spaces are commutative. In this paper, we identify an infinitary analogue of the Eckmann-Hilton Principle that applies to fundamental groups of…

A group has finite palindromic width if there exists $n$ such that every element can be expressed as a product of $n$ or fewer palindromic words. We show that if $G$ has finite palindromic width with respect to some generating set, then so…

The main purpose of this paper is to study the length minimizing property of Hamiltonian paths on closed symplectic manifolds $(M,\omega)$ such that there are no spherical homology class $A \in H_2(M)$ with $$ \omega(A) > 0 \quad \text{and}…

Let $R$ be a ring and let $n\ge 2$. We discuss the question of whether every element in the matrix ring $M_n(R)$ is a product of (additive) commutators $[x,y]=xy-yx$, for $x,y\in M_n(R)$. An example showing that this does not always hold,…

We discuss $C^0$-continuous homogeneous quasi-morphisms on the identity component of the group of compactly supported symplectomorphisms of a symplectic manifold. Such quasi-morphisms extend to the $C^0$-closure of this group inside the…

In a Coxeter group $W$, an element is fully commutative if any two of its reduced expressions can be linked by a series of commutation of adjacent letters. These elements have particularly nice combinatorial properties, and also index a…

Let $[\rho_{i_k},[\rho_{i_{k-1}},...,[\rho_{i_{1}}, \rho_{i_2}] ...]]$ be an iterated commutator of self-maps $\rho_{i_j} : \Sigma {\Bbb H}P^\infty \to \Sigma {\Bbb H}P^\infty, j = 1,2, ..., k$ on the suspension of the infinite quaternionic…

The symplectic spectral metric on the set of Lagrangian submanifolds or Hamiltonian maps can be used to define a completion of these spaces. For an element of such a completion, we define its $\gamma$-support. We also define the notion of…

To any compact hyperbolic Riemann surface $X$, we associate a new type of automorphism group -- called its *commensurability automorphism group*, $ComAut(X)$. The members of $ComAut(X)$ arise from closed circuits, starting and ending at…

A subset of a group is characteristic if it is invariant under every automorphism of the group. We study word length in fundamental groups of closed hyperbolic surfaces with respect to characteristic generating sets consisting of a finite…

In this paper, we establish upper bounds on the length of the shortest conjugator between pairs of infinite order elements in a wide class of groups. We obtain a general result which applies to all hierarchically hyperbolic groups, a class…

By definition, a group $G$ is quasi-perfect, if $G$ is perfect or the commutator subgroup of $G$ is perfect. In this note we give a description of quasi-perfect Dyer groups by properties of the corresponding Dyer graphs.

In this paper, we give two elementary constructions of homogeneous quasi-morphisms defined on the group of Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms of certain closed connected symplectic manifolds (or on its universal cover). The first quasi-morphism,…

Semi-direct products of finite groups have permutation representations that are constructed from the permutation representations of their constituents. One can envision these in a metaphoric sense in which a rope is made from a bundle of…

Using the standard Coxeter presentation for the symmetric group $S_n$, two reduced expressions for the same group element are said to be commutation equivalent if we can obtain one expression from the other by applying a finite sequence of…

We exhibit many examples of closed symplectic manifolds on which there is an autonomous Hamiltonian whose associated flow has no nonconstant periodic orbits (the only previous explicit example in the literature was the torus T^2n (n\geq 2)…

Following a question of F. Le Roux, we consider a system of invariants $l_A : H_1(M; \mathbb{Z})\to\mathbb{R}$ of a symplectic surface $M$. These invariants compute the minimal Hofer energy needed to translate a disk of area $A$ along a…

A symmetry in quantum mechanics is described by the projective representations of a Lie symmetry group that transforms between physical quantum states such that the square of the modulus of the states is invariant. The Heisenberg…