No Arabic abstract
We lay the foundations for the study of relatively quasiconvex subgroups of relatively hyperbolic groups. These foundations require that we first work out a coherent theory of countable relatively hyperbolic groups (not necessarily finitely generated). We prove the equivalence of Gromov, Osin, and Bowditchs definitions of relative hyperbolicity for countable groups. We then give several equivalent definitions of relatively quasiconvex subgroups in terms of various natural geometries on a relatively hyperbolic group. We show that each relatively quasiconvex subgroup is itself relatively hyperbolic, and that the intersection of two relatively quasiconvex subgroups is again relatively quasiconvex. In the finitely generated case, we prove that every undistorted subgroup is relatively quasiconvex, and we compute the distortion of a finitely generated relatively quasiconvex subgroup.
We formulate and prove a very general relative version of the Dobrushin-Lanford-Ruelle theorem which gives conditions on constraints of configuration spaces over a finite alphabet such that for every absolutely summable relative interaction, every translation-invariant relative Gibbs measure is a relative equilibrium measure and vice versa. Neither implication is true without some assumption on the space of configurations. We note that the usual finite type condition can be relaxed to a much more general class of constraints. By relative we mean that both the interaction and the set of allowed configurations are determined by a random environment. The result includes many special cases that are well known. We give several applications including (1) Gibbsian properties of measures that maximize pressure among all those that project to a given measure via a topological factor map from one symbolic system to another; (2) Gibbsian properties of equilibrium measures for group shifts defined on arbitrary countable amenable groups; (3) A Gibbsian characterization of equilibrium measures in terms of equilibrium condition on lattice slices rather than on finite sets; (4) A relative extension of a theorem of Meyerovitch, who proved a version of the Lanford--Ruelle theorem which shows that every equilibrium measure on an arbitrary subshift satisfies a Gibbsian property on interchangeable patterns.
For n>3 we study spaces obtained from finite volume complete real hyperbolic n-manifolds by removing a compact totally geodesic submanifold of codimension two. We prove that their fundamental groups are relative hyperbolic, co-Hopf, biautomatic, residually hyperbolic, not Kahler, not isomorphic to lattices in virtually connected real Lie groups, have no nontrivial subgroups with property (T), have finite outer automorphism groups, satisfy Mostow-type Rigidity, have finite asymptotic dimension and rapid decay property, and satisfy Baum-Connes conjecture. We also characterize those lattices in real Lie groups that are isomorphic to relatively hyperbolic groups.
We study the large scale geometry of the relative free splitting complex and the relative complex of free factor systems of the rank $n$ free group $F_n$, relative to the choice of a free factor system of $F_n$, proving that these complexes are hyperbolic. Furthermore we present the proof in a general context, obtaining hyperbolicity of the relative free splitting complex and of the relative complex of free factor systems of a general group $Gamma$, relative to the choice of a free factor system of $Gamma$. The proof yields information about coarsely transitive families of quasigeodesics in each of these complexes, expressed in terms of fold paths of free splittings.
We prove that the generalised Fibonacci group F(r,n) is infinite for (r,n) in {(7 + 5k,5), (8 + 5k,5)} where k is greater than or equal to 0. This together with previously known results yields a complete classification of the finite F(r,n), a problem that has its origins in a question by J H Conway in 1965. The method is to show that a related relative presentation is aspherical from which it can be deduced that the groups are infinite.
This paper is devoted to the computation of the space $H_b^2(Gamma,H;mathbb{R})$, where $Gamma$ is a free group of finite rank $ngeq 2$ and $H$ is a subgroup of finite rank. More precisely we prove that $H$ has infinite index in $Gamma$ if and only if $H_b^2(Gamma,H;mathbb{R})$ is not trivial, and furthermore, if and only if there is an isometric embedding $oplus_infty^nmathcal{D}(mathbb{Z})hookrightarrow H_b^2(Gamma,H;mathbb{R})$, where $mathcal{D}(mathbb{Z})$ is the space of bounded alternating functions on $mathbb{Z}$ equipped with the defect norm.