The aim of this note is to give a geometric proof for classical local rigidity of lattices in semisimple Lie groups. We are reproving well known results in a more geometric (and hopefully clearer) way.
A generalized Baumslag-Solitar group is the fundamental group of a graph of groups all of whose vertex and edge groups are infinite cyclic. Levitt proves that any generalized Baumslag-Solitar group has property R-infinity, that is, any automorphism has an infinite number of twisted conjugacy classes. We show that any group quasi-isometric to a generalized Baumslag-Solitar group also has property R-infinity. This extends work of the authors proving that any group quasi-isometric to a solvable Baumslag-Solitar BS(1,n) group has property R-infinity, and relies on the classification of generalized Baumslag-Solitar groups given by Whyte.
Surface groups are determined among limit groups by their profinite completions. As a corollary, the set of surface words in a free group is closed in the profinite topology.
In this note, we announce the first results on quasi-isometric rigidity of non-nilpotent polycyclic groups. In particular, we prove that any group quasi-isometric to the three dimenionsional solvable Lie group Sol is virtually a lattice in Sol. We prove analogous results for groups quasi-isometric to $R ltimes R^n$ where the semidirect product is defined by a diagonalizable matrix of determinant one with no eigenvalues on the unit circle. Our approach to these problems is to first classify all self quasi-isometries of the solvable Lie group. Our classification of self quasi-isometries for $R ltimes R^n$ proves a conjecture made by Farb and Mosher in [FM4]. Our techniques for studying quasi-isometries extend to some other classes of groups and spaces. In particular, we characterize groups quasi-isometric to any lamplighter group, answering a question of de la Harpe [dlH]. Also, we prove that certain Diestel-Leader graphs are not quasi-isometric to any finitely generated group, verifying a conjecture of Diestel and Leader from [DL] and answering a question of Woess from [SW],[Wo1]. We also prove that certain non-unimodular, non-hyperbolic solvable Lie groups are not quasi-isometric to finitely generated groups. The results in this paper are contributions to Gromovs program for classifying finitely generated groups up to quasi-isometry [Gr2]. We introduce a new technique for studying quasi-isometries, which we refer to as coarse differentiation.
If $M$ is a compact 3-manifold whose first betti number is 1, and $N$ is a compact 3-manifold such that $pi_1N$ and $pi_1M$ have the same finite quotients, then $M$ fibres over the circle if and only if $N$ does. We prove that groups of the form $F_2rtimesmathbb{Z}$ are distinguished from one another by their profinite completions. Thus, regardless of betti number, if $M$ and $N$ are punctured torus bundles over the circle and $M$ is not homeomorphic to $N$, then there is a finite group $G$ such that one of $pi_1M$ and $pi_1N$ maps onto $G$ and the other does not.
In this paper, which is the continuation of [EFW2], we complete the proof of the quasi-isometric rigidity of Sol and the lamplighter groups. The results were announced in [EFW1].