A subset S of a group G invariably generates G if G is generated by {sg(s)|s∈S} for any choice of g(s)∈G,s∈S. A topological group G is said to be ℐ𝒢 if it is invariably generated by some subset S⊆G, and 𝒯ℐ𝒢 if it is topologically invariably generated by some subset S⊆G. In this paper, we study the problem of (topological) invariable generation for linear groups and for automorphism groups of trees

Let G be a matrix group. Topological G-manifolds with Palais-proper action have the G-homotopy type of countable G-CW complexes (3.2). This generalizes Elfving’s dissertation theorem for locally linear G-manifolds (1996). Also, we improve the Bredon–Floyd theorem from compact Lie groups G to arbitrary Lie groups G.

Let X be a topological space admitting an amenable cover of multiplicity k∈ℕ. We show that, for every n≥k and every α∈Hn(X;ℝ), the image of α in the ℓ1-homology module Hnℓ1(X;ℝ) vanishes. This strengthens previous results by Gromov and Ivanov, who proved, under the same assumptions, that the ℓ1-seminorm of α vanishes.

Let Γ be either the mapping class group of a closed surface of genus ≥2, or the automorphism group of a free group of rank ≥3. Given any homological representation ρ of Γ corresponding to a finite cover, and any term ℐk of the Johnson filtration, we show that ρ(ℐk) has finite index in ρ(ℐ), the Torelli subgroup of Γ. Since [ℐ:ℐk]=∞ for k>1, this implies for instance that no such representation is faithful

We prove that on a surface of negative Euler characteristic, two real-analytic Finsler metrics have the same unparametrized oriented geodesics, if and only if they differ by a scaling constant and addition of a closed 1-form.

Following proposals of Ostrover and Polterovich, we introduce and study “coarse” and “fine” versions of a symplectic Banach–Mazur distance on certain open subsets of ℂn and other open Liouville domains. The coarse version declares two such domains to be close to each other if each domain admits a Liouville embedding into a slight dilate of the other; the fine version, which is similar to the distance

We represent the universal Menger curve as the topological realization |𝕄| of the projective Fraïssé limit 𝕄 of the class of all finite connected graphs. We show that 𝕄 satisfies combinatorial analogues of the Mayer–Oversteegen–Tymchatyn homogeneity theorem and the Anderson–Wilson projective universality theorem. Our arguments involve only 0-dimensional topology and constructions on finite graphs

We study the Kasparov product on (possibly non-compact and incomplete) Riemannian manifolds. Specifically, we show on a submersion of Riemannian manifolds that the tensor sum of a regular vertically elliptic operator on the total space and an elliptic operator on the base space represents the Kasparov product of the corresponding classes in KK-theory. This construction works in general for symmetric

In this paper, using ordered total K-theory, we give a K-theoretic classification for the real rank zero inductive limits of direct sums of generalized dimension drop interval algebras.

We investigate properties of some spherical functions defined on hyperbolic groups using boundary representations on the Gromov boundary endowed with the Patterson–Sullivan measure class. We prove sharp decay estimates for spherical functions as well as spectral inequalities associated with boundary representations. This point of view on the boundary allows us to view the so-called property RD (also

We show that a 1-parameter family of real analytic map germs ft:(ℝ2,0)→(ℝ3,0) with isolated instability is topologically trivial if it is excellent and the family of double point curves D(ft) in (ℝ2,0) is topologically trivial. In particular, we deduce that ft is topologically trivial when the Milnor number μ(D(ft)) is constant.

We provide the converses to two results of Roe [Warped cones and property A, Geom. Topol.9 (2005) 163–178, https://doi.org/10.2140/9t.2005.9.163]: first, the warped cone associated to a free action of an a-T-menable group admits a fibered coarse embedding into a Hilbert space, and second, a free action yielding a warped cone with property A must be amenable. We construct examples showing that in both

We consider the parameter space 𝒰d of smooth plane curves of degree d. The universal smooth plane curve of degree d is a fiber bundle ℰd→𝒰d with fiber diffeomorphic to a surface Σg. This bundle gives rise to a monodromy homomorphism ρd:π1(𝒰d)→Mod(Σg), where Mod(Σg):=π0(Diff+(Σg)) is the mapping class group of Σg. The main result of this paper is that the kernel of ρ4:π1(𝒰4)→Mod(Σ3) is isomorphic

By the work of Brodzki–Niblo–Nowak–Wright and Monod, topological amenability of a continuous group action can be characterized using uniformly finite homology groups or bounded cohomology groups associated to this action. We show that (certain variations of) these groups are invariants for topologically free actions under continuous orbit equivalence.

We continue the exploration of the relationship between conformal dimension and the separation profile by computing the separation of families of spheres in hyperbolic graphs whose boundaries are standard Sierpiński carpets and Menger sponges. In all cases, we show that the separation of these spheres is nd−1d for some d which is strictly smaller than the conformal dimension, in contrast to the case

I prove that the spectrum of the Laplace–Beltrami operator with the Neumann boundary condition on a compact Riemannian manifold with boundary admits a fast approximation by the spectra of suitable graph Laplacians on proximity graphs on the manifold, and similar graph approximation works for metric-measure spaces glued out of compact Riemannian manifolds of the same dimension.

We develop an algebro-analytic framework for the systematic study of the continuous bounded cohomology of Lie groups in large degree. As an application, we examine the continuous bounded cohomology of PSL(2,ℝ) with trivial real coefficients in all degrees greater than two. We prove a vanishing result for strongly reducible classes, thus providing further evidence for a conjecture of Monod. On the cochain

In this paper, we discuss two general models of random simplicial complexes which we call the lower and the upper models. We show that these models are dual to each other with respect to combinatorial Alexander duality. The behavior of the Betti numbers in the lower model is characterized by the notion of critical dimension, which was introduced by Costa and Farber in [Large random simplicial complexes

We investigate projective properties of Lorentzian surfaces. In particular, we prove that if T is a non-flat torus, then the index of its isometry group in its projective group is at most two. We also prove that any topologically finite non-compact surface can be endowed with a metric having a non-isometric projective transformation of infinite order.

An area-preserving diffeomorphism of an annulus has an “action function” which measures how the diffeomorphism distorts curves. The average value of the action function over the annulus is known as the Calabi invariant of the diffeomorphism, while the average value of the action function over a periodic orbit of the diffeomorphism is the mean action of the orbit. If an area-preserving annulus diffeomorphism

We prove that every proper n-dimensional length metric space admits an “approximate isometric embedding” into Lorentzian space ℝ3n+6,1. By an “approximate isometric embedding” we mean an embedding which preserves the energy functional on a prescribed set of geodesics connecting a dense set of points.

We construct a family of trivial 2-knots ki in ℝ4 such that the maximal complexity of 2-knots in any isotopy connecting ki with the standard unknot grows faster than a tower of exponentials of any fixed height of the complexity of ki. Here, we can either construct ki as smooth embeddings and measure their complexity as the ropelength (a.k.a the crumpledness) or construct PL-knots ki, consider isotopies

For a given quasi-Fuchsian representation ρ:π1(S)→PSL2ℂ of the fundamental group of a closed surface S of genus g≥2, we prove that a generic branched complex projective structure on S with holonomy ρ and two branch points can be obtained from some unbranched structure on S with the same holonomy by bubbling, i.e. a suitable connected sum with a copy of ℂℙ1.

We show that the diameter of the skinning map of an acylindrical hyperbolic 3-manifold M is bounded on 𝜀-thick Teichmüller geodesics by a constant depending only on 𝜀 and the topological type of ∂M.

We apply quantitative (or controlled) K-theory to prove that a certain Lp assembly map is an isomorphism for p∈[1,∞) when an action of a countable discrete group Γ on a compact Hausdorff space X has finite dynamical complexity. When p=2, this is a model for the Baum–Connes assembly map for Γ with coefficients in C(X), and was shown to be an isomorphism by Guentner et al.

We investigate to what extent a nilpotent Lie group is determined by its C∗-algebra. We prove that, within the class of exponential Lie groups, direct products of Heisenberg groups with abelian Lie groups are uniquely determined even by their unitary dual, while nilpotent Lie groups of dimension ≤5 are uniquely determined by the Morita equivalence class of their C∗-algebras. We also find that this

Given a discrete group G, for any integer r≥0 we consider the family of all virtually abelian subgroups of G of rank at most r. We give an upper bound for the Bredon cohomological dimension of G for this family for a certain class of groups acting on CAT(0) spaces. This covers the case of Coxeter groups, Right-angled Artin groups, fundamental groups of special cube complexes and graph products of finite

We study basic Dolbeault cohomology and find new Weitzenböck formulas on a transversely Kähler foliation. We investigate conditions on mean curvature and Ricci curvature that impose restrictions on basic Dolbeault cohomology. For example, we prove that on a transversely Kähler foliation with positive transversal Ricci curvature, there are no nonzero basic-harmonic forms of type (r,0), among other results

In this note, we define a distance between two pointed locally integral current spaces. We prove that a sequence of pointed locally integral current spaces converges with respect to this distance if and only if it converges in the sense of Lang–Wenger. This enables us to state the compactness theorem by Lang–Wenger for pointed locally integral current spaces in terms of a distance function.

In this paper, we use the G-spin theorem to show that the Davis hyperbolic 4-manifold admits harmonic spinors. This is the first example of a closed hyperbolic 4-manifold that admits harmonic spinors. We also explicitly describe the spinor bundle of a spin hyperbolic 2- or 4-manifold and show how to calculated the subtle sign terms in the G-spin theorem for an isometry, with isolated fixed points,

Let Γ be the fundamental group of a surface of finite type and Comm(Γ) be its abstract commensurator. Then Comm(Γ) contains the solvable Baumslag–Solitar groups 〈a,b:aba−1=bn〉 for any n>1. Moreover, the Baumslag–Solitar group 〈a,b:ab2a−1=b3〉 has an image in Comm(Γ) that is not residually finite. Our proofs are computer-assisted. Our results also illustrate that finitely-generated subgroups of Comm(Γ)

An ATAI (or ATAF, respectively) algebra, introduced in [C. Jiang, A classification of non simple C*-algebras of tracial rank one: Inductive limit of finite direct sums of simple TAI C*-algebras, J. Topol. Anal.3 (2011) 385–404] (or in [X. C. Fang, The classification of certain non-simple C*-algebras of tracial rank zero, J. Funct. Anal.256 (2009) 3861–3891], respectively) is an inductive limit limn→∞(An=⊕i=1Ani

Let BPUn be the classifying space of PUn, the projective unitary group of order n, for n>1. We use a Serre spectral sequence to determine the ring structure of H∗(BPUn;ℤ) up to degree 10, as well as a family of distinguished elements of H2p+2(BPUn;ℤ), for each prime divisor p of n. We also study the primitive elements of H∗(BUn;ℤ) as a comodule over H∗(K(ℤ,2);ℤ), where the comodule structure is given

We show that any stable exponentially harmonic map from a compact Riemannian manifold into a compact simply-connected δ-pinched Riemannian manifold under certain circumstance is constant in two different versions. We also prove that a non-constant exponentially harmonic map from a compact hypersurface into a compact Riemannian manifold satisfying certain condition is unstable.

We study isometric actions of Steinberg groups on Hadamard manifolds. We prove some rigidity properties related to these actions. In particular, we show that every isometric action of Stn(𝔽p〈t1,…,tk〉) on Hadamard manifold when n≥3 factors through a finite quotient. We further study actions on infinite-dimensional manifolds and prove a fixed-point theorem related to such actions.

In this paper, we give a close-to-sharp answer to the basic questions: When is there a continuous way to add a point to a configuration of n ordered points on a surface S of finite type so that all the points are still distinct? When this is possible, what are all the ways to do it? More precisely, let PConfn(S) be the space of ordered n-tuple of distinct points in S. Let fn(S):PConfn+1(S)→PConfn(S)

We show that any generalized smooth distribution on a smooth manifold, possibly of non-constant rank, admits a Riemannian metric. Using such a metric, we attach a Laplace operator to any smooth distribution as such. When the underlying manifold is compact, we show that it is essentially self-adjoint. Viewing this Laplacian in the longitudinal pseudodifferential calculus of the smallest singular foliation

We present a lower bound for a fragmentation norm and construct a bi-Lipschitz embedding I:ℝn→Ham(M) with respect to the fragmentation norm on the group Ham(M) of Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms of a symplectic manifold (M,ω). As an application, we provide an answer to Brandenbursky’s question on fragmentation norms on Ham(Σg), where Σg is a closed Riemannian surface of genus g≥2.

We use meromorphic quadratic differentials with higher order poles to parametrize the Teichmüller space of crowned hyperbolic surfaces. Such a surface is obtained on uniformizing a compact Riemann surface with marked points on its boundary components, and has noncompact ends with boundary cusps. This extends Wolf’s parametrization of the Teichmüller space of a closed surface using holomorphic quadratic

The theory of intersection spaces assigns cell complexes to certain stratified topological pseudomanifolds depending on a perversity function in the sense of intersection homology. The main property of the intersection spaces is Poincaré duality over complementary perversities for the reduced singular (co)homology groups with rational coefficients. This (co)homology theory is not isomorphic to intersection

Using the Lawson existence theorem of minimal surfaces and the symmetries of the Hopf fibration, we will construct symmetric embedded closed minimal surfaces in the three-dimensional sphere. These surfaces contain the Clifford torus, the Lawson’s minimal surfaces, and seven new minimal surfaces with genera 9, 25, 49, 121, 121, 361 and 841. We will also discuss the relation between such surfaces and

The regularity of systolically extremal surfaces is a notoriously difficult problem already discussed by Gromov in 1983, who proposed an argument toward the existence of L2-extremizers exploiting the theory of r-regularity developed by White and others by the 1950s. We propose to study the problem of systolically extremal metrics in the context of generalized metrics of nonpositive curvature. A natural

We investigate intersections of geodesic lines in ℍ2 and in an associated tree T, proving the following result. Let M be a punctured hyperbolic torus and let γ be a closed geodesic in M. Any edge of any triangle formed by distinct geodesic lines in the preimage of γ in ℍ2 is shorter than γ. However, a similar result does not hold in the tree T. Let W be a reduced and cyclically reduced word in π1(M)=〈x

For any nonorientable closed surface, we determine the minimal dilatation among pseudo-Anosov mapping classes arising from Penner’s construction. We deduce that the sequence of minimal Penner dilatations has exactly two accumulation points, in contrast to the case of orientable surfaces where there is only one accumulation point. One of our key techniques is representing pseudo-Anosov dilatations as

We prove that the group of almost-automorphisms of the infinite rooted regular d-ary tree 𝒯d arises naturally as the Thompson-like group of a so-called d-ary cloning system. A similar phenomenon occurs for any Röver–Nekrashevych group Vd(G), for G≤Aut(𝒯d) a self-similar group. We use this framework to expand on work of Belk and Matucci, who proved that the Röver group, using the Grigorchuk group

The objective of this series is to study metric geometric properties of (coarse) disjoint unions of amenable Cayley graphs. We employ the Cayley topology and observe connections between large scale structure of metric spaces and group properties of Cayley accumulation points. In Part I, we prove that a disjoint union has property A of Yu if and only if all groups appearing as Cayley accumulation points

The uniform boundary condition (UBC) in a normed chain complex asks for a uniform linear bound on fillings of null-homologous cycles. For the ℓ1-norm on the singular chain complex, Matsumoto and Morita established a characterization of the UBC in terms of bounded cohomology. In particular, spaces with amenable fundamental group satisfy the UBC in every degree. We will give an alternative proof of statements

We introduce the space of relative orders on a group and show that it is compact whenever the group is finitely generated. We use this to show that if G is a finitely generated group acting on the line by order preserving homeomorphisms and some stabilizer of a point is a proper and co-amenable subgroup, then G surjects onto ℤ. This is a generalization of a theorem of Morris.

Let Γ=〈a,b|abpa−1=bq〉 be a Baumslag–Solitar group and let G be a complex reductive algebraic group with maximal compact subgroup K

In this paper, we study the limit behavior of a family of chords on compact energy hypersurfaces of a family of Hamiltonians. Under the assumption that the energy hypersurfaces are all of contact type, we give results on the Omega limit set of this family of chords. Roughly speaking, such a family must either end in a degeneracy, in which case it joins another family, or can be continued. This gives

We introduce the topological complexity of the work map associated to a robot system. In broad terms, this measures the complexity of any algorithm controlling, not just the motion of the configuration space of the given system, but the task for which the system has been designed. From a purely topological point of view, this is a homotopy invariant of a map which generalizes the classical topological

Given a diffeomorphism which is homotopic to the identity from the 2-torus to itself, we construct an isotopy whose norm is controlled by that of the diffeomorphism in question.

We investigate the geometry of closed, orientable, hyperbolic 3-manifolds whose fundamental groups are k-free for a given integer k≥3. We show that any such manifold M contains a point P with the following property: If S is the set of elements of π1(M,P) represented by loops of length

We define a variant of intersection space theory that applies to many compact complex and real analytic spaces X, including all complex projective varieties; this is a significant extension to a theory which has so far only been shown to apply to a particular subclass of spaces with smooth singular sets. We verify existence of these so-called algebraic intersection spaces and show that they are the

We construct geometric generators of the effective S1-equivariant Spin- (and oriented) bordism groups with two inverted. We apply this construction to the question of which S1-manifolds admit invariant metrics of positive scalar curvature. It turns out that, up to taking connected sums with several copies of the same manifold, the only obstruction to the existence of such a metric is an Â-genus of

We give examples of symplectic actions of a cyclic group, inducing a trivial action on homology, on four-manifolds that admit Hamiltonian circle actions, and show that they do not extend to Hamiltonian circle actions. Our work applies holomorphic methods to extend combinatorial tools developed for circle actions to study cyclic actions.

This paper is concerned with compactifications of high-dimensional manifolds. Siebenmann’s iconic 1965 dissertation [L. C. Siebenmann, The obstruction to finding a boundary for an open manifold of dimension greater than five, Ph.D. thesis, Princeton Univ. (1965), MR 2615648] provided necessary and sufficient conditions for an open manifold Mm (m≥6) to be compactifiable by addition of a manifold boundary

We define Twisted Equivariant K-homology groups using geometric cycles. We compare them with analytical approaches using Kasparov KK-theory and (twisted) C∗-algebras of groups and groupoids.

We use a triple-point version of the Whitney trick to show that ornaments of three orientable (2k−1)-manifolds in ℝ3k−1, k>2, are classified by the μ-invariant. A very similar (but not identical) construction was found independently by I. Mabillard and U. Wagner, who also made it work in a much more general situation and obtained impressive applications. The present note is, by contrast, focused on

We investigate the coarse homology of leaves in foliations of compact manifolds. This is motivated by the observation that the non-leaves constructed by Schweitzer and by Zeghib all have non-finitely generated coarse homology. This led us to ask whether the coarse homology of leaves in a compact manifold always has to be finitely generated. We show that this is not the case by proving that there exist