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How free is free ?

·1 min

Automorphism, Geometry and the Growth of Groups #

Quasi isometry

Group generators induce metric

quasi isometry invariant properties: growth (focus) dehn fn virtual freeness (focus) hyperbolicity …

free group Nielsen rank formula Cayley graph metric

Ex: \(\left(\mathbb{Z}, \langle1\rangle\right) \sim_{\text{QI}} \left(\mathbb{Z}, \langle2,3\rangle\right)\)

Growth:

  • Exponential
  • intermediate (Grigorchuk; open problem: finitely presented but intermediate growth?)
  • polynomial (Gromov \(\implies\) nilpotent)

Milnor conjecture (disproved by Grigorchuk) Milnor-Schwarz Thm

$$ \mathbb{R/Z} \sim S^1 $$

\(\mathbb{R}^n\) is hyperbolic iff \(n = 1\) (Gromov thin hyperbolicity)

Nielsen transformation \(\text{Aut}(F_n)\)

GGT Martin Bridson Bible of GGT Gromov Hyperbolicity