We study the vectorial length compactification of the space of conjugacy classes of maximal representations of the fundamental group $\Gamma$ of a closed hyperbolic surface $\Sigma$ in $\textrm{PSL}(2,{\mathbb{R}})^n$. We identify the boundary with the sphere ${\mathbb{P}}(({\mathcal{ML}})^n)$, where $\mathcal{ML}$ is the space of measured geodesic laminations on $\Sigma$. In the case $n=2$, we give a geometric interpretation of the boundary as the space of homothety classes of ${\mathbb{R}}^2$-mixed structures on $\Sigma$. We associate to such a structure a dual tree-graded space endowed with an ${\mathbb{R}}_+^2$-valued metric, which we show to be universal with respect to actions on products of two $\mathbb{R}$-trees with the given length spectrum.

Let V be a finite dimensional vector space over the field with p elements, where p is a prime number. Given arbitrary $\alpha ,\beta \in \mathrm {GL}(V)$, we consider the semidirect products $V\rtimes \langle \alpha \rangle $ and $V\rtimes \langle \beta \rangle $, and show that if $V\rtimes \langle \alpha \rangle $ and $V\rtimes \langle \beta \rangle $ are isomorphic, then $\alpha $ must be similar to a power of $\beta $ that generates the same subgroup as $\beta $; that is, if H and K are cyclic subgroups of $\mathrm {GL}(V)$ such that $V\rtimes H\cong V\rtimes K$, then H and K must be conjugate subgroups of $\mathrm {GL}(V)$. If we remove the cyclic condition, there exist examples of nonisomorphic, let alone nonconjugate, subgroups H and K of $\mathrm {GL}(V)$ such that $V\rtimes H\cong V\rtimes K$. Even if we require that noncyclic subgroups H and K of $\mathrm {GL}(V)$ be abelian, we may still have $V\rtimes H\cong V\rtimes K$ with H and K nonconjugate in $\mathrm {GL}(V)$, but in this case, H and K must at least be isomorphic. If we replace V by a free module U over ${\mathbb {Z}}/p^m{\mathbb {Z}}$ of finite rank, with $m>1$, it may happen that $U\rtimes H\cong U\rtimes K$ for nonconjugate cyclic subgroups of $\mathrm {GL}(U)$. If we completely abandon our requirements on V, a sufficient criterion is given for a finite group G to admit nonconjugate cyclic subgroups H and K of $\mathrm {Aut}(G)$ such that $G\rtimes H\cong G\rtimes K$. This criterion is satisfied by many groups.

We introduce and study two conditions on groups of homeomorphisms of Cantor space, namely the conditions of being vigorous and of being flawless. These concepts are dynamical in nature, and allow us to study a certain interplay between the dynamics of an action and the algebraic properties of the acting group. A group $G\leq \operatorname {Homeo}(\mathfrak {C})$ is vigorous if for any clopen set A and proper clopen subsets B and C of A, there is $\gamma \in G$ in the pointwise stabiliser of $\mathfrak {C}\backslash A$ with $B\gamma \subseteq C$. A nontrivial group $G\leq \operatorname {Homeo}(\mathfrak {C})$ is flawless if for all k and w a nontrivial freely reduced product expression on k variables (including inverse symbols), a particular subgroup $w(G)_\circ $ of the verbal subgroup $w(G)$ is the whole group. We show: 1) simple vigorous groups are either two-generated by torsion elements, or not finitely generated, 2) flawless groups are both perfect and lawless, 3) vigorous groups are simple if and only if they are flawless, and, 4) the class of vigorous simple subgroups of $\operatorname {Homeo}(\mathfrak {C})$ is fairly broad (the class is closed under various natural constructions and contains many well known groups, such as the commutator subgroups of the Higman–Thompson groups $G_{n,r}$, the Brin-Thompson groups $nV$, Röver’s group $V(\Gamma )$, and others of Nekrashevych’s ‘simple groups of dynamical origin’).

In this note we investigate the centraliser of a linearly growing element of $\mathrm{Out}(F_n)$ (that is, a root of a Dehn twist automorphism), and show that it has a finite index subgroup mapping onto a direct product of certain “equivariant McCool groups” with kernel a finitely generated free abelian group. In particular, this allows us to show it is VF and hence finitely presented.

We find an upper bound for the number of groups of order n up to isomorphism in the variety ${\mathfrak {S}}={\mathfrak {A}_p}{\mathfrak {A}_q}{\mathfrak {A}_r}$, where p, q and r are distinct primes. We also find a bound on the orders and on the number of conjugacy classes of subgroups that are maximal amongst the subgroups of the general linear group that are also in the variety $\mathfrak {A}_q\mathfrak {A}_r$.

We prove that centralisers of elements in [finitely generated free]-by-cyclic groups are computable. As a corollary, given two conjugate elements in a [finitely generated free]-by-cyclic group, the set of conjugators can be computed and the conjugacy problem with context-free constraints is decidable. We pose several problems arising naturally from this work.

To any free group automorphism, we associate a real pretree with several nice properties. First, it has a rigid/non-nesting action of the free group with trivial arc stabilizers. Secondly, there is an expanding pretree-automorphism of the real pretree that represents the free group automorphism. Finally and crucially, the loxodromic elements are exactly those whose (conjugacy class) length grows exponentially under iteration of the automorphism; thus, the action on the real pretree is able to detect the growth type of an element.

This construction extends the theory of metric trees that has been used to study free group automorphisms. The new idea is that one can equivariantly blow up an isometric action on a real tree with respect to other real trees and get a rigid action on a treelike structure known as a real pretree. Topology plays no role in this construction as all the work is done in the language of pretrees (intervals).

We introduce two families of two-generator one-relator groups called primitive extension groups and show that a one-relator group is hyperbolic if its primitive extension subgroups are hyperbolic. This reduces the problem of characterizing hyperbolic one-relator groups to characterizing hyperbolic primitive extension groups. These new groups, moreover, admit explicit decompositions as graphs of free groups with adjoined roots. In order to obtain this result, we characterize $2$-free one-relator groups with exceptional intersection in terms of Christoffel words, show that hyperbolic one-relator groups have quasi-convex Magnus subgroup, and build upon the one-relator tower machinery developed in previous work of the author.

The Basilica group is a well-known 2-generated weakly branch, but not branch, group acting on the binary rooted tree. Recently, a more general form of the Basilica group has been investigated by Petschick and Rajeev, which is an $s$-generated weakly branch, but not branch, group that acts on the $m$-adic tree, for $s,m\ge 2$. A larger family of groups, which contains these generalised Basilica groups, is the family of iterated monodromy groups. With the new developments by Francoeur, the study of the existence of maximal subgroups of infinite index has been extended from branch groups to weakly branch groups. Here we show that a subfamily of iterated monodromy groups, which more closely resemble the generalised Basilica groups, have maximal subgroups only of finite index.

We prove a nonarchimedean analogue of Jørgensen’s inequality, and use it to deduce several algebraic convergence results. As an application, we show that every dense subgroup of ${\mathrm {SL}_2}(K)$, where K is a p-adic field, contains two elements that generate a dense subgroup of ${\mathrm {SL}_2}(K)$, which is a special case of a result by Breuillard and Gelander [‘On dense free subgroups of Lie groups’, J. Algebra 261(2) (2003), 448–467]. We also list several other related results, which are well known to experts, but not easy to locate in the literature; for example, we show that a nonelementary subgroup of ${\mathrm {SL}_2}(K)$ over a nonarchimedean local field K is discrete if and only if each of its two-generator subgroups is discrete.

We classify the irreducible unitary representations of closed simple groups of automorphisms of trees acting $2$-transitively on the boundary and whose local action at every vertex contains the alternating group. As an application, we confirm Claudio Nebbia’s CCR conjecture on trees for $(d_0,d_1)$-semi-regular trees such that $d_0,d_1\in \Theta $, where $\Theta $ is an asymptotically dense set of positive integers.

In this article, we explore the problem of determining isomorphisms between the twisted complex group algebras of finite $p$-groups. This problem bears similarity to the classical group algebra isomorphism problem and has been recently examined by Margolis-Schnabel. Our focus lies on a specific invariant, referred to as the generalized corank, which relates to the twisted complex group algebra isomorphism problem. We provide a solution for non-abelian $p$-groups with generalized corank at most three.

We construct an unfolding path in Outer space which does not converge in the boundary, and instead it accumulates on the entire 1-simplex of projectivized length measures on a nongeometric arational ${\mathbb R}$-tree T. We also show that T admits exactly two dual ergodic projective currents. This is the first nongeometric example of an arational tree that is neither uniquely ergodic nor uniquely ergometric.

Every countable group G can be embedded in a finitely generated group $G^*$ that is hopfian and complete, that is, $G^*$ has trivial centre and every epimorphism $G^*\to G^*$ is an inner automorphism. Every finite subgroup of $G^*$ is conjugate to a finite subgroup of G. If G has a finite presentation (respectively, a finite classifying space), then so does $G^*$. Our construction of $G^*$ relies on the existence of closed hyperbolic 3-manifolds that are asymmetric and non-Haken.

We prove a joint partial equidistribution result for common perpendiculars with given density on equidistributing equidistant hypersurfaces, towards a measure supported on truncated stable leaves. We recover a result of Marklof on the joint partial equidistribution of Farey fractions at a given density, and give several analogous arithmetic applications, including in Bruhat–Tits trees.

We prove that, given a finitely generated subgroup H of a free group F, the following questions are decidable: is H closed (dense) in F for the pro-(met)abelian topology? Is the closure of H in F for the pro-(met)abelian topology finitely generated? We show also that if the latter question has a positive answer, then we can effectively construct a basis for the closure, and the closure has decidable membership problem in any case. Moreover, it is decidable whether H is closed for the pro-$\mathbf {V}$ topology when $\mathbf {V}$ is an equational pseudovariety of finite groups, such as the pseudovariety $\mathbf {S}_k$ of all finite solvable groups with derived length $\leq k$. We also connect the pro-abelian topology with the topologies defined by abelian groups of bounded exponent.

We solve a fundamental question posed in Frohardt’s 1988 paper [6] on finite $2$-groups with Kantor familes, by showing that finite groups K with a Kantor family $(\mathcal {F},\mathcal {F}^*)$ having distinct members $A, B \in \mathcal {F}$ such that $A^* \cap B^*$ is a central subgroup of K and the quotient $K/(A^* \cap B^*)$ is abelian cannot exist if the center of K has exponent $4$ and the members of $\mathcal {F}$ are elementary abelian. Then we give a short geometrical proof of a recent result of Ott which says that finite skew translation quadrangles of even order $(t,t)$ (where t is not a square) are always translation generalized quadrangles. This is a consequence of a complete classification of finite cyclic skew translation quadrangles of order $(t,t)$ that we carry out in the present paper.

We introduce and study the model-theoretic notions of absolute connectedness and type-absolute connectedness for groups. We prove that groups of rational points of split semisimple linear groups (that is, Chevalley groups) over arbitrary infinite fields are absolutely connected and characterize connected Lie groups which are type-absolutely connected. We prove that the class of type-absolutely connected group is exactly the class of discretely topologized groups with the trivial Bohr compactification, that is, the class of minimally almost periodic groups.

An element g in a group G is called reversible if g is conjugate to g−1 in G. An element g in G is strongly reversible if g is conjugate to g−1 by an involution in G. The group of affine transformations of $\mathbb D^n$ may be identified with the semi-direct product $\mathrm{GL}(n, \mathbb D) \ltimes \mathbb D^n $, where $\mathbb D:=\mathbb R, \mathbb C$ or $ \mathbb H $. This paper classifies reversible and strongly reversible elements in the affine group $\mathrm{GL}(n, \mathbb D) \ltimes \mathbb D^n $.

We construct pairs of residually finite groups with isomorphic profinite completions such that one has non-vanishing and the other has vanishing real second bounded cohomology. The examples are lattices in different higher-rank simple Lie groups. Using Galois cohomology, we actually show that $\operatorname {SO}^0(n,2)$ for $n \ge 6$ and the exceptional groups $E_{6(-14)}$ and $E_{7(-25)}$ constitute the complete list of higher-rank Lie groups admitting such examples.