The large scale geometry of the higher Baumslag-Solitar groups (Q5957693)

The main object of the paper under review are the Baumslag-Solitar groups, i.e., \[ \text{BS}(m,n)=\langle x, y\mid xy^mx^{-1}=y^n\rangle. \] These groups are some of the simplest interesting infinite groups which are not lattices in Lie groups. They have been studied in depth from the point of view of combinatorial group theory. The author studies the question of which among the Baumslag-Solitar groups are quasi-isometric. The groups \(\text{BS}(1,n)\) were classified up to quasi-isometry by \textit{B. Farb} and \textit{L. Mosher} (with an appendix by \textit{D. Cooper}) [Invent. Math. 131, No. 2, 419-451 (1998; Zbl 0937.22003)]. They proved that \(\text{BS}(1,n)\) and \(\text{BS}(1,m)\) are quasi-isometric only if \(n\) and \(m\) are powers of a common integer. The main results of this paper concern a class of groups somewhat larger than the class of Baumslag-Solitar groups. The author defines a graph of \(\mathbb{Z}\)'s as a finite graph of groups, in the sense of \textit{J.-P. Serre} [Trees, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer-Verlag (1980; Zbl 0548.20018)], with all vertex and edge groups infinite cyclic. This class includes the Baumslag-Solitar groups, which are precisely the HNN extensions of \(\mathbb{Z}\). The author classifies graphs of \(\mathbb{Z}\)'s as Theorem 0.1: If \(G\) is a graph of \(\mathbb{Z}\)'s and \(\Gamma=\pi_1G\) then exactly one of the following is true: 1. \(\Gamma\) contains a subgroup of finite index of the form \(F_n\times\mathbb{Z}\), where \(F_n\) is the free group on \(n\) generators. 2. \(\Gamma=\text{BS}(1,n)\) for some \(n>1\). 3. \(\Gamma\) is quasi-isometric to \(\text{BS}(2,3)\). The author classifies the higher Baumslag-Solitar groups, namely those with \(1<m<n\), as Corollary 0.2: All the groups \(\text{BS}(m,n)\) with \(1<m<n\) are quasi-isometric to each other. There is much more in this paper than can be described here.