Free subgroups of dendrite homeomorphism group (Q428797)

The paper under review concerns minimal group actions on dendrites. Recall that a dendrite is a nondegenerate connected and compact metric space (continuum) that is locally connected and contains no simple closed curve. An action of a group \(G\) on a space \(X\) is minimal if the orbit \(Gx\) is dense in \(X\) for every \(x\in X\). \textit{G. Margulis} [C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris, Sér. I, Math. 331, No. 9, 669--674 (2000; Zbl 0983.37029)] proved that if \(G\) acts minimally on the unit circle \(\mathbb{S}^1\), then either \(G\) contains a free noncommutative subgroup or there is a \(G\)-invariant probability measure on \(\mathbb{S}^1\). This result confirmed a weak version of the Tits alternative, see [\textit{J. Tits}, J. Algebra 20, 250--270 (1972; Zbl 0236.20032)] conjectured by \textit{É. Ghys} and \textit{V. Sergiescu} [Comment. Math. Helv. 62, 185--239 (1987; Zbl 0647.58009)]. The author shows that a stronger version of the theorem due to Margulis holds for dendrites. In particular, every group \(G\) that acts minimally on a dendrite \(X\) must contain a free noncommutative subgroup. In order to obtain his main result, the author proves a number of auxiliary lemmas that give more insight into the dynamics of \(G\) on \(X\). Namely, it is shown that \(G\) is sensitive (i.e. there is a sensitivity constant \(c>0\) such that for any nonempty open subset \(U\) of \(X\) there is \(g\in G\) such that \(\text{diam}(gU)>c\)) and proximal (i.e. for any two points \(x,y\in X\) there is a sequence \(\{g_i:i>0\}\subseteq G\) such that \(\lim_{i\to\infty}|g_ix-g_iy|=0\)). In addition, one can always find two distinct endpoints \(a\) and \(b\) in \(X\) and a sequence \(\{g_i:i>0\}\subseteq G\) such that for any subdendrite \(K\) of \(X\setminus\{a\}\) we have \(g_i(K)\to_{i\to\infty} b\) and for any subdendrite \(C\) of \(X\setminus\{b\}\) we have \(g_i^{-1}(C)\to_{i\to\infty} a\). The above results lead to the conclusion that there are two elements \(h,g\in G\) that generate a quasi-Schottky group \(<g,h>\). Since such a group is free and noncommutative the theorem follows. The author concludes with the following question: Does the theorem of Margulis hold for every one-dimensional locally connected continuum?