Noncoherence of arithmetic hyperbolic lattices (Q1938775)

A famous conjecture (which is still open in the case of \(\mathrm{SL}_3(\mathbb{Z})\) for which it was originally posed by J.-P. Serre) asserts: Conjecture: Let \(G\) be a semisimple Lie group without compact factors. If \(G\) is not locally isomorphic to \(\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{R})\) or to \(\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{C})\), then every lattice in \(G\) is non-coherent (that is, admits finitely generated subgroups which are not finitely presentable). Both \(\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{R})\) and \(\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{C})\) are known to be genuine exceptions. The groups \(\mathrm{SL}_n(\mathbb{Z})\) for \(n>3\) admit a subgroup isomorphic to the non-coherent group \(F_2 \times F_2\); as a result, they are themselves non-coherent. The conjecture was posed for \(\mathrm{O}(n,1)\) by \textit{D. Wise} [Topology 45, No. 3, 421--463 (2006; Zbl 1097.20030)]. The author, \textit{L. Potyagailo} and \textit{E. Vinberg} [in: The Zieschang Gedenkschrift. Geometry and Topology Monographs 14, 335--351 (2008; Zbl 1139.22007)] proved that the conjecture is true for all non-uniform arithmetic lattices in \(\mathrm{O}(n,1)\) for \(n \geq 6\); this was done by embedding non-coherent examples constructed by the author and \textit{L. Potyagailo} [Topology Appl. 40, No. 1, 83--91 (1991; Zbl 0817.57018)]. In the present paper, the author proves the conjecture for all uniform lattices in \(\mathrm{O}(n,1)\) for \(n>3\) (\(n \neq 7\)). Thus, the conjecture is proved for all arithmetic lattices in \(\mathrm{O}(n,1)\) for \(n \geq 4\) other than \(n=7\). In addition, the author also proves the conjecture for certain types of uniform arithmetic lattices in \(\mathrm{SU}(n,1)\) for \(n \geq 2\) and for all uniform lattices (arithmetic or non-arithmetic) in \(\mathrm{SU}(2,1)\) which have positive (virtual) first Betti numbers. In contrast, the conjecture in the cases of non-arithmetic lattices in \(\mathrm{O}(n,1)\) or \(\mathrm{SU}(n,1)\) is wide open.