Conjecture of Tits type for complex varieties and theorem of Lie-Kolchin type for a cone (Q1012972)

Let \(X\) be a projective variety defined over the complex numbers, and let \(G\) be a group of automorphisms acting on \(X\). The group \(G\) is often studied via its action on the Néron-Severi group \(NS(X)\) and we denote by \(G^*\) the image of \(G\) in \(GL(NS(X))\). The Tits alternative theorem applies to \(G^*\), so either \(G^*\) contains \(\mathbb Z * \mathbb Z\) as a subgroup or \(G^*\) contains a solvable subgroup of finite index that is Z-connected, i.e. its Zariski closure is connected. From a more geometric point of view one studies the action of \(G^*\) on the ample or nef cone of \(X\) which are both preserved by \(G^*\). \newline The main result of the paper under review is a purely algebraic theorem describing the action of a group on a cone if we are in the second case of the Tits alternative. More precisely let \(V\) be a finite dimensional real vector space, and let \(C\) be a salient cone of \(V\), i.e. \(C\) is closed for the standard topology, closed under addition and multiplication by positive scalars and does not contain any linear subspace. If \(G^*\) is a Z-connected solvable subgroup of \(GL(V)\) that preserves \(C\), then \(G^*\) has a common eigenvector in the cone \(C\). \newline The second part of the paper applies the main theorem to the study of automorphism groups: \textit{T.-C. Dinh} and \textit{N. Sibony} have shown that if \(G\) is an abelian subgroup of the group of automorphisms of a compact Kähler manifold such that all the automorphisms in \(G \setminus Id\) have positive entropy, then \(G\) is free abelian of rank at most \(\dim X-1\) [Duke Math. J. 123, No. 2, 311-328 (2004; Zbl 1065.32012)]. Combining the Tits alternative and the Dinh-Sibony theorem, the authors conjecture that if \(X\) is a compact Kähler manifold or normal, projective variety with at most rational \(\mathbb Q\)-factorial singularities, then a group of automorphisms \(G\) contains either \(\mathbb Z * \mathbb Z\) as a subgroup or there exists a finite index subgroup \(G_1\) such that the automorphisms of zero entropy form a normal subgroup \(N(G_1)\) and \(G_1/N(G_1)\) is free abelian of rank at most \(\dim X-1\). It turns out that the difficult part of this conjecture is the estimate on the rank which the authors verify in some basic cases like surfaces, hyperkähler manifolds, complex tori and minimal threefolds. Recently \textit{D.-Q. Zhang} has proven this conjecture for compact Kähler manifolds [Invent. Math. 176, No. 3, 449-459 (2009; Zbl 1170.14029)].