Linear holonomy of Margulis space-times (Q1312145)

From MaRDI portal
scientific article
Language Label Description Also known as
English
Linear holonomy of Margulis space-times
scientific article

    Statements

    Linear holonomy of Margulis space-times (English)
    0 references
    0 references
    6 April 1994
    0 references
    \textit{G. A. Margulis} [Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 272, 785-788 (1983; Zbl 0578.57012)] showed that there exist complete flat Lorentz space-times with free fundamental group, thereby disproving a conjecture of \textit{J. Milnor} in [Adv. Math. 25, 178-187 (1977; Zbl 0364.55001)]. The classification of the linear holonomy representation of these ``Margulis space-times'' is presented in this paper. In particular, any free discrete subgroup of \(SO(2,1)\) can occur as the image of the linear holonomy representation of a Margulis space-time. Surprisingly, the image of the linear holonomy representation can lie outside the identity component of \(SO(2,1)\) and contain parabolic elements of \(SO(2,1)\). The results of this paper are obtained by constructing fundamental domains for the actions of free subgroups of the affine group of affine space, which were first introduced by the author in an earlier paper.
    0 references
    Lorentz space-times
    0 references
    fundamental group
    0 references

    Identifiers