Stability of lower central series of compact 3-manifold groups (Q1384304)

Let \(G\) be a group and \(\alpha\) an ordinal. The (transfinite) lower central series of \(G\), \(G=G_1 \supset G_2 \supset \ldots \supset G_\alpha \supset \ldots,\) is defined inductively by \(G_1=G, G_{\alpha+1}=[G,G_\alpha]\) and, if \(\alpha\) is a limit ordinal, \(G_\alpha=\bigcap_{\beta < \alpha} G_\beta.\) The length \(\delta\) of a group \(G\) is the least ordinal \(\delta\) such that \(G_\delta = G_{\delta+1}.\) In the present paper the authors have proved that the length of all surface groups and most Fuchsian groups is at most \(\omega\). The similar result is also valid for the length of the group a Seifert fibration over a base of non-positive even Euler characteristic. The main result of the paper is the existence of closed hyperbolic 3-manifolds with length at least \(2\omega\). It is also shown that any closed 3-manifold group has the same lower central series as a hyperbolic one.