On the asymptotic geometry of Abelian-by-cyclic groups (Q1588934)

A group \(\Gamma\) is called Abelian-by-cyclic if there is an exact sequence \(1\to A\to\Gamma\to Z\to 1\) where \(A\) is Abelian and \(Z\) infinite cyclic. The main theorem of this paper gives a classification of finitely presented, non-polycyclic, Abelian-by-cyclic groups up to quasi-isometry. By a result of Bieri and Strebel, the class of finitely presented, torsion-free, Abelian-by-cyclic groups may be described as follows. Consider an \(n\times n\) matrix \(M\) with integral entries and \(\det(M)\not=0\). Let \(\Gamma_M\) be the ascending HNN extension of \(Z^n\) given by the monomorphism \(\phi_M\) with matrix \(M\). Then \(\Gamma_M\) has a finite presentation \[ \langle t,a_1,\dots,a_n\mid[a_i,a_j]=1,\;ta_it^{-1}=\phi_M(a_i),\;i,j,=1,\dots,n\rangle, \] where \(\phi_M(a_i)\) is the word \(a_1^{m_1}\cdots a_n^{m_n}\), and the vector \((m_1,\dots,m_n)\) is the \(i\)-th column of the matrix \(M\). The group \(\Gamma_M\) is polycyclic if and only if \(|\det M|=1\). Given \(M\in\text{GL}(n,\mathbb{R})\), the absolute Jordan form of \(M\) is the matrix obtained from the Jordan form for \(M\) over the complex numbers by replacing each diagonal entry with its absolute value, and rearranging the Jordan blocks in some canonical order. The authors establish then the following classification and rigidity results: Theorem. Let \(M_1\) and \(M_2\) be integral matrices with \(|\det M_i|>1\) for \(i=1,2\). Then, \(\Gamma_{M_1}\) is quasi-isometric to \(\Gamma_{M_2}\) if and only if there are positive integers \(r_1\) and \(r_2\) such that \(M_1^{r_1}\) and \(M_2^{r_2}\) have the same absolute Jordan form. Theorem. Let \(\Gamma=\Gamma_M\) be a finitely presented Abelian-by-cyclic group, determined by an integer \((n\times n)\)-matrix \(M\) with \(|\det M|>1\). Let \(G\) be any finitely generated group quasi-isometric to \(\Gamma\). Then there is a finite normal subgroup \(K\) of \(G\) such that \(G/K\) is abstractly commensurable to \(\Gamma_N\), for some integer \((n\times n)\)-matrix \(N\) with \(|\det N|>1\).