Centralizers of partially hyperbolic diffeomorphisms in dimension 3 (Q2031233)

For any diffeomorphism \(f : M \to M\) on a closed manifold \(M\), denote the centralizer of \(f\) by \[\mathcal{Z}(f) := \{g\in \text{Diff}(M): g\circ f = f\circ g\},\] where \(\text{Diff}(M)\) is the space of \(C^1\)-diffeomorphisms of \(M\). \textit{D. Damjanović} et al. [Duke Math. J. 170, No. 17, 3815--3890 (2021; Zbl 1497.37036)] proved the following beautiful rigidity result: If \(f\) is a perturbation of a time-\(1\) map of an Anosov geodesic flow, \(\mathcal{Z}(f)\) is either virtually \(\mathbb{Z}\) or it is virtually \(\mathbb{R}\). The present paper extends this result in dimension three to a much broader class of partially hyperbolic diffeomorphisms. We say that \(f : M \to M\) is a \emph{discretized Anosov flow} if \(f\) is a partially hyperbolic diffeomorphism such that there exists a (topological) Anosov flow \(\varphi^t: M \to M\) and a function \(h: M\to \mathbb{R}^+\) such that \(f(x) = \varphi^{h(x)}(x)\) for all \(x\in M\). Theorem. Let \(f : M\to M\) be a volume-preserving \(C^\infty\)-partially hyperbolic diffeomorphism on a \(3\)-manifold. If \(f\) is a discretized Anosov flow and \(\pi_1(M)\) is not virtually solvable then either \(\mathcal{Z}(f)\) is virtually \(\{f^n: n\in \mathbb{Z}\}\) or \(f\) embeds into a smooth Anosov flow. Combining the classification results in [the first author et al., ``Partially hyperbolic diffeomorphisms homotopic to the identity in dimension 3. I: The dynamically coherent case'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1908.06227}; ``Partially hyperbolic diffeomorphisms homotopic to the identity in dimension 3. II: Branching foliations'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:2008.04871}], the authors deduce that the above theorem applies when \(f\) is a volume-preserving partially hyperbolic diffeomorphism on a Seifert \(3\)-manifold which is homotopic to the identity, or \(f\) is a volume-preserving dynamically coherent partially hyperbolic diffeomorphism on a hyperbolic 3-manifold. Moreover, \(\mathcal{Z}(f)\) is virtually \(\mathbb{R}\) if \(f\) embeds into a smooth Anosov flow.