On the Cantor-Bendixson rank of the Grigorchuk group and the Gupta-Sidki 3 group (Q2174548)

Given a group \(G\), let \(\operatorname{Sub}(G)\) be the set of subgroups of \(G\) endowed with the Chabauty topology, i.e., the topology induced by the product \(\{0, 1\}^{G}\). If \(G\) is countable then \(\operatorname{Sub}(G)\) is a totally disconnected compact metric space. The authors perform the Cantor-Bendixson analysis of \(\operatorname{Sub}(G)\) for \(G\) in a class of finitely generated branch groups including the Grigorchuk group and the Gupta-Sidki 3-group. To state their main results, some definitions are in order. Given a topological space \(X\) and an ordinal \(\alpha\), the \textit{\(\alpha\)-th derived set \(X^{\alpha}\)} of \(X\) is defined through transfinite induction in the following way: set \(X^{(\alpha)} = X\), if \(\alpha = 0\), define \(X^{(\alpha)}\) as the set of limit points of \(X^{(\beta)}\) if \(\alpha = \beta + 1\) for some ordinal \(\beta\), otherwise set \(X^{(\alpha)} = \bigcap_{\beta < \alpha} X^{(\beta)}\). Let \(X\) be Polish space. The \textit{Cantor-Bendixson rank} \(\operatorname{rk_{\operatorname{CB}}}(X)\) of \(X\) is the least ordinal \(\alpha\) such that \(X^{(\alpha + 1)} = X^{(\alpha)}\). The Cantor-Bendixson rank \(\operatorname{rk_{\operatorname{CB}}}(x)\) of a point \(x \in X \setminus X^{(\operatorname{rk_{\operatorname{CB}}}(X))}\) is the unique ordinal \(\alpha\) such that \(x \in X^{(\alpha)} \setminus X^{(\alpha + 1)}\). The authors show that \(\operatorname{rk_{\operatorname{CB}}}(\operatorname{Sub}(G)) = \omega\), the first infinite ordinal, if \(G\) is a finitely generated just infinite regular branch group which is moreover strongly self-replicating and whose subgroups (i) are well-approximated (Definition 2.11), and (ii) obey the Grigorchuk-Nagnibeda alternative (Definition 4.1). Property (i) is shown to be equivalent to the conjunction of the congruence subgroup property, i.e., every subgroup of finite index in \(G\) contains a level stabilizer of the tree \(G\) acts upon, and that \(G\) be LERF, i.e., every finitely generated subgroup of \(G\) is an intersection of subgroups of finite index in \(G\). Property (ii) is shown to be implied by a subgroup induction principle which holds for the Girgorchuk group by Theorem 3 of [\textit{R. I. Grigorchuk} and \textit{J. S. Wilson}, J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 68, No. 3, 671--682 (2003; Zbl 1063.20033)] and the Gupta-Sidki 3-group by Theorem 6 of [\textit{A. Garrido}, Groups Geom. Dyn. 10, No. 2, 523--543 (2016; Zbl 1373.20047)], as noted by the authors, who also observe that both groups satisfy the other properties. The authors prove in addition that a subgroup \(H\) of a group \(G\), with \(G\) satisfying the above properties, lies in \(\operatorname{Sub}(G) \setminus \operatorname{Sub}(G)^{(\omega)}\) if and only if \(H\) is finitely generated and there is a longest decreasing sequence \(G = H_0 > \dots > H_n = H\) of subgroups \(H_i\) of \(G\) where \(H_{i + 1}\) is of infinite index in \(H_i\) for every \(i\); if this holds true then \(\operatorname{rk_{\operatorname{CB}}}(H) = n\) and \(H\) is of finite index in its commensurator in \(G\). Furthermore, the elements of \(\operatorname{Sub}(G)^{(\omega)}\) and \(\operatorname{Sub}(G) \setminus \operatorname{Sub}(G)^{(\omega)}\) are characterized by means of two appealing algebraic conditions involving the faithful action of \(G\) on an infinite rooted \(d\)-ary tree \((d \ge 2)\). The article is written in a clear and concise way.