A bound for diameter of arithmetic hyperbolic orbifolds (Q2230970)

Let \(X\) be a Riemannian manifold, and let \(\Gamma\) be a group of isometries of \(X\). Assume \(\Gamma\) acts properly discontinuously on \(X\). If the action is free, then the quotient space is a manifold. More generally, if the stabilizer subgroups of the action are finite, but not necessarily trivial, then the quotient \({\mathcal{O}}=X/\Gamma\) is a Riemannian orbifold. If \(X\) is a hyperbolic space, then the quotient is called a hyperbolic orbifold. Assume then that \(\Gamma\) is an arithmetic subgroup, over some number field \(k\), of a linear semisimple Lie group \(H\) with trivial center. Then \(\Gamma\) is a lattice, i.e., \(\Gamma\) is discrete and the volume of \(H/\Gamma\) is finite. In this case, the quotient space \(X/\Gamma\) is called an arithmetic orbifold. In this paper, the author studies the geometry of arithmetic, hyperbolic orbifolds. Such orbifolds are length spaces and have a well-defined diameter. The main result gives an upper bound for the diameter: let \({\mathcal{O}}\) be a closed arithmetic (real or complex) hyperbolic orbifold of dimension \(n\geq 2\). Then the diameter \(\mathrm{diam}({\mathcal{O}})\) satisfies the inequality \[\mathrm{diam}({\mathcal{O}})\leq \frac{c_1\ \log\ \mathrm{vol}({\mathcal{O}})+c_2}{h({\mathcal{O}})}.\] Here \(\mathrm{vol}({\mathcal{O}})\) denotes the volume of \({\mathcal{O}}\) and \(c_1\) and \(c_2\) are constants that only depend on \(n\). Moreover, \(h({\mathcal{O}})\) is the Cheeger constant of \({\mathcal{O}}\), defined by \[ h({\mathcal{O}}):= \inf \left(\frac{\mathrm{area}(\partial A)}{\min\{\mathrm{vol}(A), \mathrm{vol}({\mathcal{O}}\setminus A)\}}\right), \] where \(A\) is an open subset of \(X\) and the boundary \(\partial(A)\) is Hausdorff measurable. In dimensions \(2\) and \(3\), the result is new both for orbifolds and for manifolds. In dimensions \(n\geq 4\), it is new for orbifolds.