Hyperbolic 3-manifolds with \(k\)-free fundamental group (Q2250131)

The interaction between the geometry and topological properties (especially, fundamental group) of a closed, orientable, hyperbolic \(3\)-manifold is an interesting topic. In the 1990s, Culler, Shalen, and their co-authors initiated a program to understand the relationship between the topology and geometry of a closed hyperbolic \(3\)-manifold. A group \(\Gamma\) is \(k\)-free, where \(k\) is a given positive integer, if every finitely generated subgroup of \(\Gamma\) of rank less than or equal to \(k\) is free. In the paper under review, the author proves: {\(5\)-free Theorem 1.1.} Suppose \(M\) is a closed, orientable, hyperbolic \(3\)-manifold such that \(\pi_1(M)\) is \(5\)-free. Then there exists a point \(P\) in \(M\) such that the set of all elements of \(\pi_1(M,P)\) represented by loops of length less than \(\log9\) is contained in a rank \(\leq 2\) subgroup of \(\pi_1(M)\) (and so they generate a free group). Similar results for \(k=3\) (by Agol, Culler and Shalen) and \(k=4\) (by Culler and Shalen) have been obtained, and this paper extends the results to the case \(k=5\). Further, the author makes the following conjectures: {Geometric Conjecture 1.3.} If \(M\) is a closed, orientable, hyperbolic \(3\)-manifold such that \(\pi_1(M)\) is \(k\)-free with \(k \geq 5\), then there exists a point \(P\) in \(M\) such that the set of all elements of \(\pi_1(M,P)\) represented by loops of length less than \(\lambda = \log(2k-1)\) is contained in a subgroup of \(\pi_1(M)\) of rank \(\leq k-3\). {Group-Theoretic Conjecture 1.4.} Given two rank \(m\geq 2\) subgroups of a free group whose intersection has rank greater than or equal to \(m\), their join must have rank less than or equal to \(m\). And, the author shows the following: {Implication Theorem 1.5.} Group-Theoretic Conjecture 1.4 with \(m=k-2\) implies Geometric Conjecture 1.3.