Quotient topology on the set of commensurability classes of hyperbolic 3-manifolds (Q2295675)

Let \(\mathcal H\) denote the space of all finite volume oriented hyperbolic 3-manifolds (cusped or closed), with the geometric topology induced by Gromov-Hausdorff convergence, and \(\mathcal C\) its quotient space of all commensurability classes of \(\mathcal H\) (two manifolds are commensurable if they have a finite common covering). \textit{H. Yoshida} [``Commensurability and Dehn filling of hyperbolic 3-manifolds'', Preprint, available at \url{http://www.nat.gunma-ct.ac.jp/~han/comm_Dehn.pdf}] observed that every cusped hyperbolic 3-manifold has infinitely many Dehn fillings which are mutually incommensurable, and it is an objective of the present paper to investigate more closely relations between Dehn fillings and commensurability of hyperbolic 3-manifolds, and in particular separation axioms for the space \(\mathcal C\). The main result of the paper states that \(\mathcal C\) is a normal Hausdorff space (a regular, countable Lindelöf space, in particular every point has a neighborhood base consisting of closed sets; on the other hand, \(\mathcal C\) is not first countable and hence not metrizable). This is motivated also by the Ehrenpreis conjecture proved by \textit{J. Kahn} and \textit{V. Markovic} [Ann. Math. (2) 182, No. 1, 1--72 (2015; Zbl 1400.57021)], stating that any two closed Riemann surfaces of genus \(g > 2\) have finite coverings which are arbitrarily close with respect to the Teichmüller metric, and this raised the question of possible generalizations to higher dimensions. In the present paper, the author defines a metric on \(\mathcal H\) inducing the geometric topology but it remains open whether the Ehrenpreis conjecture holds for this metric (and the main result supports a negative answer). ``Roughly speaking, this means that commensurability classes are sparsely distributed in the space consisting of the hyperbolic 3-manifolds.'' The author discusses also the space of commensurability classes of hyperbolic 3-orbifolds (which, as a set, coincides with \(\mathcal C\), but has a different topology).