On the construction of minimal foliations by hyperbolic surfaces on 3-manifolds (Q2331757)

Given one of the eight Thurston geometries, the authors study when there is a closed \(3\)-manifold \(M\) with that geometry that admits a foliation by hyperbolic surfaces. By a theorem of \textit{C. Yue} [Isr. J. Math. 97, 113--123 (1997; Zbl 0872.53024)], \(\pi_1(M)\) must have exponential growth, which rules out the geometric structures of type \(\mathbb S^3\), \(\mathbb S^2\times\mathbb R\), \(\mathbb R^3\) and \(\operatorname{Nil}\). On the contrary, for the remaining geometric structures, \(\operatorname{Sol}\), \(\mathbb H^2\times\mathbb R\), \(\widetilde{\operatorname{SL}}(2,\mathbb R)\) and \(\mathbb H^3\), the authors give a positive solution to the above problem. In particular, for closed hyperbolic \(3\)-manifolds, the authors prove two general theorems giving conditions of different nature that guarantee the existence of foliations by hyperbolic surfaces.