Tits topology and fundamental groups of compact Riemannian manifolds (Q2457907)

Let \(M\) be an \(n\)-dimensional compact Riemannian manifold without conjugate points and \(\pi_1(M)\) its fundamental group. \textit{C. B. Croke} and \textit{V. Schroeder} proved [Comment. Math. Helv. 61, 161--175 (1986; Zbl 0608.53038)] that if \(M\) admits an analytic metric, then every solvable subgroup of \(\pi_1(M)\) is a Bieberbach group. This result has been generalized by Kleiner to the \(C^\infty\)-case and by Lebedeva [Steklov Math. Inst., preprint (2002)] to the compact length spaces. If the sectional curvature is nonpositive and \(\pi_1(M)\) is amenable, then \(M\) is flat; see \textit{A. Avez} [C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris, Sér. A 270, 188--191 (1970; Zbl 0188.26402)], \textit{R. J. Zimmer} [Am. J. Math. 105, 1011--1022 (1983; Zbl 0527.57015)], \textit{M. Gromov} [Geometric group theory. Volume 2: Asymptotic invariants of infinite groups. London Math. Soc. Lecture Note Series (1993; Zbl 0841.20039)] and \textit{S. Adams} and \textit{W. Ballmann} [Math. Ann. 312, No. 1, 183--195 (1998; Zbl 0913.53012)]. Also, \textit{D. Burago} and \textit{S. Ivanov} [Geom. Funct. Anal. 4, No. 3, 259--269 (1994; Zbl 0808.53038)] proved that Riemannian tori without conjugate points are flat. The author generalizes a conjecture (in terms of entropy of the geodesic flow) of \textit{A. Freire} and \textit{R. Mané} [Invent. Math. 69, 375--392 (1982; Zbl 0476.58019)] as follows: If \(M\) is an \(n\)-dimensional compact Riemannian manifold without conjugate points and \(\pi_1(M)\) is amenable, then \(M\) is flat. At first, the author extends the Tits topology to the ideal boundary \(B(M)\) of the universal covering space \(\widetilde M\) of \(M\). For a compact manifold \(M\), the fact is well known that the property of \(\pi_1(M)\) to be amenable and the volume entropy are intrinsically related. For instance, \(\widetilde M\) has polynomial volume growth [\textit{M. Gromov}, Publ. Math., Inst. Hautes Étud. Sci. 53, 53--78 (1981; Zbl 0474.20018)], iff \(\pi_1(M)\) is almost nilpotent; if \(\pi_1(M)\) is not amenable, then \(\widetilde M\) has an exponential volume growth. For interesting examples of metric spaces which have a polynomial volume growth, see the LK-digital spaces or sq-\(n\)-dimensional digital spaces [\textit{V. Boju} and \textit{A. Boju}, Digital, discrete and combinatorial methods in an Euclidean or Riemannian context Hadron models and related new energy issues, 332--381 (2007; Zbl 1142.81001)]. Let \(O(N, R)\) be the \(N \times N\) orthogonal group. Theorem 1. Let \(M\) be a \(n\)-dimensional compact Riemannian manifold without conjugate points. If \(B(M)\) is compact with respect to the Tits topology and \(\pi_1(M)\) is amenable, then there is an Abelian normal subgroup \(K\) such that \(\pi_1(M)/K O(N, R)\) for some \(N\) and \(\pi_1(M)\) is almost solvable. A partial answer to the author's conjecture consists in the following corollary of Theorem 1: Let \(M\) be a \(n\)-dimensional compact Riemannian manifold without conjugate points. If \(B(M)\) is compact with respect to the Tits topology and \(\pi_1(M)\) is amenable, then \(M\) is flat.