Rank gradients of infinite cyclic covers of Kähler manifolds (Q311062)

M. Lackenby introduced the notion of rank gradient \(\mathrm{rg}(G, \{G_i \})\) associated to a lattice \(\{G_i \}\) of finite index subgroups \(G_i\leq_{f} G\) (i.e. a collection of subgroups which is closed with respect to intersection). This rank gradient is defined as \[ \mathrm{rg}(G, \{G_i \}) = \lim_{i\rightarrow \infty}\inf\frac{\mathrm{rk}(G_i)}{[G:G_i]}, \] where rank of \(H\), denoted by \(\mathrm{rk}(H)\), is the minimal number of generators for a given subgroup \(H\). Lackenby computed the rank gradient for various classes of groups and he illustrated its rôle in understanding properties of the lattice and, in turn, of the group \(G\) itself. Successive work of many researchers has related this notion with various invariants of the group \(G\). The explicit calculation of the rank gradient appears rarely straightforward, and usually requires some relatively sophisticated information on the group. Here the authors are focusing on the rank gradient defined by lattices associated to the infinite cyclic quotients of \(G\), namely collections of the type \[ \{G_i = \ker(\phi:G\rightarrow \mathbb Z \rightarrow \mathbb Z_i)\} \] determined by a primitive class \(\phi \in H^1 (G, \mathbb Z) = \mathrm{Hom}(G, \mathbb Z)\). Let \(G\) be a Kähler group (manifold) and \(\phi \in H^1 (G, \mathbb Z) = \mathrm{Hom}(G, \mathbb Z)\). Then the authors prove that \(\mathrm{rg}(G,\phi) = 0\) iff \(\ker \phi \leq G\) is a finitely generated subgroup. Also as an application of the main result they give the following result: Let \(G\) be a Kähler group. Then \(G\) cannot be a properly ascending or descending HNN extension of a finitely generated subgroup. They have another result about the relation between Thompson groups and Kähler groups. If \(G\) is a generalized Thompson group then it can not be Kähler.