Deficiencies of lattices in connected Lie groups (Q3149455)

The deficiency \(\text{def}(G)\) of a finitely presentable group \(G\) is the maximum over all finite presentations of \(G\) of the number of generators minus the number of defining relations. The author classifies all groups of positive deficiency that occur as lattices in connected Lie groups; partial results had been obtained by \textit{A.~Lubotzky} [Ann. Math. (2) 118, 115-130 (1983; Zbl 0541.20020)] and \textit{J.~Lott} [Bull. Lond. Math. Soc. 31, 191-196 (1999; Zbl 0939.22007)]. It is shown that if \(\Gamma\) is a lattice in a connected Lie group \(G\) and \(\text{ def}(\Gamma)>0\), then one of the following must hold: (i) \(\Gamma\) is a lattice in \(\text{PSL}_2({\mathbb R})\); (ii) \(\Gamma \backsimeq {\mathbb Z}\times F(r)\), where \(F(r)\) is the free group of rank \(r\), for some \(r\geq 0\); (iii) \(\Gamma\) is isomorphic to a torsion-free non-uniform lattice in \(\text{PSL}_2({\mathbb C})\). Conversely, the only \(\Gamma\) in this list with \(\text{def}(\Gamma)\leq 0\) are the lattices in \(PSL_2({\mathbb R})\) with finite abelianization. All the torsion-free \(\Gamma\) with \(\text{def}(\Gamma)>0\) that are lattices in connected Lie groups appear as the fundamental groups of compact 3-manifolds. Moreover, any other torsion-free 3-manifold group that is a lattice in a connected Lie group is the fundamental group of an aspherical closed geometric 3-manifold.