Growth of regulators in finite Abelian coverings (Q351701)

Let \(X\) be a finite CW-complex with fundamental group \(\pi=\mathbb{Z}^n\) and \(C\) the cellular chain complex of its universal covering. This is a finitely generated based free \(\mathbb{Z}[\pi]\)-complex. More generally, \(C\) could be any such complex. For any finite index (automatically normal) subgroup \(\Gamma\), by tensoring with \(\mathbb{Z}[\pi/\Gamma]\) one obtains an associated finitely generated free based \(\mathbb{Z}[\pi/\Gamma]\)-complex \(C_\Gamma\). If we start with a CW-complex \(X\), it is the cellular chain complex of the associated finite \(\pi/\Gamma\)-covering. One now defines three invariants: the homology torsion \(\tau^H(C_\Gamma)\) as the alternating product of the orders of the torsion part of the homology of \(C_\Gamma\) the Ray-Singer torsion \(\tau^{RS}(C_\Gamma)\) as the alternating product of the normalized determinants of the differentials in \(C_\Gamma\) for each \(l\) the regulator \(R_l(C_\Gamma)\) is the quotient of the volumes of the lattice of cycles and the lattice of boundaries of degree \(l\). Finally, the author defines that a sequence of finite index subgroups \(\Gamma_k\) of \(\mathbb{Z}^n\) converges to \(\infty\) if (for the standard norm on \(\text{integers}^n\)) the length of the shortest non-zero element in \(\Gamma_k\) converges to \(\infty\). Note that no uniformity of the \(\Gamma_k\) is required. The main novelty of the paper is to allow this generality. The main result of the paper is the following theorem: Assume the complex \(C\) as above is \(L^2\)-acyclic. Then \[ \lim_{\Gamma_k\to \infty} \frac{\ln(\tau^H(C_{\Gamma_k}))-\ln(\tau^{RS}(C_{\Gamma_k}))}{|\mathbb{Z}^n:\Gamma_k|} = 0 \] and \[ \lim_{\Gamma_k\to \infty} \frac{\ln(R_l(C_{\Gamma_k}))}{|\mathbb{Z}^n:\Gamma_k|} \] The proof uses tools from commutative algebra and algebraic geometry, in particular the theory of torsion points in \(\mathbb{Q}\)-algebraic sets, and character theory for (finite) abelian groups.