Some finiteness results for groups with bounded algebraic entropy. (Q5897033)

Let \(G\) be a finitely generated group and \(S\) a symmetric finite generating set of \(G\), endowing \(G\) with a word metric. For any positive integer \(n\), \(f(n)\) denotes the cardinality of the closed ball of radius \(n\) centered at the identity. The entropy \(\mathrm{Ent}_S(G)\) is then defined by \[ \mathrm{Ent}_S(G)=\lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{\log f(n)}{n}. \] In the paper under review, the author establishes an upper bound on the cardinality of \(S\) when the entropy \(\mathrm{Ent}_S(G)\) is bounded from above by some universal constant, under the assumption that \(G\) contains a finite-index subgroup sharing some algebraic properties with torsion-free word-hyperbolic groups, which he calls an \(N\)-Abelian group. As an application, the author obtains some finiteness results on the class of word-hyperbolic groups and on the class of fundamental groups of Riemannian manifolds.