On distortion in groups of homeomorphisms (Q660077)

Let \(\Gamma\) be a finitely generated group and let \(S\) be a set of generators. The norm \(|g|\) of an element \(g\) of \(\Gamma\) is defined as \(\min\{k\in\mathbb{N}\mid g= s_1s_2\cdots s_k, s_i\in S\}\). The translation length \(\tau(g)\) of \(g\) is defined as \(\lim_{n\to\infty} {|g^n|\over n}\). An element \(g\) is said to be undistorted if \(\tau(g)> 0\) and if this property is independent of the choice of \(S\). If \(G\) is a general group, then \(g\in G\) is said to be undistorted if it is undistorted in every finitely generated subgroup of \(G\). Let \(X\) be a compact path-connected topological space admitting a universal cover and let \(\text{Homeo}(X, a)\) denote the group of homeomorphisms of \(X\) preserving the cohomology class \(a\in H^1(X,\mathbb{R})\). Among other results the authors prove that if \(g\in\text{Homeo}(X,a)\) admits two invariant Nielsen-nonequivalent measures, then \(g\) is undistorted in \(\text{Homeo}(X,a)\).