Length functions on groups and rigidity (Q6856530)

The paper studies the length functions \(\ell\colon G\to[0,+\infty)\) on a group \(G\), characterized by the homogeneity \(\ell(g^n)=|n|\,\ell(g)\) for all \(n\in\mathbb Z\), conjugacy invariance \(l(hgh^{-1})=l(g)\) and the subadditivity \(\ell(ab)\le \ell(a)+\ell(b)\) for commuting elements \(a,b\). A basic observation is that torsion elements necessarily have length \(0\). Accordingly, the paper calls \(\ell\) purely positive if \(\ell(g)>0\) for every element \(g\) of infinite order and introduces the broader notion of a virtually poly-positive group, namely a group admitting a subnormal series whose successive quotients admit purely positive length functions.\N\NThe main rigidity results show that homomorphisms from higher-rank arithmetic groups and from finite-index subgroups of elementary groups \(E_{n}(R)\) (\(n\ge 3\)) under the ring-theoretic hypotheses in the paper, into a virtually poly-positive group have finite image. The paper also derives stronger consequences for Cremona groups: for an algebraically closed field \(k\), Corollary 0.11 asserts that any homomorphism \(\mathrm{Bir}(\mathbb P^2_k)\to G\) to a virtually poly-positive group is trivial.\N\NFor the entire collection see [Zbl 1562.20002].