The large scale geometry of products of trees (Q698126)

\textit{J. R. Stalling}'s theorem [Ann. Math. (2) 88, 312-334 (1968; Zbl 0238.20036)] establishes that any group quasi-isometric to a free group is virtually free. In the paper under review this phenomenon is called quasi-isometric rigidity and the class of virtually free groups is called quasi isometrically rigid. \textit{M. Kapovich, B. Kleiner}, and \textit{B. Leeb} [Topology 37, No. 6, 1193-1211 (1998; Zbl 0954.53027)] have established the rigidity of the class of groups quasi-isometric to the product of irreducible Eulidean buildings of rank at least two with cocompact affine Weyl group. The main result of the paper is the following Theorem 1. (Quasi-isometric rigidity of lattices in products of trees): Suppose that \(\Gamma\) is a finitely generated group quasi-isometric to a product of trees \(\prod_{i=1}^kT_i\), each tree being either bushy or linelike. Then \(\Gamma\) has a finite index subgroup which is a lattice in \(\text{Isom}(\prod_{i=1}^kT_i')\), where each \(T_i'\) is a tree quasi-isometric to \(T_i\). -- The author calls a tree bushy if it is quasi-isometric to the trivalent tree and a tree is called linelike if it is quasi-isometric to \(\mathbb{E}\). A tree is linelike if it has two ends.