Hierarchy of graph matchbox manifolds (Q714752)

A \textit{matchbox manifold} is a foliated space which is compact and has totally disconnected transversals. Recall that a foliated space is a generalization of a foliated manifold defined as a separable metrizable space locally homeomorphic to a product of a disk in \(\mathbb{R}^{n}\) and a separable metrizable space. The article under review studies a class of matchbox manifolds defined by a generalization of a construction due to \textit{É. Ghys} in [Panor. Synth. 8, 49--95 (1999; Zbl 1018.37028)] and Kenyon, and which are called \textit{graph matchbox manifolds}. That construction allows to define a graph matchbox manifold as the closure of a leaf in a foliated space (\(\mathcal{M}_{G}\)) by using a finitely generated group \(G\) with a non-symmetric set of generators \(G_{0}\), the Cayley graph of \(G\), the set \(X\) of all its infinite connected subtrees containing the identity, and the free subgroup \(F_{n}\) on \(X\) where \(n\) is the number of generators of \(G_{0}\). The author establishes a hierarchy in the set of graph matchbox manifolds in \(\mathcal{M}_{G}\), defining a partial order for this set, and introducing a construction (called \textit{fusion}) which associates to any two graph matchbox manifolds in \(\mathcal{M}_{G}\) a third one that contains the former two in its closure. It permits to introduce a quantifier of dynamical complexity of a graph matchbox manifold in \(\mathcal{M}_{G}\) (called \textit{level}), and to study transverse dynamics of graph matchbox manifolds. The paper proves interesting results concerning dynamics of leaves of foliations, that are related to other different contexts as holomorphic dynamics (laminations) and ergodic theory. It also contains many examples and references.