Many examples of non-cocompact Fuchsian groups sitting in \(\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathbb Q)\). (Q897081)

Consider the upper half plane model for the hyperbolic \(2\)-space \(H^2\). This paper is devoted to the proof of the following interesting result. Let \(Y\) be any finite set of rational boundary points of \(H^2\). Then there exists infinitely many non-commensurable finite covolume Fuchsian groups \(\Gamma\) contained in \(\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathbb Q)\) whose set of hyperbolic fixed points contains \(Y\). For any Fuchsian group its sets of parabolic fixed points and hyperbolic fixed points are disjoint. It follows that the set of the \textit{cusps} (or parabolic fixed points) of such a \(\Gamma\) must be strictly contained in \(\mathbb Q\). Hence \(\Gamma\) is neither arithmetic nor \textit{pseudomodular} (in the terminology of Long and Reid). This provides an answer to a question of Rapinchuk. Other answers to Rapinchuk's question are already known but the author's is the only one which refers to hyperbolic fixed points. For a given \(Y\) the groups \(\Gamma\) are defined by a given generating set of involutions and have a signature of the type \((0:2,\ldots,1;0)\). Using Minkowski space as a model for \(H^2\) it is shown that infinitely many \(\Gamma\) are contained in \(\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathbb Q)\). The argument used to demonstrate that infinitely many of the \(\Gamma\) are non-commensurable is especially interesting. It is based on the action of \(\Gamma\) on \(\mathcal T_p\), the Bruhat-Tits tree corresponding to \(\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb Q_p)\), where \(\mathbb Q_p\) is the \(p\)-adic completion of \(\mathbb Q\) (for some prime \(p\)). (Group actions of this type are studied intensively by \textit{J.-P. Serre} in his book \textit{Trees} (2003; Zbl 1013.20001).) This part of the proof involves varying the choice of \(p\) to ensure that \(\Gamma\) stabilizes (or does not stabilize) a vertex of \(\mathcal T_p\).