The geometry of the handlebody groups I: Distortion

DOI10.1142/S1793525312500070MaRDI QIDQ2885381zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Ursula Hamenstädt, Sebastian Hensel

Publication date 23 May 2012

Published in Journal of Topology and Analysis (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1101.1838

zbMATH Keywords

handlebody groupsmapping class groupssubgroup distortion

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Automorphisms of infinite groups (20E36) Fundamental groups and their automorphisms (group-theoretic aspects) (20F34) Geometric group theory (20F65) General low-dimensional topology (57M99)

Abstract: We show that the mapping class group of a handlebody of genus at least 2 (with any number of marked points or spots) is exponentially distorted in the mapping class group of its boundary surface. The same holds true for solid tori with at least two marked points or spots.

Review text

Let \(V_g\) be a handlebody of genus \(g\), namely a \(3\)-manifold bounded by a closed orientable surface \(\partial V_g\) of genus \(g\). The handlebody group \(\mathrm{Map}(V_g)\) is the group of isotopy classes of orientation preserving homeomorphisms of \(V_g\). It is identified with the subgroup of the mapping class group \(\mathrm{Map} (\partial V_g)\) defined by isotopy classes of homeomorphisms of \(\partial V_g\) which can be extended to homeomorphisms of \(V_g\) (see [\textit{S. Suzuki}, ``On homeomorphisms of a 3-dimensional handlebody, Can. J. Math. 29, 111--124 (1977; Zbl 0339.57001)]). In this article, the authors prove that for \(g \geq 2\) the handlebody group \(\mathrm{Map}(V_g)\) is exponentially distorted in the mapping class group \(\mathrm{Map} (\partial V_g)\).NEWLINENEWLINEThe distorsion of a finitely generated subgroup \(H\) of a finitely generated group \(G\) is a measurement of how far the inclusion map is from a quasi-isometric embedding with respect to the word norm. Distortion was already studied for other subgroups of the mapping class group, for example in the case of subsurfaces by the first author [\textit{U. Hamenstädt}, ``Geometry of the mapping class group I: Boundary amenability, Invent. Math. 175, 545--609 (2009; Zbl 1197.57003)], and in the case of Torelli group in [\textit{N. Broaddus}, \textit{B. Farb} and \textit{A. Putman}, ``Irreducible Sp-representations and subgroup distortion in the mapping class group, Comment. Math. Helv. 86, 537--556 (2011; Zbl 1295.57021)].NEWLINENEWLINEThe authors first prove the exponential distortion for handlebodies with marked points or spots. To any loop \(\gamma\) on \(\partial V_g\) based at a marked point \(p\), one can associate an element of the relative mapping class group \(\mathrm{Map} (\partial V_g, p)\). This so-called \textit{point-pushing map} is used to exhibit sequences of mapping classes whose word norm grows linearly in \(\mathrm{Map} (\partial V_g)\) but grows exponentially in \(\mathrm{Map} (V_g)\). The same principle applies when one replaces the marked point with a \textit{spot} or with a subsurface. Applying the Birman exact sequence, the authors then prove that \(\mathrm{Map} (V_g)\) is at least exponentially distorted.NEWLINENEWLINETo show the upper bound of the distortion, the authors define and study \textit{disk systems} which are sets of pairwise disjoint non-homotopic essential disks in \(V_g\), and \textit{racks} which are disk systems together with embedded arcs on the boundary \(\partial V_g\) joining the boundaries of the disks. Racks serve as analogs of train tracks for handlebodies, and provide a geometric model of the handlebody group.

Recommendations

• Metric distortion of subgroups of mapping class groups
• Isoperimetric inequalities for the handlebody groups
• Irreducible Sp-representations and subgroup distortion in the mapping class group
• A complex of incompressible surfaces for handlebodies and the mapping class group
• A lower bound of the distortion of the Torelli group in the mapping class group with boundary components

Cites work

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Cited in

(21)

• Rigidity and flexibility for handlebody groups
• The geometry of the handlebody groups. II: Dehn functions
• Spotted disk and sphere graphs. I
• Stable subgroups of the genus 2 handlebody group
• Filling triangulated surfaces
• Isoperimetric inequalities for the handlebody groups
• On purely loxodromic actions
• Right-angled Artin groups on finite subgraphs of disk graphs
• Realisation and dismantlability
• A lower bound of the distortion of the Torelli group in the mapping class group with boundary components
• (Un)distorted stabilisers in the handlebody group
• Distortion of surfaces in 3-manifolds
• Automorphisms of the 3-sphere that preserve spatial graphs and handlebody-knots
• Affine diffeomorphism groups are undistorted
• Spotted disk and sphere graphs. II
• Linear progress in fibres
• The mapping class group of a nonorientable surface is quasi-isometrically embedded in the mapping class group of the orientation double cover
• Purely pseudo-Anosov subgroups of the genus 2 handlebody group
• Arc complexes, sphere complexes, and Goeritz groups
• The measure of the limit set of the handlebody group
• Arithmetic quotients of the mapping class group

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