Satellite constructions and geometric classification of Brunnian links

We study satellite operations on Brunnian links. First, we find two special satellite operations, both of which can construct infinitely many distinct Brunnian links from almost every Brunnian link. Second, we give a geometric classification theorem for Brunnian links, characterize the companionship graph defined by Budney in [JSJ-decompositions of knot and link complements in [Formula: see text], Enseign. Math. 3 (2005) 319–359], and develop a canonical geometric decomposition, which is simpler than JSJ-decomposition, for Brunnian links. The building blocks of Brunnian links then turn out to be Hopf [Formula: see text]-links, hyperbolic Brunnian links, and hyperbolic Brunnian links in unlink-complements. Third, we define an operation to reduce a Brunnian link in an unlink-complement into a new Brunnian link in [Formula: see text] and point out some phenomena concerning this operation.

Quasi-isometric rigidity for graphs of virtually free groups with two-ended edge groups

We study the quasi-isometric rigidity of a large family of finitely generated groups that split as graphs of groups with virtually free vertex groups and two-ended edge groups. Let G be a group that is one-ended, hyperbolic relative to virtually abelian subgroups, and has JSJ decomposition over two-ended subgroups containing only virtually free vertex groups that are not quadratically hanging. Our main result is that any group quasi-isometric to G is abstractly commensurable to G. In particular, our result applies to certain “generic” HNN extensions of a free group over cyclic subgroups.

Quasi-isometries between groups with two-ended splittings

We construct a ‘structure invariant’ of a one-ended, finitely presented group that describes the way in which the factors of its JSJ decomposition over two-ended subgroups fit together. For hyperbolic groups satisfying a very general condition, these invariants completely reduce the problem of classifying such groups up to quasi-isometry to a relative quasi-isometry classification of the factors of their JSJ decomposition. Under some additional assumption, our results extend to more general finitely presented groups, yielding a far-reaching generalisation of the quasi-isometry classification of some 3–manifolds obtained by Behrstock and Neumann.The same approach also allows us to obtain such a reduction for the problem of determining when two hyperbolic groups have homeomorphic Gromov boundaries.

Abelian JSJ decomposition of graphs of free abelian groups

A group

QUASI-ISOMETRIES, BOUNDARIES AND JSJ-DECOMPOSITIONS OF RELATIVELY HYPERBOLIC GROUPS

We demonstrate the quasi-isometry invariance of two important geometric structures for relatively hyperbolic groups: the coned space and the cusped space. As applications, we produce a JSJ-decomposition for relatively hyperbolic groups which is invariant under quasi-isometries and outer automorphisms, as well as a related splitting of the quasi-isometry groups of relatively hyperbolic groups.

COMPATIBILITY JSJ DECOMPOSITION OF GRAPHS OF FREE ABELIAN GROUPS

A group G is a v GBS group if it admits a decomposition as a finite graph of groups with all edge and vertex groups finitely generated and free abelian. We describe the compatibility JSJ decomposition over abelian groups. We prove that in general this decomposition is not algorithmically computable.

SPATIAL GRAPH EXTERIORS REALIZING GIVEN JSJ DECOMPOSITION GRAPHS

If the exterior E(G) of a spatial graph G in a closed orientable 3-manifold is an irreducible 3-manifold with incompressible boundary, there is a unique finite graph Γ associated to the JSJ decomposition of E(G). This paper provides a method for constructing spatial graphs such that a given finite connected graph is associated to the JSJ decompositions of their exteriors.

BOUNDARY OF CAT(-1) COXETER GROUPS

In this paper, we study the topological properties of the hyperbolic boundaries of CAT(-1) Coxeter groups of virtual cohomological dimension 2. We will show how these properties are related to combinatorial properties of the associated Coxeter graph. More precisely, we investigate the connectedness, the local connectedness and the existence problem of local cut points. In the appendix, in a joint work with Z. Sela, we will construct the JSJ decomposition of the Coxeter groups for which the corresponding Coxeter graphs are complete bipartite graphs.