Khinchin theorem for integral points on quadratic varieties

We prove an analogue the Khinchin theorem for the Diophantine approximation by integer vectors lying on a quadratic variety. The proof is based on the study of a dynamical system on a homogeneous space of the orthogonal group. We show that in this system, generic trajectories visit a family of shrinking subsets infinitely often.Comment: 19 page

Peripheral fillings of relatively hyperbolic groups

A group theoretic version of Dehn surgery is studied. Starting with an arbitrary relatively hyperbolic group $G$ we define a peripheral filling procedure, which produces quotients of $G$ by imitating the effect of the Dehn filling of a complete finite volume hyperbolic 3--manifold $M$ on the fundamental group $\pi_1(M)$. The main result of the paper is an algebraic counterpart of Thurston's hyperbolic Dehn surgery theorem. We also show that peripheral subgroups of $G$ 'almost' have the Congruence Extension Property and the group $G$ is approximated (in an algebraic sense) by its quotients obtained by peripheral fillings. Various applications of these results are discussed.Comment: The difference with the previous version is that Proposition 3.2 is proved for quasi--geodesics instead of geodesics. This allows to simplify the exposition in the last section. To appear in Invent. Mat

Filling in solvable groups and in lattices in semisimple groups

We prove that the filling order is quadratic for a large class of solvable groups and asymptotically quadratic for all Q-rank one lattices in semisimple groups of R-rank at least 3. As a byproduct of auxiliary results we give a shorter proof of the theorem on the nondistorsion of horospheres providing also an estimate of a nondistorsion constant

Nondistorsion des horosphères dans des immeubles euclidiens et dans des espaces symétriques

We give a necessary and sufficient condition for a horosphere to be undistorted in an Euclidean building and in a symmetric space. We are using the geometry of Euclidean buildings and the asymptotic cone. As a consequence, a geometric proof of the Lubotzky-Mozes-Raghunathan theorem for ℚ-rank one lattices is given

Remplissage dans des réseaux de Q-rang 1 et dans des groupes résolubles

We prove that for certain solvable groups and for certain non-uniform irreducible lattices of ℚ-rank 1 in semisimple groups of noncompact type without compact factors the order of the Dehn function is "asymptotically" less than cubic. The main tool we are using is the asymptotic cone

Kazhdan projections, random walks and ergodic theorems

In this paper we investigate generalizations of Kazhdan's property $(T)$ to the setting of uniformly convex Banach spaces. We explain the interplay between the existence of spectral gaps and that of Kazhdan projections. Our methods employ Markov operators associated to a random walk on the group, for which we provide new norm estimates and convergence results. They exhibit useful properties and flexibility, and allow to view Kazhdan projections in Banach spaces as natural objects associated to random walks on groups. We give a number of applications of these results. In particular, we address several open questions. We give a direct comparison of properties $(TE)$ and $FE$ with Lafforgue's reinforced Banach property $(T)$; we obtain shrinking target theorems for orbits of Kazhdan groups; finally, answering a question of Willett and Yu we construct non-compact ghost projections for warped cones. In this last case we conjecture that such warped cones provide counterexamples to the coarse Baum-Connes conjecture

Geometric group theory

The primary focus of this book is to cover the foundations of geometric group theory, including coarse topology, ultralimits and asymptotic cones, hyperbolic groups, isoperimetric inequalities, growth of groups, amenability, Kazhdanand#39;s ..