arXiv subjects

Steven Hurder

Publications and source records attributed to Steven Hurder.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Rigid secondary characteristic classes

We construct families of non-trivial universal rigid secondary classes for foliations, and then discuss their application to prove that foliations are not homotopic. An observation of Lawson about the non-triviality of the normal Pontrjagin classes of foliations is extended, and then used to construct new families of examples of foliations with non-trivial rigid secondary classes. Examples are given of (abstractly constructed) foliations of compact manifolds with homotopic tangent bundles, but which are not homotopic as foliations.

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arXiv2023

Characteristic classes for flat Diff(M)-foliations

In this work we relate the known results about the homotopy type of classifying spaces for smooth foliations, with the homology and cohomology of the discrete group of diffeomorphisms of a smooth compact connected oriented manifold. The Mather-Thurston Theorem forms a bridge between the results on the homotopy types of classifying spaces and the various homology and cohomology groups that are studied. We introduce the algebraic K-theory of a manifold M that is derived from the discrete group of diffeomorphisms of M, and observe that the calculations of homotopy groups in this work are about these K-theory groups. We include a variety of remarks and open problems related to the study of the diffeomorphism groups and their homological invariants using the Mather-Thurston Theorem.

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arXiv2023

Type invariants for non-abelian odometers

In this work, we introduce the type and typeset invariants for equicontinuous group actions on Cantor sets; that is, for generalized odometers. These invariants are collections of equivalence classes of asymptotic Steinitz numbers associated to the action. We show the type is an invariant of the return equivalence class of the action. We introduce the notion of commensurable typesets, and show that two actions which are return equivalent have commensurable typesets. Examples are given to illustrate the properties of the type and typeset invariants. The type and typeset invariants are used to define homeomorphism invariants for solenoidal manifolds.

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arXiv2023

Prime spectrum and dynamics for nilpotent Cantor actions

A minimal equicontinuous action by homeomorphisms of a discrete group $\Gamma$ on a Cantor set $X$ is locally quasi-analytic, if each homeomorphism has a unique extension from small open sets to open sets of uniform diameter on $X$. A minimal action is stable, if the actions of $\Gamma$ and of the closure of $\Gamma$ in the group of homeomorphisms of $X$, are both locally quasi-analytic. When $\Gamma$ is virtually nilpotent, we say that $\Phi \colon \Gamma \times \mathfrak{X} \to \mathfrak{X}$ is a nilpotent Cantor action. We show that a nilpotent Cantor action with finite prime spectrum must be stable. We also prove there exist uncountably many distinct Cantor actions of the Heisenberg group, necessarily with infinite prime spectrum, which are not stable.

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arXiv2022

Essential holonomy of Cantor actions

A group action has essential holonomy if the set of points with non-trivial holonomy has positive measure. If such an action is topologically free, then having essential holonomy is equivalent to the action not being essentially free, which means that the set of points with non-trivial stabilizer has positive measure. In this paper, we investigate the relation between the property of having essential holonomy and structure of the acting group for minimal equicontinuous actions on Cantor sets. We show that if such a group action is locally quasi-analytic and has essential holonomy, then every commutator subgroup in the group lower central series has elements with positive measure set of points with non-trivial holonomy. In particular, this gives a new proof that a minimal equicontinuous Cantor action by a nilpotent group has no essential holonomy. We also show that the property of having essential holonomy is preserved under return equivalence and continuous orbit equivalence of minimal equicontinuous Cantor actions. Finally, we give examples to show that the assumption on the action that it is locally quasi-analytic is necessary.

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arXiv2021

Kuperberg Dreams

The ``Seifert Conjecture'' stated, ``Every non-singular vector field on the 3-sphere ${\mathbb S}^3$ has a periodic orbit''. In a celebrated work, Krystyna Kuperberg gave a construction of a smooth aperiodic vector field on a plug, which is then used to construct counter-examples to the Seifert Conjecture for smooth flows on the 3-sphere, and on compact 3-manifolds in general. The dynamics of the flows in these plugs have been extensively studied, with more precise results known in special ``generic'' cases of the construction. Moreover, the dynamical properties of smooth perturbations of Kuperberg's construction have been considered. In this work, we discuss the genesi of Kuperberg's construction as an evolution from the Schweitzer construction of an aperiodic plug. We discuss some of the known results for Kuperberg flows, and discuss some of the many interesting questions and problems that remain open about their dynamical and ergodic properties.

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arXiv2021

The prime spectrum of solenoidal manifolds

A solenoidal manifold is the inverse limit space of a tower of proper coverings of a compact manifold. In this work, we introduce new invariants for solenoidal manifolds, their asymptotic Steinitz orders and their prime spectra, and show they are invariants of the homeomorphism type. These invariants are formulated in terms of the monodromy Cantor action associated to a solenoidal manifold. To this end, we continue our study of invariants for minimal equicontinuous Cantor actions. We introduce the three types of prime spectra associated to such actions, and study their invariance properties under return equivalence. As an application, we show that a nilpotent Cantor action with finite prime spectrum must be stable. Examples of stable actions of the integer Heisenberg group are given with arbitrary prime spectrum. We also give the first examples of nilpotent Cantor actions which are wild.

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arXiv2020

Cantor dynamics of renormalizable groups

A group $\Gamma$ is said to be finitely non-co-Hopfian, or renormalizable, if there exists a self-embedding $\varphi \colon \Gamma \to \Gamma$ whose image is a proper subgroup of finite index. Such a proper self-embedding is called a renormalization for $\Gamma$. In this work, we associate a dynamical system to a renormalization $\varphi$ of $\Gamma$. The discriminant invariant ${\mathcal D}_{\varphi}$ of the associated Cantor dynamical system is a profinite group which is a measure of the asymmetries of the dynamical system. If ${\mathcal D}_{\varphi}$ is a finite group for some renormalization, we show that $\Gamma/C_{\varphi}$ is virtually nilpotent, where $C_{\varphi}$ is the kernel of the action map. We introduce the notion of a (virtually) renormalizable Cantor action, and show that the action associated to a renormalizable group is virtually renormalizable. We study the properties of virtually renormalizable Cantor actions, and show that virtual renormalizability is an invariant of continuous orbit equivalence. Moreover, the discriminant invariant of a renormalizable Cantor action is an invariant of continuous orbit equivalence. Finally, the notion of a renormalizable Cantor action is related to the notion of a self-replicating group of automorphisms of a rooted tree.

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arXiv2019

Nilpotent Cantor actions

A nilpotent Cantor action is a minimal equicontinuous action $\Phi \colon \Gamma \times \frak{X} \to \frak{X}$ on a Cantor set $\frak{X}$, where $\Gamma$ contains a finitely-generated nilpotent subgroup $\Gamma_0 \subset \Gamma$ of finite index. In this note, we show that these actions are distinguished among general Cantor actions: any effective action of a finitely generated group on a Cantor space, which is continuously orbit equivalent to a nilpotent Cantor action, must itself be a nilpotent Cantor action. As an application of this result, we obtain new invariants of nilpotent Cantor actions under continuous orbit equivalence.

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arXiv2019

Limit group invariants for non-free Cantor actions

A Cantor action is a minimal equicontinuous action of a countably generated group G on a Cantor space X. Such actions are also called generalized odometers in the literature. In this work, we introduce two new conjugacy invariants for Cantor actions, the stabilizer limit group and the centralizer limit group. An action is wild if the stabilizer limit group is an increasing sequence of stabilizer groups without bound, and otherwise is said to be stable if this group chain is bounded. For Cantor actions by a finitely generated group G, we prove that stable actions satisfy a rigidity principle, and furthermore show that the wild property is an invariant of the continuous orbit equivalence class of the action. A Cantor action is said to be dynamically wild if it is wild, and the centralizer limit group is a proper subgroup of the stabilizer limit group. This property is also a conjugacy invariant, and we show that a Cantor action with a non-Hausdorff element must be dynamically wild. We then give examples of wild Cantor actions with non-Hausdorff elements, using recursive methods from Geometric Group Theory to define actions on the boundaries of trees.

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arXiv2018

Pro-groups and generalizations of a theorem of Bing

A matchbox manifold is a generalized lamination, which is a continuum whose path components define the leaves of a foliation of the space. A matchbox manifold is M-like if it has the shape of a fixed topological space M. When M is a closed manifold, in a previous work, the authors have shown that if $\frak M$ is a matchbox manifold which is M-like, then it is homeomorphic to a weak solenoid. In this work, we associate to a weak solenoid a pro-group, whose pro-isomorphism class is an invariant of the homeomorphism class of $\frak M$. We then show that an M-like matchbox manifold is homeomorphic to a weak solenoid whose base manifold has fundamental group which is non co-Hopfian; that is, it admits a non-trivial self-embedding of finite index. We include a collection of examples illustrating this conclusion.

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arXiv2018

Orbit equivalence and classification of weak solenoids

In this work, we study minimal equicontinuous actions which are locally quasi-analytic. The first main result shows that for minimal equicontinuous actions which are locally quasi-analytic, continuous orbit equivalence of the actions implies return equivalence. This generalizes results of Cortez and Medynets, and of Li. The second main result is that if G is a finitely-generated, virtually nilpotent group, then every minimal equicontinuous action by G is locally quasi-analytic. As an application, we show that the homeomorphism type of a nil-solenoid is determined by the virtual topological full group of its monodromy action.

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arXiv2017

Manifold--like matchbox manifolds

A matchbox manifold is a generalized lamination, and is a continuum whose arc-components define the leaves of a foliation of the space. The main result of this paper implies that a matchbox manifold which is manifold-like must be homeomorphic to a weak solenoid.

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arXiv2017

Wild solenoids

A weak solenoid is a foliated space defined as the inverse limit of finite coverings of a closed compact manifold $M$. The monodromy of a weak solenoid defines an equicontinuous minimal action on a Cantor space $X$ by the fundamental group $G$ of $M$. The discriminant group of this action is an obstruction to this action being homogeneous. The discriminant vanishes if the group $G$ is abelian, but there are examples of actions of nilpotent groups for which the discriminant is non-trivial. The action is said to be stable if the discriminant group remains unchanged for the induced action on sufficiently small clopen neighborhoods in $X$. If the discriminant group never stabilizes as the diameter of the clopen set $U$ tends to zero, then we say that the action is unstable, and the weak solenoid which defines it is said to be wild. In this work, we show two main results in the course of our study of the properties of the discriminant group for Cantor actions. First, the tail equivalence class of the sequence of discriminant groups obtained for the restricted action on a neighborhood basis system of a point in $X$ defines an invariant of the return equivalence class of the action, called the asymptotic discriminant, which is consequently an invariant of the homeomorphism class of the weak solenoid. Second, we construct uncountable collections of wild solenoids with pairwise distinct asymptotic discriminant invariants for a fixed base manifold $M$, and hence fixed finitely-presented group $G$, which are thus pairwise non-homeomorphic. The study in this work is the continuation of the seminal works on homeomorphisms of weak solenoids by Rogers and Tollefson in 1971, and is dedicated to the memory of Jim Rogers.

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arXiv2016

Compact foliations with finite transverse LS category

We prove that if F is a foliation of a compact manifold M with all leaves compact submanifolds, and the transverse saturated category of F is finite, then the leaf space M/F is compact Hausdorff. The proof is surprisingly delicate, and is based on some new observations about the geometry of compact foliations. Colman proved in her 1998 doctoral thesis that the transverse saturated category of a compact Hausdorff foliation is always finite, so we obtain a new characterization of the compact Hausdorff foliations among the compact foliations as those with finite transverse saturated category.

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arXiv2016

Molino theory for matchbox manifolds

A matchbox manifold is a foliated space with totally disconnected transversals, and an equicontinuous matchbox manifold is the generalization of Riemannian foliations for smooth manifolds in this context. In this paper, we develop the Molino theory for all equicontinuous matchbox manifolds. Our work extends the Molino theory developed in the work of \'Alvarez L\'opez and Moreira Galicia which required the hypothesis that the holonomy actions for these spaces satisfy the strong quasi-analyticity condition. The methods of this paper are based on the authors' previous works on the structure of weak solenoids, and provide many new properties of the Molino theory for the case of totally disconnected transversals, and examples to illustrate these properties. In particular, we show that the Molino space need not be uniquely well-defined, unless the global holonomy dynamical system is tame, a notion defined in this work. We show that examples in the literature for the theory of weak solenoids provide examples for which the strong quasi-analytic condition fails. Of particular interest is a new class of examples of equicontinuous minimal Cantor actions by finitely generated groups, whose construction relies on a result of Lubotzky. These examples have non-trivial Molino sequences, and other interesting properties.

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arXiv2016

Perspectives on Kuperberg flows

The "Seifert Conjecture" asks, "Does every non-singular vector field on the 3-sphere ${\mathbb S}^3$ have a periodic orbit?" In a celebrated work, Krystyna Kuperberg gave a construction of a smooth aperiodic vector field on a plug, which is then used to construct counter-examples to the Seifert Conjecture for smooth flows on the $3$-sphere, and on compact 3-manifolds in general. The dynamics of the flows in these plugs have been extensively studied, with more precise results known in special "generic" cases of the construction. Moreover, the dynamical properties of smooth perturbations of Kuperberg's construction have been considered. In this work, we recall some of the results obtained to date for the Kuperberg flows and their perturbations. Then the main point of this work is to focus attention on how the known results for Kuperberg flows depend on the assumptions imposed on the flows, and to discuss some of the many interesting questions and problems that remain open about their dynamical and ergodic properties.

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arXiv2016

Aperiodicity at the boundary of chaos

We consider the dynamical properties of $C^{\infty}$-variations of the flow on an aperiodic Kuperberg plug ${\mathbb K}$. Our main result is that there exists a smooth 1-parameter family of plugs ${\mathbb K}_{\epsilon}$ for $\epsilon \in (-a,a)$ and $a<1$, such that: (1) The plug ${\mathbb K}_0 = {\mathbb K}$ is a generic Kuperberg plug; (2) For $\epsilon <0$, the flow in the plug ${\mathbb K}_{\epsilon}$ has two periodic orbits that bound an invariant cylinder, all other orbits of the flow are wandering, and the flow has topological entropy zero; (3) For $\epsilon > 0$, the flow in the plug ${\mathbb K}_{\epsilon}$ has positive topological entropy, and an abundance of periodic orbits.

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