RUcore Resource Object
RUcore Resource Object
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TitleBehavior of geodesic rays in spaces with geometric group actions
NameStaley, Daniel (author), Ferry, Steven (chair), Luo, Feng (internal member), Rong, Xiaochun (internal member), Ruane, Kim (outside member), Rutgers University, Graduate School - New Brunswick,
Degree Date2010
Date Created2010
SubjectMathematics,
Geodesics (Mathematics),
G-spaces
DescriptionThis dissertation studies certain groups by studying spaces on which they act geometrically. These spaces are studied by examining the behavior of geodesic rays in these spaces, which gives geometric data about the space that can translate into algebraic data about the group. First, we investigate the amenability of Thompson's group F by studying the geometry of its Cayley graph. We apply the uniformly finite homology of Block and Weinberger to subsets of this graph. Many large subsets of the Cayley graph are shown to be nonamenable by exhibiting certain arrangements of geodesic rays which we call "tree-like quasi-covers". We then examine CAT(0) boundaries. If a group acts geometrically on two CAT(0) spaces X and Y , then one obtains a G-equivariant quasi-isometry from X to Y. One may look at the image of a geodesic ray in X, and look at its closure in the boundary of Y . We show that this "boundary image" can have the homeomorphism type of any compact, connected subset of Euclidean space.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes abstract
NoteVita
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Noteby Daniel Staley
Genretheses
Persistent URLhttp://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.1/rucore10001600001.ETD.000053495
Languageeng
CollectionGraduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.