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In this paper we present a rigidity theorem for locally isometric hypersurfaces with a curvature restriction in de Sitter space. This is an analogue to the case for Riemannian space forms given by Guan and Shen in [5].

Let $S$ be a rank-one symmetric space of non-compact type and let $X$ be a $\text{CAT}(-1)$ space. A well-known result by Bourdon states that if a topological embedding $\varphi: \partial_\infty S \rightarrow \partial_\infty X$ respects cross ratios, that means $\text{cr}_S( \xi_0,\eta_0,\xi_1,\eta_1)=\text{cr}_X( \varphi(\xi_0),\varphi(\eta_0),\varphi(\xi_1),\varphi(\eta_1))$ for every $\xi_0,\eta_0,\xi_1,\eta_1 \in \partial_\infty S$, then $\varphi$ is induced by an isometric embedding of $S$ into $X$. We generalize this result when $S=\mathbb{H}^2$ is the real hyperbolic plane as it follows. Let $\varphi_k: \partial_\infty \mathbb{H}^2 \rightarrow \partial_\infty X$ be a sequence of continuous maps which are asymptotically Moebius, that means $\lim_{k \to \infty} \text{cr}_X(\varphi_k(\xi_0),\varphi_k(\eta_0),\varphi_k(\xi_1),\varphi_k(\eta_1))=\text{cr}_{\mathbb{H}^2}( \xi_0,\eta_0,\xi_1,\eta_1)$ for every $\xi_0,\eta_0,\xi_1,\eta_1 \in \partial_\infty \mathbb{H}^2$. Assume that the isometry group $\text{Isom}(X)$ acts transitively on triples of distinct points of $\partial_\infty X$. Then there must exists a sequence $(g_k)_{k \in \mathbb{N}}$, $g_k \in \text{Isom}(X)$ and a map $\varphi_\infty: \partial_\infty \mathbb{H}^2\rightarrow \partial_\infty X$ such that $\lim_{k \to \infty} g_k\varphi_k(\xi)=\varphi_\infty(\xi)$ for every $\xi \in \partial_\infty \mathbb{H}^2$ and $\varphi_\infty$ is induced by an isometric embedding of $\mathbb{H}^2$ into $X$., Comment: 10 pages

Let $X, Y$ be complete, simply connected Riemannian surfaces with pinched negative curvature $-b^2 \leq K \leq -1$. We show that if $f : \partial X \to \partial Y$ is a Moebius homeomorphism between the boundaries at infinity of $X, Y$, then $f$ extends to an isometry $F : X \to Y$. This can be viewed as a generalization of Otal's marked length spectrum rigidity theorem for closed, negatively curved surfaces, in the sense that Otal's theorem asserts that if $X, Y$ admit properly discontinuous, cocompact, free actions by groups of isometries and the boundary map $f$ is Moebius and equivariant with respect to these actions then it extends to an isometry. In our case there are no cocompactness or equivariance assumptions, indeed the isometry groups of $X, Y$ may be trivial.

Let $(X, g_0)$ be a complete, simply connected Riemannian manifold with sectional curvatures $K_{g_0}$ satisfying $-b^2 \leq K_{g_0} \leq -1$ for some $b \geq 1$. Let $g_1$ be a Riemannian metric on $X$ such that $g_1 = g_0$ outside a compact in $X$, and with sectional curvatures $K_{g_1}$ satisfying $K_{g_1} \leq -1$. The identity map $id : (X, g_0) \to (X, g_1)$ is bi-Lipschitz, and hence induces a homeomorphism between the boundaries at infinity of $(X, g_0)$ and $(X, g_1)$, which we denote by $\hat{id}_{g_0, g_1} : \partial_{g_0} X \to \partial_{g_1} X$. We show that if the boundary map $\hat{id}_{g_0, g_1}$ is Moebius (i.e. preserves cross-ratios), then it extends to an isometry $F : (X, g_0) \to (X, g_1)$.

Given a Moebius homeomorphism $f : \partial X \to \partial Y$ between boundaries of proper, geodesically complete CAT(-1) spaces $X,Y$, and a family of probability measures $\{ \mu_x \}_{x \in X}$ on $\partial X$, we describe a continuous family of extensions $\{\hat{f}_p : X \to Y \}_{1 \leq p \leq \infty}$ of $f$, called the hyperbolic $p$-barycenter maps of $f$. If all the measures $\mu_x$ have full support then for $p = \infty$ the map $\hat{f}_{\infty}$ coincides with the circumcenter map $\hat{f}$ defined previously in \cite{biswas5}. We use this to show that if $X, Y$ are complete, simply connected manifolds with sectional curvatures $K$ satisfying $-b^2 \leq K \leq -1$, then the circumcenter maps of $f$ and $f^{-1}$ are $\sqrt{b}$-bi-Lipschitz homeomorphisms which are inverses of each other. It follows that closed negatively curved manifolds with the same marked length spectrum are bi-Lipschitz homeomorphic., Comment: 31 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1709.09110

Let $(X, g_0)$ be a simply connected, complete, negatively curved Riemannian manifold. We prove local and infinitesimal rigidity results for compactly supported deformations of the metric $g_0$. For any negatively curved metric $g$ equal to $g_0$ outside a compact, the identity map of $X$ induces a natural boundary map between the boundaries at infinity of $X$ with respect to $g_0$ and $g$. We show that if $(g_t)$ is a smooth 1-parameter family of negatively curved metrics all equal to $g_0$ outside a fixed compact then if all the boundary maps (between the boundaries of $X$ with respect to $g_0$ and $g_t$) are Moebius then the metrics $g_t$ are all isometric to $g_0$. We also show that given a compact $K$ in $X$, there is a neighbourhood of $g_0$ in the $C^{2,\alpha}$ topology such that for any negatively curved metric $g$ in this neighbourhood which is equal to $g_0$ outside $K$, if the boundary map is Moebius and the $g_0$ and $g$ volumes of $K$ agree then $g$ is isometric to $g_0$.

In a recent work, Galloway [9] proved a local foliation theorem by MOTSs for a 3-dimensional initial data set $(M,g,K)$ with mean curvature $\tau\le0$ in a 4-dimensional spacetime $(\overline M,\overline g)$ when (under suitable assumptions) $M$ has a stable spherical MOTS $\Sigma$ which achieves an upper bound for the area. He proved that each leaf is a round 2-sphere with the same constant Gaussian curvature. Here, we improve his result by dropping the hypothesis on the mean curvature of $M$ and showing that each leaf is a minimal surface. We show that in an outer neighborhood $U$ of $\Sigma$, the metric $g$ splits as the product $([0,\varepsilon)\times\Sigma,dt^2+g_0)$, where $(\Sigma,g_0)$ is a round 2-sphere. In fact, we prove that the outer neighborhood $U$ can be isometrically embedded into the 4-dimensional Nariai spacetime $(\overline N,\overline h)$ as a spacelike hypersurface so that $g|_U$ is the induced metric from $\overline N$ and $K|_U$ is the second fundamental form of $U$ in $\overline N$. This completely classifies the local geometry of such initial data sets., Comment: This paper has been withdrawn; it is superseded by the paper: arXiv:1506.00611, with G.J. Galloway, which combines the results of this paper with those in arXiv:1503.05540

We say that a Riemannian manifold M has rank at least k if every geodesic in M admits at least k parallel Jacobi fields. The Rank Rigidity Theorem of Ballmann and Burns-Spatzier, later generalized by Eberlein-Heber, states that a complete, irreducible, simply connected Riemannian manifold M of rank at least 2 (the higher rank assumption), whose isometry group satisfies the condition that the recurrent vectors are dense in the unit tangent bundle SM (the duality condition), is a symmetric space of noncompact type. This includes, for example, higher rank M which admit a finite volume quotient. We adapt the method of Ballmann and Eberlein-Heber to prove a generalization of this theorem where the manifold M is assumed only to have no focal points. We then use this theorem to generalize to no focal points a result of Ballmann-Eberlein stating that for compact manifolds of nonpositive curvature, rank is an invariant of the fundamental group., Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures; Minor edit: cited NSF grant

We show that an immersed minimal annulus, with two planar boundary curves along which the surface meets these planes with constant contact angle, is part of the catenoid., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figures

We prove that a 3--dimensional hyperbolic cusp with convex polyhedral boundary is uniquely determined by its Gauss image. Furthermore, any spherical metric on the torus with cone singularities of negative curvature and all closed contractible geodesics of length greater than $2\pi$ is the metric of the Gauss image of some convex polyhedral cusp. This result is an analog of the Rivin-Hodgson theorem characterizing compact convex hyperbolic polyhedra in terms of their Gauss images. The proof uses a variational method. Namely, a cusp with a given Gauss image is identified with a critical point of a functional on the space of cusps with cone-type singularities along a family of half-lines. The functional is shown to be concave and to attain maximum at an interior point of its domain. As a byproduct, we prove rigidity statements with respect to the Gauss image for cusps with or without cone-type singularities. In a special case, our theorem is equivalent to existence of a circle pattern on the torus, with prescribed combinatorics and intersection angles. This is the genus one case of a theorem by Thurston. In fact, our theorem extends Thurston's theorem in the same way as Rivin-Hodgson's theorem extends Andreev's theorem on compact convex polyhedra with non-obtuse dihedral angles. The functional used in the proof is the sum of a volume term and curvature term. We show that, in the situation of Thurston's theorem, it is the potential for the combinatorial Ricci flow considered by Chow and Luo. Our theorem represents the last special case of a general statement about isometric immersions of compact surfaces., Comment: 55 pages, 17 figures

We define cusp-decomposable manifolds and prove smooth rigidity within this class of manifolds. These manifolds generally do not admit a nonpositively curved metric but can be decomposed into pieces that are diffeomorphic to finite volume, locally symmetric, negatively curved manifolds with cusps. We prove that the group of outer automorphisms of the fundamental group of such a manifold is an extension of an abelian group by a finite group. Elements of the abelian group are induced by diffeomorphisms that are analogous to Dehn twists in surface topology. We also prove that the outer automophism group can be realized by a group of diffeomorphisms of the manifold., Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication in Comment. Math. Helv. arXiv admin note: substantial overlap with arXiv:1105.5205

Let $\Gamma \stackrel{i}{\hookrightarrow} L$ be a lattice in the real simple Lie group $L$. If $L$ is of rank at least 2 (respectively locally isomorphic to $Sp(n,1)$) any unbounded morphism $\rho: \Gamma \longrightarrow G$ into a simple real Lie group $G$ essentially extends to a Lie morphism $\rho_L: L \longrightarrow G$ (Margulis's superrigidity theorem, respectively Corlette's theorem). In particular any such morphism is infinitesimally, thus locally, rigid. On the other hand, for $L=SU(n,1)$, even morphisms of the form $\rho : \Gamma \stackrel{i}{\hookrightarrow} L \longrightarrow G$ are not infinitesimally rigid in general. Almost nothing is known about their local rigidity. In this paper we prove that any {\em cocompact} lattice $\Gamma$ in SU(n,1) is essentially locally rigid (while in general not infinitesimally rigid) in the quaternionic groups $Sp(n,1)$, SU(2n,2) or SO(4n,4) (for the natural sequence of embeddings $SU(n,1) \subset Sp(n,1) \subset SU(2n,2) \subset SO(4n,4))$., Comment: 24 pages

We study geodesically complete and locally compact Hadamard spaces X whose Tits boundary is a connected irreducible spherical building. We show that X is symmetric iff complete geodesics in X do not branch and a Euclidean building otherwise. Furthermore, every boundary equivalence (cone topology homeomorphism preserving the Tits metric) between two such spaces is induced by a homothety. As an application, we can extend the Mostow and Prasad rigidity theorems to compact singular (orbi)spaces of nonpositive curvature which are homotopy equivalent to a quotient of a symmetric space or Euclidean building by a cocompact group of isometries., Comment: My 1997 habilitation thesis as published in Bonner Mathematische Schriften vol 326 (2000)

We investigate the fixed point property of the group actions on a coarse space and its Higson corona. We deduce the coarse version of Brouwer's fixed point theorem., Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure

In this paper we study geodesic Ptolemy metric spaces $X$ which allow proper and cocompact isometric actions of crystallographic or, more generally, virtual polycyclic groups. We show that $X$ is equivariantly rough isometric to a Euclidean space., Comment: 20 pages, 1 figure

This paper is a survey on the {\em Zimmer program}. In it's broadest form, this program seeks an understanding of actions of large groups on compact manifolds. The goals of this survey are $(1)$ to put in context the original questions and conjectures of Zimmer and Gromov that motivated the program, $(2)$ to indicate the current state of the art on as many of these conjectures and questions as possible and $(3)$ to indicate a wide variety of open problems and directions of research., Comment: Survey article, 84 pages, almost final version, comments welcome but only if made quickly

We prove positive mass theorems on ALF manifolds, i.e. complete noncompact manifolds that are asymptotic to a circle fibration over a Euclidean base, with fibers of asymptotically constant length.

We give a Riccati type formula adapted for two metrics having the same geodesics rays starting from a point or orthogonal to an hypersurface, one of these metrics being a warped product if the dimension $n$ is greater than or equal to 3. This formula has non-trivial geometric consequences such as a positive mass type theorem and other rigidity results. We also apply our result to some standard models., Comment: 14 pages

In this article we collect a series of observations that constrain actions of many groups on compact manifolds. In particular, we show that "generic" finitely generated groups have no smooth volume preserving actions on compact manifolds while also producing many finitely presented, torsion free groups with the same property., Comment: References added, minor changes

We study the bottom of the spectrum in Hilbert geometries, we show that it is zero if and only if the geometry is amenable, in other words if and only if it admits a F\"olner sequence. We also show that the bottom of the spectrum admits an upper bound, which depends only on the dimension and which is the bottom of the spectrum of the Hyperbolic geometry of the same dimension. Horoballs, from a purely metric point of view, and their relation with the bottom of the spectrum in Hilbert geometries are briefly studied., Comment: 24 pages, 3 figures

In this paper we prove that, under an explicit integral pinching assumption between the $L^2$-norm of the Ricci curvature and the $L^2$-norm of the scalar curvature, a closed 3-manifold with positive scalar curvature admits an Einstein metric with positive curvature. In particular this implies that the manifold is diffeomorphic to a quotient of ${\Bbb S}^3$., Comment: Some misprints in the first version are corrected

We derive Mok-Siu-Yeung type formulas for horizontal maps from compact contact locally sub-symmetric spaces into strictly pseudoconvex CR manifolds and we obtain some rigidity theorems for the horizontal pseudoharmonic maps., Comment: 41 pages

This paper has been withdrawn by the author.

Let $\sigma$ be the scattering relation on a compact Riemannian manifold $M$ with non-necessarily convex boundary, that maps initial points of geodesic rays on the boundary and initial directions to the outgoing point on the boundary and the outgoing direction. Let $\ell$ be the length of that geodesic ray. We study the question of whether the metric $g$ is uniquely determined, up to an isometry, by knowledge of $\sigma$ and $\ell$ restricted on some subset $D$. We allow possible conjugate points but we assume that the conormal bundle of the geodesics issued from $D$ covers $T^*M$; and that those geodesics have no conjugate points. Under an additional topological assumption, we prove that $\sigma$ and $\ell$ restricted to $D$ uniquely recover an isometric copy of $g$ locally near generic metrics, and in particular, near real analytic ones.

For $n\geq 3,$ let $\Gamma=SL_n(\mathbb Z).$ We prove the following superridigity result for $\Gamma$ in the context of operator algebras. Let $L(\Gamma)$ be the von Neumann algebra generated by the left regular representation of $\Gamma.$ Let $M$ be a finite factor and let $U(M)$ be its unitary group. Let $\pi: \Gamma\to U(M)$ be a group homomorphism such that $\pi(\Gamma)''=M.$ Then \begin{itemize} \item[(i)] either $M$ is finite dimensional, or \item [(ii)] there exists a subgroup of finite index $\Lambda$ of $\Gamma$ such that $\pi|_\Lambda$ extends to a homomorphism $U(L(\Lambda))\to U(M).$ \end{itemize} The result is deduced from a complete description of the tracial states on the full $C^*$--algebra of $\Gamma.$ As another application, we show that the full $C^*$--algebra of $\Gamma$ has no faithful tracial state., Comment: 30 pages; typos corrected

An integral stability estimate is proved for refraction coefficients of two conformal metrics in a plane domain in terms of its travel times. No assumption on absence of conjugate points of geodesics is made.

We classify the self-similar solutions to a class of Weingarten curvature flow of connected compact convex hypersurfaces, isometrically immersed into space forms with non-positive curvature, and obtain a new characterization of a sphere in a Euclidean space $\R^{n+1}$., Comment: 12 pages, Latex v2 is a largely extended new version

This survey aims to cover the motivation for and history of the study of local rigidity of group actions. There is a particularly detailed discussion of recent results, including outlines of some proofs. The article ends with a large number of conjectures and open questions and aims to point to interesting directions for future research. {\em To Anatole Katok on the occasion of his 60th birthday.}, Comment: Survey article, final version for publication, see also http://mypage.iu.edu/~fisherdm/

Consider a closed manifold $M$ immersed in $\R^m.$ Suppose that the trivial bundle $M\times\R^m=TM\otimes \nu M$ is equipped with an almost metric connection $\tilde{\nabla}$ which almost preserves the decomposition of $M\times\R^m$ into the tangent and the normal bundle. Assume moreover that the difference $\Gamma=\partial-\tilde{\nabla}$ with the usual derivative $\partial$ in $\R^m$ is almost $\tilde{\nabla}$-parallel. We show that under these assumptions $M$ admits an extrinsically homogeneous immersion into $\R^m.$, Comment: Detailed explications and proofs can be found in the article "Almost extriniscally homogeneous submanifolds of euclidean space" which will appear in the Journal "Annals of Global Analysis and Geometry"

The main result implies that a proper convex subset of an irreducible higher rank symmetric space cannot have Zariski dense stabilizer.

We show that an almost Hermitian manifold $(M,g)$ of real dimension $4n$ which is strongly asymptotic to $\mathbb{C}H^{2n}$ and satisfies a certain scalar curvature bound must be isometric to the complex hyperbolic space. Assuming K\"ahler instead of almost Hermitian this gives the already known rigidity result by H. Boualem and M. Herlich proved in \emph{Ann. Scuola Norm. Sup Pisa (Ser. V)}, vol. 1(2)., Comment: 16 pages

The theory of surfaces in Euclidean space can be naturally formulated in the more general context of Legendre surfaces into the space of contact elements. We address the question of deformability of Legendre surfaces with respect to the symmetry group of Lie sphere contact transformations from the point of view of the deformation theory of submanifolds in homogeneous spaces. Necessary and sufficient conditions are provided for a Legendre surface to admit non-trivial deformations and the corresponding existence problem is discussed., Comment: 24 pages

We show that round hemispheres are the only compact 2 dimensional Riemannian manifolds (with or without boundary) such that almost every pair of complete geodesics intersect once and only once. We prove this by establishing a sharp isoperimetric inequality for surfaces with boundary such that every pair of geodesics have at most one interior intersection point., Comment: Latex, 4 pages

This survey paper presents the discrete group viewpoint on Kac-Moody groups. Over finite fields, the latter groups are finitely generated; they act on new buildings enjoying remarkable negative curvature properties. The study of these groups is shared between proving results supporting the analogy with some $S$-arithmetic groups, and exhibiting properties showing that they are new groups., Comment: 15 pages, conference

This paper generalizes a rigidity result of complex hyperbolic spaces by M. Herzlich. We prove that an almost Hermitian spin manifold $(M,g)$ of real dimension $4n+2$ which is strongly asymptotic to $\hyp{\C}^{2n+1}$ and satisfies a certain scalar curvature bound must be isometric to the complex hyperbolic space. The fact that we do not assume $g$ to be K\"ahler reflects in the inequality for the scalar curvature., Comment: 8 pages. submitted to Comm. Anal. Geom

We provide new arguments to see topological Kac-Moody groups as generalized semisimple groups over local fields: they are products of topologically simple groups and their Iwahori subgroups are the normalizers of the pro-p Sylow subgroups. We use a dynamical characterization of parabolic subgroups to prove that some countable Kac-Moody groups with Fuchsian buildings are not linear. We show for this that the linearity of a countable Kac-Moody group implies the existence of a closed embedding of the corresponding topological group in a non-Archimedean simple Lie group, thanks to a commensurator super-rigidity theorem proved in the Appendix by P. Bonvin., Comment: 30 pages, 2 figures

Take a riemanniann nilmanifold, lift its metric on its universal cover. In that way one obtains a metric invariant under the action of some co-compact subgroup. We use it to define metric balls and then study the spectrum of the laplacian for the dirichlet problem on them. We describe the asymptotic behaviour of the spectrum when the radius of these balls goes to infinity. Furthermore we show that the first macroscopic eigenvalue is bounded from above, by an uniform constant for the three dimensional heisenberg group, and by a constant depending on the Albanese's torus for the other nilmanifolds. We also show that the Heisenberg groups belong to a family of nilmanifolds, where the equality characterizes some pseudo left invariant metrics.

Take a torus with a Riemannian metric. Lift the metric on its universal cover. You get a distance which in turn yields balls. On these balls you can look at the Laplacian. Focus on the spectrum for the Dirichlet or Neumann problem. We describe the asymptotic behaviour of the eigenvalues as the radius of the balls goes to infinity, and characterise the flat tori using the tools of homogenisation our conclusion being that "Macroscopically, one can hear the shape of a flat torus"., Comment: 32 pages