Coarse median property of virtually nilpotent groups

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Kim, Hyeonggeun
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Kim, Hyeonggeun
author_facet Kim, Hyeonggeun
contents We show that virtually nilpotent groups are coarse median if and only if they are virtually abelian. The main idea is that the sub-Riemannian geometry of the asymptotic cone obstructs the existence of a locally convex Lipschitz median of finite rank. As an application, we deduce that non-compact lattices in the isometry group of a rank 1 symmetric space of non-compact type other than real hyperbolic space are not coarse median. This establishes the remaining case in the classification of lattices with the coarse median property initiated by Haettel. The same approach applies more generally to complete finite-volume non-compact Riemannian manifolds $M$ of pinched negative sectional curvature: if at least one cusp cross-section does not admit a flat metric, then $π_1(M)$ is not coarse median.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2606_02284
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Coarse median property of virtually nilpotent groups
Kim, Hyeonggeun
Group Theory
Metric Geometry
20F65 (Primary) 20F67, 20F69, 22E40 (Secondary)
We show that virtually nilpotent groups are coarse median if and only if they are virtually abelian. The main idea is that the sub-Riemannian geometry of the asymptotic cone obstructs the existence of a locally convex Lipschitz median of finite rank. As an application, we deduce that non-compact lattices in the isometry group of a rank 1 symmetric space of non-compact type other than real hyperbolic space are not coarse median. This establishes the remaining case in the classification of lattices with the coarse median property initiated by Haettel. The same approach applies more generally to complete finite-volume non-compact Riemannian manifolds $M$ of pinched negative sectional curvature: if at least one cusp cross-section does not admit a flat metric, then $π_1(M)$ is not coarse median.
title Coarse median property of virtually nilpotent groups
topic Group Theory
Metric Geometry
20F65 (Primary) 20F67, 20F69, 22E40 (Secondary)
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.02284