The emergence of geometric group theory as a distinct area of mathematics is usually traced to the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was spurred by the 1987 monograph of Mikhail Gromov "Hyperbolic groups" that introduced the notion of a hyperbolic group (also known as word-hyperbolic or Gromov-hyperbolic or negatively curved group), which captures the idea of a finitely generated group having large-scale negative curvature, and by his subsequent monograph Asymptotic Invariants of Infinite Groups, that outlined Gromov's program of understanding discrete groups up to quasi-isometry. The work of Gromov had a transformative effect on the study of discrete groups and the phrase "geometric group theory" started appearing soon afterwards. (see e.g.).
Notable themes and developments in geometric group theory in 1990s and 2000s include:
These texts cover geometric group theory and related topics.
P. de la Harpe, Topics in geometric group theory. Chicago Lectures in Mathematics. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 2000. ISBN 0-226-31719-6, ISBN 0-226-31721-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=60fTzwfqeQIC&dq=de+la+Harpe,+Topics+in+geometric+group+theory&pg=PP1
Stillwell, John (2002), Mathematics and its history, Springer, p. 374, ISBN 978-0-387-95336-6 978-0-387-95336-6
Bruce Chandler and Wilhelm Magnus. The history of combinatorial group theory. A case study in the history of ideas. Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, vo. 9. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1982. /wiki/Wilhelm_Magnus
Greendlinger, Martin (1960). "Dehn's algorithm for the word problem". Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics. 13 (1): 67–83. doi:10.1002/cpa.3160130108. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Greendlinger, Martin (1961). "An analogue of a theorem of Magnus". Archiv der Mathematik. 12 (1): 94–96. doi:10.1007/BF01650530. S2CID 120083990. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Roger Lyndon and Paul Schupp, Combinatorial Group Theory, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1977. Reprinted in the "Classics in mathematics" series, 2000. /wiki/Roger_Lyndon
J.-P. Serre, Trees. Translated from the 1977 French original by John Stillwell. Springer-Verlag, Berlin-New York, 1980. ISBN 3-540-10103-9. /wiki/John_Stillwell
Mikhail Gromov, Hyperbolic Groups, in "Essays in Group Theory" (Steve M. Gersten, ed.), MSRI Publ. 8, 1987, pp. 75–263.
Mikhail Gromov, "Asymptotic invariants of infinite groups", in "Geometric Group Theory", Vol. 2 (Sussex, 1991), London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series, 182, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993, pp. 1–295.
Iliya Kapovich and Nadia Benakli. Boundaries of hyperbolic groups. Combinatorial and geometric group theory (New York, 2000/Hoboken, NJ, 2001), pp. 39–93, Contemp. Math., 296, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 2002. From the Introduction:" In the last fifteen years geometric group theory has enjoyed fast growth and rapidly increasing influence. Much of this progress has been spurred by remarkable work of M. L. Gromov [in Essays in group theory, 75–263, Springer, New York, 1987; in Geometric group theory, Vol. 2 (Sussex, 1991), 1–295, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1993], who has advanced the theory of word-hyperbolic groups (also referred to as Gromov-hyperbolic or negatively curved groups)."
Brian Bowditch, Hyperbolic 3-manifolds and the geometry of the curve complex. European Congress of Mathematics, pp. 103–115, Eur. Math. Soc., Zürich, 2005. From the Introduction:" Much of this can be viewed in the context of geometric group theory. This subject has seen very rapid growth over the last twenty years or so, though of course, its antecedents can be traced back much earlier. [...] The work of Gromov has been a major driving force in this. Particularly relevant here is his seminal paper on hyperbolic groups [Gr]." /wiki/Brian_Bowditch
Elek, Gabor (2006). "The mathematics of Misha Gromov". Acta Mathematica Hungarica. 113 (3): 171–185. doi:10.1007/s10474-006-0098-5. S2CID 120667382. p. 181 "Gromov's pioneering work on the geometry of discrete metric spaces and his quasi-isometry program became the locomotive of geometric group theory from the early eighties." https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10474-006-0098-5
Geometric group theory. Vol. 1. Proceedings of the symposium held at Sussex University, Sussex, July 1991. Edited by Graham A. Niblo and Martin A. Roller. London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series, 181. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993. ISBN 0-521-43529-3. /wiki/ISBN_(identifier)
Mikhail Gromov, Asymptotic invariants of infinite groups, in "Geometric Group Theory", Vol. 2 (Sussex, 1991), London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series, 182, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993, pp. 1–295.
Iliya Kapovich and Nadia Benakli. Boundaries of hyperbolic groups. Combinatorial and geometric group theory (New York, 2000/Hoboken, NJ, 2001), pp. 39–93, Contemp. Math., 296, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 2002.
Riley, Tim R. (2003). "Higher connectedness of asymptotic cones". Topology. 42 (6): 1289–1352. doi:10.1016/S0040-9383(03)00002-8. https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0040-9383%2803%2900002-8
Kramer, Linus; Shelah, Saharon; Tent, Katrin; Thomas, Simon (2005). "Asymptotic cones of finitely presented groups". Advances in Mathematics. 193 (1): 142–173. arXiv:math/0306420. doi:10.1016/j.aim.2004.04.012. S2CID 4769970. /wiki/Saharon_Shelah
Schwartz, R.E. (1995). "The quasi-isometry classification of rank one lattices". Publications Mathématiques de l'Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques. 82 (1): 133–168. doi:10.1007/BF02698639. S2CID 67824718. http://www.numdam.org/item/PMIHES_1995__82__133_0/
Farb, Benson; Mosher, Lee (1998). "A rigidity theorem for the solvable Baumslag–Solitar groups. With an appendix by Daryl Cooper". Inventiones Mathematicae. 131 (2): 419–451. doi:10.1007/s002220050210. MR 1608595. S2CID 121180189. /wiki/Benson_Farb
Sela, Zlil (1995). "The isomorphism problem for hyperbolic groups. I". Annals of Mathematics. (2). 141 (2): 217–283. doi:10.2307/2118520. JSTOR 2118520. MR 1324134. /wiki/Annals_of_Mathematics
Mikhail Gromov, Hyperbolic Groups, in "Essays in Group Theory" (Steve M. Gersten, ed.), MSRI Publ. 8, 1987, pp. 75–263.
Farb, Benson (1998). "Relatively hyperbolic groups". Geometric and Functional Analysis. 8 (5): 810–840. doi:10.1007/s000390050075. MR 1650094. S2CID 123370926. /wiki/Benson_Farb
Bowditch, Brian H. (1999). Treelike Structures Arising from Continua and Convergence Groups. Memoirs American Mathematical Society. Vol. 662. American Mathematical Society. ISBN 978-0-8218-1003-3. 978-0-8218-1003-3
Zlil Sela, Diophantine geometry over groups and the elementary theory of free and hyperbolic groups. Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians, Vol. II (Beijing, 2002), pp. 87–92, Higher Ed. Press, Beijing, 2002.
Kharlampovich, Olga; Myasnikov, Alexei (1998). "Tarski's problem about the elementary theory of free groups has a positive solution". Electronic Research Announcements of the American Mathematical Society. 4 (14): 101–8. doi:10.1090/S1079-6762-98-00047-X. MR 1662319. https://doi.org/10.1090%2FS1079-6762-98-00047-X
D. B. A. Epstein, J. W. Cannon, D. Holt, S. Levy, M. Paterson, W. Thurston. Word Processing in Groups. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Boston, MA, 1992. /wiki/Word_Processing_in_Groups
Sapir, Mark; Birget, Jean-Camille; Rips, Eliyahu (2002). "Isoperimetric and isodiametric functions of groups". Annals of Mathematics. (2). 156 (2): 345–466. arXiv:math/9811105. doi:10.2307/3597195. JSTOR 3597195. S2CID 119728458. /wiki/Mark_Sapir
Birget, Jean-Camille; Olʹshanskiĭ, Aleksandr Yu.; Rips, Eliyahu; Sapir, Mark (2002). "Isoperimetric functions of groups and computational complexity of the word problem". Annals of Mathematics. (2). 156 (2): 467–518. arXiv:math/9811106. doi:10.2307/3597196. JSTOR 3597196. S2CID 14155715. /wiki/Eliyahu_Rips
Bridson, M.R. (1999). "Fractional isoperimetric inequalities and subgroup distortion". Journal of the American Mathematical Society. 12 (4): 1103–18. doi:10.1090/S0894-0347-99-00308-2. MR 1678924. S2CID 7981000. https://doi.org/10.1090%2FS0894-0347-99-00308-2
Kropholler, P. H. (1990). "An Analogue of the Torus Decomposition Theorem for Certain Poincaré Duality Groups". Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society. s3-60 (3): 503–529. doi:10.1112/plms/s3-60.3.503. ISSN 1460-244X. https://londmathsoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1112/plms/s3-60.3.503
Rips, E.; Sela, Z. (1997). "Cyclic splittings of finitely presented groups and the canonical JSJ decomposition". Annals of Mathematics. Second Series. 146 (1): 53–109. doi:10.2307/2951832. JSTOR 2951832. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Dunwoody, M.J.; Sageev, M.E. (1999). "JSJ-splittings for finitely presented groups over slender groups". Inventiones Mathematicae. 135 (1): 25–44. Bibcode:1999InMat.135...25D. doi:10.1007/s002220050278. S2CID 16958457. /wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)
Scott, P.; Swarup, G.A. (2002). "Regular neighbourhoods and canonical decompositions for groups". Electronic Research Announcements of the American Mathematical Society. 8 (3): 20–28. doi:10.1090/S1079-6762-02-00102-6. MR 1928498. https://doi.org/10.1090%2FS1079-6762-02-00102-6
Bowditch, B.H. (1998). "Cut points and canonical splittings of hyperbolic groups". Acta Mathematica. 180 (2): 145–186. doi:10.1007/BF02392898. https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF02392898
Fujiwara, K.; Papasoglu, P. (2006). "JSJ-decompositions of finitely presented groups and complexes of groups". Geometric and Functional Analysis. 16 (1): 70–125. arXiv:math/0507424. doi:10.1007/s00039-006-0550-2. S2CID 10105697. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Yu, G. (1998). "The Novikov conjecture for groups with finite asymptotic dimension". Annals of Mathematics. Second Series. 147 (2): 325–355. doi:10.2307/121011. JSTOR 121011. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
G. Yu. The coarse Baum–Connes conjecture for spaces which admit a uniform embedding into Hilbert space. Inventiones Mathematicae, vol 139 (2000), no. 1, pp. 201–240.
Mineyev, I.; Yu, G. (2002). "The Baum–Connes conjecture for hyperbolic groups". Inventiones Mathematicae. 149 (1): 97–122. arXiv:math/0105086. Bibcode:2002InMat.149...97M. doi:10.1007/s002220200214. S2CID 7940721. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Bonk, Mario; Kleiner, Bruce (2005). "Conformal dimension and Gromov hyperbolic groups with 2-sphere boundary". Geometry & Topology. 9: 219–246. arXiv:math/0208135. doi:10.2140/gt.2005.9.219. S2CID 786904. https://doi.org/10.2140%2Fgt.2005.9.219
Marc Bourdon and Hervé Pajot. Quasi-conformal geometry and hyperbolic geometry. Rigidity in dynamics and geometry (Cambridge, 2000), pp. 1–17, Springer, Berlin, 2002.
Mario Bonk, Quasiconformal geometry of fractals. International Congress of Mathematicians. Vol. II, pp. 1349–1373, Eur. Math. Soc., Zürich, 2006. /wiki/International_Congress_of_Mathematicians
Cannon, James W.; Floyd, William J.; Parry, Walter R. (2001). "Finite subdivision rules". Conformal Geometry and Dynamics. 5 (8): 153–196. Bibcode:2001CGDAM...5..153C. doi:10.1090/S1088-4173-01-00055-8. MR 1875951. /wiki/James_Cannon_(mathematician)
P. Tukia. Generalizations of Fuchsian and Kleinian groups. First European Congress of Mathematics, Vol. II (Paris, 1992), pp. 447–461, Progr. Math., 120, Birkhäuser, Basel, 1994.
Yaman, Asli (2004). "A topological characterisation of relatively hyperbolic groups". Journal für die Reine und Angewandte Mathematik. 566: 41–89. MR 2039323. /wiki/Crelle%27s_Journal
Bestvina, M.; Feighn, M. (1995). "Stable actions of groups on real trees". Inventiones Mathematicae. 121 (2): 287–321. Bibcode:1995InMat.121..287B. doi:10.1007/BF01884300. S2CID 122048815. /wiki/Mladen_Bestvina
Bridson & Haefliger 1999 - Bridson, Martin R.; Haefliger, André (1999). Metric spaces of non-positive curvature. Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften [Fundamental Principles of Mathematical Sciences]. Vol. 319. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 3-540-64324-9.
M. Kapovich, Hyperbolic manifolds and discrete groups. Progress in Mathematics, 183. Birkhäuser Boston, Inc., Boston, MA, 2001.
M. Gromov. Random walk in random groups. Geometric and Functional Analysis, vol. 13 (2003), no. 1, pp. 73–146.
Kapovich, I.; Miasnikov, A.; Schupp, P.; Shpilrain, V. (2003). "Generic-case complexity, decision problems in group theory, and random walks". Journal of Algebra. 264 (2): 665–694. arXiv:math/0203239. doi:10.1016/S0021-8693(03)00167-4. https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0021-8693%2803%2900167-4
Kapovich, I.; Schupp, P.; Shpilrain, V. (2006). "Generic properties of Whitehead's algorithm and isomorphism rigidity of random one-relator groups". Pacific Journal of Mathematics. 223 (1): 113–140. arXiv:math/0303386. doi:10.2140/pjm.2006.223.113. https://doi.org/10.2140%2Fpjm.2006.223.113
L. Bartholdi, R. I. Grigorchuk and Z. Sunik. Branch groups. Handbook of algebra, Vol. 3, pp. 989-1112, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 2003.
V. Nekrashevych. Self-similar groups. Mathematical Surveys and Monographs, 117. American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI, 2005. ISBN 0-8218-3831-8. /wiki/ISBN_(identifier)
Furman, A. (1999). "Gromov's measure equivalence and rigidity of higher rank lattices". Annals of Mathematics. Second Series. 150 (3): 1059–81. arXiv:math/9911262. Bibcode:1999math.....11262F. doi:10.2307/121062. JSTOR 121062. S2CID 15408706. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Monod, N.; Shalom, Y. (2006). "Orbit equivalence rigidity and bounded cohomology". Annals of Mathematics. Second Series. 164 (3): 825–878. doi:10.4007/annals.2006.164.825. JSTOR 20160009. https://doi.org/10.4007%2Fannals.2006.164.825
Y. Shalom. The algebraization of Kazhdan's property (T). International Congress of Mathematicians. Vol. II, pp. 1283–1310, Eur. Math. Soc., Zürich, 2006.
Culler, M.; Vogtmann, K. (1986). "Moduli of graphs and automorphisms of free groups". Inventiones Mathematicae. 84 (1): 91–119. Bibcode:1986InMat..84...91C. doi:10.1007/BF01388734. S2CID 122869546. /wiki/Karen_Vogtmann
Bestvina, Mladen; Handel, Michael (1992). "Train tracks and automorphisms of free groups". Annals of Mathematics. 2. 135 (1): 1–51. doi:10.2307/2946562. JSTOR 2946562. MR 1147956. /wiki/Annals_of_Mathematics
Dunwoody, M.J. (1985). "The accessibility of finitely presented groups". Inventiones Mathematicae. 81 (3): 449–457. Bibcode:1985InMat..81..449D. doi:10.1007/BF01388581. S2CID 120065939. /wiki/Inventiones_Mathematicae
Bestvina, M.; Feighn, M. (1991). "Bounding the complexity of simplicial group actions on trees". Inventiones Mathematicae. 103 (3): 449–469. Bibcode:1991InMat.103..449B. doi:10.1007/BF01239522. S2CID 121136037. /wiki/Inventiones_Mathematicae
Sela, Zlil (1997). "Acylindrical accessibility for groups". Inventiones Mathematicae. 129 (3): 527–565. Bibcode:1997InMat.129..527S. doi:10.1007/s002220050172. S2CID 122548154. /wiki/Inventiones_Mathematicae
Hyman Bass and Alexander Lubotzky. Tree lattices. With appendices by Hyman Bass, Lisa Carbone, Alexander Lubotzky, G. Rosenberg and Jacques Tits. Progress in Mathematics, 176. Birkhäuser Boston, Inc., Boston, MA, 2001. ISBN 0-8176-4120-3. /wiki/Hyman_Bass
Bridson & Haefliger 1999 - Bridson, Martin R.; Haefliger, André (1999). Metric spaces of non-positive curvature. Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften [Fundamental Principles of Mathematical Sciences]. Vol. 319. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 3-540-64324-9.
Kaimanovich, V.A. (2000). "The Poisson formula for groups with hyperbolic properties". Annals of Mathematics. 2. 152 (3): 659–692. arXiv:math/9802132. doi:10.2307/2661351. JSTOR 2661351. S2CID 14774503. /wiki/Annals_of_Mathematics
Alexander Lubotzky and Dan Segal. Subgroup growth. Progress in Mathematics, 212. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel, 2003. ISBN 3-7643-6989-2. MR1978431 /wiki/Alexander_Lubotzky
Bestvina, Mladen; Kapovich, Michael; Kleiner, Bruce (2002). "Van Kampen's embedding obstruction for discrete groups". Inventiones Mathematicae. 150 (2): 219–235. arXiv:math/0010141. Bibcode:2002InMat.150..219B. doi:10.1007/s00222-002-0246-7. MR 1933584. S2CID 7153145. /wiki/Mladen_Bestvina
Ivanov, S.V. (1994). "The free Burnside groups of sufficiently large exponents". International Journal of Algebra and Computation. 4 (1n2): 1–309. doi:10.1142/S0218196794000026. /wiki/International_Journal_of_Algebra_and_Computation
Lysënok, I.G. (1996). "Infinite Burnside groups of even exponent". Izvestiya: Mathematics. 60 (3): 453–654. Bibcode:1996IzMat..60..453L. doi:10.1070/im1996v060n03abeh000077. S2CID 250838960. /wiki/Izvestiya:_Mathematics