Videos

Homogeneous Dynamics and Anosov Representations: Fractal closures of geodesic planes in higher rank

Presenter
April 20, 2026
Keywords:
  • discrete subgroups
  • semisimple Lie groups
  • Anosov representations
  • convex projective geometry
  • entropy
  • geometric structures
  • Hitchin representations
  • homogeneous dynamics
  • mixing
  • thermodynamic formalism
  • thin subgroups
MSC:
  • 20-XX - Group theory and generalizations
  • 22-XX - Topological groups
  • Lie groups
  • 37-XX - Dynamical systems and ergodic theory
  • 53-XX - Differential geometry
  • 57-XX - Manifolds and cell complexes
Abstract
Ratner’s theorem implies strong topological rigidity for immersed totally geodesic submanifolds in finite-volume locally symmetric spaces. In infinite-volume settings, however, the topological behavior of totally geodesic submanifolds is much less understood: while it has been studied in certain rank-one cases, the higher-rank setting has remained unexplored. In this talk, I will describe a construction of the first higher-rank examples exhibiting a failure of such rigidity using floating geodesic planes, joint work with Hee Oh. More precisely, we construct a Zariski-dense Hitchin surface group inside $\mathrm{SL}_3(\mathbb{Z})$ whose associated locally symmetric space contains floating geodesic planes whose closures have non-integer Hausdorff dimension.