Formality properties of finitely generated groups and Lie algebras

Abstract

Abstract We explore the graded-formality and filtered-formality properties of finitely generated groups by studying the various Lie algebras over a field of characteristic 0 attached to such groups, including the Malcev Lie algebra, the associated graded Lie algebra, the holonomy Lie algebra, and the Chen Lie algebra. We explain how these notions behave with respect to split injections, coproducts, direct products, as well as field extensions, and how they are inherited by solvable and nilpotent quotients. A key tool in this analysis is the 1-minimal model of the group, and the way this model relates to the aforementioned Lie algebras. We illustrate our approach with examples drawn from a variety of group-theoretic and topological contexts, such as finitely generated torsion-free nilpotent groups, link groups, and fundamental groups of Seifert fibered manifolds.