Non-divergence of unipotent flows on quotients of rank-one semisimple groups

Abstract

Let$G$be a semisimple Lie group of rank one and$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$be a torsion-free discrete subgroup of$G$. We show that in$G/\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$, given$\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}>0$, any trajectory of a unipotent flow remains in the set of points with injectivity radius larger than$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}$for a$1-\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}$proportion of the time, for some$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}>0$. The result also holds for any finitely generated discrete subgroup$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$and this generalizes Dani’s quantitative non-divergence theorem [On orbits of unipotent flows on homogeneous spaces.Ergod. Th. & Dynam. Sys.4(1) (1984), 25–34] for lattices of rank-one semisimple groups. Furthermore, for a fixed$\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}>0$, there exists an injectivity radius$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}$such that, for any unipotent trajectory$\{u_{t}g\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}\}_{t\in [0,T]}$, either it spends at least a$1-\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}$proportion of the time in the set with injectivity radius larger than$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}$, for all large$T>0$, or there exists a$\{u_{t}\}_{t\in \mathbb{R}}$-normalized abelian subgroup$L$of$G$which intersects$g\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}g^{-1}$in a small covolume lattice. We also extend these results to when$G$is the product of rank-one semisimple groups and$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$a discrete subgroup of$G$whose projection onto each non-trivial factor is torsion free.