Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2003/iii/paper-5/5/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 5 5 ii Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the standard coordinate generators of . Its word metric is the metric, so its radius- ball consists of integer points satisfying . For it contains the cube and is contained in the cube . Thusand its growth is bounded above and below by constant multiples of for large .
If and are quasi-isometric, part (i) gives equivalent growth functions of a finitely generated group. For positive , the required comparison would bound a positive constant times by , impossible as . Interchanging rules out . Hence . Conversely, for equal dimensions the identity is an isometry with standard generators; changing finite generators preserves quasi-isometry by Q2(ii). ThereforeIf dimension zero is allowed, is bounded and cannot be quasi-isometric to an unbounded positive-dimensional lattice. This boundedness argument is needed because the additive linear term in makes constant and linear growth functions of a finitely generated group equivalent; growth equivalence alone would not distinguish dimensions zero and one.
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