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<p>This thesis is concerned with the problem of characterizing the orbits of certain probability density functions under the action of the Euclidean group. Our motivating application is the recognition of a point configuration where the coordinates of the points are measured under noisy conditions. Consider a random variable X in R^d with probability density function ρ(x). Let x₁ and x₂ be independent random samples following ρ(x). Define ∆ as the squared Euclidean distance between x₁ and x₂. It has previously been shown that two distributions ρ(x) and ρ(x) consisting of Dirac delta distributions in generic positions that have the same respective distributions of ∆ are necessarily related by a rigid motion. That is, there exists some rigid motion g in the Euclidean group E(d) such that ρ(x) = ρ(g · x) for all x ∈ R^d . To account for noise in the measurements, we assume X is a random variable in R^d whose density is a k-component mixture of Gaussian distributions with means in generic position. We further assume that the covariance matrices of the Gaussian components are equal and of the form Σ = σ²1_d with  0 ≤ σ² ∈ R. In Theorem 3.1.1 and Theorem 3.2.1, we prove that, when σ² is known, generic k-component Gaussian mixtures are uniquely reconstructible up to a rigid motion from the density of ∆. A more general formulation is proven in Theorem 3.2.3. Similarly, when σ² is unknown, we prove in Theorem 4.1.1 and Theorem 4.1.2 that generic equally-weighted k-component Gaussian mixtures with k = 1 and k = 2 are uniquely reconstructible up to a rigid motion from the distribution of ∆. There are at most three non-equivalent equally weighted 3-component Gaussian mixtures up to a rigid motion having the same distribution of ∆, as proven in Theorem 4.1.3. In Theorem 4.1.4, we present a test to check if, for a given k and d, the number of non-equivalent equally-weighted k-component Gaussian mixtures in R^d having the same distribution of ∆ is at most (k choose 2) + 1. Numerical computations showed that distributions with k = 4, 5, 6, 7 such that d ≤ k −2 and (k, d) = (8, 1) pass the test, and thus have a finite number of reconstructions up to a rigid motion. When σ² is unknown and the mixture weights are also unknown, we prove in Theorem 4.2.1 that there are at most four non-equivalent 2-component Gaussian mixtures up to a rigid motion having the same distribution of ∆. </p>

In this thesis we build on the theory concerning the metric geometry of relatively hyperbolic and mapping class groups, especially with respect to the difficulty of embedding such groups into Banach spaces. In Chapter 3 (joint with Alessandro Sisto) we construct simple embeddings of closed graph manifold groups into a product of three metric trees, answering positively a conjecture of Smirnov concerning the Assouad-Nagata dimension of such spaces. Consequently, we obtain optimal embeddings of such spaces into certain Banach spaces. The ideas here have been extended to other closed three-manifolds and to higher dimensional analogues of graph manifolds. In Chapter 4 we give an explicit method of embedding relatively hyperbolic groups into certain Banach spaces, which yields optimal bounds on the compression exponent of such groups relative to their peripheral subgroups. From this we deduce that the fundamental group of every closed three-manifold has Hilbert compression exponent one. In Chapter 5 we prove that relatively hyperbolic spaces with a tree-graded quasi-isometry representative can be characterised by a relative version of Manning's bottleneck property. This applies to the Bestvina-Bromberg-Fujiwara quasi-trees of spaces, yielding an embedding of each mapping class group of a closed surface into a finite product of simplicial trees. From this we obtain explicit embeddings of mapping class groups into certain Banach spaces and deduce that these groups have finite Assouad-Nagata dimension. It also applies to relatively hyperbolic groups, proving that such groups have finite Assouad-Nagata dimension if and only if each peripheral subgroup does.

This work is to give an overview over the research that I've done up to now. The overall idea behind my interests has been that of understanding analytical and geometrical properties of non smooth spaces both from both a theoretical and a practical point of view. The two main classes of spaces on which I focussed are: the Wasserstein space (P2(M),W2) built over a Riemannian manifold, and abstract metric and metric-measure spaces, in particular those with Ricci curvature bounded below.

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This thesis studies the large scale dimension theory of metric spaces. Background on dimension theory is provided, including topological and asymptotic dimension, and notions of nonpositive curvature in metric spaces are reviewed. The hyperbolic dimension of Buyalo and Schroeder is surveyed. Miscellaneous new results on hyperbolic dimension are proved, including a union theorem, an estimate for central group extensions, and the vanishing of hyperbolic dimension for countable abelian groups. A new quasi-isometry invariant called weak hyperbolic dimension (abbreviated $\wdim$) is introduced and developed. Weak hyperbolic dimension is computed for a variety of metric spaces, including the fundamental computation $\wdim \Hyp^n = n-1$. An estimate is proved for (not necessarily central) group extensions. Weak dimension is used to obtain the quasi-isometric nonembedding result $\Hyp^4 \not \rightarrow \Sol \times \Sol$ and possible directions for further nonembedding applications are explored. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Shapes and spaces are studied from the "large scale" or "far away" point of view. Various notions of dimension for such spaces are studied.

L'objet principal de cette thèse est l'étude de la dimension conforme Ahlfors régulière ($\dim_{AR}X$) d'un espace métrique $X$. C'est un invariant numérique par quasisymétrie, introduit par P.\,Pansu, permettant la classification à quasi-isométrie près des espaces homogénes de courbure négative. Elle joue actuellement un rôle important en théorie géométrique des groupes et en dynamique conforme. A partir d'une suite de recouvrements d'un espace métrique compact $\left(X,d\right)$, on construit des distances de dimension contrôlée appartenant à la jauge conforme (Ahlfors régulière). On peut ainsi caractériser toutes les métriques de la jauge á homéomorphismes bi-Lipschitz prés. On montre comment calculer $\dim_{AR}X$ á partir de modules combinatoires en considérant un exposant critique $Q_N$. Comme conséquence de l'égalité $\dim_{AR}X=Q_N$, on obtient un critère général de dimension $1$. Les conditions sont données en termes de points de coupure locale de $X$. On donne par ailleurs des applications de ces résultats aux bords des groupes hyperboliques et aux ensembles de Julia des fractions rationnelles semihyperboliques.

Cette thèse est centrée sur l'étude des polytopes hyperboliques, des groupes de réflexions et invariants associes. Soit G un groupe de Coxeter, sous-groupe de Isom Hn. Alors, il existe un domaine fondamental P ⊂ Hn qui est naturellement associe 'a ce groupe G. Le domaine P est un polytope de Coxeter. Réciproquement, chaque polytope de Coxeter P engendre un groupe de Coxeter agissant sur Hn: le groupe engendre par les réflexions par rapport a ses facettes. Ces réflexions forment un ensemble naturel de générateurs pour le groupe G. On peut donc exprimer la série de d'accroissement fS (t) du groupe G par rapport a l'ensemble S. Par un resultat de R. Steinberg, la série d'accroissement associée correspond a la série de Taylor d'une fonction rationnelle. Le taux d'accroissement τ de G est l'inverse du rayon de convergence de cette dernière. Le taux de convergence est un entier algébrique et, par un resultat de J. Milnor, τ > 1. Par un résultat de W. Parry, si G agit sur H2 de fa¸con co-compacte, son taux d'accroissement est un nombre de Salem. Par un résultat de W. Floyd, il existe un lien géométrique entre les taux d'accroissement des groupes de Coxeter cocompacts et ceux des groupes a co-volume fini agissant sur H2. Ce lien correspond a une image géométrique de la convergence d'une suite de nombres de Salem vers un nombre de Pisot. Dans cette thèse, on verra un phénomène analogue en dimension 3. En dimension n ≥ 4, le taux d'accroissement d'un groupe de Coxeter agissant de fa¸con cocompacte sur Hn n'est plus un nombre de Salem, ni un nombre de Pisot. Nous nous intéressons a une classe particulière de groupes de Coxeter est celle des groupes de Coxeter rectangulaires. Dans ce cas, les domaines fondamentaux sont des poly- topes aux angles diedres droits. Concernant la classe de polytopes rectangulaires compacts (respectivement, 'a volume fini, id'eaux) dans H4, on pose les problèmes suivants: - déterminer le volume minimal dans ces familles, - déterminer le nombre minimal de composante combinatoire (facettes, faces, arêtes, sommets) dans ces familles. Dans le cas des polytopes rectangulaires a volume fini, la solution a été donnée par E. Vinberg, L. Potyagailo et par B. Everitt, J. Ratcliffe, S. Tschantz. Pour les polytopes rectangulaires compacts, il existe seulement une conjecture. Dans cette these, nous repondons a ces questions dans le cas des polytopes rectangulaires id'eaux.

Le but principal de ce manuscrit est celui de présenter une nouvelle méthode d'interpolation entre des probabilités inspirée du problème de Schrödinger, problème de minimisation entropique ayant des liens très forts avec le transport optimal. À l'aide de solutions au problème de Schrödinger, nous obtenons un schéma d'approximation robuste jusqu'au deuxième ordre et différent de Brenier-McCann qui permet d'établir la formule de dérivation du deuxième ordre le long des géodésiques Wasserstein dans le cadre de espaces RCD* de dimension finie. Cette formule était inconnue même dans le cadre des espaces d'Alexandrov et nous en donnerons quelques applications. La démonstration utilise un ensemble remarquable de nouvelles propriétés pour les solutions au problème de Schrödinger dynamique :- une borne uniforme des densités le long des interpolations entropiques ;- la lipschitzianité uniforme des potentiels de Schrödinger ;- un contrôle L2 uniforme des accélérations. Ces outils sont indispensables pour explorer les informations géométriques encodées par les interpolations entropiques. Les techniques utilisées peuvent aussi être employées pour montrer que la solution visqueuse de l'équation d'Hamilton-Jacobi peut être récupérée à travers une méthode de « vanishing viscosity », comme dans le cas lisse.Dans tout le manuscrit, plusieurs remarques sur l'interprétation physique du problème de Schrödinger seront mises en lumière. Cela pourra aider le lecteur à mieux comprendre les motivations probabilistes et physiques du problème, ainsi qu'à les connecter avec la nature analytique et géométrique de la dissertation. / Main aim of this manuscript is to present a new interpolation technique for probability measures, which is strongly inspired by the Schrödinger problem, an entropy minimization problem deeply related to optimal transport. By means of the solutions to the Schrödinger problem, we build an efficient approximation scheme, robust up to the second order and different from Brenier-McCann's classical one. Such scheme allows us to prove the second order differentiation formula along geodesics in finite-dimensional RCD* spaces. This formula is new even in the context of Alexandrov spaces and we provide some applications.The proof relies on new, even in the smooth setting, estimates concerning entropic interpolations which we believe are interesting on their own. In particular we obtain:- equiboundedness of the densities along the entropic interpolations,- equi-Lipschitz continuity of the Schrödinger potentials,- a uniform weighted L2 control of the Hessian of such potentials. These tools are very useful in the investigation of the geometric information encoded in entropic interpolations. The techniques used in this work can be also used to show that the viscous solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation can be obtained via a vanishing viscosity method, in accordance with the smooth case. Throughout the whole manuscript, several remarks on the physical interpretation of the Schrödinger problem are pointed out. Hopefully, this will allow the reader to better understand the physical and probabilistic motivations of the problem as well as to connect them with the analytical and geometric nature of the dissertation.

Gromov’s compactness theorem for metric spaces, a compactness theorem for the space of compact metric spaces equipped with the Gromov-Hausdorff distance, is a theorem with many applications. In this thesis, we give a generalisation of this landmark result, more precisely, we give a compactness theorem for the space of distance measure spaces equipped with the generalised Gromov-Hausdorff-Levi-Prokhorov distance. A distance measure space is a triple (X, d,µ), where (X, d) forms a distance space (a generalisation of a metric space where, we allow the distance between two points to be infinity) and µ is a finite Borel measure. Using this result we prove that the Deligne-Mumford compactification is the completion of the moduli space of Riemann surfaces under the generalised Gromov-Hausdorff-Levi-Prokhorov distance. The Deligne-Mumford compactification, a compactification of the moduli space of Riemann surfaces with explicit description of the limit points, and the closely related Gromov compactness theorem for J-holomorphic curves in symplectic manifolds (in particular curves in an algebraic variety) are important results for many areas of mathematics. While Gromov compactness theorem for J-holomorphic curves in symplectic manifolds, is an important tool in symplectic topology, its applicability is limited by the lack of general methods to construct pseudo-holomorphic curves. One hopes that considering a more general class of objects in place of pseudo-holomorphic curves will be useful. Generalising the domain of pseudo-holomorphic curves from Riemann surfaces to Riemann surface laminations is a natural choice. Theorems such as the uniformisation theorem for surface laminations by Alberto Candel (which is a partial generalisation of the uniformisation theorem for surfaces), generalisations of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem proved for some special cases, and topological classification of “almost all" leaves using harmonic measures reinforces the usefulness of this line on enquiry. Also, the success of essential laminations, as generalised incompressible surfaces, in the study of 3-manifolds suggests that a similar approach may be useful in symplectic topology. With this motivation, we prove a compactness theorem analogous to the Deligne-Mumford compactification for the space of Riemann surface laminations.