Surface groups in uniform lattices of some semi-simple groups

Abstract

We show that uniform lattices in some semi-simple groups (notably complex ones) admit Anosov surface subgroups. This result has a quantitative version: we introduce a notion, called $K$-Sullivan maps, which generalizes the notion of $K$-quasi-circles in hyperbolic geometry, and show in particular that Sullivan maps are Hölder. Using this notion, we show a quantitative version of our surface subgroup theorem, and in particular that one can obtain $K$-Sullivan limit maps, as close as one wants to smooth round circles. All these results use the coarse geometry of “path of triangles” in a certain flag manifold, and we prove an analogue to the Morse Lemma for quasi-geodesics in that context.