Approximating nonabelian free groups by groups of homeomorphisms of the real line

Abstract: We show that for a large class $\mathcal{C}$ of finitely generated groups of orientation preserving homeomorphisms of the real line, the following holds: Given a group $G$ of rank $k$ in $\mathcal{C}$, there is a sequence of $k$-markings $(G, S_n), n\in \mathbf{N}$ whose limit in the space of marked groups is the free group of rank $k$ with the standard marking. The class we consider consists of groups that admit actions satisfying mild dynamical conditions and a certain "self-similarity" type hypothesis. Examples include Thompson's group $F$, Higman-Thompson groups, Stein-Thompson groups, various Bieri-Strebel groups, the golden ratio Thompson group, and finitely presented non amenable groups of piecewise projective homeomorphisms. For the case of Thompson's group $F$ we provide a new and considerably simpler proof of this fact proved by Brin (Groups, Geometry, and Dynamics 2010).