Quantitative spectral gap for thin groups of hyperbolic isometries

Abstract: Let $\Lambda$ be a subgroup of an arithmetic lattice in SO(n+1,1). The quotient $\mathbb{H}^{n+1} / \Lambda$ has a natural family of congruence covers corresponding to primes in some ring of integers. We establish a super-strong approximation result for Zariski-dense $\Lambda$ with some additional regularity and thickness properties. Concretely, this asserts a quantitative spectral gap for the Laplacian operators on the congruence covers. This generalizes results of Sarnak and Xue (1991) and Gamburd (2002).