Distortion element in group of diffeomorphisms of the 2-sphere

Abstract

We prove that every distortion element in the group of diffeomorphisms of the 2-sphere which has some recurrent point that is not fixed is an irrational pseudo-rotation. Moreover we prove that the differential of a distortion element in the group of diffeomorphisms of the 2-sphere having at least three fixed points at a fixed point has a unique eigenvalue which is 1.