Virtual homology of limit groups and profinite rigidity of direct products

We show that the virtual second Betti number of a finitely generated, residually free group $G$ is finite if and only if $G$ is either free, free abelian or the fundamental group of a closed surface. We also prove a similar statement in higher dimensions. We then develop techniques involving rank gradients of pro-$p$ groups, which allow us to recognise direct product decompositions. Combining these ideas, we show that direct products of free and surface groups are profinitely rigid among finitely presented, residually free groups, partially resolving a conjecture of Bridson’s. Other corollaries that we obtain include a confirmation of Mel’nikov’s surface group conjecture in the residually free case, and a description of closed aspherical manifolds of dimension at least $5$ with a residually free fundamental group.