The notion of sofic equivalence relation was introduced by Gabor Elek and Gabor Lippner. Their technics employ some graph theory. Here we define this notion in a more operator algebraic context, starting from Connes' embedding problem, and prove the equivalence of this two definitions. We introduce a notion of sofic action for an arbitrary group and prove that amalgamated product of sofic actions over amenable groups is again sofic. We also prove that amalgamated product of sofic groups over an amenable subgroup is again sofic.
We present an elementary description of sofic equivalence relations, as well as some permanence properties for soficity. We answer a question by Conley, Kechris and Tucker-Drob of determining soficity in terms of the full group for aperiodic relations.
Given an ergodic probability measure preserving dynamical system $\G\acts (X,μ)$, where $\G$ is a finitely generated countable group, we show that the asymptotic growth of the number of finite models for the dynamics, in the sense of sofic approximations, is an invariant of orbit equivalence. We then prove an additivity formula for free products with amenable (possibly trivial) amalgamation. In particular, we obtain purely combinatorial proofs of several results in orbit equivalence theory.
We prove that Connes' Embedding Conjecture holds for the von Neumann algebras of sofic groups, that is sofic groups are hyperlinear. Hence we provide some new examples of hyperlinearity. We also show that the Determinant Conjecture holds for sofic groups as well. We introduce the notion of essentially free actions and amenable actions and study their properties.
Recently Lewis Bowen introduced a notion of entropy for measure-preserving actions of a countable sofic group on a standard probability space admitting a generating partition with finite entropy. By applying an operator algebra perspective we develop a more general approach to sofic entropy which produces both measure and topological dynamical invariants, and we establish the variational principle in this context. In the case of residually finite groups we use the variational principle to compute the topological entropy of principal algebraic actions whose defining group ring element is invert…
Associated to any orthogonal representation of a countable discrete group is an probability measure-preserving action called the Gaussian action. Using the Polish model formalism we developed before, we compute the entropy (in the sense of Bowen, Kerr-Li) of Gaussian actions when the group is sofic. Computations of entropy for Gaussian actions has only been done when the acting group is abelian and thus our results are new even in the amenable case. Fundamental to our approach are methods of noncommutative harmonic analysis and $C^{*}$-algebras which replace the Fourier analysis used in the ab…
In previous work, we defined extended versions of von Neumann dimension for Banach space representations of sofic groups. The main application was a definition of l^{p}-dimension and, using this, a proof that the actions of a countable discrete group G on l^{p}(G)^{oplus n} are pairwise non-isomorphic. We answer most of the Conjectures stated at the end of the previous paper "An l^{p}-Version of von Neumann Dimension for Banach Space Representation of Sofic Groups." Tackling the case of finte-dimensional representations involved passing to equivalence relations. This is part of current researc…
We relate Fuglede-Kadison determinants to entropy of algebraic actions of sofic groups in essentially complete generality. This generalizes recent results of Hanfeng Li and Andreas Thom from the amenable case to the sofic case, as well as results of David Kerr, Hanfeng Li, and Lewis Bowen in the residually finite case. Moreover, the proof given is the first calculation of entropy of algebraic actions to avoid a nontrivial determinant approximation. We apply our results to a problem of Christopher Deninger, generalizing results of Hanfeng Li and David Kerr. Finally, we show that in many cases, …
Rigid actions have zero Rokhlin entropy and nonpositive sofic entropy. Because rigidity is a stable orbit-equivalence invariant, this provides the first example of an essentially free, ergodic, probability-measure-preserving action of the free group that has nonpositive sofic entropy and any essentially free action stably-orbit-equivalent to it also has nonpositive sofic entropy.
Recently Bingbing Liang and Hanfeng Li computed the mean dimension and metric mean dimension for algebraic actions of amenable groups. We show how to extend their computation of metric mean dimension to the case of sofic groups, provided that the dual module is finitely generated. Additionally, we show that when the dual module is finitely presented that the mean dimension is the von Neumann rank. The proof also goes through introducing \ell^{p}-analogues of metric mean dimension, which may be seen as an obstruction to the equality of mean dimension and metric mean dimension.
For actions of a sofic group on probability spaces, the entropy has been defined by Bowen, with an extension by Kerr-Li. In particular, when the action is by homeomorphisms of a compact space preserving a given measure, Kerr-Li show one can compute the measure-theoretic entropy in a manner which uses the topology of the space. We show how to compute the entropy of a an action of homeomorphisms of a Polish space preserving a given measure, also in a manner which uses the topology of the space. We give applications to spectral properties of actions with positive entropy, as well as for actions o…
We continue our study of the outer Pinsker factor for probability measure-preserving actions of sofic groups. Using the notion of doubly quenched convergence developed by Austin, we prove that in many cases the outer Pinsker factor of a product action is the product of the outer Pinsker factors. Our results are parallel to those of Seward for Rohklin entropy. We use these Pinsker products formulas to show that for many actions of a sofic group G on X where X is a compact group and the action is by automorphism, the (measurable) outer Pinsker factor of the action of G on X is given as a quotien…
We show that, for countable sofic groups, a Bernoulli action with infinite entropy base has infinite entropy with respect to every sofic approximation sequence. This builds on the work of Lewis Bowen in the case of finite entropy base and completes the computation of measure entropy for Bernoulli actions over countable sofic groups. One consequence is that such a Bernoulli action fails to have a generating countable partition with finite entropy if the base has infinite entropy, which in the amenable case is well known and in the case that the acting group contains the free group on two genera…
In a previous paper the authors developed an operator-algebraic approach to Lewis Bowen's sofic measure entropy that yields invariants for actions of countable sofic groups by homeomorphisms on a compact metrizable space and by measure-preserving transformations on a standard probability space. We show here that these measure and topological entropy invariants both coincide with their classical counterparts when the acting group is amenable.
In our previous paper, "l^{p}-Version of von Neumann Dimension for Banach Space Representations of Sofic Groups," we define an extended version of von Neumann dimension for actions of a sofic group on a Banach space. This dimension was studied especially for the translation action of G on l^{p}(G), as well as the multiplication on the non-commutative L^{p} space associated with the group von Neumann algebra. We discuss how one can similarly define an extended dimension for representations of an equivalence relation. We also define an analogue of l^{2}-Betti numbers for equivalence relations in…
Motivated by our previous results, we investigate structural properties of probability measure-preserving actions of sofic groups relative to their Pinsker factor. We also consider the same properties relative to the Outer Pinsker factor, which is another generalization of the Pinsker factor in the nonamenable case. The Outer Pinsker factor is motivated by extension entropy for extensions, which fixes some of the "pathological" behavior of sofic entropy: namely increase of entropy under factor maps. We show that an arbitrary probability measure-preserving action of a sofic group is mixing rela…
We show that free products of sofic groups with amalgamation over monotileably amenable subgroups are sofic. Consequently, so are HNN extensions of sofic groups relative to homomorphisms of monotileably amenable subgroups. We also show that families of independent uniformly distributed permutation matrices and certain families of non-random permutation matrices (essentially, those coming from quasi--actions of a sofic group) are asymptotically *-free as the matrix size grows without bound.
We prove a formula for the sofic entropy of expansive principal algebraic actions of residually finite groups, extending recent work of Deninger and Schmidt.
We continue our study of when topological and measure-theoretic entropy agree for algebraic action of sofic groups. Specifically, we provide a new abstract method to prove that an algebraic action is strongly sofic. The method is based on passing to a "limiting object" for sequences of measures which are asymptotically supported on topological microstates. This limiting object has a natural poset structure that we are able to exploit to prove a max-min principle: if the sofic approximation has ergodic centralizer, then the largest subgroup on which the action is a local weak$^{*}$-limit of mea…
We consider several weaker versions of the notion of conjugacy and orbit equivalence of measure preserving actions of countable groups on probability spaces, involving equivalence of the ultrapower actions and asymptotic intertwining conditions. We compare them with the other existing equivalence relations between group actions, and study the usual type of rigidity questions around these new concepts (superrigidity, calculation of invariants, etc).
We introduce a notion of uniformly continuous orbit equivalence as a subequivalence relation of continuous orbit equivalence of one-sided topological Markov shifts. It is described in terms of gauge actions on the associated Cuntz-Krieger algebras and continuous full groups of the Markov shifts.
We consider a class of proper actions of locally compact groups on imprimitivity bimodules over C*-algebras which behave like the proper actions on C*-algebras introduced by Rieffel in 1988. We prove that every such action gives rise to a Morita equivalence between a crossed product and a generalized fixed-point algebra, and in doing so make several innovations which improve the applicability of Rieffel's theory. We then show how our construction can be used to obtain canonical tensor-product decompositions of important Morita equivalences. Our results show, for example, that the different pro…
We will study torus actions on Cuntz--Krieger algebras trivially acting on its canonical maximal abelian $C^*$-subalgebras from the view points of continuous orbit equivalence of one-sided topological Markov shifts and flow equivalence of two-sided topological Markov shifts.
In this paper, we consider semigroup actions of discrete countable semigroups on compact spaces by surjective local homeomorphisms. We introduce notions of continuous one-sided orbit equivalence and continuous orbit equivalence for semigroup actions, and characterize them in terms of the corresponding semi-groupoids and transformation groupoids respectively. Finally, we consider the case of semigroup actions by homeomorphisms and relate continuous orbit equivalence of semigroup actions to that of group actions.
We prove that if $G$ is a countable discrete group with property (T) over an infinite subgroup $H<G$ which contains an infinite Abelian subgroup or is normal, then $G$ has continuum many orbit inequivalent measure preserving a.e. free ergodic actions on a standard Borel probability space. Further, we obtain that the measure preserving a.e. free ergodic actions of such a $G$ cannot be classified up to orbit equivalence be a reasonable assignment of countable structures as complete invariants. We also obtain a strengthening and a new proof of a non-classification result of Foreman and Weiss for …
We study the classification of group actions on C*-algebras up to equivariant KK-equivalence. We show that any group action is equivariantly KK-equivalent to an action on a simple, purely infinite C*-algebra. We show that a conjecture of Izumi is equivalent to an equivalence between cocycle conjugacy and equivariant KK-equivalence for actions of torsion-free amenable groups on Kirchberg algebras. Let G be a cyclic group of prime order. We describe its actions up to equivariant KK-equivalence, based on previous work by Manuel Köhler. In particular, we classify actions of G on stabilised Cuntz a…
Drimbe and Vaes proved an orbit equivalence superrigidity theorem for left-right wreath product actions in the measurable setting. We establish the counterpart result in the topological setting for continuous orbit equivalence. This gives us minimal, topologically free actions that are continuous orbit equivalence superrigid. One main ingredient for the proof is to show continuous cocycle superrigidity for certain generalized full shifts, extending our previous result with Chung.
We introduce notions of continuous orbit equivalence and strong (respective, weak) continuous orbit equivalence for automorphism systems of étale equivalence relations, and characterize them in terms of the semi-direct product groupoids, as well as their reduced groupoid $C^*$-algebras and the associated $C^*$-automorphism systems of group actions or coactions on them. In particular, we study topological rigidity of expansive automorphism actions on compact (connected) metrizable groups
Suppose that a locally compact group $G$ acts freely and properly on the right of a locally compact space $T$. Rieffel proved that if $α$ is an action of $G$ on a $C^*$-algebra $A$ and there is an equivariant embedding of $C_0(T)$ in $M(A)$, then the action $α$ of $G$ on $A$ is proper, and the crossed product $A\rtimes_{α,r}G$ is Morita equivalent to a generalised fixed-point algebra $\Fix(A,α)$ in $M(A)^α$. We show that the assignment $(A,α)\mapsto\Fix(A,α)$ extends to a functor $\Fix$ on a category of $C^*$-dynamical systems in which the isomorphisms are Morita equivalences, and that Rieffel…
We prove that the solid ergodicity property is stable with respect to taking coinduction for a fairly large class of coinduced action. More precisely, assume that $Σ<Γ$ are countable groups such that $gΣg^{-1}\cap Σ$ is finite for any $g\inΓ\setminusΣ$. Then any measure preserving action $Σ\curvearrowright X_0$ gives rise to a solidly ergodic equivalence relation if and only if the equivalence relation of the associated coinduced action $Γ\curvearrowright X$ is solidly ergodic. We also obtain orbit equivalence rigidity for such actions by showing that the orbit equivalence relation of a rigid …
We show that every minimal, free action of the group Z^2 on the Cantor set is orbit equivalent to an AF-relation. As a consequence, this extends the classification of minimal systems on the Cantor set up to orbit equivalence to include AF-relations, Z-actions and Z^2-actions.
We take the first steps towards a better understanding of continuous orbit equivalence, i.e., topological orbit equivalence with continuous cocycles. First, we characterise continuous orbit equivalence in terms of isomorphisms of C*-crossed products preserving Cartan subalgebras. This is the topological analogue of the classical result by Singer and Feldman-Moore in the measurable setting. Secondly, we turn to continuous orbit equivalence rigidity, i.e., the question whether for certain classes of topological dynamical systems, continuous orbit equivalence implies conjugacy. We show that this …
We give an elementary proof for Lewis Bowen's theorem saying that two Bernoulli actions of two free groups, each having arbitrary base probability spaces, are stably orbit equivalent. Our methods also show that for all compact groups K and every free product Γof n infinite amenable groups, the factor K^Γ/K of the Bernoulli action of Γon K^Γ by the diagonal action of K, is isomorphic with a Bernoulli action of Γ.
Namely, we prove that if $G$ is a countable, discrete group and $f\in M_{n}(\Z(G))$ is invertible on $\ell^{2}(G)^{\oplus n},$ but $f$ is not invertible in $M_{n}(\Z(G))$, then the measure-preserving action of $G$ on $X_{f}$ equipped with the Haar measure is weakly equivalent to a Bernoulli action. We shall in fact prove this weak equivalence in the case that $f$ has a "formal inverse in $\ell^{2}$".
In a prior paper, the author generalized the classical factor theorem of Sinai to actions of arbitrary countably infinite groups. In the present paper, we use this theorem and the techniques of its proof in order to study connections between positive entropy phenomena and the Koopman representation. Following the line of work initiated by Hayes for sofic entropy, we show in a certain precise manner that all positive entropy must come from portions of the Koopman representation that embed into the left-regular representation. By combining this result with the generalized factor theorem of the p…
Building on work of Popa, Ioana, and Epstein--Törnquist, we show that, for every nonamenable countable discrete group $Γ$, the relations of conjugacy, orbit equivalence, and von Neumann equivalence of free ergodic (or weak mixing) measure preserving actions of $Γ$ on the standard atomless probability space are not Borel, thus answering questions of Kechris. This is an optimal and definitive result, which establishes a neat dichotomy with the amenable case, since any two free ergodic actions of an amenable group on the standard atomless probability space are orbit equivalent by classical result…
We study equivalence relations $\mathcal R(Γ\curvearrowright G)$ that arise from left translation actions of countable groups on their profinite completions. Under the assumption that the action $Γ\curvearrowright G$ is free and has spectral gap, we describe precisely when $\mathcal R(Γ\curvearrowright G)$ is orbit equivalent or Borel reducible to another such equivalence relation $\mathcal R(Λ\curvearrowright H)$. As a consequence, we provide explicit uncountable families of free ergodic probability measure preserving (p.m.p.) profinite actions of $SL_2(\mathbb Z)$ and its non-amenable subgro…
We prove that for any two continuous minimal (topologically free) actions of the infinite dihedral group on an infinite compact Hausdorff space, they are continuously orbit equivalent only if they are conjugate. We also show the above fails if we replace the infinite dihedral group with certain other virtually cyclic groups, e.g. the direct product of the integer group with any non-abelian finite simple group.
We study Popa's notion of rigidity for equivalence relations induced by actions on homogeneous spaces. For any lattices $Γ,Λ$ in a semisimple Lie group $G$ with finite center and no compact factors we prove that the action $Γ\curvearrowright G/Λ$ is rigid. If in addition $G$ has property (T) then we derive that the von Neumann algebra $L^{\infty}(G/Λ)\rtimesΓ$ has property (T). We also show that if the adjoint action of $G$ on the Lie algebra of $G$ - $\{0\}$ is amenable (e.g. if $G=SL_2(\Bbb R)$), then any ergodic subequivalence relation of the orbit equivalence relation of the action $Γ\curv…
