The $f$-invariant is an isomorphism invariant of free-group measure-preserving actions introduced by Lewis Bowen in [arXiv:0802.4294], where it was used to show that two finite-entropy Bernoulli shifts over a finitely generated free group can be isomorphic only if their base measures have the same Shannon entropy. In [arXiv:0902.0174] Bowen showed that the $f$-invariant is a variant of sofic entropy; in particular it is the exponential growth rate of the expected number of good models over a uniform random homomorphism.
In this paper we present an analogous formula for the relative $f$-invariant and use it to prove a formula for the exponential growth rate of the expected number of good models over a random sofic approximation which is a type of stochastic block model.
Let $G$ be a countable discrete sofic group. We define a concept of uniform mixing for measure-preserving $G$-actions and show that it implies completely positive sofic entropy. When $G$ contains an element of infinite order, we use this to produce an uncountable family of pairwise nonisomorphic $G$-actions with completely positive sofic entropy. None of our examples is a factor of a Bernoulli shift.
In previous work, I introduced a measure-conjugacy invariant for sofic group actions called sofic entropy. Here it is proven that the sofic entropy of an amenable group action equals its classical entropy. The proof uses a new measure-conjugacy invariant called upper-sofic entropy and a theorem of Rudolph and Weiss for the entropy of orbit-equivalent actions relative to the orbit change $σ$-algebra.
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…
In this work we study the entropies of subsystems of shifts of finite type (SFTs) and sofic shifts on countable amenable groups. We prove that for any countable amenable group $G$, if $X$ is a $G$-SFT with positive topological entropy $h(X) > 0$, then the entropies of the SFT subsystems of $X$ are dense in the interval $[0, h(X)]$. In fact, we prove a "relative" version of the same result: if $X$ is a $G$-SFT and $Y \subset X$ is a subshift such that $h(Y) < h(X)$, then the entropies of the SFTs $Z$ for which $Y \subset Z \subset X$ are dense in $[h(Y), h(X)]$. We also establish analogous resu…
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 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…
Let $G$ be a sofic group, and let $Σ= (σ_n)_{n\geq 1}$ be a sofic approximation to it. For a probability-preserving $G$-system, a variant of the sofic entropy relative to $Σ$ has recently been defined in terms of sequences of measures on its model spaces that `converge' to the system in a certain sense. Here we prove that, in order to study this notion, one may restrict attention to those sequences that have the asymptotic equipartition property. This may be seen as a relative of the Shannon--McMillan theorem in the sofic setting. We also give some first applications of this result, including …
Given a factor code $π$ from a shift of finite type $X$ onto a sofic shift $Y$, an ergodic measure $ν$ on $Y$, and a function $V$ on $X$ with summable variation, we prove an invariant upper bound on the number of ergodic measures on $X$ which project to $ν$ and maximize $h(μ) + \int V dμ$ among all measures in the fiber $π^{-1}(ν)$. If $ν$ is fully supported, this bound is the class degree of $π$. This generalizes a previous result for the special case of $V=0$.
Previous work introduced two measure-conjugacy invariants: the $f$-invariant (for actions of free groups) and $Σ$-entropy (for actions of sofic groups). The purpose of this paper is to show that the $f$-invariant is a special case of $Σ$-entropy. There are two applications: the $f$-invariant is invariant under group automorphisms and there is a uniform lower bound on the $f$-invariant of a factor in terms of the original system.
Given a factor code $π$ from a one-dimensional shift of finite type $X$ onto an irreducible sofic shift $Y$, if $π$ is finite-to-one there is an invariant called the degree of $π$ which is defined the number of preimages of a typical point in $Y$. We generalize the notion of the degree to the class degree which is defined for any factor code on a one-dimensional shift of finite type. Given an ergodic measure $ν$ on $Y$, we find an invariant upper bound on the number of ergodic measures on $X$ which project to $ν$ and have maximal entropy among all measures in the fibre $π^{-1}\{ν\}$. We show t…
We study uniformly recurrent subgroups (URS) introduced by Glasner and Weiss \cite{GW}. Answering their query we show that any URS $Z$ of a finitely generated group is the stability system of a minimal $Z$-proper action. We also show that for any sofic $URS$ $Z$ there is a $Z$-proper action admitting an invariant measure. We prove that for a $URS$ $Z$ all $Z$-proper actions admits an invariant measure if and only if $Z$ is coamenable. In the second part of the paper we study the separable $\C^*$-algebras associated to URS's. We prove that if an URS is generic then its $\C^*$-algebra is simple.…
In this article, we continue the structural study of factor maps betweeen symbolic dynamical systems and the relative thermodynamic formalism. Here, one is studying a factor map from a shift of finite type $X$ (equipped with a potential function) to a sofic shift $Z$, equipped with a shift-invariant measure $ν$. We study relative equilibrium states, that is shift-invariant measures on $X$ that push forward under the factor map to $ν$ which maximize the relative pressure: the relative entropy plus the integral of $ϕ$. In the non-relative case (where $Z$ is the one point shift and the factor map…
Let $G$ be a countable infinite discrete amenable group.It should be noted that a $G$-system $(X,G)$ naturally induces a $G$-system $(\mathcal{M}(X),G)$, where $\mathcal{M}(X)$ denotes the space of Borel probability measures on the compact metric space $X$ endowed with the weak*-topology. A factor map $π\colon (X,G)\to(Y,G)$ between two $G$-systems induces a factor map $\widetildeπ\colon(\mathcal{M}(X),G)\to(\mathcal{M}(Y),G)$. It turns out that $\widetildeπ$ is open if and only if $π$ is open. When $Y$ is fully supported, it is shown that $π$ has relative uniformly positive entropy if and onl…
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…
