Let T be a free ergodic measure-preserving action of an abelian group G on (X,mu). The crossed product algebra R_T has two distinguished masas, the image C_T of L^infty(X,mu) and the algebra S_T generated by the image of G. We conjecture that conjugacy of the singular masas S_{T^(1)} and S_{T^(2)} for weakly mixing actions T^(1) and T^(2) of different groups implies that the groups are isomorphic and the actions are conjugate with respect to this isomorphism. Our main result supporting this conjecture is that the conclusion is true under the additional assumption that the isomorphism gamma of R_{T^(1)} onto R_{T^(2)} such that gamma(S_{T^(1)})=S_{T^(2)} has the property that the Cartan subalgebras gamma(C_{T^(1)}) and C_{T^(2)} of R_{T^(2)} are inner conjugate. We discuss a stronger conjecture about the structure of the automorphism group Aut(R_T,S_T), and a weaker one about entropy as a conjugacy invariant. We study also the Pukanszky and some related invariants of S_T, and show that they have a simple interpretation in terms of the spectral theory of the action T. It follows that essentially all values of the Pukanszky invariant are realized by the masas S_T, and there exist non-conjugate singular masas with the same Pukanszky invariant.
In this paper we describe the amalgamated free product of two hyperfinite von Neumann algebras over a finite dimensional subalgebra. In general the free product is a finite direct sum of interpolated free group factors and a hyperfinite von Neumann algebra. We then show that the class of von Neumann algebras of this form is closed under taking amalgamated free products over finite dimensional subalgebras.
We prove that the regular von Neumann subalgebras $B$ of the hyperfinite II_1 factor $R$ satisfying the condition $B'\cap R=Z(B)$ are completely classified (up to conjugacy by an automorphism of $R$) by the associated discrete measured groupoid $G$. We obtain a similar classification result for triple inclusions $A\subset B \subset R$, where $A$ is a Cartan subalgebra in $R$ and the intermediate von Neumann algebra $B$ is regular in $R$. A key step in proving these results is to show the vanishing cohomology for the associated cocycle actions of $G$ on $B$. We in fact prove two very general va…
In this paper we describe the amalgamated free product of finite and semifinite hyperfinite von Neumann algebras over atomic type I subalgebras. To do this we extend the notions of free dimension and standard embeddings used in the related results for finite von Neumann algebras to ones which work better for the semifinite case. We also define classes R3 (of finite von Neumann algebras) and R4 (of semifinite von Neumann algebras) which are closed under such amalgamated free products.
In this paper, we give examples of maximal amenable subalgebras of the free group factor of two generators. More precisely, we consider two copies of the hyperfinite factor $R_i$ of type $\mathrm{II}_1$. From each $R_i$, we take a Haar unitary $u_i$ which generates a Cartan subalgebra of it. We show that the von Neumann subalgebra generated by the self-adjoint operator $u_1+u_1^{-1}+u_2+u_2^{-1}$ is maximal amenable in the free product. This provides infinitely many non-unitary conjugate maximal amenable MASAs.
We construct irreducible hyperfinite subfactors of index 6 with a prescribed fundamental group from a large family containing all countable and many uncountable subgroups of R_+. We also prove that there are unclassifiably many irreducible hyperfinite group-type subfactors of index 6 that all have the same standard invariant. More precisely, we associate such a subfactor to every ergodic measure preserving automorphism of the interval [0,1] and prove that the resulting subfactors are isomorphic if and only if the automorphisms are conjugate.
Let $Γ$ be a countable group and denote by $\Cal S$ the equivalence relation induced by the Bernoulli action $Γ\curvearrowright [0,1]^Γ$, where $[0,1]^Γ$ is endowed with the product Lebesgue measure. We prove that for any subequivalence relation $\Cal R$ of $\Cal S$, there exists a partition $\{X_i\}_{i\geq 0}$ of $[0,1]^Γ$ with $\Cal R$-invariant measurable sets such that $\Cal R_{|X_0}$ is hyperfinite and $\Cal R_{|X_i}$ is strongly ergodic (hence ergodic), for every $i\geq 1$.
We use the free entropy defined by D. Voiculescu to prove that the free group factors can not be decomposed as closed linear spans of noncommutative monomials in elements of nonprime subfactors or abelian $*$-subalgebras, if the degrees of monomials have an upper bound depending on the number of generators. The resulting estimates for the hyperfinite and abelian dimensions of free group factors settle in the affirmative a conjecture of L. Ge and S. Popa (for infinitely many generators).
We investigate Gaussian actions through the study of their crossed-product von Neumann algebra. The motivational result is Chifan and Ioana's ergodic decomposition theorem for Bernoulli actions (Ergodic subequivalence relations induced by a Bernoulli action, {\it Geometric and Functional Analysis}{\bf 20} (2010), 53-67) that we generalize to Gaussian actions. We also give general structural results that allow us to get a more accurate result at the level of von Neumann algebras. More precisely, for a large class of Gaussian actions $Γ\curvearrowright X$, we show that any subfactor $N$ of $L^\i…
We provide a fairly large class of II$_1$ factors $N$ such that $M=N\bar{\otimes}R$ has a unique McDuff decomposition, up to isomorphism, where $R$ denotes the hyperfinite II$_1$ factor. This class includes all II$_1$ factors $N=L^{\infty}(X)\rtimesΓ$ associated to free ergodic probability measure preserving (p.m.p.) actions $Γ\curvearrowright (X,μ)$ such that either (a) $Γ$ is a free group, $\mathbb F_n$, for some $n\geq 2$, or (b) $Γ$ is a non-inner amenable group and the orbit equivalence relation of the action $Γ\curvearrowright (X,μ)$ satisfies a property introduced in \cite{JS85}. On the…
Let $\Cal S$ be the equivalence relation induced by the action SL$_2(\Bbb Z)\curvearrowright (\Bbb T^2,λ^2)$, where $λ^2$ denotes the Haar measure on the 2-torus, $\Bbb T^2$. We prove that any ergodic subequivalence relation $\Cal R$ of $\Cal S$ is either hyperfinite or rigid in the sense of S. Popa ([Po06]). The proof uses an ergodic-theoretic criterion for rigidity of countable, ergodic, probability measure preserving equivalence relations. Moreover, we give a purely ergodic-theoretic formulation of rigidity for free, ergodic, probability measure preserving actions of countable groups.
We study the complexity of the classification problem for Cartan subalgebras in von Neumann algebras. We construct a large family of II$_1$ factors whose Cartan subalgebras up to unitary conjugacy are not classifiable by countable structures, providing the first such examples. Additionally, we construct examples of II$_1$ factors whose Cartan subalgebras up to conjugacy by an automorphism are not classifiable by countable structures. Finally, we show directly that the Cartan subalgebras of the hyperfinite II$_1$ factor up to unitary conjugacy are not classifiable by countable structures, and d…
We show that a free product of a II_1-factor and a finite von Neumann algebra with amalgamation over a finite dimensional subalgebra is always a II_1-factor, and provide an algorithm for describing it in terms of free products (with amalgamation over the scalars) and compression/dilation. As an application, we show that the class of direct sums of finitely many von Neumann algebras that are interpolated free group factors, hyperfinite II_1-factors, type I_n algebras for n finite, and finite dimensional algebras, is closed under taking free products with amalgamation over finite dimensional sub…
Let A be a maximal abelian self-adjoint subalgebra (masa) in a type II_1 factor M acting via standard representation on L^2(M). The abelian von Neumann algebra A generated by A and JAJ has a type I commutant which contains the projection e_A from L^2(M) onto L^2(A). Then A'(1-e_A) decomposes into a direct sum of type I_n algebras for n in {1,2,...,\infty}, and those n's which occur in the direct sum form a set called the Pukanszky invariant, Puk(A), also denoted Puk_M(A) when the containing factor is ambiguous. In this paper we show that this invariant can take on the values S\cup {\infty} whe…
We study Cartan subalgebras in the context of amalgamated free product II$_1$ factors and obtain several uniqueness and non-existence results. We prove that if $Γ$ belongs to a large class of amalgamated free product groups (which contains the free product of any two infinite groups) then any II$_1$ factor $L^{\infty}(X)\rtimesΓ$ arising from a free ergodic probability measure preserving action of $Γ$ has a unique Cartan subalgebra, up to unitary conjugacy. We also prove that if $\mathcal R=\mathcal R_1*\mathcal R_2$ is the free product of any two non-hyperfinite countable ergodic probability …
An inclusion of von Neumann factors $M \subset \Cal M$ is {\it ergodic} if it satisfies the irreducibility condition $M'\cap \Cal M=\Bbb C$. We investigate the relation between this and several stronger ergodicity properties, such as $R$-{\it ergodicity}, which requires $M$ to admit an embedding of the hyperfinite II$_1$ factor $R\hookrightarrow M$ that's ergodic in $\Cal M$. We prove that if $M$ is {\it continuous} (i.e., non type I) and contains a maximal abelian $^*$-subalgebra of $\Cal M$, then $M\subset \Cal M$ is $R$-ergodic. This shows in particular that any continuous factor contains a…
We establish criteria for turbulence in certain spaces of C*-algebra representations and apply this to the problem of nonclassifiability by countable structures for group actions on a standard atomless probability space (X,μ) and on the hyperfinite II_1 factor R. We also prove that the conjugacy action on the space of free actions of a countably infinite amenable group on R is turbulent, and that the conjugacy action on the space of ergodic measure-preserving flows on (X,μ) is generically turbulent.
A measure-preserving action of a discrete countable group on a standard probability space is called stable if the associated equivalence relation is isomorphic to its direct product with the ergodic hyperfinite equivalence relation of type II_1. We show that any Baumslag-Solitar group has such an ergodic, free and stable action. It follows that any Baumslag-Solitar group is measure equivalent to its direct product with any amenable group. The same property is obtained for the inner amenable groups of Vaes.
We show that the the shift on the reduced C*--algebras of RD--groups, including the free group on infinitely many generators, and the amalgamated free product C*--algebras, enjoys the very strong ergodic property of the convergence to the equilibrium. Namely, the free shift converges, pointwise in the weak topology, to the conditional expectation onto the fixed--point subalgebra. Provided the invariant state is unique, we also show that such an ergodic property cannot be fulfilled by any classical dynamical system, unless it is conjugate to the trivial one--point dynamical system.
We construct ergodic actions of compact quantum groups on C^*-algebras and von Neumann algebras, and exhibit phenomena of such actions that are of a different nature from ergodic actions of compact Lie groups. In particular, we construct: (1). ergodic actions of the compact quantum groups $A_u(Q)$ on the Powers factors; (2). ergodic actions of the compact quantum groups $A_u(n)$ on the hyperfinite II_1 factor; (3). ergodic actions of the compact quantum groups $A_u(Q)$ on the Cuntz algebras; (4). ergodic actions of general compact quantum groups on their homogeneous spaces and an example of a …
Anzai skew-products are shown to be uniquely ergodic with respect to the fixed-point subalgebra if and only if there is a unique conditional expectation onto such a subalgebra which is invariant under the dynamics. For the particular case of skew-products, this solves a question raised by B. Abadie and K. Dykema in the wider context of $C^*$-dynamical systems.
We investigate Cartan subalgebras in nontracial amalgamated free product von Neumann algebras $M_1 \ast_B M_2$ over an amenable von Neumann subalgebra $B$. First, we settle the problem of the absence of Cartan subalgebra in arbitrary free product von Neumann algebras. Namely, we show that any nonamenable free product von Neumann algebra $(M_1, φ_1) \ast (M_2, φ_2)$ with respect to faithful normal states has no Cartan subalgebra. This generalizes the tracial case that was established in \cite{Io12a}. Next, we prove that any countable nonsingular ergodic equivalence relation $\mathcal R$ defined…
A probability-measure-preserving action of a countable group is called stable if its transformation-groupoid absorbs the ergodic hyperfinite equivalence relation of type II_1 under direct product. We show that for a countable group G and its central subgroup C, if G/C has a stable action, then so does G. Combining a previous result of the author, we obtain a characterization of a central extension having a stable action.
In this short note we classify the Cartan subalgebras in all von Neumann algebras associated with graph product groups and their free ergodic measure preserving actions on probability spaces.
We show that the Kadison-Singer problem, asking whether the pure states of the diagonal subalgebra $\ell^\infty\Bbb N\subset \Cal B(\ell^2\Bbb N)$ have unique state extensions to $\Cal B(\ell^2\Bbb N)$, is equivalent to a similar statement in II$_1$ factor framework, concerning the ultrapower inclusion $D^ω\subset R^ω$, where $D$ is the Cartan subalgebra of the hyperfinite II$_1$ factor $R$, and $ω$ is a free ultraflter. While we do not settle the problem in this latter form, we prove that if $A$ is any singular maximal abelian subalgebra of $R$, then the inclusion $A^ω\subset R^ω$ does satisf…
We show that indecomposable weak Kac algebras are free over their Cartan subalgebras and prove a duality theorem for their actions. Using this result, for any biconnected weak Kac algebra we construct a minimal action on the hyperfinite II_1 factor. The corresponding crossed product inclusion of II_1 factors has depth 2 and an integer index. Its first relative commutant is, in general, non-trivial, so we derive some arithmetic properties of weak Kac algebras from considering reduced subfactors.
We study the equivalence relation $R_N$ generated by the (non-free) action of the generalized Thompson group $F_N$ on the unit interval. We show that this relation is a standard, quasipreserving ergodic equivalence relation. Using results of Feldman-Moore, Krieger and Connes we prove that the von Neumann algebra $M(R_N)$ associated to $R_N$ is the hyperfinite type $III_λ$ factor, with $λ=1/N$.
We prove that for any free ergodic nonsingular nonamenable action Γ \actson (X,μ) of all Γ in a large class of groups including all hyperbolic groups, the associated group measure space factor $L^\infty(X) \rtimes Γ$ has L^\infty(X) as its unique Cartan subalgebra, up to unitary conjugacy. This generalizes the probability measure preserving case that was established in [PV12]. We also prove primeness and indecomposability results for such crossed products, for the corresponding orbit equivalence relations and for arbitrary amalgamated free products $M_1 *_B M_2$ over a subalgebra B of type I.
We prove that the normalizer of any diffuse amenable subalgebra of a free group factor $L(\Bbb F_r)$ generates an amenable von Neumann subalgebra. Moreover, any II$_1$ factor of the form $Q \vt L(\Bbb F_r) $, with $Q$ an arbitrary subfactor of a tensor product of free group factors, has no Cartan subalgebras. We also prove that if a free ergodic measure preserving action of a free group $\Bbb F_r$, $2\leq r \leq \infty$, on a probability space $(X,μ)$ is profinite then the group measure space factor $L^\infty(X)\rtimes \Bbb F_r$ has unique Cartan subalgebra, up to unitary conjugacy.
In this paper we consider the question of what abelian groups can arise as the $K$-theory of $\mathrm{C}^*$-algebras arising from minimal dynamical systems. We completely characterize the $K$-theory of the crossed product of a space $X$ with finitely generated $K$-theory by an action of the integers and show that crossed products by a minimal homeomorphisms exhaust the range of these possible $K$-theories. Moreover, we may arrange that the minimal systems involved are uniquely ergodic, so that their $\mathrm{C}^*$-algebras are classified by their Elliott invariants. We also investigate the $K$…
The generating abelian subalgebras arsing from vectors in the ergodic component of Hiai's construction of the q-deformed Araki-Woods von Neumann algebras are quasi-split.
Among the ergodic actions of a compact quantum group $\mathbb{G}$ on possibly non-commutative spaces, those that are {\it embeddable} are the natural analogues of actions of a compact group on its homogeneous spaces. These can be realized as {\it coideal subalgebras} of the function algebra $\mathcal{O}(\mathbb{G})$ attached to the compact quantum group. We classify the embeddable ergodic actions of the compact quantum group $O_{-1}(2)$, basing our analysis on the bijective correspondence between all ergodic actions of the classical group $O(2)$ and those of its quantum twist resulting from th…
We prove the uniqueness of the group measure space Cartan subalgebra in crossed products A \rtimes Γcovering certain cases where Γis an amalgamated free product over a non-amenable subgroup. In combination with Kida's work we deduce that if Σ< SL(3,\Z) denotes the subgroup of matrices g with g_31 = g_32 = 0, then any free ergodic probability measure preserving action of Γ= SL(3,\Z) *_ΣSL(3,\Z) is stably W*-superrigid. In the second part we settle a technical issue about the unitary conjugacy of group measure space Cartan subalgebras.
We investigate the asymptotic structure of (possibly type III) crossed product von Neumann algebras $M = B \rtimes Γ$ arising from arbitrary actions $Γ\curvearrowright B$ of bi-exact discrete groups (e.g. free groups) on amenable von Neumann algebras. We prove a spectral gap rigidity result for the central sequence algebra $N' \cap M^ω$ of any nonamenable von Neumann subalgebra with normal expectation $N \subset M$. We use this result to show that for any strongly ergodic essentially free nonsingular action $Γ\curvearrowright (X, μ)$ of any bi-exact countable discrete group on a standard proba…
We consider amalgamated free product II$_1$ factors $M = M_1 *_B M_2 *_B ...$ and use ``deformation/rigidity'' and ``intertwining'' techniques to prove that any relatively rigid von Neumann subalgebra $Q\subset M$ can be intertwined into one of the $M_i$'s. We apply this to the case $M_i$ are w-rigid II$_1$ factors, with $B$ equal to either $\Bbb C$, to a Cartan subalgebra $A$ in $M_i$, or to a regular hyperfinite II$_1$ subfactor $R$ in $M_i$, to obtain the following type of unique decomposition results, à la Bass-Serre: If $M = (N_1 *_C N_2 *_C ...)^t$, for some $t>0$ and some other similar …
Let X be an infinite compact metric space, α: X \to X a minimal homeomorphism, u the unitary implementing αin the transformation group C*-algebra, and S a class of separable nuclear C*-algebras that contains all unital hereditary C*-subalgebras of C*-algebras in S. Motivated by the success of tracial approximation by finite dimensional C*-algebras as an abstract characterization of classifiable C*-algebras and the idea that classification results for C*-algebras tensored with UHF algebras can be used to derive classification results up to tensoring with the Jiang-Su algebra Z, we prove that th…
We give sufficient conditions, in terms of the existence of unbounded derivations satisfying certain properties, which ensure that a II$_1$ factor $M$ is prime or has at most one Cartan subalgebra. For instance, we prove that if there exists a real closable unbounded densely defined derivation $δ:M\rightarrow L^2(M)\bar{\otimes}L^2(M)$ whose domain contains a non-amenability set, then $M$ is prime. If $δ$ is moreover "algebraic" (i.e. its domain $M_0$ is finitely generated, $δ(M_0)\subset M_0\otimes M_0$ and $δ^*(1\otimes 1)\in M_0$), then we show that $M$ has no Cartan subalgebra. We also giv…
Two classical theorems in matrix theory, due to Schur and Horn, relate the eigenvalues of a self-adjoint matrix to the diagonal entries. These have recently been given a formulation in the setting of operator algebras as the Schur-Horn problem, where matrix algebras and diagonals are replaced respectively by finite factors and maximal abelian self-adjoint subalgebras (masas). There is a special case of the problem, called the carpenter problem, which can be stated as follows: for a masa A in a finite factor M with conditional expectation E_A, can each x in A with 0 <= x <= 1 be expressed as E_…
We prove that any II$_1$ factor $L^{\infty}(X)\rtimesΓ$ arising from a compact, free, ergodic, probability measure preserving action of a countable group $Γ$ with positive first $\ell^2$-Betti number, has a unique group measure space Cartan subalgebra, up to unitary conjugacy.
We prove that every group measure space II$_1$ factor $L^{\infty}(X)\rtimesΓ$ coming from a free ergodic rigid (in the sense of [Po01]) probability measure preserving action of a group $Γ$ with positive first $\ell^2$--Betti number, has a unique group measure space Cartan subalgebra, up to unitary conjugacy. We deduce that many $\Cal H\Cal T$ factors, including the II$_1$ factors associated with the actions $Γ\curvearrowright \Bbb T^2$ and $Γ\curvearrowright$ SL$_2(\Bbb R)$/SL$_2(\Bbb Z)$, where $Γ$ is a non--amenable subgroup of SL$_2(\Bbb Z)$, have a unique group measure space Cartan subalge…
We prove that for a fairly large family of HNN extensions Γ, the group measure space II_1 factor L^\infty(X) \rtimes Γgiven by an arbitrary free ergodic probability measure preserving action of Γ, has a unique group measure space Cartan subalgebra up to unitary conjugacy. We deduce from this new examples of W^*-superrigid group actions, i.e. where the II_1 factor L^\infty(X) \rtimes Γentirely remembers the group action that it was constructed from.
We prove that for any free ergodic probability measure preserving action $Γ\actson (X,μ)$ of a non-elementary hyperbolic group, or a lattice in a rank one simple Lie group, the associated group measure space II_1 factor $L^\infty(X) \rtimes Γ$ has L^\infty(X) as its unique Cartan subalgebra, up to unitary conjugacy.
We prove that for any free ergodic probability measure preserving action \F_n \actson (X,μ) of a free group on n generators \F_n, 2 \leq n \leq \infty, the associated group measure space II_1 factor $L^\infty(X) \rtimes \F_n$ has L^\infty(X) as its unique Cartan subalgebra, up to unitary conjugacy. We deduce that group measure space II_1 factors arising from actions of free groups with different number of generators are never isomorphic. We actually prove unique Cartan decomposition results for II_1 factors arising from arbitrary actions of a rather large family of groups, including all free p…
We introduce a wide class of countable groups, called properly proximal, which contains all non-amenable bi-exact groups, all non-elementary convergence groups, and all lattices in non-compact semi-simple Lie groups, but excludes all inner amenable groups. We show that crossed product II$_1$ factors arising from free ergodic probability measure preserving actions of groups in this class have at most one weakly compact Cartan subalgebra, up to unitary conjugacy. As an application, we obtain the first $W^*$-strong rigidity results for compact actions of $SL_d(\mathbb Z)$ for $d \geq 3$.
Using an approach emerging from the theory of closable derivations on von Neumann algebras, we exhibit a class of groups CR satisfying the following property: given any groups G_1, G_2 in CR, then any free, ergodic, measure preserving action on a probability space G_1 x G_2 on X gives rise to a von Neumann algebra with unique group measure space Cartan subalgebra. Pairing this result with Popa's Orbit Equivalence Superrigidity Theorem we obtain new examples of W*-superrigid actions.
A conjecture of Kadison and Kastler from 1972 asks whether sufficiently close operator algebras in a natural uniform sense must be small unitary perturbations of one another. For $n\geq 3$ and a free ergodic probability measure preserving action of $SL_n(\mathbb Z)$ on a standard nonatomic probability space $(X,μ)$, write $M=((L^\infty(X,μ)\rtimes SL_n(\mathbb Z))\,\overline{\otimes}\, R$, where $R$ is the hyperfinite II$_1$ factor. We show that whenever $M$ is represented as a von Neumann algebra on some Hilbert space $\mathcal H$ and $N\subseteq\mathcal B(\mathcal H)$ is sufficiently close t…
We consider an action of a compact group whose dual is archimedean linearly ordered or a direct product (or sum) of such groups on a von Neumann algebra, M. We define the generalized Hardy subspace of the Hilbert space of a standard representation the algebra, and the Hardy subalgebra of analytic elements of M with respect to the action. We find conditions in order that the Hardy algebra is a hereditarily reflexive algebra of operators. In particular if every non zero spectral subspace, contains a unitary operator, the condition is satisfied and therefore the Hardy algebra is hereditarily refl…
We provide a unified and self-contained treatment of several of the recent uniqueness theorems for the group measure space decomposition of a II_1 factor. We single out a large class of groups Γ, characterized by a one-cohomology property, and prove that for every free ergodic probability measure preserving action of Γthe associated II_1 factor has a unique group measure space Cartan subalgebra up to unitary conjugacy. Our methods follow closely a recent article of Chifan-Peterson, but we replace the usage of Peterson's unbounded derivations by Thomas Sinclair's dilation into a one-parameter g…
Motivated by Popa's seminal work \cite{Po04}, in this paper, we provide a fairly large class of examples of group actions $Γ\curvearrowright X$ satisfying the extended Neshveyev-Størmer rigidity phenomenon \cite{NS03}: whenever $Λ\curvearrowright Y$ is a free ergodic pmp action and there is a $\ast$-isomorphism $Θ:L^\infty(X)\rtimes Γ\rightarrow L^\infty(Y)\rtimes Λ$ such that $Θ(L(Γ))=L(Λ)$ then the actions $Γ\curvearrowright X$ and $Λ\curvearrowright Y$ are conjugate (in a way compatible with $Θ$). We also obtain a complete description of the intermediate subalgebras of all (possibly non-fre…
