We study the rigidity properties of a class of algebraic Z^3-actions with entropy rank two. For this class, conditions are found which force an invariant measure to be the Haar measure on an affine subset. This is applied to show isomorphism rigidity for such actions, and to provide examples of non-isomorphic Z^3-actions with all their Z^2-sub-actions isomorphic. The proofs use lexicographic half-space entropies and total ergodicity along critical directions.
An algebraic $Z^{d}$-action is an action of $Z^{d}$ on a compact abelian group $X$ by automorphisms of $X$. We prove that for $d \ge 8$, there exist mixing zero entropy algebraic $Z^{d}$-actions which do not exhibit isomorphism rigidity property.
Let $d > 1$, and let $(X,α)$ and $(Y,β)$ be two zero-entropy ${\mathbb{Z}}^d$-actions on compact abelian groups by $d$ commuting automorphisms. We show that if all lower rank subactions of $α$ and $β$ have completely positive entropy, then any measurable equivariant map from $X$ to $Y$ is an affine map. In particular, two such actions are measurably conjugate if and only if they are algebraically conjugate.
We investigate rigidity of measurable structure for higher rank abelian algebraic actions. In particular, we show that ergodic measures for these actions fiber over a 0 entropy measure with Haar measures along the leaves. We deduce various rigidity theorems for isomorphisms and joinings as corollaries.
In this paper, we show local smooth rigidity for higher rank ergodic nilpotent action by toral automorphisms and prove the existence of such action on any torus TN for any even N ? 6. We also give examples of smooth rigidity of actions having rank-one factors. The method is a generalization of the KAM (Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser) iterative scheme.
We show that all $C^\infty$ Anosov $Z^r$-actions on tori and nilmanifolds without rank-one factor actions are, up to $C^\infty$ conjugacy, actions by automorphisms.
We extend the recent progress on the cocycle rigidity of partially hyperbolic homogeneous abelian actions to the setting with rank 1 factors in the universal cover. The method of proof relies on the periodic cycle functional and analysis of the cycle structure, but uses a new argument to give vanishing.
We consider the problems of measurable isomorphisms and joinings, measurable centralizers and quotients for certain classes of ergodic group actions on infinite measure spaces. Our main focus is on systems of algebraic origin: actions of lattices and other discrete subgroups on homogeneous spaces G/H where H is a sufficiently rich unimodular subgroup in a semi-simple group G. We also consider actions of discrete subgroups of isometries Isom(X) of a pinched negative curvature space X, acting on the space of horospheres Hor(X). For such systems we prove that the only measurable isomorphisms, joi…
We show that ergodic affine abelian discrete actions on the torus, that have a rank-one factor in their linear part, are locally rigid in a KAM sense if and only if the rank one factor is trivial and the action is higher-rank transversally to this factor. Since it has been proved by Damjanovic and Katok that affine actions with higher-rank linear part are locally rigid, our result completes the local rigidity picture for affine actions on the torus.
We study smooth factors of the standard actions of lattices in higher rank semisimple Lie groups on flag manifolds. Under a mild condition on existence of a single differentiable sink, we show that these factors are $C^{\infty}$-conjugate to the standard actions on flag manifolds.
We prove absolute continuity of "high entropy" hyperbolic invariant measures for smooth actions of higher rank abelian groups assuming that there are no proportional Lyapunov exponents. For actions on tori and infranilmanifolds existence of an absolutely continuous invariant measure of this kind is obtained for actions whose elements are homotopic to those of an action by hyperbolic automorphisms with no multiple or proportional Lyapunov exponents. In the latter case a form of rigidity is proved for certain natural classes of cocycles over the action.
One can describe isomorphism of two compact hyperbolic Riemann surfaces of the same genus by a measure-theoretic property: a chosen isomorphism of their fundamental groups corresponds to a homeomorphism on the boundary of the Poincaré disc that is absolutely continuous for Lebesgue measure if and only if the surfaces are isomorphic. In this paper, we find the corresponding statement for Mumford curves, a nonarchimedean analog of Riemann surfaces. In this case, the mere absolute continuity of the boundary map (for Schottky uniformization and the corresponding Patterson-Sullivan measure) only im…
We show local and cocycle rigidity for $\R^k \times \Z^l$ partially hyperbolic translation actions on homogeneous spaces $\mc G/ Λ$. We consider a large class of actions whose geometric properties are more complicated than previously treated cases. It is also the first time that partially hyperbolic twisted symmetric space examples have been treated in the literature. The main new ingredient in the proof is a combination of geometric method and the theory of central extensions.
We study the rigidity in the sense of Zimmer for higher rank lattice actions on dendrites and show that: (1) if $Γ$ is a higher rank lattice and $X$ is a nondegenerate dendrite with no infinite order points, then any action of $Γ$ on $X$ cannot be almost free; (2) if $Γ$ is further a finite index subgroup of $SL_n(\mathbb Z)$ with $n\geq 3$, then every action of $Γ$ on $X$ has a nontrivial almost finite subsystem. During the proof, we get a new characterization of the left-orderability of a finitely generated group through its actions on dendrites.
We classify locally finite joinings with respect to the Burger-Roblin measure for the action of a horospherical subgroup $U$ on $Γ\backslash G$, where $G = \operatorname{SO}(n,1)^\circ$ and $Γ$ is a convex cocompact and Zariski dense subgroup of $G$, or geometrically finite with restrictions on critical exponent and rank of cusps. We also prove in the more general case of $Γ$ geometrically finite and Zariski dense that certain $U$-equivariant set-valued maps are rigid.
A simple proof of the fact that each rank-one infinite measure preserving (i.m.p.) transformation is subsequence weakly rationally ergodic is found. Some classes of funny rank-one i.m.p. actions of Abelian groups are shown to be subsequence weakly rationally ergodic. A constructive definition of finite funny rank for actions of arbitrary infinite countable groups is given. It is shown that the ergodic i.m.p. transformations of balanced finite funny rank are subsequence weakly rationally ergodic. It is shown that the ergodic probability preserving transformations of exact finite rank, the ergod…
In this article we prove global rigidity results for hyperbolic actions of higher-rank lattices. Suppose $Γ$ is a lattice in semisimple Lie group, all of whose factors have rank $2$ or higher. Let $α$ be a smooth $Γ$-action on a compact nilmanifold $M$ that lifts to an action on the universal cover. If the linear data $ρ$ of $α$ contains a hyperbolic element, then there is a continuous semiconjugacy intertwining the actions of $α$ and $ρ$, on a finite-index subgroup of $Γ$. If $α$ is a $C^\infty$ action and contains an Anosov element, then the semiconjugacy is a $C^\infty$ conjugacy. As a coro…
Let $Γ$ be a weakly irreducible higher rank lattice. In this paper, we will prove various rigidity results for the $Γ$-action following a philosophy of the Zimmer program. We provide new rigidity results including local and global rigidity of the $Γ$-action when $Γ$ does not have Property (T). The new ingredient is a dynamical cocycle super-rigidity theorem. It can be thought of as the generalization of Zimmer's cocycle super-rigidity theorem since it provides almost the same consequences dynamically and algebraically. This allows us to derive various our rigidity results using dynamical super…
We generalize the higher rank rigidity theorem to a class of Finsler spaces, i.e. Berwald spaces. More precisely, we prove that a complete connected Berwald space of finite volume and bounded nonpositive flag curvature with rank at least $2$ whose universal cover is irreducible, is a locally symmetric space or a locally Minkowski space.
We introduce and investigate the rigidity property of rank gradient in the case of the group $\mathcal G$ of intermediate growth constructed by the first author. We show that $\mathcal G$ is normally $(f,g)$-RG rigid where $f(n)=\log(n)$ and $g(n) =\log(\log(n)).$
Let $G$ be the group of orientation-preserving isometries of a rank-one symmetric space $X$ of non-compact type. We study local rigidity of certain actions of a solvable subgroup $Γ\subset G$ on the boundary of $X$, which is diffeomorphic to a sphere. When $X$ is a quaternionic hyperbolic space or the Cayley hyperplane, the action we constructed is locally rigid.
Assuming positive entropy we prove a measure rigidity theorem for higher rank actions on tori and solenoids by commuting automorphisms. We also apply this result to obtain a complete classification of disjointness and measurable factors for these actions.
This paper presents a rank rigidity result for negatively curved spaces. Let $M$ be a compact manifold with negative sectional curvature and suppose that along every geodesic in $M$ there is a parallel vector field making curvature $-a^2$ with the geodesic direction. We prove that $M$ has constant curvature equal to $-a^2$ if $M$ is odd dimensional, or if $M$ is even dimensional and has sectional curvature pinched as follows: $-Λ^2 < K < -λ^2$ where $λ/Λ> .93$. When $a$ is extremal, i.e. $-a^2$ is the curvature minimum or maximum for the manifold, this result is analogous to rank rigidity resu…
We consider partially hyperbolic abelian algebraic high-rank actions on compact homogeneous spaces obtained from simple indefinite orthogonal and unitary groups. In the first part of the paper, we show local differentiable rigidity for such actions. The conclusions are based on progress towards computations of the Schur multipliers of these non-split groups, which is the main aim of the second part.
We prove that if a measure distal action $α$ of a countable group $Γ$ is weakly contained in a strongly ergodic probability measure preserving action $β$ of $Γ$, then $α$ is a factor of $β$. In particular, this applies when $α$ is a compact action. As a consequence, we show that the weak equivalence class of any strongly ergodic action completely remembers the weak isomorphism class of the maximal distal factor arising in the Furstenberg-Zimmer Structure Theorem.
This paper presents hyperbolic rank rigidity results for rank 1, nonpositively curved spaces. Let $M$ be a compact, rank 1 manifold with nonpositive sectional curvature and suppose that along every geodesic in $M$ there is a parallel vector field making curvature $-a^2$ with the geodesic direction. We prove that $M$ has constant curvature equal to $-a^2$ if $M$ is odd dimensional, or if $M$ is even dimensional and has sectional curvature pinched as follows: $-Λ^2 < K < -λ^2$ where $λ/Λ> >.93$. When $-a^2$ is the upper curvature bound this gives a shorter proof of the hyperbolic rank rigidity t…
We define the Polish space $\mathcal{R}$ of non-degenerate rank-1 systems. Each non-degenerate rank-1 system can be viewed as a measure-preserving transformation of an atomless, $σ$-finite measure space and as a homeomorphism of a Cantor space. We completely characterize when two non-degenerate rank-1 systems are topologically isomorphic. We also analyze the complexity of the topological isomorphism relation on $\mathcal{R}$, showing that it is $F_σ$ as a subset of $\mathcal{R} \times \mathcal{R}$ and bi-reducible to $E_0$. We also explicitly describe when a non-degenerate rank-1 system is top…
Let $J$ be a semisimple Lie group with all simple factors of real rank at least two. Let $Γ<J$ be a lattice. We prove a very general local rigidity result about actions of $J$ or $Γ$. This shows that almost all so-called "standard actions" are locally rigid. As a special case, we see that any action of $Γ$ by toral automorphisms is locally rigid. More generally, given a manifold $M$ on which $Γ$ acts isometrically and a torus $\Ta^n$ on which it acts by automorphisms, we show that the diagonal action on $\Ta^n{\times}M$ is locally rigid. This paper is the culmination of a series of papers and …
We prove global rigidity results for some linear abelian actions on tori. The type of actions we deal with includes in particular maximal rank semisimple actions on $\T^N$.
We study the generalizations of Jonathan King's rank-one theorems (Weak-Closure Theorem and rigidity of factors) to the case of rank-one R-actions (flows) and rank-one Z^n-actions. We prove that these results remain valid in the case of rank-one flows. In the case of rank-one Z^n actions, where counterexamples have already been given, we prove partial Weak-Closure Theorem and partial rigidity of factors.
We prove that any smooth volume-preserving action of a lattice $Γ$ in $\textrm{SL}(n,\mathbb{R})$, $n\ge 3$, on a closed $n$-manifold which possesses one element that admits a dominated splitting should be standard. In other words, the manifold is the $n$-flat torus and the action is smoothly conjugate to an affine action. Note that an Anosov diffeomorphism, or more generally, a partial hyperbolic diffeomorphism admits a dominated splitting. We have a topological global rigidity when $α$ is $C^{1}$. Similar theorems hold for an action of a lattice in $\textrm{Sp}(2n,\mathbb{R})$ with $n\ge 2$ …
Let BS(n_1,m_1) $\curvearrowright$ X_1 and BS(n_2,m_2) $\curvearrowright$ X_2 be two ergodic essentially free probability measure preserving actions of nonamenable Baumslag-Solitar groups whose canonical almost normal abelian subgroups act aperiodically. We prove that an isomorphism between the corresponding crossed product II_1 factors forces BS(n_1,m_1) $\cong$ BS(n_2,m_2) when |n_1| $\neq$ |m_1| and BS(n_1,m_1) $\cong$ BS(n_2,$\pm$m_2) when |n_1| = |m_1|. This improves an orbit equivalence rigidity result obtained by Houdayer and Raum.
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 prove the locally differentiable rigidity of generic partially hyperbolic abelian algebraic high-rank actions on compact homogeneous spaces obtained from split symplectic Lie groups. We also gave a non-generic action rigidity example on compact homogeneous spaces obtained from SL(2n,R) or SL(2n,C). The conclusions are based on geometric Katok-Damjanovic way and progress towards computations of the generating relations in these groups.
This belongs to a series of papers motivated by Ballmann's Higher Rank Rigidity Conjecture. We prove the following. Let $X$ be a CAT(0) space with a geometric group action. Suppose that every geodesic in $X$ lies in an $n$-flat, $n\geq 2$. If $X$ contains a periodic $n$-flat which does not bound a flat $(n+1)$-half-space, then $X$ is a Riemannian symmetric space, a Euclidean building or non-trivially splits as a metric product. This generalizes the Higher Rank Rigidity Theorem for Hadamard manifolds with geometric group actions.
