We study amenability of affine algebras (based on the notion of almost-invariant finite-dimensional subspace), and apply it to algebras associated with finitely generated groups.
We show that a group G is amenable if and only if its group ring KG is amenable for some (and therefore for any) field K.
This paper continues math.GR/0608302's study of amenability of affine algebras (based on the notion of almost-invariant finite-dimensional subspace), and applies it to graded algebras associated with finitely generated groups. Due to a mistake in Lemma 4.3, the main statements of the present paper should not be considered as proven. The results in Sections 2 and 3 are nevertheless valid.
We first show that co-amenability does not pass to subgroups, answering a question asked by Eymard in 1972. We then address co-amenability for von Neumann algebras, describing notably how it relates to the former.
We present new metric criteria for non-amenability and discuss applications. The main application of the results of this paper is the proof of non-amenability of R.Thompson's group F. This is a continuation of the series of papers on our criteria for non-amenability. The current paper is independent of other papers in the series.
We consider amenability constants of the central Fourier algebra $ZA(G)$ of a finite group $G$. This is a dual object to $ZL^1(G)$ in the sense of hypergroup algebras, and as such shares similar amenability theory. We will provide several classes of groups where $AM(ZA(G)) = AM(ZL^1(G))$, and discuss $AM(ZA(G))$ when $G$ has two conjugacy class sizes. We also produce a new counterexample that shows that unlike $AM(ZL^1(G))$, $AM(ZA(G))$ does not respect quotient groups, however the class of groups that does has $\frac{7}{4}$ as the sharp amenability constant bound.
This article explores the interplay between the finite quotients of finitely generated residually finite groups and the concept of amenability. We construct a finitely generated, residually finite, amenable group $A$ and an uncountable family of finitely generated, residually finite non-amenable groups all of which are profinitely isomorphic to $A$. All of these groups are branch groups. Moreover, picking up Grothendieck's problem, the group $A$ embeds in these groups such that the inclusion induces an isomorphism of profinite completions. In addition, we review the concept of uniform amenabil…
We show that the group of bounded automatic automorphisms of a rooted tree is amenable, which implies amenability of numerous classes of groups generated by finite automata. The proof is based on reducing the problem to showing amenability just of a certain explicit family of groups ("Mother groups") which is done by analyzing the asymptotic properties of random walks on these groups.
Let $A$ be a Banach algebra and $A^{**}$ be the second dual of it. We show that by some new conditions, $A$ is weakly amenable whenever $A^{**}$ is weakly amenable. We will study this problem under generalization, that is, if $(n+2)-th$ dual of $A$, $A^{(n+2)}$, is $T-S-$weakly amenable, then $A^{(n)}$ is $T-S-$weakly amenable where $T$ and $S$ are continuous linear mappings from $A^{(n)}$ into $A^{(n)}$.
By studying the so-called traveling salesman groups, we obtain a new metric criterion for non-amenability. As an application, we give a new and very short proof of non-amenability of free Burnside groups with sufficiently big odd exponent.
Averaging linear functional on the space continuous functions of the group of diffeomorphisms of interval is found. Amenability of several discrete subgroups of the group of diffeomorphisms $\Diff^3([0,1])$ of interval is prove. In particular, a solution of the problem of amenability of the Thompson's group $F$ is given.
Averaging linear functional on the space continuous functions of the group of diffeomorphisms of interval is found. Amenability of several discrete subgroups of the group of diffeomorphisms $\Diff^3([0,1])$ of interval is prove. In particular, a solution of the problem of amenability of the Thompson's group $F$ is given.
The purpose of this expository article is to revisit the notions of amenability and ergodicity, and to point out that they appear for topological groups that are not necessarily locally compact in articles by Bogolyubov (1939), Fomin (1950), Dixmier (1950), and Rickert (1967).
We show that free Burnside groups of sufficiently large odd exponent are non--amenable in a certain strong sense, more precisely, their left regular representations are isolated from the trivial representation uniformly on finite generating sets. This result is applied to the solution of a strong version of the von Neumann -- Day problem concerning amenability of groups without non--abelian free subgroups. As another consequence, we obtain that the above--mentioned groups are of uniform exponential growth.
In this paper we extend the approach of M. Cavaleri to effective amenability to the class of computably enumerable groups, i.e. in particular we do not assume that groups are finitely generated. In the case of computable groups we also study complexity of the set of all effective Følner sequences and effective paradoxical decomposition. In the appendix we attach a version of the paper "On decidability of amenability in computable groups" by K. Duda and A. Ivanov which covers Sections 9 and 10 from the previous version.
We prove that amenability of a discrete group is equivalent to dimension flatness of certain ring inclusions naturally associated with measure preserving actions of the group. This provides a group-measure space theoretic solution to a conjecture of Lück stating that amenability of a group is characterized by dimension flatness of the inclusion of its complex group algebra into the associated von Neumann algebra.
We investigate the notion of Connes-amenability for dual Banach algebras, as introduced by Runde, for bidual algebras and weighted semigroup algebras. We provide some simplifications to the notion of a $σWC$-virtual diagonal, as introduced by Runde, especially in the case of the bidual of an Arens regular Banach algebra. We apply these results to discrete, weighted, weakly cancellative semigroup algebras, showing that these behave in the same way as C$^*$-algebras with regards Connes-amenability of the bidual algebra. We also show that for each one of these cancellative semigroup algebras $l^1…
In this work we introduce and study a new notion of amenability for actions of locally compact groups on $C^*$-algebras. Our definition extends the definition of amenability for actions of discrete groups due to Claire Anantharaman-Delaroche. We show that our definition has several characterizations and permanence properties analogous to those known in the discrete case. For example, for actions on commutative $C^*$-algebras, we show that our notion of amenability is equivalent to measurewise amenability. Combined with a recent result of Alex Bearden and Jason Crann, this also settles a long s…
We investigate correspondences between extreme amenability and amenability of automorphism groups of Fraïssé-Hrushovski generic structures that are obtained from smooth classes, and their Ramsey type properties of their smooth classes, similar to Kechris, Pestov and Todorcevic, and Tatch Moore. In particular, we focus on some Fraïssé-Hrushovski generic structures that are obtained from pre-dimension functions. Using these correspondences, we prove that automorphism groups of ordered Hrushovski generic graphs are not extremely amenable in both cases of collapsed and uncollapsed. Moreover, we pr…
We prove non-amenability of the product replacement graphs Γ_n(G) for uniformly non-amenable groups. We also prove it for Z-large groups, when n is sufficiently large. It follows that Γ_n(G) is non-amenable when n is sufficiently large for hyperbolic groups, linear groups, and elementary amenable groups.
We introduce a relative fixed point property for subgroups of a locally compact group, which we call relative amenability. It is a priori weaker than amenability. We establish equivalent conditions, related among others to a problem studied by Reiter in 1968. We record a solution to Reiter's problem. We study the class X of groups in which relative amenability is equivalent to amenability for all closed subgroups; we prove that X contains all familiar groups. Actually, no group is known to lie outside X. Since relative amenability is closed under Chabauty limits, it follows that any Chabauty l…
In this paper we prove that the Thompson groups $T$ and $V$ are not inner amenable. In particular, their group von Neumann algebras do not have property $Γ$. Moreover, we prove that if the reduced group $C^\ast$-algebra of $T$ is simple, then the Thompson group $F$ is non-amenable. Furthermore, we give a few new equivalent characterizations of amenability of $F$.
We study skew-amenable topological groups, i.e., those admitting a left-invariant mean on the space of bounded real-valued functions left-uniformly continuous in the sense of Bourbaki. We prove characterizations of skew-amenability for topological groups of isometries and automorphisms, clarify the connection with extensive amenability of group actions, establish a Følner-type characterization, and discuss closure properties of the class of skew-amenable topological groups. Moreover, we isolate a dynamical sufficient condition for skew-amenability and provide several concrete variations of thi…
We provide an alternative proof for the extreme amenability of the unitary group of the hyperfinite II${}_1$-factor von Neumann algebra, endowed with the strong operator topology.
We study the action of groups generated by bounded activity automata with infinite alphabets on their orbital Schreier graphs. We introduce an amenability criterion for such groups based on the recurrence of the first level action. This criterion is a natural extension of the result that all groups generated by bounded activity automata with finite alphabets are amenable. Our motivation comes from the investigation of iterated monodromy groups of entire functions.
Let (G,S) be a Coxeter group. We construct a continuation, to the open unit disc, of the unitary representations associated to the positive definite functions g -> r^l(g). (Here 0<r<1, and l denotes the length function with respect to the generating set S.) The constructed representations are uniformly bounded and we prove that this implies the weak amenability of the group G.
We answer an open question of Grigorchuk and Zuk about amenability using random walks. Our results separate the class of amenable groups from the closure of subexponentially growing groups under the operations of group extension and direct limits; these classes are separated even within the realm of finitely presented groups.
The original definition of amenability given by von Neumann in the highly non-constructive terms of means was later recast by Day using approximately invariant probability measures. Moreover, as it was conjectured by Furstenberg and proved by Kaimanovich-Vershik and Rosenblatt, the amenability of a locally compact group is actually equivalent to the existence of a single probability measure on the group with the property that the sequence of its convolution powers is asymptotically invariant. In the present article we extend this characterization of amenability to measured groupoids. It implie…
Let $H$ be a proper subgroup of a discrete group $G$. We introduce a notion of relative inner amenability of $H$ in $G$, we prove some equivalent conditions and provide examples as well as counter-examples. We also discuss the corresponding relative property gamma for pairs of finite factors $N\subset M$ and we deduce from this a characterization of discrete, icc groups which do not have Kazhdan's property (T).
We prove that hyperbolic groups are weakly amenable. This partially extends the result of Cowling and Haagerup showing that lattices in simple Lie groups of real rank one are weakly amenable. We take a combinatorial approach in the spirit of Haagerup and prove that for the word length metric d on a hyperbolic group, the Schur multipliers associated with r^d have uniformly bounded norms for 0<r<1. We then combine this with a Bozejko-Picardello type inequality to obtain weak amenability.
Following an approach of Ozawa, we show that several semidirect products are not weakly amenable. As a consequence, we are able to characterize the simply connected Lie groups that are weakly amenable.
We consider the universal Grigorchuk 2-group, i.e., the group such that every Grigorchuk 2-group is a quotient. We show that this group has a nice universal representation in the group of all functions f:{0,1,2}^N --> Aut(T_2), where T_2 is a group of automorphism of the binary tree. Finally, we prove that this universal Grigorchuk 2-group is amenable. The proof is an application of the ``Munchhausen trick'' developed by V. Kaimanovich.
We use $\mathrm{C}^{\ast}$-algebra ultrapowers to give a new construction of the Stone-Cech compactification of a separable, locally compact space. We use this construction to give a new proof of the fact that groups that act isometrically, properly, and transitively on trees are boundary amenable.
We completely characterize connected Lie groups all of whose countable subgroups are weakly amenable. We also provide a characterization of connected semisimple Lie groups that are weakly amenable. Finally, we show that a connected Lie group is weakly amenable if the group is weakly amenable as a discrete group.
We show that the universal minimimal proximal flow and the universal minimal strongly proximal flow of a discrete group can be realized as the Stone spaces of translation invariant Boolean algebras of subsets of the group satisfying a higher order notion of syndeticity. We establish algebraic, combinatorial and topological dynamical characterizations of these subsets that we use to obtain new necessary and sufficient conditions for strong amenability and amenability. We also characterize dense orbit sets, answering a question of Glasner, Tsankov, Weiss and Zucker.
We characterise amenability of a countable group in terms of the spectral radius of the Perron-Frobenius operator associated to a group extension of a countable Markov shift and a Hölder continuous potential. This extends a result of Day for random walks and recent work of Stadlbauer for dynamical systems. Moreover, we show that, if the potential satisfies a symmetry condition with respect to the group extension, then the logarithm of the spectral radius of the Perron-Frobenius operator is given by the Gurevic pressure of the potential.
We show that, if $G$ is an amenable group and $H$ is a hyperbolic group, then the free product $G\ast H$ is weakly amenable. A key ingredient in the proof is the fact that $G\ast H$ is orbit equivalent to $\mathbb{Z}\ast H$.