Probability measures on [SIN] groups and some related ideals in group algebras

Given a locally compact group G, let J(G){\cal J}(G) denote the set of closed left ideals in L ¹(G), of the form J _μ = [L¹(G) * (δ _e − μ)]⁻, where μ is a probability measure on G. Let J_d(G)={\cal J}_d(G)= {J_m;m is discrete}\{J_{\mu};\mu\ {\rm is discrete}\} , J_a(G)={J_m;m is absolutely continuous}{\cal J}_a(G)=\{J_{\mu};\mu\ {\rm is absolutely continuous}\} . When G is a second countable [SIN] group, we prove that J(G)=J_d(G){\cal J}(G)={\cal J}_d(G) and that J_a(G){\cal J}_a(G) , being a proper subset of J(G){\cal J}(G) when G is nondiscrete, contains every maximal element of J(G){\cal J}(G) . Some results concerning the ideals J _μ in general locally compact second countable groups are also obtained.     

The asymptotic σ-algebra of a recurrent random walk on a locally compact group

Let μ be a probability measure on a locally compact second countable groupG defining a recurrent (but not necessarily Harris) random walk. Denote byG ^∞ the space of paths and byB ^(a)the asymptotic σ-algebra. Let the starting measure be equivalent to the Haar measure and writeQ for the corresponding Markov measure onG ^∞. We prove thatL ^∞(G^∞, B^(a), Q) is in a canonical way isomorphic toL ^∞(G/N) whereN is the smallest closed normal subgroup ofG such that μ(zN)=1 for somez∈G. The groupG/N is either a finite cyclic group with generatorzN or a compact abelian group having the cyclic group as a dense subgroup. As a corollary we obtain that the set of all φ∈L ¹(G) such that coincides with the kernel of the canonical mapping ofL ¹(G)ontoL ¹(G/N). In particular, when μ is aperiodic, i.e.,G=N, then the random walk is mixing: for every φ∈L ¹(G) with ∝ φ=0.     

On some special measures on βG

LetG be a discrete abelian group,Ĝ the character group ofG, andl ^∞(G)^* the conjugate ofl ^∞(G) equipped with an Arens product. In many cases, we can find unitary functionsf such that χf is almost convergent to zero for all χ∈Ĝ. Some of these functions are then used to produce elements μ∈l ^∞(G)^* such that γμ=0 whenever γ is an annihilator ofC ₀(G). Regarded as Borel measures on βG, these elements satisfyxμ=0 for allx∈βG/G. They belong to the radical ofl ^∞(G)^*, and each of them generates a left ideal ofl ^∞(G)^* that contains no minimal left ideal.     

A poisson formula for solvable Lie groups

Given a probability measure μ on a locally compact second countable groupG the space of bounded μ-harmonic functions can be identified withL ^∞(η, α) where (η, α) is a BorelG-space with a σ-finite quasiinvariant measure α. Our goal is to show that when μ is an arbitrary spread out probability measure on a connected solvable Lie groupG then the μ-boundary (η, α) is a contractive homogeneous space ofG. Our approach is based on a study of a class of strongly approximately transitive (SAT) actions ofG. A BorelG-space η with a σ-finite quasiinvariant measure α is called SAT if it admits a probability measurev≪α, such that for every Borel set A with α(A)≠0 and every ε>0 there existsg∈G with ν(gA)>1−ε. Every μ-boundary is a standard SATG-space. We show that for a connected solvable Lie group every standard SATG-space is transitive, characterize subgroupsH⊆G such that the homogeneous spaceG/H is SAT, and establish that the following conditions are equivalent forG/H: (a)G/H is SAT; (b)G/H is contractive; (c)G/H is an equivariant image of a μ-boundary.     

Homogeneous Riemannian manifolds of positive Ricci curvature

We prove that a homogeneous effective spaceM=G/H, whereG is a connected Lie group andH⊂G is a compact subgroup, admits aG-invariant Riemannian metric of positive Ricci curvature if and only if the spaceM is compact and its fundamental group π₁(M) is finite (in this case any normal metric onG/H is suitable). This is equivalent to the following conditions: the groupG is compact and the largest semisimple subgroupLG⊂G is transitive onG/H. Furthermore, ifG is nonsemisimple, then there exists aG-invariant fibration ofM over an effective homogeneous space of a compact semisimple Lie group with the torus as the fiber. Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 58, No. 3, pp. 334–340, September, 1995.     

On spectral characterizations of amenability

We show that a measuredG-space (X, μ), whereG is a locally compact group, is amenable in the sense of Zimmer if and only if the following two conditions are satisfied: the associated unitary representationπ _X ofG intoL ²(X, μ) is weakly contained into the regular representationλ _G and there exists aG-equivariant norm one projection fromL∞(X×X) ontoL∞(X). We give examples of ergodic discrete group actions which are not amenable, althoughπ _X is weakly contained intoλ _G.     

Dissipation of Convolution Powers in a Metric Group

In contrast to what is known about probability measures on locally compact groups, a metric group G can support a probability measure μ which is not carried on a compact subgroup but for which there exists a compact subset C⊆G such that the sequence μ ⁿ (C) fails to converge to zero as n tends to ∞. A noncompact metric group can also support a probability measure μ such that supp μ=G and the concentration functions of μ do not converge to zero. We derive a number of conditions which guarantee that the concentration functions in a metric group G converge to zero, and obtain a sufficient and necessary condition in order that a probability measure μ on G satisfy lim  _n→∞ μ ⁿ (C)=0 for every compact subset C⊆G. Supported by an NSERC Grant.     

Super Connectivity and Super Edge Connectivity of the Mycielskian of a Graph

Mycielski introduced a new graph transformation μ(G) for graph G, which is called the Mycielskian of G. A graph G is super connected or simply super-κ (resp. super edge connected or super-λ), if every minimum vertex cut (resp. minimum edge cut) isolates a vertex of G. In this paper, we show that for a connected graph G with |V(G)| ≥ 2, μ(G) is super-κ if and only if δ(G) < 2κ(G), and μ(G) is super-λ if and only if G\ncong K₂{G\ncong K_2}.     

A Spectral Gap Property for Random Walks Under Unitary Representations

Let G be a locally compact group and μ a probability measure on G, which is not assumed to be absolutely continuous with respect to Haar measure. Given a unitary representation $\pi ,\mathcal{H}Let G be a locally compact group and μ a probability measure on G, which is not assumed to be absolutely continuous with respect to Haar measure. Given a unitary representation p,H\pi ,\mathcal{H} of G, we study spectral properties of the operator π(μ) acting on H\mathcal{H} Assume that μ is adapted and that the trivial representation 1 _G is not weakly contained in the tensor product p?[`(p)]\pi\otimes \overline\pi We show that π(μ) has a spectral gap, that is, for the spectral radius r_spec(p(m))r_{\rm spec}(\pi(\mu)) of π(μ), we have r_spec(p(m)) < 1.r_{\rm spec}(\pi(\mu))< 1. This provides a common generalization of several previously known results. Another consequence is that, if G has Kazhdan’s Property (T), then r_spec(p(m)) < 1r_{\rm spec}(\pi(\mu))< 1 for every unitary representation π of G without finite dimensional subrepresentations. Moreover, we give new examples of so-called identity excluding groups.     

The structure of injective covers of special modules

In this paper, we prove that the injective cover of theR-moduleE(R/B)/R/B for a prime ideal B ofR is the direct sum of copies ofE(R/B) for prime ideals D ⊃ B, and if B is maximal, the injective cover is a finite sum of copies ofE(R/B). For a finitely generatedR-moduleM withn generators andG an injectiveR-module, we argue that the natural mapG ⁿ →G ⁿ/Hom _R (M, G) is an injective precover if Ext _R ¹ (M, R) = 0, and that the converse holds ifG is an injective cogenerator ofR. Consequently, for a maximal ideal R ofR, depth_R R ≧ 2 if and only if the natural mapE(R/R) →E(R/R)/R/R is an injective cover and depth_R R > 0.     

Amenability of the Second Dual of Hypergroup Algebras

The amenability of the Banach algebra L ¹(G), the measure algebra M(G) and their second duals of a locally compact group have been considered by a number of authors. During these investigations it has been shown that L ¹(G)^** is amenable if and only if G is finite. If LUC (G)^*, the dual of the space of left uniformly continuous functions on G, is amenable, then G is compact and M(G) is amenable. Finally, if M(G)^** is amenable, then G is finite. The aim of this paper is to generalize all of the above results to the locally compact hypergroups.     

Finite quasihypermetric spaces

Let (X, d) be a compact metric space and let (X) denote the space of all finite signed Borel measures on X. Define I: (X) → ℝ by I(μ) = ∫ _X ∫ _X d(x, y)dμ(x)dμ(y), and set M(X) = sup I(μ), where μ ranges over the collection of measures in (X) of total mass 1. The space (X, d) is quasihypermetric if I(μ) ≦ 0 for all measures μ in (X) of total mass 0 and is strictly quasihypermetric if in addition the equality I(μ) = 0 holds amongst measures μ of mass 0 only for the zero measure. This paper explores the constant M(X) and other geometric aspects of X in the case when the space X is finite, focusing first on the significance of the maximal strictly quasihypermetric subspaces of a given finite quasihypermetric space and second on the class of finite metric spaces which are L ¹-embeddable. While most of the results are for finite spaces, several apply also in the general compact case. The analysis builds upon earlier more general work of the authors [11] [13].      

On Compact Graphs

Let G be a finite simple graph with adjacency matrix A, and let P（A） be the convex closure of the set of all permutation matrices commuting with A. G is said to be compact if every doubly stochastic matrix which commutes with A is in P（A）. In this paper, we characterize 3-regular compact graphs and prove that if G is a connected regular compact graph, G - v is also compact, and give a family of almost regular compact connected graphs.     

Gruppi Policiclici Dotati di un Automorfismo Uniforme di Ordinepq

An automorphismϕ of a groupG is said to be uniform il for everyg ∈G there exists anh ∈G such thatG=h ⁻¹ h ^ρ . It is a well-known fact that ifG is finite, an automorphism ofG is uniform if and only if it is fixed-point-free. In [7] Zappa proved that if a polycyclic groupG admits an uniform automorphism of prime orderp thenG is a finite (nilpotent)p′-group. In this paper we continue Zappa’s work considering uniform automorphism of orderpg (p andq distinct prime numbers). In particular we prove that there exists a constantμ (depending only onp andq) such that every torsion-free polycyclic groupG admitting an uniform automorphism of orderpq is nilpotent of class at mostμ. As a consequence we prove that if a polycyclic groupG admits an uniform automorphism of orderpq thenZ _μ (G) has finite index inG.

Al professore Guido Zappa per il suo 90⁰ compleanno     

A characterization of a class of [Z] groups via Korovkin theory

We characterize all the central topological groupsG for which the centreZ(L ¹(G)) of the group algebra admits a finite universal Korovkin set. It is proved thatZ(L ¹(G)) has a finite universal Korovkin set iffĜ is a finite dimensional, separable metric space. This is equivalent to the fact thatG is separable, metrizable andG/K has finite torsion free rank, whereK is a compact open normal subgroup of certain direct summand ofG.     

Relations entre isopérimétrie et trou spectral pour les chaînes de Markov finies

Let G be a finite and connected graph, we will note by l(G) the maximum length of an injective path in G. We will show (by two dictinct proofs, one using sub-trees of G and the other based on multiflows of paths) that sup _{(P,μ)∈?(G)} I(P, μ)/λ(P, μ) = l(G), where the supremum is taken over all Markovian kernels P reversible with respect to a probability μ and whose allowed transitions are given by the edges of G, and where I(P, μ) (respectively λ(P, μ)) is the isoperimetric constant (resp. the spectral gap) associated to the couple (P, μ). Then we will study more precisely the same supremum, but where the probability μ is also fixed. These results give optimal minorations of the spectral gap which are linear with respect to the isoperimetric constant (and not quadratic, as in the Cheeger inequality), and we will give several examples on infinite graphs. Re?u: 12 ao?t 1997 / Version révisée: 9 novembre 1998     

The central limit problem on locally compact groups

It is shown that the limit μ of a commutative infinitesimal triangular system Δ on a totally disconnected locally compact groupG is embeddable in a continuous one-parameter convolution semigroup if either (1)G is a compact extension of a closed solvable normal subgroup or (2)G is discrete and Δ is normal or (3)G is a discrete linear group over a field of characteristic zero. For a special triangular system of convolution powers , the above is shown to hold without any of the conditions (1)–(3). For a general locally compact groupG necessary conditions are obtained for the embeddability of a shift of limit μ of Δ; in particular, the conditions are trivially satisfied whenG is abelian. Also, the embedding of a limit of a symmetric system onG is shown to hold under condition (1) as above.     

Lower bounds for the number of conjugacy classes in finite solvable groups

We prove first that if G is a finite solvable group of derived length d ≥ 2, then k(G) > |G|^1/(2^d−1), where k(G) is the number of conjugacy classes in G. Next, a growth assumption on the sequence [G⁽ⁱ⁾: G⁽ⁱ⁺¹⁾] ₁ ^d−1 , where G⁽ⁱ⁾ is theith derived group, leads to a |G|^1/(2d−1) lower bound for k(G), from which we derive a |G|^c/log ₂log₂|G| lower bound, independent of d(G). Finally, “almost logarithmic” lower bounds are found for solvable groups with a nilpotent maximal subgroup, and for all Frobenius groups, solvable or not.     

Groups with an almost regular involution

An involution j of a group G is said to be almost perfect in G if any two involutions in j^G whose product has infinite order are conjugated by a suitable involution in j^G. Let G contain an almost perfect involution j and |C_G(j)| < ∞. Then the following statements hold: (1) [j,G] is contained in an FC-radical of G, and |G: [j,G]| ⩽ |C_G(j)|; (2) the commutant of an FC-radical of G is finite; (3) FC(G) contains a normal nilpotent class 2 subgroup of finite index in G. __________ Translated from Algebra i Logika, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 360–368, May–June, 2007.