Suborbits and group extensions of flows

Given a pair of an ergodic measured discrete equivalence relationR and a subrelationS ⊂R of finite index, a classification of the inclusion up to orbit equivalence will be discussed. In case of amenable and type III₀ relations, the orbit equivalence classes of inclusions will be completely classified in terms of a collection of a subgroupH and a normal subgroupG ₀ of a finite groupG and an ergodic group (G/G ₀) extension of a nonsingular flow. This is a generalization of Krieger’s theorem by which orbit equivalence classes of single relations were classified. Due to this result, essential type III inclusions will be made clear. Supported by the Japan Ministry of Education, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research No. (C)07640223. An erratum to this article is available at .