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We study graph products of groups from the viewpoint of measured group theory. We first establish a full measure equivalence classification of graph products of countably infinite groups over finite simple graphs with no transvection and no partial conjugation. This finds applications to their classification up to commensurability, and up to isomorphism, and to the study of their automorphism groups. We also derive structural properties of von Neumann algebras associated to probability measure-preserving actions of graph products. Variations of the measure equivalence classification statement are given with fewer assumptions on the defining graphs. We also provide a quantified version of our measure equivalence classification theorem, that keeps track of the integrability of associated cocycles. As an application, we solve an inverse problem in quantitative orbit equivalence for a large family of right-angled Artin groups. We then establish several rigidity theorems. First, in the spirit of work of Monod-Shalom, we achieve rigidity in orbit equivalence for probability measure-preserving actions of graph products, upon imposing extra ergodicity assumptions. Second, we establish a sufficient condition on the defining graph and on the vertex groups ensuring that a graph product G is rigid in measure equivalence among torsion-free groups (in the sense that every torsion-free countable group H which is measure equivalent to G, is in fact isomorphic to G). Using variations over the Higman groups as the vertex groups, we construct the first example of a group which is rigid in measure equivalence, but not in quasi-isometry, among torsion-free groups., Comment: 166 pages, 26 figures

Measure equivalence was introduced by Gromov as a measured analogue of quasi-isometry. Unlike the latter, measure equivalence does not preserve the large scale geometry of groups and happens to be very flexible in the amenable world. Indeed the Ornstein-Weiss theorem shows that all infinite countable amenable groups are measure equivalent to the group of integers. To refine this equivalence relation and make it responsive to geometry, Delabie, Koivisto, Le Ma\^itre and Tessera introduced a quantitative version of measure equivalence. They also defined a relaxed version of this notion called quantitative measure subgroup coupling. In this article we offer to answer the inverse problem of the quantification (find a group admitting a measure subgroup coupling with a prescribed group with prescribed quantification) in the case of the lamplighter group., Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures. Previous versions contained an error. It is now fixed. The couplings obtained are now almost optimal quantitative measure subgroup couplings. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2202.10312

Two groups are orbit equivalent if they both admit an action on a same probability space that share the same orbits. In particular the Ornstein-Weiss theorem implies that all infinite amenable groups are orbit equivalent to the group of integers. To refine this notion between infinite amenable groups Delabie, Koivisto, Le Ma\^itre and Tessera introduced a quantitative version of orbit equivalence. They furthermore obtained obstructions to the existence of such equivalence using the isoperimetric profile. In this article we offer to answer the inverse problem (find a group being orbit equivalent to a prescribed group with prescribed quantification) in the case of the group of integers using the so called F{\o}lner tiling shifts introduced by Delabie et al. To do so we use the diagonal products defined by Brieussel and Zheng giving groups with prescribed isoperimetric profile., Comment: 30 pages, 7 figures (Changes in v4: Correction of the corollary and some minor typos. Tex sources uploaded. Accepted in Groups, Geometry and Dynamics.)

Almost forty years ago, Connes, Feldman and Weiss proved that for measurable equivalence relations the notions of amenability and hyperfiniteness coincide. In this paper we define the uniform version of amenability and hyperfiniteness for measurable graphed equivalence relations of bounded vertex degrees and prove that these two notions coincide as well. Roughly speaking, a measured graph $\cG$ is uniformly hyperfinite if for any $\eps>0$ there exists $K\geq 1$ such that not only $\cG$, but all of its subgraphs of positive measure are $(\eps,K)$-hyperfinite. We also show that this condition is equivalent to weighted hyperfiniteness and a strong version of fractional hyperfiniteness, a notion recently introduced by Lov\'asz. As a corollary, we obtain a characterization of exactness of finitely generated groups via uniform hyperfiniteness., Comment: 21 pages

We prove an extension of the Moore-Schmidt theorem on the triviality of the first cohomology class of cocycles for the action of an arbitrary discrete group on an arbitrary measure space and for cocycles with values in an arbitrary compact Hausdorff abelian group. The proof relies on a "conditional" Pontryagin duality for spaces of abstract measurable maps., Comment: 28 pages [v4]: removed material concerning weak conditional elements, following an error pointed out by the referee. Also modified the notation in line with referee comments on this paper and related papers

We show that the class $\mathscr{B}$, of discrete groups which satisfy the conclusion of Popa's Cocycle Superrigidity Theorem for Bernoulli actions, is invariant under measure equivalence. We generalize this to the setting of discrete p.m.p. groupoids, and as a consequence we deduce that any nonamenable lattice in a product of two noncompact, locally compact second countable groups, must belong to $\mathscr{B}$. We also introduce a measure-conjugacy invariant called Weak Pinsker entropy and show that, if G is a group in the class $\mathscr{B}$, then Weak Pinsker entropy is an orbit-equivalence invariant of every essentially free p.m.p. action of G., Comment: This new version adds more context in the introduction and fixes minor typos

Let $G$ be a discrete countable group and $C$ its central subgroup with $G/C$ treeable. We show that for any treeable action of $G/C$ on a standard probability space $X$, the groupoid $G\ltimes X$ is isomorphic to the direct product of $C$ and $(G/C)\ltimes X$, through cohomology of groupoids. We apply this to show that any group in the minimal class of groups containing treeable groups and closed under taking direct products, commensurable groups and central extensions has the Haagerup property., Comment: 31 pages, Theorem 1.4 improved

Let us say that a discrete countable group is stable if it has an ergodic, free, probability-measure-preserving and stable action. Let G be a discrete countable group with a central subgroup C. We present a sufficient condition and a necessary condition for G to be stable. We show that if the pair (G, C) does not have property (T), then G is stable. We also show that if the pair (G, C) has property (T) and G is stable, then the quotient group G/C is stable., Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures, minor corrections

We give an explicit description of all finite Borel measures on Noetherian topological spaces X, and characterize them as objects dual to a space of functions on X. We use these results to study the asymptotic behavior of continuous dynamical systems on Noetherian spaces., Comment: Minor revisions, results remain the same. To appear in the Journal of Geometric Analysis

We give the detale description from various points of view of Pascal automorphism,--- a natural transformation of the space of paths in the Pascal graph (= infinite Pascal triangle), and describetha plan of the proof of continuiuty of its spectrum. If we realize this automorphism as the shift in the space of 0-1 sequences, we obtain a stationary measure, called the Pascal measure, whose properties we study. The transformations generated by classical graded graphs, such as the ordinary and multidimensional Pascal graphs, the Young graph, the graph of walks in Weyl chambers, etc., provide examples of combinatorial nature from a new and very interesting class of adic transformations introduced as early as in \cite{V81}; some considerations by V. I. Arnold also lead to such transformations. We discuss problems arising in this field. This is the first paper of the series of articles about adic transformations., Comment: 20 pp. Ref 17; Functional Analysis and its Applications, v.45 #3,2011

We present a general setting to investigate U_fin-cocycle superrigidity for Gaussian actions in terms of closable derivations on von Neumann algebras. In this setting we give new proofs to some U_fin-cocycle superrigidity results of S. Popa and we produce new examples of this phenomenon. We also use a result of K. Schmidt to give a necessary cohomological condition on a group representation in order for the resulting Gaussian action to be U_fin-cocycle superrigid., Comment: Generalized Theorem 3.1 and added Theorem 5.3.

Previous work showed that every pair of nontrivial Bernoulli shifts over a fixed free group are orbit equivalent. In this paper, we prove that if $G_1,G_2$ are nonabelian free groups of finite rank then every nontrivial Bernoulli shift over $G_1$ is stably orbit equivalent to every nontrivial Bernoulli shift over $G_2$. This answers a question of S. Popa., Comment: The second version has minor notational changes

The following result is proven. Let $G_1 \cc^{T_1} (X_1,\mu_1)$ and $G_2 \cc^{T_2} (X_2,\mu_2)$ be orbit-equivalent, essentially free, probability measure preserving actions of countable groups $G_1$ and $G_2$. Let $H$ be any countable group. For $i=1,2$, let $\Gamma_i = G_i *H$ be the free product. Then the actions of $\Gamma_1$ and $\Gamma_2$ coinduced from $T_1$ and $T_2$ are orbit-equivalent. As an application, it is shown that if $\Gamma$ is a free group, then all nontrivial Bernoulli shifts over $\Gamma$ are orbit-equivalent., Comment: New version. The cocycles have been standardized and proofs simplified. A reference has been corrected.

We introduce the notion of sofic measurable equivalence relations. Using them we prove that Connes' Embedding Conjecture as well as the Measurable Determinant Conjecture of L\"uck, Sauer and Wegner hold for treeable equivalence relations., Comment: 18 pages

This paper has been withdrawn by the author due to an error in the proof of Proposition 4.8., Comment: This paper has been withdrawn

We show that a sufficiently large graph of bounded degree can be decomposed into quasi-homogeneous pieces. The result can be viewed as a "finitarization" of the classical Farrell-Varadarajan Ergodic Decomposition Theorem., Comment: Corrected an error in the proof of the Homogeneity Lemma. A new result is proved about edge-colorings of convergent graph sequences

Using an aperiodic and repetitive subtree of the Cayley graph of the free Abelian group with two generators, described by Kenyon, Ghys has constructed an example of minimal Riemann surface lamination having both Euclidean and hyperbolic leaves. We prove that the transverse dynamics of this lamination is represented (in a measurable way) by a 2-adic odometer. In fact, we can describe its topological transverse dynamics, and prove that the Ghys-Kenyon lamination is affable., Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Asterisque

This is a continuation of our previous paper studying the structure of Cartan subalgebras of von Neumann factors of type II_1. We provide more examples of II_1 factors having either zero, one or several Cartan subalgebras. We also prove a rigidity result for some group measure space II_1 factors., Comment: 24 pages, continuation of arXiv:0706.3623

Consider a free ergodic measure preserving profinite action $\Gamma\curvearrowright X$ (i.e. an inverse limit of actions $\Gamma\curvearrowright X_n$, with $X_n$ finite) of a countable property (T) group $\Gamma$ (more generally of a group $\Gamma$ which admits an infinite normal subgroup $\Gamma_0$ such that the inclusion $\Gamma_0\subset\Gamma$ has relative property (T) and $\Gamma/\Gamma_0$ is finitely generated) on a standard probability space $X$. We prove that if $w:\Gamma\times X\to \Lambda$ is a measurable cocycle with values in a countable group $\Lambda$, then $w$ is cohomologous to a cocycle $w'$ which factors through the map $\Gamma\times X\to \Gamma\times X_n$, for some $n$. As a corollary, we show that any orbit equivalence of $\Gamma\curvearrowright X$ with any free ergodic measure preserving action $\Lambda\curvearrowright Y$ comes from a (virtual) conjugacy of actions.

We show that the "twisted" planar random walk - which results by summing up stationary increments rotated by multiples of a fixed angle - is recurrent under diverse assumptions on the increment process. For example, if the increment process is alpha-mixing and of finite second moment, then the twisted random walk is recurrent for every angle fixed choice of the angle out of a set of full Lebesgue measure, no matter how slow the mixing coefficients decay., Comment: 11 pages

Consider an invertible measure-preserving transformation of a probability space. A finite partition of the space is called weakly independent if there are infinitely many images of this partition under powers of the transformation that are jointly independent. Krengel proved that a transformation is weakly mixing if and only if weakly independent partitions of the underlying space are dense among all finite partitions. Using the tools developed in the later papers of del Junco-Reinhold-Weiss and del Junco-Begun we obtain Krengel- type results for weakly mixing random dynamical systems (or equivalently, skew products that are relatively weakly mixing).

We prove that if $G$ is a countable discrete group with property (T) over an infinite subgroup $H

We construct a minimal topological action $\wp$ of a non-amenable group on a Cantor set $C$, which is non-uniquely ergodic and furthermore there exist ergodic invariant measures $\mu_1$ and $\mu_2$ such that $(\wp,C,\mu_1)$ and $(\wp,C,\mu_2)$ are not orbit equivalent measurable equivalence relations.

These notes contain an Ergodic-theoretic account of the Cocycle Superrigidity Theorem recently discovered by Sorin Popa. We state and prove a relative version of the result, discuss some applications to measurable equivalence relations, and point out that Gaussian actions (of ``rigid'' groups) satisfy the assumptions of Popa's theorem., Comment: v.2: slight changes in the presentation, (some) typos corrected, wq-normal subgroups added. 35 pages

We introduce a notion of rank completion for bi-modules over a finite tracial von Neumann algebra. We show that the functor of rank completion is exact and that the category of complete modules is abelian with enough projective objects. This leads to interesting computations in the L^2-homology for tracial algebras. As an application, we also give a new proof of a Theorem of Gaboriau on invariance of L^2-Betti numbers under orbit equivalence., Comment: 10 pages, no figures

We prove that solutions $u$ of the equation $f=u-u\circ T$ are automatically Holder continuous when $f$ is Holder continuous, and $T$ is non uniformly expanding and Markov. This result applies in particular to Young towers and to intermittent maps.

We give conditions for the exactness of Rokhlin endomorphisms, apply these to random walks on locally compact, second countable topological groups and obtain that the action on the Poisson boundary of an adapted random walk on such a group is weakly mixing.

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 $III_{\lambda}$ factor, with $\lambda=1/N$.

It is well-known that a Kleinian group is amenable if and only if it is elementary. We establish an analogous property for equivalence relations and foliations with Gromov hyperbolic leaves: they are amenable if and only if they are elementary in the sense that one can assign (in a measurable way) to any leaf a finite subset of its hyperbolic boundary (as in the group case, such subsets cannot actually contain more than 2 points). The analogous result for actions of word hyperbolic groups with a quasi-invariant measure is that such an action is amenable if and only if it factorizes through the hyperbolic boundary or its symmetric square. A byproduct of our approach is a proof of boundary amenability for isometry groups of Gromov hyperbolic spaces under the assumption that either the space is exponentially bounded or it is CAT(-1) and the group has a finite critical exponent. We also give examples showing that without these assumptions the boundary amenability may fail.

We extend the Delorme-Guichardet characterization of Kazhdan property $T$ groups to $r$-discrete measured groupoids. We give several applications, in particular to stability results of Kazhdan property $T$ and to the study of cocycles taking values in a group having the Haagerup property., Comment: 43 pages

If $M$ is a compact or convex-cocompact negatively curved manifold, we associate to any Gibbs measure on $\tm$ a quasi-invariant transverse measure for the horospherical foliation, and prove that this measure is uniquely determined by its Radon-Nikodym cocycle. (This extends the Bowen-Marcus unique ergodicity result for this foliation.) We shall also prove equidistribution properties for the leaves of the foliation w.r.t. these Gibbs measures. We use these results in the study of invaiant meausres for horospherical foliations on regular covers of $M$., Comment: 28 pages, 6 figures

We define an analog of Voiculescu's free entropy for n-tuples of unitaries (u_{1},...,u_{n}) in a tracial von Neumann algebra M, normalizing a unital diffuse abelian subalgebra B in M. Using this quantity, we define the free dimension \delta_{0}(u_{1},..,u_{n}\btw B). This number depends on (u_{1},... ,u_{n}) only up ``orbit equivalence'' over B. In particular, if R is an measirable equivalence relation on [0,1] generated by n automorphisms \alpha_{1},...,\alpha_{n}, let u_{1},..., u_{n} be the unitaries implementing \alpha_{1},..,\alpha_{n} in the Feldman-Moore crossed product algebra M=W^{*}([0,1],R), and let B be the canonical copy of L^\infty functions on [0,1] inside M. In this way, we obtain an invariant \delta (R)=\delta _{0}(u_{1},...,u_{n},\btw B) of the equivalence relation (R). If R is treeable, \delta (R) coincides with the cost C(R) of R in the sense of Gaboriau. For a general equivalence relation R posessing a finite graphing, \delta(R)\leq C(R). Using the notion of free dimension, we define an dynamical entropy invariant for an automorphism of a measurable equivalence relation (or more generally of an r-discrete measure groupoid), and give examples.