Related papers: Rigidity for equivalence relations on homogeneous …

Let $\Gamma$ be an irreducible lattice in a semisimple Lie group of real rank at least $2$. Suppose that $\Gamma$ has property (T;FD), that is, its finite dimensional representations have a uniform spectral gap. We show that if $\Gamma$ is…

Let $J$ be a semisimple Lie group with all simple factors of real rank at least two. Let $\Gamma<J$ be a lattice. We prove a very general local rigidity result about actions of $J$ or $\Gamma$. This shows that almost all so-called "standard…

We introduce the notion of L^2-rigidity for von Neumann algebras, a generalization of property (T) which can be viewed as an analogue for the vanishing of 1-cohomology into the left regular representation of a group. We show that…

Relative property (T) has recently been used to construct a variety of new rigidity phenomena, for example in von Neumann algebras and the study of orbit-equivalence relations. However, until recently there were few examples of group pairs…

Let $\Gamma_1,\dots,\Gamma_n$ be hyperbolic, property (T) groups, for some $n\ge 1$. We prove that if a product $\Gamma_1\times\dots\times\Gamma_n \curvearrowright X_1\times\dots\times X_n$ of measure preserving actions is stably orbit…

We prove that for a countable discrete group $\Gamma$ containing a copy of the free group $\F_n$, for some $2\leq n\leq\infty$, as a normal subgroup, the equivalence relations of conjugacy, orbit equivalence and von Neumann equivalence of…

We survey some of the progress made recently in the classification of von Neumann algebras arising from countable groups and their measure preserving actions on probability spaces. We emphasize results which provide classes of…

Suppose that $\Gamma=(V,E)$ is a graph with vertices $V$, edges $E$, a free group action on the vertices $\mathbb{Z}^d \curvearrowright V$ with finitely many orbits, and a linear operator $D$ on the Hilbert space $l^2(V)$ such that $D$…

The problem of equivariant rigidity is the $\Gamma$-homeomorphism classification of $\Gamma$-actions on manifolds with compact quotient and with contractible fixed sets for all finite subgroups of $\Gamma$. In other words, this is the…

We generalize W*-superrigidity results about Bernoulli actions of rigid groups to general mixing Gaussian actions. We thus obtain the following: If \Gamma\ is any ICC group which is w-rigid (i.e. it contains an infinite normal subgroup with…

Let $\Gamma\curvearrowright (X,\mu)$ be a measure preserving action of a countable group $\Gamma$ on a standard probability space $(X,\mu)$. We prove that if the action $\Gamma\curvearrowright X$ is not profinite and satisfies a certain…

Every homomorphism from finite index subgroups of a universal lattices to mapping class groups of orientable surfaces (possibly with punctures), or to outer automorphism groups of finitely generated nonabelian free groups must have finite…

We investigate Gaussian actions through the study of their crossed-product von Neumann algebra. The motivational result is Chifan and Ioana's ergodic decomposition theorem for Bernoulli actions (Ergodic subequivalence relations induced by a…

In the past two decades, Sorin Popa's breakthrough deformation/rigidity theory has produced remarkable rigidity results for von Neumann algebras $M$ which can be deformed inside a larger algebra $\widetilde M \supseteq M$ by an action…

We consider the moduli space ${\cal M}(G)$ of $G$-Higgs bundles over a compact Riemann surface $X$, where $G$ is a semisimple complex Lie group, and study the action of a finite group $\Gamma$ on ${\cal M}(G)$ induced by a holomorphic…

We prove that if a countable group $\Gamma$ contains infinite commuting subgroups $H, H'\subset \Gamma$ with $H$ non-amenable and $H'$ ``weakly normal'' in $\Gamma$, then any measure preserving $\Gamma$-action on a probability space which…

For finitely generated groups $G$ and $H$ equipped with word metrics, a translation-like action of $H$ on $G$ is a free action where each element of $H$ moves elements of $G$ a bounded distance. Translation-like actions provide a geometric…

Let $M$ be a finite volume analytic pseudo-Riemannian manifold that admits an isometric $G$-action with a dense orbit, where $G$ is a connected non-compact simple Lie group. For low-dimensional $M$, i.e. $\dim(M) < 2\dim(G)$, when the…

Let G=SL(n,R) with n>5. We construct examples of lattices Gamma of G, subgroup A of the diagonal group and points x in G/Gamma such that the closure of the orbit Ax is not homogeneous but does not factors through the action of a…

We introduce the notion of $(\Gamma,E)$-determinacy for $\Gamma$ a pointclass and $E$ an equivalence relation on a Polish space $X$. A case of particular interest is the case when $E=E_G$ is the (left) shift-action of $G$ on $S^G$ where…