Related papers: $\Out(F_n)$ and the spectral gap conjecture

Let $S_n$ denote the symmetric group on $n$ elements, and $\Sigma\subseteq S_{n}$ a symmetric subset of permutations. Aldous' spectral gap conjecture, proved by Caputo, Liggett and Richthammer [arXiv:0906.1238], states that if $\Sigma$ is a…

Let $G$ be a connected graph, and let $\lambda_1$ and $\rho$ denote the spectral radius of $G$ and the universal cover of $G$, respectively. In \cite{Fri03}, Friedman has shown that almost every $n$-lift of $G$ has all of its new…

The unique irreducible representation of $\SL_2(\R)$ on $\R^n$ induces an action, called the \textit{linear action}, of $\SL_2(\Z)$ on the torus $\T^n$ for every $n\geq 2$. For $n$ odd, it factors through $\PSL_2(\Z)$, so we denote by $G_n$…

For $n \ge 2$, Gamburd, Jakobson, and Sarnak [J. Eur. Math. Soc. 1, 51-85 (1999)] conjectured that almost every $n$-tuple in $\mathrm{SU}(2)$ has a spectral gap. Toward this conjecture, Fisher [Int. Math. Res. Not. (2006)] established a…

Aldous' spectral gap conjecture states that the second largest eigenvalue of any connected Cayley graph on the symmetric group Sn with respect to a set of transpositions is achieved by the standard representation of Sn. This celebrated…

We prove an analog of Aldous' spectral gap conjecture in the generalized symmetric groups $G\wr S_n$ where $G$ is an arbitrary finite group. Moreover, we show that Caputo's extension of the conjecture to hypergraphs transfers to these…

We prove two conjectures in spectral extremal graph theory involving the linear combinations of graph eigenvalues. Let $\lambda_1(G)$ be the largest eigenvalue of the adjacency matrix of a graph $G$, and $\bar{G}$ be the complement of $G$.…

Let $N$ be a connected and simply connected nilpotent Lie group, $\Lambda$ a lattice in $N$, and $X=N/\Lambda$ the corresponding nilmanifold. Let $Aff(X)$ be the group of affine transformations of $X$. We characterize the countable…

We establish a general spectral gap theorem for actions of products of groups which may replace Kazhdan's property (T) in various situations. As a main application, we prove that a confined subgroup of an irreducible lattice in a higher…

Stable commutator length scl_G(g) of an element g in a group G is an invariant for group elements sensitive to the geometry and dynamics of G. For any group G acting on a tree, we prove a sharp bound scl_G(g)>=1/2 for any g acting without…

Aldous' spectral gap conjecture, proven by Caputo, Liggett and Richthammer, states the following: for any set of transpositions in the symmetric group $\mathrm{Sym}(n)$, the spectral gap of the corresponding random walk on the group -- an…

Let $\mathcal G_n$ denote the space of $n$-generated marked groups. We prove that, for every $n\ge 2$, there exist $2^{\aleph_0}$ non-atomic, $Out(F_n)$-invariant, mixing probability measures on $\mathcal G_n$. On the other hand, there are…

Let G be a real Lie group and H a lattice or, more generally, a closed subgroup of finite covolume in G. We show that the unitary representation lambda_{G/H} of G on L^2(G/H) has a spectral gap, that is, the restriction of lambda_{G/H} to…

Let $G$ be a simple graph of order $n$ with eigenvalues $\lambda_1(G)\geq \cdots \geq \lambda_n(G)$. Define \[s^+(G)=\sum_{\lambda_i >0} \lambda_i^2(G), \quad s^-(G)=\sum_{\lambda_i<0} \lambda_i^2(G).\] It was conjectured by Elphick,…

Let $(E,\mathcal F,\mu)$ be a probability space, and let $P$ be a Markov operator on $L^2(\mu)$ with $1$ a simple eigenvalue such that $\mu P=\mu$ (i.e. $\mu$ is an invariant probability measure of $P$). Then $\hat P:=\ff 1 2 (P+P^*)$ has a…

We prove that an outer action of a locally compact group $G$ on a full factor $M$ is automatically strictly outer, meaning that the relative commutant of $M$ in the crossed product is trivial. If moreover the image of $G$ in the outer…

The existence of a strong spectral gap for quotients $\Gamma\bs G$ of noncompact connected semisimple Lie groups is crucial in many applications. For congruence lattices there are uniform and very good bounds for the spectral gap coming…

Let $\gamma(S_n)$ be the minimum number of proper subgroups $H_i$ of the symmetric group $S_n$ such that each element in $S_n$ lies in some conjugate of one of the $H_i.$ In this paper we conjecture that…

The classic graphical Cheeger inequalities state that if $M$ is an $n\times n$ symmetric doubly stochastic matrix, then \[ \frac{1-\lambda_{2}(M)}{2}\leq\phi(M)\leq\sqrt{2\cdot(1-\lambda_{2}(M))} \] where…

In their celebrated paper (arXiv:0906.1238), Caputo, Liggett and Richthammer proved Aldous' conjecture and showed that for an arbitrary finite graph, the spectral gap of the interchange process is equal to the spectral gap of the underlying…