The density theorem for discrete series representations restricted to lattices (Q2670662): Difference between revisions

The authors give an essentially self-contained and accessible to general mathematical audience presentation of the density theorem, a central result characterizing the spanning properties of lattice orbits in terms of the lattice covolume. The proof is based solely on basic tools from harmonic analysis, representation theory, and frame theory, and does not use directly the advanced theory of von Neumann algebras. The paper is very carefully written and supplied with extensive bibliography. Let \(G\) be a locally compact group which is assumed to be second countable and unimodular. We fix a Haar measure \(\mu_G\) on \(G\). A lattice \(\Gamma\subset G\) is an infinite conjugacy class (ICC) group, if any conjugacy class \(\{ \gamma \gamma_0 \gamma^{-1} \mid \gamma\in\Gamma\}\) for \(\gamma_0 \in \Gamma\setminus\{e\}\) has infinite cardinality. This implies, in particular, that \(\Gamma\) has a trivial center. The density theorem proved in the paper provides a trichotomy characterizing the existence of cyclic vectors and separating vectors, and frames and Riesz sequences. We refer to Section~3 of the paper for the precise definitions of these objects. \textbf{Theorem 1.1.} Let \((\pi, \mathcal{H}_\pi)\) be a discrete series representation of \(G\) of formal dimension \(d_\pi > 0\). Suppose that \(\Gamma\subset G\) is an ICC lattice. Then the following assertions hold: \begin{itemize} \item[(i)] If \(\mathrm{vol}(G/\Gamma)d_\pi < 1\), then \(\pi|_\Gamma\) admits a Parseval frame, but neither a separating vector, nor a Riesz sequence; \item[(ii)] If \(\mathrm{vol}(G/\Gamma)d_\pi = 1\), then \(\pi|_\Gamma\) admits an orthonormal basis; \item[(iii)] If \(\mathrm{vol}(G/\Gamma)d_\pi > 1\), then \(\pi|_\Gamma\) admits an orthonormal system, but not a cyclic vector. \end{itemize} (While \(d_\pi\) and \(\mathrm{vol}(G/\Gamma)\) depend on the normalization of the Haar measure on \(G\), their product \(\mathrm{vol}(G/\Gamma)d_\pi\) does not.) In the setting of a general unimodular group, the assumption that the lattice is ICC is essential and cannot be omitted (see Example 9.3 in the text), although a more general version of Theorem 1.1 for possibly non-ICC lattices was obtained by \textit{B. Bekka} using von Neumann algebras [J. Fourier Anal. Appl. 10, No. 4, 325--349 (2004; Zbl 1064.46058)]. The existence claims in Theorem 1.1 are not accompanied by constructions of explicit vectors. Parts (i) and (ii) of the theorem are well known while the statement on orthonormal systems in part (iii) appears to be new.