On measures invariant under tori on quotients of semisimple groups (Q2349040)

This paper is a significant contribution to the study of measure rigidity of abelian group actions in the setting of homogeneous dynamics. It is well known that the action of the diagonal subgroup of \(\text{SL}_2(\mathbb{R})\) on \(\text{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})\backslash \text{SL}_2(\mathbb{R})\) admits an enormous variety of invariant probability measures (for example, realizing all possible entropies), and the same holds for actions of \(\mathbb{R}\)-split tori on quotients of real algebraic groups by lattices whenever the torus has rank one. Starting with the work of \textit{J. W. S. Cassels} and \textit{H. P. F. Swinnerton-Dyer} [Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., Ser. A 248, 73--96 (1955; Zbl 0065.27905)], motivated by questions in number theory, and the work of \textit{H. Furstenberg} [Math. Syst. Theory 1, 1--49 (1967; Zbl 0146.28502)], motivated by a structural approach to dynamics, it was realised that the case of tori of rank greater than or equal to two is entirely different, and the space of invariant measures in that setting is very prescribed. This phenomena is an instance of abelian measure rigidity. Despite the phenomenon not being entirely understood (in particular the case in which each element of the action has zero entropy remains open), this phenomenon has already found significant applications, most notably in the work of \textit{E. Lindenstrauss} on quantum unique ergodicity [Ann. Math. (2) 163, No. 1, 165--219 (2006; Zbl 1104.22015)] and that of \textit{M. Einsiedler} et al. [Ann. Math. (2) 164, No. 2, 513--560 (2006; Zbl 1109.22004)] on Littlewood's problem in the Diophantine analysis or pairs of real numbers. These developments have their origin in part in abelian settings: \textit{D. J. Rudolph} [Ergodic Theory Dyn. Syst. 10, No. 2, 395--406 (1990; Zbl 0709.28013)] showed that a probability measure on the circle invariant and ergodic under the action of multiplication modulo one by two multiplicatively independent natural numbers giving positive entropy to the action of one of them must be the Lebesgue measure. In applications of this and later quantitative versions, it is of particular importance that the entropy condition required, of exceeding some non-zero lower bound, is stable under weak*-limits of invariant measures. \textit{A. Katok} and \textit{R. J. Spatzier} [Ergodic Theory Dyn. Syst. 16, No. 4, 751--778 (1996; Zbl 0859.58021); correction ibid. 18, No. 2, 503--507 (1998)] initiated the extensions of this kind of result to higher rank, in some cases requiring in addition to an entropy condition a mixing condition, which considerably complicates some of the potential applications as mixing properties behave poorly under weak*-limits of invariant measures. In this paper the authors give a rather broad and practical classification of measures on homogeneous spaces \(\Gamma\backslash G\) invariant under the action of higher-rank tori. This extends earlier work of the authors with A. Katok on the measure rigidity behind the approach to the Littlewood problem and of the second author on the measure rigidity behind arithmetic quantum unique ergodicity. As is usual in these problems, the classification is less rigid and definitive than that given by the Ratner theory for the action of subgroups generated by unipotents because of the possible presences of actions of rank-one tori, where in some sense there is complete chaos for well-understood reasons, and because of the possible presence of zero entropy subactions, where it is simply not known whether exotic invariant measures could exist. The main result says that a probability measure on an arithmetic homogeneous quotient of a semi-simple \(S\)-algebraic group that is invariant and ergodic for a maximal split torus in at least one simple local factor has algebraic support that splits into the product of a torus, a homogeneous space on which the measure is the Haar measure up to finite index, a product of homogeneous spaces on each of which the action is essentially rank one (and hence inherently uncontrollable), and a homogeneous space on which every element of the action has zero entropy with respect to the measure. This is an important and satisfying result which is certain to find many applications. The methods used to prove this theorem are diverse and sophisticated, with a critical role played by the notion of leafwise measures for group actions.