Universal properties of group actions on locally compact spaces (Q2343552)

In the paper under review, the authors initiate a systematic study of locally compact \(G\)-spaces where \(G\) is a countable infinite discrete group, extending the setup of Ellis' classical results on compact \(G\)-spaces [\textit{R. Ellis}, Lectures on topological dynamics. New York: W. A. Benjamin, Inc. (1969; Zbl 0193.51502)]. A compact \(G\)-space is \textit{minimal} if every orbit is dense and \textit{universal minimal} if every minimal compact \(G\)-space is one of its continuous factors. Ellis observed that the Stone-Čech compactification \(\beta G\) of \(G\) is a universal compact \(G\)-space and showed that every two universal minimal compact \(G\)-spaces are isomorphic. He moreover proved that the \(G\)-action on \(\beta G\) is free. This was used by Hjorth and Molberg to establish the existence of a free minimal \(G\)-action on the Cantor set [\textit{G. Hjorth} and \textit{M. Molberg}, Topology Appl. 153, No. 7, 1116--1131 (2006; Zbl 1103.37003)]. When trying to extend these results to the locally compact case, some new difficulties emerge. A natural additional assumption to make on factor maps between \(G\)-spaces is to ask that they are \textit{proper}, i.e. that the preimages of compact sets are compact. This prevents the existence of a universal locally compact \(G\)-space. The authors develop a notion of \textit{type} of a locally compact \(G\)-space which circumvents this issue: it is preserved by factor maps, and among locally compact \(G\)-spaces of a fixed type (with a dense orbit), there is a universal one. They also give a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a universal minimal locally compact \(G\) space of a given type. The key examples of locally compact \(G\)-spaces are obtained as follows: given a non-empty subset \(A\) of \(G\), one lets \(K_A\) denote the closure of \(A\) in \(\beta G\), and let \[ X_A=\bigcup_{g\in G}g K_A. \] The type of the locally compact \(G\)-space \(X_A\) is the equivalence class of \(A\) as a subset of \(G\) for the equivalence relation \(A\approx B\) if \(A\subseteq FB\) and \(B\subseteq F'A\) for some finite \(F,F'\subseteq G\). By finding subsets \(A\) of \(G\) satisfying some combinatorial conditions and then using standard reduction techniques, the authors prove that every countable group admits a free minimal action on the locally compact Cantor space.