Sofic mean length (Q2319889)

Let \(R\) be a ring admitting a length function on \(R\)-modules, that is, a function \(L\) from left \(R\)-modules \(M\) to the extended non-negative reals such that \(L(R)=1\) and if \(N\) is a submodule of \(M\) then \(L(M)=L(N)+L(M/N)\). For a group \(\Gamma\), a mean length function \(mL\) on \(R\Gamma\)-modules is length function which is invariant under the action of \(\Gamma\), that is, \(mL(R\Gamma\otimes_R N)=L(N)\) for all \(R\)-modules \(N\). A group \(\Gamma\) is sofic if for every finite subset \(F\) of \( \Gamma\) and every \(\varepsilon 0\), there exist \(n\in\mathbb N\) and a map \(\phi\colon F\to\mathrm{Sym}(n)\) whose only fixed point is \(e\), such that for all \(g,\, h\in F\) such that \(gh\in F\), the Hamming distance \(d(\phi(gh),\,\phi(g)\phi (h))\varepsilon\). This property is a weak finiteness condition on \(\Gamma\) that generalises both amenability and residual finiteness. This deep and significant paper concerns the construction and algebraic properties of a mean length function on the \(R\Gamma\)-modules for unital rings \(R\) and sofic groups \(\Gamma\). For example, the authors show that if \(R\) is Noetherian and \(\Gamma\) is sofic, them \(R\Gamma\) is stably finite, that is, for all \(n,\ M_n\) is directly finite. They show also that if \(M\) is a \(\mathbb Z\Gamma\) module, the mean topological dimension of the induced \(\Gamma\)-action on the Pontryagin dual of \(M\) coincides with the von Neumann-Lück rank of \(M\).