Amenability of quadratic automaton groups
An automaton group is a finitely generated group defined by the action of a finite-state automaton on a regular rooted tree. The activity of an automaton group measures the complexity of its action on the tree, and groups with polynomial activity are of particular interest. A long-standing conjecture by \textit{S. Sidki} [Geom. Dedicata 108, 193--204 (2004; Zbl 1075.20011)] asks whether all polynomial activity automaton groups are amenable. This conjecture has been resolved for degree \(0\) and \(1\) automaton groups in earlier work by \textit{L. Barthold} et al. [Duke Math. J. 154, No. 3, 575--598 (2010; Zbl 1268.20026)] and by the authors [J. Eur. Math. Soc. (JEMS) 15, No. 3, 705--730 (2013; Zbl 1277.37019)]. In this paper, the authors resolve the conjecture for degree \(2\) automaton groups, proving that every such group is amenable.\N\NThe main result of the paper is Theorem 1.2, which states that every automaton group of degree \(2\) is amenable. The proof relies on establishing recurrence of the Schreier graph associated with the action of the group on the orbit of the \(0\)-ray in the tree. This is achieved by proving lower bounds on the electrical resistance in these Schreier graphs, using a novel ``weighted version of the Nash-Williams criterion for resistance. The authors also provide quantitative estimates for the effective resistance in the Schreier graphs of degree \(1\) and \(2\) automaton groups (Theorem 1.7), which are crucial for establishing recurrence and amenability.\N\NThe paper builds on earlier work by \textit{K. Juschenko} et al. [Invent. Math. 206, No. 3, 837--867 (2016; Zbl 1397.20043)], who showed that if the Schreier graph of a polynomial activity automaton group is recurrent, then the group is amenable. The authors extend this result by proving recurrence for degree \(2\) automaton groups, thus confirming their amenability. The proof involves a detailed combinatorial analysis of the Schreier graphs and the introduction of a weighted Nash-Williams criterion, which may be of independent interest.\N\NA key technical contribution of the paper is the introduction of the weighted Nash-Williams criterion (Proposition 3.1), which generalizes the classical Nash-Williams inequality for electrical resistance to collections of non-disjoint cutsets. This criterion allows the authors to obtain lower bounds on the effective resistance in the Schreier graphs of degree \(1\) and \(2\) automaton groups, which are essential for establishing recurrence. The authors also provide explicit combinatorial descriptions of the Schreier graphs and their cutsets, which are used to derive the resistance bounds.
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