On the spectrum of the sum of generators for a finitely generated group (Q1261906)

Let \(\Gamma\) be a group admitting a finite generating subset \(S\); let \(h={1 \over | S |} \sum_{s \in S} s \in {\mathcal C} (\Gamma)\). To any unitary representation \(\pi\) of \(\Gamma\) on a Hilbert space \({\mathcal H}_ \pi\) one associates the \(^*\)-representation \(\pi\) of \({\mathcal C} (\Gamma)\) on \({\mathcal H}_ \pi\) given by \(\pi(f)= \sum_{ \gamma \in \Gamma} f(\gamma) \pi (\gamma)\), \(f \in {\mathcal C} (\Gamma)\). One defines the Kazhdan constant \(\kappa (\pi,S)=\inf_{\xi \in {\mathcal H}_ \pi,\| \xi \|=1} \max_{s \in S} \| \pi(s) \xi-\xi \|\). It equals 1 if and only if the trivial representation \(\chi_ 1\) of \(\Gamma\) is weakly contained in \(\pi\). A collection of characterizations are given for this situation describing the spectrum \(\text{sp} \pi\) of \(\pi\) near 1. In case \(| z |=1\), the following properties are shown to be equivalent: \(z \in \text{sp} h\); \(\text{sp} h\) is invariant under multiplication by \(z\); there exists a character \(\chi\) of \(\Gamma\) such that \(\chi (S)=\{z\}\). Define \(\kappa(\Gamma,S)=\inf \{\kappa (\pi,S):\pi \in\widehat \Sigma,\;\pi \neq \chi_ 1\}\); \(\Gamma\) has Kazhdan's property \((T)\) if and only if \(\kappa(\pi,S)>0\), i.e., \(\chi_ 1\) is an isolated point in the spectrum of any \(\pi\). The situation is shown to occur if and only if for \(S=S^{-1},1\) is an isolated point in \(\text{sp} h\). The authors also prove the existence of an infinite-dimensional irreducible representation of \(SL(2,\mathbb{Z})\) which is amenable in the sense of \textit{M. E. B. Bekka} [Invent. Math. 100, 383-401 (1990; Zbl 0702.22010)].