A dynamical Lefschetz trace formula for algebraic Anosov diffeomorphisms (Q1429138)

This paper is concerned with the relationship between the Lefschetz fixed point formula and the Selberg trace formula. In the 1950s Gelfand and Fomin showed that one could analyse the geodesic flow on a compact Riemann surface using the representation theory of the group \(\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb R)\); they used this idea to prove Hopf's ergodic theorem. The real problem is to give a description of a framework in which a Lefschetz fixed point formula for flows can be formulated. According to Anosov, Sinai and others one should make use of the stable/unstable foliations; this leads to Connes' ``tangential cohomology''. The authors consider here a ``model case'', namely the case of a space of the form \(X = \Gamma \backslash G\) where \(G\) is a simply connected real {nilpotent} Lie group and \(\Gamma\) is a cocompact discrete lattice of \(G\). Let \(P\) be an immersed subgroup generating a foliation \(\mathcal{F}\) and let \(\mathfrak p\) be its Lie algebra. The central result is that under certain algebraic conditions on \(\Gamma\) and \(P\) one can identify the tangential (leafwise) cohomology (over \(X\)) with certain Lie-algebra cohomology of \(\mathfrak p\). This result makes use of functional-analytic and homological algebra techniques. In particular it follows that under their assumptions the leafwise cohomology is finite-dimensional. They then show that the class of groups for which their condition holds is extensive. Finally, they develop from this a Lefschetz fixed point formula for a generalized algebraic Anosov map. In particular they give a definition of the trace of the maps on leafwise cohomology induced by such a map, a definition not restricted to cases where the (reduced) cohomology spaces are finite-dimensional.