A generalized Følner condition and the norms of random walk operators on groups (Q1594950)

Let the pair \((\Gamma,S)\) consist of a finitely generated group and a finite, symmetric set \(S\) of generators. For any finite subset \(A\) of \(\Gamma\) its boundary \(\partial A\) is defined as the set of all \(\gamma\in A\) such that there exists an \(s\in S\) satisfying \(\gamma s\notin A\). A Følner sequence is a sequence \((A_n)_{n\geq 1}\) of finite subsets of \(\Gamma\) such that \(\text{card} (\partial A_n)/ \text{card} (A_n)\to 0\) as \(n\to \infty\). By a well-known result of Følner's the existence of a Følner sequence is equivalent to the amenability of the group \(\Gamma\). A simple random walk operator attached to \((\Gamma,S)\) is defined as a map \(P:\ell^2 (\Gamma) \to\ell^2 (\Gamma)\) given by \[ Pf(\gamma): ={1\over \text{card} (S)}\sum_{s\in S}f (\gamma s) \] for all \(f\in \ell^2(\Gamma)\). One of the striking results of the paper under review is Theorem 3: Let \(f\) be a positive eigenfunction for \(P\) with eigenvalue \(\lambda\). Then \(\|P\|= \lambda\) is equivalent to the generalized Følner condition stating that there exists a sequence \((A_n)_{n\geq 1}\) of finite subsets of \(\Gamma\) such that \[ \sum_{\gamma \in\partial A_n} f^2 (\gamma)\Bigl/ \sum_{\gamma\in A_n}f^2(\gamma)\to 0 \] as \(n\to\infty\). In the special case of \(\lambda=1\) and \(f=\) constant this theorem is due to \textit{H. Kesten} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 92, 336-354 (1959; Zbl 0092.33503)]. The theorem is applied to further investigations on the estimation of norms of random walk operators on groups and graphs.