On the ergodic theory of free group actions by real-analytic circle diffeomorphisms (Q1645325)

This paper deals with finitely generated groups of real analytic circle diffeomorphims. The authors provide proofs of affirmative answers to two long-standing questions for finitely generated groups of \(C^2\) circle diffeomorphisms [\textit{D. Sullivan}, Lect. Notes Math. 1007, 725--752 (1983; Zbl 0524.58024); \textit{É. Ghys}, Enseign. Math. (2) 47, No. 3--4, 329--407 (2001; Zbl 1044.37033); \textit{E. Ghys}, Bol. Soc. Bras. Mat., Nova Sér. 24, No. 2, 137--178 (1993; Zbl 0809.58004)]. The two questions addressed in this paper read as follows: Question 1. Let \(G\) be a finitely generated group of \(C^2\) circle diffeomorphisms. Assume that \(G\) acts minimally on \(\mathbb{S}^1\). Is the action necessarily ergodic with respect to the Lebesgue measure, i.e., does every measurable \(G\)-invariant subset of \(\mathbb{S}^1\) have either zero measure or full measure? Question 2. Let \(G\) be a finitely generated group of \(C^2\) circle diffeomorphisms. Assume that the action of \(G\) admits a minimal invariant Cantor set \(\Lambda\). Does \(\Lambda\) have zero measure? Is the set of orbits of connected components of the complement of \(\Lambda\) finite? For the statement of the main theorem we need to recall Definitions 1.8 and 1.9 from the paper. Definition. A subgroup \(G\) of \(C^2\) diffeomorphisms of \(\mathbb{S}^1\) that preserve orientation is said to satisfy property (\(\ast\)) if \(G\) is finitely generated, acts minimally and for every \(G\) non-expandable point \(x\) in \(\mathbb{S}^1\) (i.e., \(g'(x) \leq 1\) for all \(g \in G\)) there exist \(g_{+}\) and \(g_{-}\) in \(G\) such that \(g_{+} (x) = g_{-}(x) =x\) and \(x\) is an isolated from the right (resp., isolated from the left) point of the set of fixed points Fix(\(g_{+}\)) (resp. Fix(\(g_{-}\))). Definition. A subgroup \(G \in {\mathrm{Diff}}_{+}^2(\mathbb{S}^1)\) is said to satisfy property (\(\Lambda \ast\)) if \(\Lambda\) is a Cantor set which is minimal invariant set for the action of \(G\) and for every non-expandable point \(x\) in \(\Lambda\) there exist \(g_{+}\) and \(g_{-}\) in \(G\) such that \(g_{+} (x) = g_{-}(x) =x\) and \(x\) is an isolated from the right (resp., isolated from the left) point of the set of fixed points Fix(\(g_{+}\)) (resp. Fix(\(g_{-}\))). Then one has the following: Theorem. Let \(G\) be a finitely generated group of \({\mathrm{Diff}}_{+}^{\omega}(\mathbb{S}^1)\). 1. If \(G\) is free of rank \(r \geq 2\) and acts minimally on the circle, then it satisfies property (\(\ast\)). 2. If \(G\) acts on the circle with an exceptional minimal set \(\Lambda\), then it satisfies property (\(\Lambda \ast\)). The authors also derive several interesting corollaries.