On ergodic averages and absorbing sets for positive contractions in \(L_ 1\) (Q1910838)

The content of the paper is best reflected in the author's abstract: ``Let \(T: L_1 (X)\to L_1 (X)\) be a positive contraction, that is, a linear operator satisfying \(|T|\leq 1\) and \(T(L^+_1 (X)) \subseteq L^+_1 (X)\). Let \(S_n= \sum^{n-1}_{k=0} T^k\), \(A_n= (1/n) S_n\), and let \(F= \{x: \limsup_{n\to \infty} A_n \varphi (x)= \infty\}\), where \(\varphi\) is a.e. positive. First, we prove that for every sequence \((f_n)\) in \(L^+_1 (X)\) such that, for every \(m\), \((T^m f_n- f_n)^+\) tends stochastically to 0 on \(F\), \(\min (f_n, 1/f_n)\) tends stochastically to 0 on \(F\). This implies, in particular, the stochastic ergodic theorem. Second, we study the behavior of sequences of the form \(a_n S_{k(n)} \varphi (x)\) to obtain decompositions of the conservative part of \(X\) into six absorbing sets''.