Homoclinic groups, IE groups, and expansive algebraic actions (Q2017453)

For an amenable countable discrete group \(\Gamma\) acting continuously on a compact metrizable space \(X\), one has the topological entropy \(h_{\mathrm{top}}(X)\) of the action of \(\Gamma\) on \(X\). The authors are interested in the relation between the properties of the topological entropy of the action of \(\Gamma\) on \(X\) and the asymptotic behavior of the orbits of the action, as follows. \smallskip The action of \(\Gamma\) on \(X\) is called \textit{expansive} if there exists a constant \(r>0\) such that \(\sup_{s\in\Gamma}\rho(sx,sy)>r\) for every distinct \(x,y\in X\), where \(\rho\) is a compatible metric on \(X\). Moreover, for \(x,y \in X\), the pair \((x,y)\) is called \textit{asymptotic} if \(\lim_{\Gamma\ni s\to \infty}\rho(sx,sy)=0\). If \(X\) is also a group, the \textit{homoclinic group} of \(X\) is the \(\Gamma\)-invariant subgroup \(\Delta(X)=\{x\in X:\lim_{\Gamma\ni s\to \infty}sx=e_X\}\) of \(X\); for \(x,y\in X\), the pair \((x,y)\) is asymptotic if and only if \(xy^{-1}\in\Delta(X)\). \smallskip Motivated by known results, especially for the case \(\Gamma=\mathbb Z^d\), the authors state and study the following question: if the action of \(\Gamma\) on \(X\) is expansive with \(h_{\mathrm{top}}(X)>0\), does any non-diagonal asymptotic pair exist in \(X\)? The question is open in general, also for \(\Gamma=\mathbb Z\); in this paper a positive answer is given for algebraic actions of polycyclic-by-finite groups, as we are going to describe. If \(X\) is a compact metrizable abelian group and the countable discrete group \(\Gamma\) acts on \(X\) by continuous automorphisms, then the action of \(\Gamma\) on \(X\) is called an \textit{algebraic action}. In this case the action is completely determined by the module structure of the Pontryagin dual \(\widehat X\) of \(X\) over the group ring \(\mathbb Z\Gamma\). In this paper, algebraic characterizations are given for expansive algebraic actions of \(\Gamma\). Moreover, the authors develop the local entropy theory for actions of amenable countable discrete groups \(\Gamma\) on compact metrizable groups \(X\) by continuous automorphisms. In particular, they show that the IE group \(IE(X)\) is a \(\Gamma\)-invariant closed normal subgroup of \(X\), such that: - \(h_{\mathrm{top}}(X)>0\) if and only if \(IE(X)\) is non-trivial; - the action of \(\Gamma\) on \(X\) has completely positive topological entropy precisely when \(IE(X)=X\). Furthermore, \(X/IE(X)\) is proved to be the largest topological factor \(Y\) of \(X\) such that \(h_{\mathrm{top}}(Y)>0\), in other words, \(IE(X)\) determines the Pinsker factor of the action of \(\Gamma\) on \(X\). Finally, the duality for algebraic actions of amenable countable discrete groups is studied. As a by-product of all the obtained results, the following general theorem for expansive algebraic actions of polycyclic-by-finite groups is derived. Theorem. If a polycyclic-by-finite group \(\Gamma\) acts on a compact metrizable abelian group \(X\) by continuous automorphisms and the action is expansive, then: {\parindent=6mm \begin{itemize} \item[(1)] \(h_{\mathrm{top}}(X)=h_{\mathrm{top}}(\widehat G)\), where \(G\) is the closure of \(\Delta(X)\) considered with the discrete topology and the action of \(\Gamma\) on \(\widehat G\) is induced by the action of \(\Gamma\) on \(X\); \item [(2)] \(\Delta(X)\) is dense in \(IE(X)\); \item [(3)] \(h_{\mathrm{top}}(X)>0\) if and only if \(\Delta(X)\) is non-trivial; \item [(4)] the action of \(\Gamma\) on \(X\) has completely positive entropy if and only if \(\Delta (X)\) is dense in \(X\). \end{itemize}} Condition (3) shows in particular that if \(h_{\mathrm{top}}(X)>0\), then there exist non-diagonal asymptotic pairs in \(X\), so it gives a positive answer to the above general question for algebraic actions of polycyclic-by-finite groups.