Parabolic flows renormalized by partially hyperbolic maps (Q2193421)

The authors study parabolic flows on Heisenberg nilmanifolds, \(\Psi_t:M\rightarrow M\), \(t\in\mathbb R\), which are renormalized by partially hyperbolic (in the sense that the tangent bundle splits into three subbundles that are exponentially contracting, exponentially expanding, and neutral behaviour respectively) automorphisms \(F:M\rightarrow M\), such that \(F\circ \Psi_{\lambda t}=\Psi_t\circ F,\) for all \(t\in\mathbb R\) and \(\lambda >1\) fixed. Given \(x\in M\) and \(t>0\), for a real-valued map \(h\) defined on \(M\), one defines the ergodic integral \(H_{x,t}(h)=\int_0^t h\circ\Psi_r(x)dr\), and the solutions to the cohomological equation are functions \(g:M\rightarrow \mathbb R\) for which \(g\circ \Psi_t(x)-g(x)=H_{x,t}(h)\) whose existence and regularity has to be determined. Moreover, the transfer operator \(\widehat{F}:h\mapsto \lambda h\circ F^{-1}\) is considered as an operator on appropriate anisotropic spaces. After these preambles, and assuming that the parabolic flow is renormalized by a partially hyperbolic map, the authors present their three main results of the paper. The first one establishes that \(\widehat{F}\) admits a countable spectral decomposition. Thanks to this decomposition, it is possible to give a precise estimation of the ergodic integral for the parabolic flow. Finally, the third main result states that the solutions of the cohomological equation exist and are equal to the uniform limit of an explicit quantity. The paper ends with a section devoted to an overview on Heisenberg nilmanifolds and nilflows. Let us finish by rephrasing the following interesting claim of the authors: ``The contribution of this work is the advancement of the understanding of the fundamental and subtle connection between the asymptotic properties of nilflows and the spectral properties of partially hyperbolic dynamical systems, the refinement of the ideas for connecting parabolic dynamics and anisotropic spaces which was introduced by \textit{P. Giulietti} and \textit{C. Liverani} [J. Eur. Math. Soc. (JEMS) 21, No. 9, 2793--2858 (2019; Zbl 1425.37005)], and most particularly, the exploration of generalized methods based on representation theory that allow for more general and explicit results''.