A noncommutative generalisation of a problem of Steinhaus (Q2215811)

In the new Scottish book, H. Steinhaus raised the following problem. {Problem (New Scottish book (Wroclaw 1946--1958), Problem 126).} Does there exist a family \(F\) of measurable functions such that \(\lvert f(t)\rvert=1\) for each \(f\in F\), and for each sequence \(\left(f_n(t)\right)_{n=1}^\infty\) in \(F\) the sequence given by \(\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=1}^n f_k(t)\) is divergent for almost all \(t\)? \textit{P. Révész} [Acta Math. Acad. Sci. Hung. 16, 311--318 (1965; Zbl 0203.19502)] showed that any sequence of random variables \(\left(\zeta_n\right)_{n=1}^\infty\) whose second moments are uniformly bounded has a subsequence that satisfies the strong law of large numbers. \textit{J. Komlós} [Acta Math. Acad. Sci. Hung. 18, 217--229 (1967; Zbl 0228.60012)] weakened the second moment assumption to that of finiteness of the first moments. {Theorem (Komlós).} Let \(\left(\zeta_n\right)_{n=1}^\infty\) be a sequence of random variables such that, if \(\mathop{\liminf}\limits_{{n\to\infty}} \mathbb{E}(\zeta_n)<\infty\), then there exists a subsequence \(\left(\eta_n\right)_{n=1}^\infty\) of \(\left(\zeta_n\right)_{n=1}^\infty\), and an integrable random variable \(\eta\) such that for any subsequence \((\tilde{\eta}_n)_{n=1}^\infty\) of \(\left(\eta_n\right)_{n=1}^\infty\) its Cesàro averages converge to \(\eta\), almost surely. \textit{N. Randrianantoanina} [Math. Z. 245, No. 4, 625--644 (2003; Zbl 1055.46042)] extended Komlós' result to noncommutative \(L^1\)-spaces associated with hyperfinite semifinite von Neumann algebras and asked if the hyperfinite assumption can be removed. In the article under review, the authors provide an affirmative answer to this question. The key ingredient is Theorem 4.2, where to determine bilateral almost uniform convergence (a noncommutative analogue for almost everywhere convergence), they appeal to an external structure provided by iterated ultrapowers rather than appealing to an internal structure, such as given by hyperfiniteness. ``Having shown this result, the proofs of the noncommutative Révész and Komlós theorems are not too far removed from the classical proofs, with the key changes being those necessary modifications for noncommutative integration, and some setup to work with the iterated ultrapower construction.'' The reader is invited to consult the introduction for more details on the results in this very interesting article.