Random walks on Ramanujan complexes and digraphs (Q2216740)

Summary: The cutoff phenomenon was recently confirmed for random walks on Ramanujan graphs by \textit{E. Lubetzky} and \textit{Y. Peres} [Geom. Funct. Anal. 26, No. 4, 1190--1216 (2016; Zbl 1351.05208)]. In this work, we obtain analogs in higher dimensions, for random walk operators on any Ramanujan complex associated with a simple group \(G\) over a local field \(F\). We show that if \(T\) is any \(k\)-regular \(G\)-equivariant operator on the Bruhat-Tits building with a simple combinatorial property (collision-free), the associated random walk on the \(n\)-vertex Ramanujan complex has cutoff at time \(log_k n\). The high-dimensional case, unlike that of graphs, requires tools from non-commutative harmonic analysis and the infinite-dimensional representation theory of \(G\). Via these, we show that operators \(T \) as above on Ramanujan complexes give rise to Ramanujan digraphs with a special property \((r\)-normal), implying cutoff. Applications include geodesic flow operators, geometric implications, and a confirmation of the Riemann Hypothesis for the associated zeta functions over every group \(G\), previously known for groups of type \(\widetilde A_n\) and \(\widetilde C_2\).