A Poisson boundary for topological semigroups (Q2510429)

\textit{H. Furstenberg} [Ann. Math. (2) 77, 335--386 (1963; Zbl 0192.12704)] proved an integral representation formula in terms of the Poisson boundary for functions harmonic with respect to a Borel measure on a group \(G\) under the assumption that the group is a connected semi-simple Lie group with finite centre and no compact factors. \textit{R. Azencott} [Poisson spaces of locally compact groups. Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer-Verlag (1970; Zbl 0208.15302)] extended this representation to locally compact second countable groups, also using martingale convergence theorems for the random walk induced on the group by the measure. Several authors have found other -- and in particular non-probabilistic -- approaches. Here a new non-probabilistic method is proposed to show the existence of the Poisson boundary in the setting of topological semi-groups.