Zero divisors and \(L^p(G)\), II (Q5934085)

[Part I by the second author in Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 126, 721-728 (1998; Zbl 0886.43003).] Let \(G\) be a discrete group, let \(p\geq 1,\) and let \(L^p(G)\) denote the Banach space \(\{\sum_{g\in G}a_g g\mid \sum_{g\in G}|a_g|^p<\infty\}\). The authors study the following problem: given \(0\neq\alpha \in{\mathbb C} G\) and \(0\neq \beta\in L^p(G)\), is \(\alpha*\beta=0?\) If such a \(\beta\) exists, \(\alpha\) is called a \(p\)-zero divisor. It is shown first for \(G={\mathbb Z}^d, (2\leq d)\), that \(\alpha*\beta\neq 0\) if \(p\leq {{2d}\over{d-1}}\). Furthermore it is shown that \(\alpha*\beta\neq 0 \) for every \(\beta\neq 0 \in C_0(\mathbb T^d)\) if and only if the zero set \(Z(\alpha)\) of the Fourier transform of \(\alpha\) is contained in a finite union of hyperplanes in \(\mathbb T^d\) and if \(Z(\alpha)\) is a smooth \((d-1)\)-dimensional submanifold of \(\mathbb T^d\) with constant relative nullity \(\nu\) such that \(0\leq \nu\leq d-2\), then \(\alpha\) is a \(p-\)zero divisor if and only if \(p>{{2(d-\nu)}\over{d-1-\nu}}\). In the second part of the paper, the authors consider the free group \(F_k\) of rank \(k\). It is shown that for a radial function \(\alpha\in L^1(F_k)\), we have that \(\alpha*\beta\neq 0\) for all \(\beta \in L^\infty(F_k)\) if and only if the radial Gelfand transform of \(\alpha\) never vanishes. The authors also show that the characteristic function \(\chi_1\) of the unit sphere in \(F_k\) is a \(p\)-zero divisor for any \(p>2\).