The number of locally invariant orderings of a group (Q6095993)

A classical question about orderability in groups is to determine the number of possible order structures of a particular kind that may be supported by a given group \(G\). For example, in the case of bi-orderings, it is known that there are groups admitting only finitely many bi-orderings, there are groups admitting countably many bi-orderings, and there are groups admitting uncountably many biorderings (for instance, \(\mathbb{Z}^2\)). On the other hand, if we consider Conradian left-orderings, left-orderings, or circular orderings, a group \(G\) either admits finitely many or uncountably many such orderings. The paper under review contributes with a new result in this direction: if a nontrivial group \(G\) admits a locally invariant ordering (partial or total), then it admits uncountably many of them (partial and total). A locally invariant (partial or total) ordering \(\prec\) in a group \(G\) is a strict (partial or total) ordering on \(G\) such that, for any \(g,h\in G\) with \(h\neq 1\), either \(g\prec hg\) or \(g\prec h^{-1}g\) (a left-ordering is a locally invariant ordering while there exists locally invariant orderings which are not left-orderings). Along the way, the paper defines and investigates the space of locally invariant orderings of a group, the natural group actions on it and their relationship to the space of left-orderings.