Frobenius non-stability of nilpotent groups (Q6110332)

Let \(\Gamma\) be a countable discrete group, let \(1 \leq p \leq \infty\) and \(|| \cdot ||_{p}\) denote the unnormalized Schatten \(p\)-norm, \(||M||_{p} = (\operatorname{Tr}((M M)^{p/2}))^{1/p}\) for \(p < \infty\) and operator norm for \(p =\infty\). Let \(U(k_{n})\) be the \(k_{n} \times k_{n}\) complex unitary group, a \(p\)-asymptotic homomorphism is a sequence of functions \(\rho_{n} : \Gamma \rightarrow U(k_{n})\) so that for all \(x, y \in \Gamma\) relation \(||\rho_{n}(xy) - \rho_{n}(x)\rho_{n}(y)||_{p} \rightarrow 0\) is verified. A \(p\)-asymptotic representation is \(p\)-perturbable to a genuine representation if there is a sequence of unitary representations \(\widetilde{\rho}_{n}: \Gamma \rightarrow U(k_{n})\) such that \(||\widetilde{\rho}_{n}(x) -\rho_{n}(x)||_{p} \rightarrow 0\) for all \(x \in \Gamma\). The group \(\Gamma\) is \(p\)-stable if every \(p\)-asymptotic representation is \(p\)-perturbable to a genuine representation. Of particular interest is the case \(p = 2\), called Frobenius stability, The main result of the article under review is Theorem 1.1: Let \(\Gamma\) be a finitely generated nilpotent group and let \(1 < p \leq \infty\). Then \(\Gamma\) is \(p\)-stable if and only if \(\Gamma\) is virtually cyclic. In particular, finitely generated nilpotent groups that are not virtually cyclic are not Frobenius stable.