Geometric lattice actions, entropy and fundamental groups (Q699681)

Let \(\Gamma\) be a lattice in a noncompact simple Lie group \(G\) such that \(\mathbb{R}\)-rank\((G)\geq 2\). Suppose \(\Gamma\) acts analytically and ergodically on a compact manifold \(M\) preserving a unimodular rigid geometric structure (for example, either a connection and a volume form or a pseudo-Riemannian metric). The authors show that either the \(\Gamma\) action is isometric and \(M=K/C\) where \(K\) is a compact Lie group and the action is by right translations via a dense image homomorphism \(\Gamma\hookrightarrow K\), or there exists an infinite image linear representation \(\sigma: \pi_1(M)\rightarrow GL_n(\mathbb{R})\) such that the algebraic automorphism group of the Zariski closure of \(\sigma(\pi_1(M))\) contains a group locally isometric to \(G\). Under an additional assumption on the dynamics of the action, the authors associate to \(\sigma\) a virtual arithmetic quotient of full entropy.