The ratio set of the harmonic measure of a random walk on a hyperbolic group (Q926427)

The authors consider the harmonic measure \(\nu\) on the Gromov boundary \(\partial \Gamma\) of a nonelementary hyperbolic group \(\Gamma\). The main result of the paper is that the ratio set \(r(\Gamma,\partial \Gamma, \nu) \setminus \{0\}\) is the closed multiplicative subgroup of \((0,+\infty)\) generated by \(\{\lim_{n\to \infty} G(e,g^{n})^{1/n}: g \in \Gamma\}\) (where \(G(g,h)= \sum_{n=0}^\infty p^{(n)}(g,h)\) denotes the Green function of the random walk on \(\Gamma\) with transition probabilities \(p(g,h)=\mu(g^{-1}h)\), for some given finitely supported probability measure \(\mu\) on \(\Gamma\) with the property that the semigroup generated by the support of \(\mu\) coincides with \(\Gamma\)). In particular, the orbit equivalence relation defined by the action of \(\Gamma\) on \(\partial \Gamma\) is never of type III\(_0\). For the proof of this result, the authors establish a Gibbs-like property of the harmonic measure \(\nu\) as well as a Lifschitz type theorem for the action of \(\Gamma\) on \(\partial \Gamma\). The paper is well written and largely self-contained.