Limit sets and strengths of convergence for sequences in the duals of thread-like Lie groups (Q970197)

Let \(G_N\) (with \(N\geq 3\)) be a thread-like group, so \(G_N\) is an \((N-1)\)-step nilpotent Lie group. The group \(G_3\) is just the Heisenberg group. The authors study properly convergent sequences of non-characters in the dual space \(\widehat G_N\): their limit sets and the strengths of convergence to the limits. To sample the results, we need a bit of notation. \textit{J.~Ludwig} introduced in [Math. Ann. 287, 239--257 (1990; Zbl 0675.22003)] the strength of convergence \(i_\sigma\) with which a sequence \((\pi_k)\) converges to a limit \(\sigma\) (terminology of \(i_\sigma\)-times convergence is also used); see also \textit{R.~J.~Archbold}, \textit{E.~Kaniuth}, \textit{J.~Ludwig}, \textit{G.~Schlichting} and \textit{D.~W.~B.~Somerset} [Adv. Math. 158, 26--65 (2001; Zbl 0978.22005)]. The degree \(\text{deg}\,\pi\) of a non-character \(\pi\) in \(\widehat G_N\) is the degree of a certain polynomial associated with \(\pi\). The degree \(\text{deg}\,\pi\) is an integer between \(1\) and \(N-2\). One of the main results of the paper is that the non-character limits \(\sigma\) of a properly convergent sequence \((\pi_k)\) of non-characters satisfy \[ N-2\geq \liminf \text{deg}\,\pi_k \geq \sum_\sigma i_\sigma \text{deg}\,\sigma. \] So there is a trade-off between the number of limits that are not characters, their degrees, and the strengths of convergence to these limits. The authors also study limits that are characters. They show for example that if a properly convergent sequence \((\pi_k)\) of non-characters has a limit that is a character, then the intersection of the limit set with the set of characters, which is homeomorphic to \({\mathbb R}^2\), has three alternatives: it is the whole \({\mathbb R}^2\), a half-plane or the union of two disjoint half-planes.