W^* -superrigidity for cocycle twisted group von Neumann algebras

(C^*)-algebras and (W^*)-algebras in relation to group representations (22D25) Algebraic ergodic theory, cocycles, orbit equivalence, ergodic equivalence relations (37A20) General theory of von Neumann algebras (46L10) Classification of factors (46L36)

Review text

The present paper concerns the possibility of and the degree of uniqueness when describing von Neumann algebras as group von Neumann algebras, twisted group von Neumann algebras or twisted groupoid von Neumann algebras. In this context, uniqueness is formalised by the concept of W*-superrigidity, which in its simplest form says that a discrete group \(\Gamma\) is W*-superrigid if for any other discrete group \(\Lambda\) satisfying \(\mathrm{L} \Gamma \cong \mathrm{L} \Lambda\) there is a group isomorphism \(\Gamma \cong \Lambda\). This basic concept can be modified in several directions. The present paper concerns superrigidity for cocycle twisted group von Neumann algebras and also proves superrigidity results assuming only virtual isomorphism of von Neumann algebras. It also provides concrete examples of von Neumann algebras that are not virtually isomorphic with any twisted groupoid von Neumann algebra.\N\NThe left-right wreath product (with base group \(\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}\)) associated with a group \(\Gamma\) is the semi-direct product \((\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z})^{\oplus \Gamma} \rtimes (\Gamma \times \Gamma)\), where \(\Gamma \times \Gamma\) acts on the index set by left and right multiplication: \((\gamma_1,\gamma_2) x = \gamma_1 x \gamma_2^{-1}\).\N\NThe first main result of the article says that the left-right wreath product \(G = (\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z})^{\oplus \Gamma} \rtimes (\Gamma \times \Gamma)\) with \(\Gamma\) from a large class of groups \(\mathcal{C}\) are W*-superrigid within the class of twisted group von Neumann algebras in two senses: if \(\Lambda\) is any other discrete group and \(\mu \in \mathrm{Z}^2(G, \mathrm{S}^1)\), \(\omega \in \mathrm{Z}^2(\Lambda, \mathrm{S}^1)\) are 2-cocycles such that \(\mathrm{L}_\mu(G) \cong \mathrm{L}_\omega(\Lambda)\), then there is an isomorphism \(\delta\colon \Lambda \longrightarrow G\) such that \(\delta^*(\mu)\) is cohomologous to \(\omega\). Analogously, the existence of a non-zero \(\mathrm{L}_\mu(\Gamma)\)-\(\mathrm{L}_\omega(\Lambda)\)-bimodule that is finitely generated as a left and right module implies virtual isomorphism of \((G, \mu)\) and \((\Lambda, \omega)\). See the article's Theorem~A for the applicable notion of virtual isomorphism here. We remark that non-abelian free groups are members of \(\mathcal{C}\), so that the presented results apply to groups that are straight forward to describe.\N\NThe second main result provides the first examples of von Neumann algebras \(M\) which do not admit a non-zero \(M\)-\(\mathrm{L}_\mu(\mathcal{G})\)-bimodule that is finitely generated as a left and right module for any discrete probability measure preserving groupoid \(\mathcal{G}\) and any 2-cocycle \(\mu \in \mathrm{Z}^2(\mathcal{G}, \mathrm{S}^1)\).\N\NThe key new notion introduced in this work is the notation of a coarse embedding \(M \longrightarrow p(\mathrm{M}_n(\mathbb{C}) \otimes M_1 \overline{\otimes} \dotsm \overline{\otimes} M_k)p\) for \(\mathrm{II}_1\)-factors \(M, M_1, \dotsc, M_k\), \(n \geq 1\), and a projection \(p \in \mathrm{M}_n(\mathbb{C}) \otimes M_1 \overline{\otimes} \dotsm \overline{\otimes} M_k\). It is applied here to maps arising from the triple comultiplication of a twisted group von Neumann algebra \(\Delta\colon \mathrm{L}_\omega(\Lambda) \longrightarrow \mathrm{L}_\omega(\Lambda) \overline{\otimes} \mathrm{L}_\omega(\Lambda)^{\mathrm{op}} \overline{\otimes} \mathrm{L}_\omega(\Lambda)\) which satisfies \(\Delta(u_g) = u_g \otimes \overline{u_g} \otimes u_g\). The concept of coarse embeddings has already found further striking applications in [\textit{M.~Donvil} and \textit{S.~Vaes}, ``W*-superrigidity for discrete quantum groups, Preprint, \url{arXiv:2504.03266}].

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