arXiv subjects

Christophe Pittet

Publications and source records attributed to Christophe Pittet.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

Coulhon Saloff-Coste isoperimetric inequalities for finitely generated groups

We prove an inequality, valid on any finitely generated group with a fixed finite symmetric generating set, involving the growth of successive balls, and the average length of an element in a ball. It generalizes recent improvements of the Coulhon Saloff-Coste inequality. We reformulate the inequality in terms of the F{\o}lner function; in the case the finitely generated group is amenable with exponential growth, this allows us to express the best possible (outer) constant in the Coulhon Saloff-Coste isoperimetric inequality with the help of a formula involving the growth rate and the asymptotic behavior of the F{\o}lner function.

math.GR↗

arXiv2022

Universal lower bounds for the discrepancies of actions of a locally compact group

We prove universal lower bounds for discrepancies (i.e. sizes of spectral gaps of averaging operators) of measure-preserving actions of a locally compact group on probability spaces. For example, a locally compact Hausdorff unimodular group $G$, acting continuously, by measure-preserving transformations, on a compact atomless probability space $(X,\nu)$, with an orbit $Gx_0$ of measure zero, contained in the support of $\nu$, and with compact stabilizer (i.e. $G_{x_0}$ is compact) has the following property: any finite positive regular Borel measure $\mu$ on $G$ satisfies $$\|\pi_0(\mu)\|_{2\to 2}\geq \|\lambda_G(\mu)\|_{2\to 2},$$ where $\pi_0$ denotes the Koopman representation of $G$, defined by the given action, and $\lambda_G$ denotes the left-regular representation of $G$. The lower bounds we prove generalize the universal lower bounds for the discrepancies of measure-preserving actions of a discrete group. Many examples show that the generalization from discrete groups to locally compact groups requires some additional hypothesis on the action (we detail some examples of actions of amenable groups with a spectral gap, due to Margulis). Well-known examples and results of Kazhdan and Zimmer show that the discrepancies of some actions of Lie groups on homogeneous spaces match exactly the universal lower bounds we prove.

math.DS↗

arXiv2021

Laplace and Schr\"odinger operators without eigenvalues on homogeneous amenable graphs

A one-by-one exhaustion is a combinatorial/geometric condition which excludes eigenvalues from the spectra of Laplace and Schr\"odinger operators on graphs. Isoperimetric inequalities in graphs with a cocompact automorphism group provide an upper bound on the von Neumann dimension of the space of eigenfunctions. Any finitely generated indicable amenable group has a Cayley graph without eigenvalues. There exists a finitely generated group G with finite generating sets S and S' such that the adjacency operator of the Cayley graph of (G,S) has no eigenvalue while the adjacency operator of the Cayley graph of (G,S') has pure point spectrum.

math.SP↗

arXiv2020

Radial rapid decay does not imply rapid decay

We provide a new, dynamical criterion for the radial rapid decay property. We work out in detail the special case of the group $\Gamma := \mathbf{SL}_2(A)$, where $A := \mathbb{F}_q[X,X^{-1}]$ is the ring of Laurent polynomials with coefficients in $\mathbb{F}_q$, endowed with the length function coming from a natural action of $\Gamma$ on a product of two trees, to show that is has the radial rapid decay (RRD) property and doesn't have the rapid decay (RD) property. The criterion also applies to irreducible lattices in semisimple Lie groups with finite center endowed with a length function defined with the help of a Finsler metric. These examples answer a question asked by Chatterji and moreover show that, unlike the RD property, the RRD property isn't inherited by open subgroups.

math.GR↗

arXiv2019

The exact convergence rate in the ergodic theorem of Lubotzky Phillips Sarnak

We compute exact convergence rates in von Neumann type ergodic theorems when the acting group of measure preserving transformations is free and the means are taken over spheres or over balls defined by a word metric. Relying on the upper bounds on the spectra of Koopman operators deduced by Lubozky, Phillips, and Sarnak from Deligne's work on the Weil conjecture, we compute the exact convergence rate for the free groups (of rank $(p+1)/2$ where $p\equiv 1\mod 4$ is prime) of isometries of the round sphere defined by Lipschitz quaternions. We also show that any finite rank free group of automorphisms of the torus realizes the lowest possible discrepancy and prove a matching upper bound on the convergence rate.

math.DS↗

arXiv2016

Ergodic boundary representations

We prove a von Neumann type ergodic theorem for averages of unitary operators arising from the Furstenberg-Poisson boundary representation (the quasi-regular representation) of any lattice in a non-compact connected semisimple Lie group with finite center.

math.DS↗

arXiv2014

Isotropic Markov semigroups on ultra-metric spaces

Let (X,d) be a locally compact separable ultra-metric space. Given a reference measure μ on X and a step length distribution on the non-negative reals, we construct a symmetric Markov semigroup P^t acting in L^2(X,μ). We study the corresponding Markov process. We obtain upper and lower bounds of its transition density and its Green function, give a transience criterion, estimate its moments and describe the Markov generator and its spectrum, which is pure point. In the particular case when X is the field of p-adic numbers, our construction recovers fractional derivative and the Taibleson Laplacian (spectral multiplier), and we can also apply our theory to the study of the Vladimirov Laplacian which is closely related to the concept of p-adic Quantum Mechanics. Even in this well established setting, several of our results are new. We also elaborate the relation between our processes and Kigami's jump processes on the boundary of a tree which are induced by a random walk. In conclusion, we provide examples illustrating the interplay between the fractional derivatives and random walks.

math.PR↗

arXiv2013

Flat bundles with complex analytic holonomy

Let G be a connected complex Lie group. We show that any flat principal G-bundle over any finite CW-complex pulls back to a trivial bundle over some finite covering space of the base space if and only if each real characteristic class of positive degree of G vanishes. A third equivalent condition is that the derived group of the radical of G is simply connected. As a corollary, the same conditions are equivalent if G is a connected amenable Lie group. In particular, if G is a connected compact Lie group then any flat principal G-bundle over any finite CW-complex pulls back to a trivial bundle over some finite covering space of the base space.

math.AT↗

arXiv2012

Bounded characteristic classes and flat bundles

Let G be a connected Lie group, G^d the underlying discrete group, and BG, BG^d their classifying spaces. Let R denote the radical of G. We show that all classes in the image of the canonical map in cohomology H^*(BG,R)->H^*(BG^d,R) are bounded if and only if the derived group [R,R] is simply connected. We also give equivalent conditions in terms of stable commutator length and distortion.

math.AT↗

arXiv2011

Spectral properties of a class of random walks on locally finite groups

We study some spectral properties of random walks on infinite countable amenable groups with an emphasis on locally finite groups, e.g. the infinite symmetric group. On locally finite groups, the random walks under consideration are driven by infinite divisible distributions. This allows us to embed our random walks into continuous time Lévy processes whose heat kernels have shapes similar to the ones of alpha-stable processes. We obtain examples of fast/slow decays of return probabilities, a recurrence criterion, exact values and estimates of isospectral profiles and spectral distributions, formulae and estimates for the escape rates and for heat kernels.

math.SP↗

arXiv2009

Spectral distribution and $L^2$-isoperimetric profile of Laplace operators on groups

We give a formula relating the $L^2$-isoperimetric profile to the spectral distribution of the Laplace operator associated to a finitely generated group $Γ$ or a Riemannian manifold with a cocompact, isometric $Γ$-action. As a consequence, we can apply techniques from geometric group theory to estimate the spectral distribution of the Laplace operator in terms of the growth and the Følner's function of the group, generalizing previous estimates by Gromov and Shubin. This leads, in particular, to sharp estimates of the spectral distributions for several classes of solvable groups. Furthermore, we prove the asymptotic invariance of the spectral distribution under changes of measures with finite second moment.

math.GR↗

arXiv2009

On the bounded cohomology of Lie groups

We show that each integral Borel cohomology class of a connected Lie group G can be represented by a Borel bounded cocycle if and only if the radical of G is linear. This leads to a generalization of Gromov's boundedness theorem on characteristic classes of flat bundles.

math.AT↗