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George A. Willis

Publications and source records attributed to George A. Willis.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2012

Homological Properties of the Algebra of Compact Operators on a Banach Space

The conditions on a Banach space, $E$, under which the algebra, $\mathcal{K}(E)$, of compact operators on $E$ is right flat or homologically unital are investigated. These homological properties are related to factorization in the algebra and it is shown that, for $\mathcal{K}(E)$, they are closely associated with the approximation property for $E$. The class of spaces, $E$, such that $\mathcal{K}(E)$ is known to be right flat and homologically unital is extended to include spaces which do not have the bounded compact approximation property.

math.FA↗
arXiv2009

Hyperbolic groups have flat-rank at most 1

The flat-rank of a totally disconnected, locally compact group G is an integer, which is an invariant of G as a topological group. We generalize the concept of hyperbolic groups to the topological context and show that a totally disconnected, locally compact, hyperbolic group has flat-rank at most 1. It follows that the simple totally disconnected locally compact groups constructed by Paulin and Haglund have flat-rank at most 1.

math.GR↗
arXiv2008

Geometric characterization of flat groups of automorphisms

If H is a flat group of automorphisms of finite rank n of a totally disconnected, locally compact group G, then each orbit of H in the metric space B(G) of compact, open subgroups of G is quasi-isometric to n-dimensional euclidean space. In this note we prove the following partial converse: Assume that G is a totally disconnected, locally compact group such that B(G) is a proper metric space and let H be a group of automorphisms of G such that some (equivalently every) orbit of H in B(G) is quasi-isometric to n-dimensional euclidean space, then H has a finite index subgroup which is flat of rank n. We can draw this conclusion under weaker assumptions. We also single out a naturally defined flat subgroup of such groups of automorphisms.

math.GR↗
arXiv2006

Directions of automorphisms of Lie groups over local fields compared to the directions of Lie algebra automorphisms

To each totally disconnected, locally compact topological group G and each group A of automorphisms of G, a pseudo-metric space of ``directions'' has been associated by U. Baumgartner and the second author. Given a Lie group G over a local field, it is a natural idea to try to define a map from the space of directions of analytic automorphisms of G to the space of directions of automorphisms of the Lie algebra L(G) of G, which takes the direction of an analytic automorphism of G to the direction of the associated Lie algebra automorphism. We show that, in general, this map is not well-defined. However, the pathology cannot occur for a large class of linear algebraic groups (called ``generalized Cayley groups'' here). For such groups, the assignment just proposed defines a well-defined isometric embedding from the space of directions of inner automorphisms of G to the space of directions of automorphisms of L(G). Some counterexamples concerning the existence of small joint tidy subgroups for flat groups of automorphisms are also provided.

math.GR↗
arXiv2006

Flat rank of automorphism groups of buildings

The flat rank of a totally disconnected locally compact group G, denoted flat-rk(G), is an invariant of the topological group structure of G. It is defined thanks to a natural distance on the space of compact open subgroups of G. For a topological Kac-Moody group G with Weyl group W, we derive the inequalities: alg-rk(W)\le flat-rk(G)\le rk(|W|\_0). Here, alg-rk(W) is the maximal $\mathbb{Z}$-rank of abelian subgroups of W, and rk(|W|\_0) is the maximal dimension of isometrically embedded flats in the CAT0-realization |W|\_0. We can prove these inequalities under weaker assumptions. We also show that for any integer n \geq 1 there is a topologically simple, compactly generated, locally compact, totally disconnected group G, with flat-rk(G)=n and which is not linear.

math.GR↗
arXiv2003

Contraction groups and scales of automorphisms of totally disconnected locally compact groups

We study contraction groups for automorphisms of totally disconnected locally compcat groups using the scale of the automorphism as a tool. The contraction group is shown to be unbounded when the inverse automorphism has non-trivial scale and this scale is shown to be the inverse value of the modular function on the closure of the contraction group at the automorphism. The closure of the contraction group is represented as acting on a homogenous tree and closed contraction groups are characterised.

math.GR↗
arXiv2003

Tidy subgroups for commuting automorphisms of totally disconnected groups: an analogue of simultaneous triangularisation of matrices

Let αbe an automorphism of the totally disconnected group G. The compact open subgroup, V, if G is tidy for αif [α(V') : α(V')\cap V'] is minimised at V, where V' ranges over all compact open subgroups of G. Identifying a subgroup tidy for αis analogous to identifying a basis which puts a linear transformation into Jordan canonical form. This analogy is developed here by showing that commuting automorphisms have a common tidy subgroup of G and, conversely, that a group H of automorphisms having a common tidy subgroup V is abelian modulo the automorphisms which leave V invariant. Certain subgroups of G are the analogues of eigenspaces and corresponding real characters of H the analogues of eigenvalues.

math.GR↗
arXiv1992

Amenability of Banach algebras of compact operators

In this paper we study conditions on a Banach space X that ensure that the Banach algebra K(X) of compact operators is amenable. We give a symmetrized approximation property of X which is proved to be such a condition. This property is satisfied by a wide range of Banach spaces including all the classical spaces. We then investigate which constructions of new Banach spaces from old ones preserve the property of carrying amenable algebras of compact operators. Roughly speaking, dual spaces, predual spaces and certain tensor products do inherit this property and direct sums do not. For direct sums this question is closely related to factorization of linear operators. In the final section we discuss some open questions, in particular, the converse problem of what properties of X are implied by the amenability of K(X).

math.FA↗