Uniform property $Γ$ and the small boundary property
We prove that, for a free action $α\colon G \curvearrowright X$ of a countably infinite discrete amenable group on a compact metric space, the small boundary property is implied by uniform property $Γ$ of the Cartan subalgebra $(C(X) \subseteq C(X) \rtimes_αG)$. The reverse implication has been demonstrated by Kerr and Szabó for free actions, from which we obtain that these two conditions are equivalent. We moreover show that, if $α$ is also minimal, then almost finiteness of $α$ is implied by tracial $\mathcal{Z}$-stability of the subalgebra $(C(X) \subseteq C(X) \rtimes_αG)$. The reverse implication is due to Kerr, resulting in the equivalence of these two properties as well. As an application, we prove that if $α\colon G \curvearrowright X$ and $β\colon H \curvearrowright Y$ are free actions and $α$ has the small boundary property, then $α\times β\colon G \times H \curvearrowright X \times Y$ has the small boundary property. An analogous permanence property is obtained for almost finiteness in case $α$ and $β$ are free minimal actions.