Fuglede–Kadison determinants and entropy for actions of discrete amenable groups

Abstract

In 1990, Lind, Schmidt, and Ward gave a formula for the entropy of certain <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="double-struck upper Z Superscript n"> <mml:semantics> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="double-struck">Z</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mi>n</mml:mi> </mml:msup> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">\mathbb {Z}^n</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> -dynamical systems attached to Laurent polynomials <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper P"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>P</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">P</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> , in terms of the (logarithmic) Mahler measure of <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper P"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>P</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">P</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> . We extend the expansive case of their result to the noncommutative setting where <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="double-struck upper Z Superscript n"> <mml:semantics> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="double-struck">Z</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mi>n</mml:mi> </mml:msup> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">\mathbb {Z}^n</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> gets replaced by suitable discrete amenable groups. Generalizing the Mahler measure, Fuglede–Kadison determinants from the theory of group von Neumann algebras appear in the entropy formula.