The notion of strong 1-boundedness for finite von Neumann algebras was introduced in [Jun07b]. This framework provided a free probabilistic approach to study rigidity properties and classification of finite von Neumann algebras. In this paper, we prove that tracial von Neumann algebras with a finite Kazhdan set are strongly 1-bounded. This includes all property (T) von Neumann algebras with finite-dimensional center and group von Neumann algebras of property (T) groups. This result generalizes all the previous results in this direction due to Voiculescu, Ge, Ge-Shen, Connes-Shlyakhtenko, Jung-Shlyakhtenko, Jung and Shlyakhtenko. Our proofs are based on analysis of covering estimates of microstate spaces using an iteration technique in the spirit of Jung.

In this paper, we initiate the study of higher rank Baumslag–Solitar (BS) semigroups and their related C*-algebras. We focus on two rather interesting classes—one is related to products of odometers and the other is related to Furstenberg’s $\times p, \times q$ conjecture. For the former class, whose C*-algebras are studied in [32], we here characterize the factoriality of the associated von Neumann algebras and further determine their types; for the latter, we obtain their canonical Cartan subalgebras. In the rank 1 case, we study a more general setting that encompasses (single-vertex) generalized BS semigroups. One of our main tools in this paper is from self-similar higher rank graphs and their C*-algebras.

We provide a complete characterization of theories of tracial von Neumann algebras that admit quantifier elimination. We also show that the theory of a separable tracial von Neumann algebra $\mathcal {M}$ is never model complete if its direct integral decomposition contains $\mathrm {II}_1$ factors $\mathcal {N}$ such that $M_2(\mathcal {N})$ embeds into an ultrapower of $\mathcal {N}$. The proof in the case of $\mathrm {II}_1$ factors uses an explicit construction based on random matrices and quantum expanders.

We prove an analog of the disintegration theorem for tracial von Neumann algebras in the setting of elementary equivalence rather than isomorphism, showing that elementary equivalence of two direct integrals of tracial factors implies fiberwise elementary equivalence under mild, and necessary, hypotheses. This verifies a conjecture of Farah and Ghasemi. Our argument uses a continuous analog of ultraproducts where an ultrafilter on a discrete index set is replaced by a character on a commutative von Neumann algebra, which is closely related to Keisler randomizations of metric structures. We extend several essential results on ultraproducts, such as Łoś’s theorem and countable saturation, to this more general setting.

Jones [‘Two subfactors and the algebraic decomposition of bimodules over $II_1$ factors’, Acta Math. Vietnam 33(3) (2008), 209–218] proposed the study of ‘two subfactors’ of a $II_1$ factor as a quantization of two closed subspaces in a Hilbert space. Motivated by this, we initiate a systematic study of a special class of two subfactors, namely a pair of spin model subfactors. We characterize which pairs of distinct complex Hadamard matrices in $M_n(\mathbb {C})$ give rise to distinct spin model subfactors. Then, a detailed investigation is carried out for $n=2$, where the spin model subfactors correspond to $\mathbb {Z}_2$-actions on the hyperfinite type $II_1$ factor R. We observe that the intersection of the pair of spin model subfactors in this case is a nonirreducible vertex model subfactor and we characterize it as a diagonal subfactor. A few key invariants for the pair of spin model subfactors are computed to understand their relative positions.

Let R be a ring and let $n\ge 2$. We discuss the question of whether every element in the matrix ring $M_n(R)$ is a product of (additive) commutators $[x,y]=xy-yx$, for $x,y\in M_n(R)$. An example showing that this does not always hold, even when R is commutative, is provided. If, however, R has Bass stable rank one, then under various additional conditions every element in $M_n(R)$ is a product of three commutators. Further, if R is a division ring with infinite center, then every element in $M_n(R)$ is a product of two commutators. If R is a field and $a\in M_n(R)$, then every element in $M_n(R)$ is a sum of elements of the form $[a,x][a,y]$ with $x,y\in M_n(R)$ if and only if the degree of the minimal polynomial of a is greater than $2$.

We discuss representations of product systems (of $W^*$-correspondences) over the semigroup $\mathbb{Z}^n_+$ and show that, under certain pureness and Szegö positivity conditions, a completely contractive representation can be dilated to an isometric representation. For $n=1,2$ this is known to hold in general (without assuming the conditions), but for $n\geq 3$, it does not hold in general (as is known for the special case of isometric dilations of a tuple of commuting contractions). Restricting to the case of tuples of commuting contractions, our result reduces to a result of Barik, Das, Haria, and Sarkar (Isometric dilations and von Neumann inequality for a class of tuples in the polydisc. Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 372 (2019), 1429–1450). Our dilation is explicitly constructed, and we present some applications.

In [CDD22], we investigated the structure of $\ast $-isomorphisms between von Neumann algebras $L(\Gamma )$ associated with graph product groups $\Gamma $ of flower-shaped graphs and property (T) wreath-like product vertex groups, as in [CIOS21]. In this follow-up, we continue the structural study of these algebras by establishing that these graph product groups $\Gamma $ are entirely recognizable from the category of all von Neumann algebras arising from an arbitrary nontrivial graph product group with infinite vertex groups. A sharper $C^*$-algebraic version of this statement is also obtained. In the process of proving these results, we also extend the main $W^*$-superrigidity result from [CIOS21] to direct products of property (T) wreath-like product groups.

We prove novel asymptotic freeness results in tracial ultraproduct von Neumann algebras. In particular, we show that whenever $M = M_1 \ast M_2$ is a tracial free product von Neumann algebra and $u_1 \in \mathscr U(M_1)$, $u_2 \in \mathscr U(M_2)$ are Haar unitaries, the relative commutants $\{u_1\}' \cap M^{\mathcal U}$ and $\{u_2\}' \cap M^{\mathcal U}$ are freely independent in the ultraproduct $M^{\mathcal U}$. Our proof relies on Mei–Ricard’s results [MR16] regarding $\operatorname {L}^p$-boundedness (for all $1 < p < +\infty $) of certain Fourier multipliers in tracial amalgamated free products von Neumann algebras. We derive two applications. Firstly, we obtain a general absorption result in tracial amalgamated free products that recovers several previous maximal amenability/Gamma absorption results. Secondly, we prove a new lifting theorem which we combine with our asymptotic freeness results and Chifan–Ioana–Kunnawalkam Elayavalli’s recent construction [CIKE22] to provide the first example of a $\mathrm {II_1}$ factor that does not have property Gamma and is not elementary equivalent to any free product of diffuse tracial von Neumann algebras.

In 1988, Haagerup and Størmer conjectured that every pointwise inner automorphism of a type ${\rm III_1}$ factor is a composition of an inner and a modular automorphism. We study this conjecture and prove that every type ${\rm III_1}$ factor with trivial bicentralizer indeed satisfies this condition. In particular, this shows that Haagerup and Størmer's conjecture holds in full generality if Connes’ bicentralizer problem has an affirmative answer. Our proof is based on Popa's intertwining theory and Marrakchi's recent work on relative bicentralizers.

We single out a large class of groups ${\rm {\boldsymbol {\mathscr {M}}}}$ for which the following unique prime factorization result holds: if $\Gamma _1,\ldots,\Gamma _n\in {\rm {\boldsymbol {\mathscr {M}}}}$ and $\Gamma _1\times \cdots \times \Gamma _n$ is measure equivalent to a product $\Lambda _1\times \cdots \times \Lambda _m$ of infinite icc groups, then $n \ge m$, and if $n = m$, then, after permutation of the indices, $\Gamma _i$ is measure equivalent to $\Lambda _i$, for all $1\leq i\leq n$. This provides an analogue of Monod and Shalom's theorem [Orbit equivalence rigidity and bounded cohomology, Ann. of Math. 164 (2006), 825–878] for groups that belong to ${\rm {\boldsymbol {\mathscr {M}}}}$. Class ${\rm {\boldsymbol {\mathscr {M}}}}$ is constructed using groups whose von Neumann algebras admit an s-malleable deformation in the sense of Sorin Popa and it contains all icc non-amenable groups $\Gamma$ for which either (i) $\Gamma$ is an arbitrary wreath product group with amenable base or (ii) $\Gamma$ admits an unbounded 1-cocycle into its left regular representation. Consequently, we derive several orbit equivalence rigidity results for actions of product groups that belong to ${\rm {\boldsymbol {\mathscr {M}}}}$. Finally, for groups $\Gamma$ satisfying condition (ii), we show that all embeddings of group von Neumann algebras of non-amenable inner amenable groups into $L(\Gamma )$ are ‘rigid’. In particular, we provide an alternative solution to a question of Popa that was recently answered by Ding, Kunnawalkam Elayavalli, and Peterson [Properly Proximal von Neumann Algebras, Preprint (2022), arXiv:2204.00517].

We introduce Poisson boundaries of II$_1$ factors with respect to density operators that give the traces. The Poisson boundary is a von Neumann algebra that contains the II$_1$ factor and is a particular example of the boundary of a unital completely positive map as introduced by Izumi. Studying the inclusion of the II$_1$ factor into its boundary, we develop a number of notions, such as double ergodicity and entropy, that can be seen as natural analogues of results regarding the Poisson boundaries introduced by Furstenberg. We use the techniques developed to answer a problem of Popa by showing that all finite factors satisfy his MV property. We also extend a result of Nevo by showing that property (T) factors give rise to an entropy gap.

One of the main aims of this paper is to give a large class of strongly solid compact quantum groups. We do this by using quantum Markov semigroups and noncommutative Riesz transforms. We introduce a property for quantum Markov semigroups of central multipliers on a compact quantum group which we shall call ‘approximate linearity with almost commuting intertwiners’. We show that this property is stable under free products, monoidal equivalence, free wreath products and dual quantum subgroups. Examples include in particular all the (higher-dimensional) free orthogonal easy quantum groups.

We then show that a compact quantum group with a quantum Markov semigroup that is approximately linear with almost commuting intertwiners satisfies the immediately gradient-${\mathcal {S}}_2$ condition from [10] and derive strong solidity results (following [10]). Using the noncommutative Riesz transform we also show that these quantum groups have the Akemann–Ostrand property; in particular, the same strong solidity results follow again (now following [27]).

Generalizing von Neumann’s result on type II$_1$ von Neumann algebras, I characterise lattice isomorphisms between projection lattices of arbitrary von Neumann algebras by means of ring isomorphisms between the algebras of locally measurable operators. Moreover, I give a complete description of ring isomorphisms of locally measurable operator algebras when the von Neumann algebras are without type II direct summands.

Suppose that $\mathcal {A}$ is a unital subhomogeneous C*-algebra. We show that every central sequence in $\mathcal {A}$ is hypercentral if and only if every pointwise limit of a sequence of irreducible representations is multiplicity free. We also show that every central sequence in $\mathcal {A}$ is trivial if and only if every pointwise limit of irreducible representations is irreducible. Finally, we give a nice representation of the latter algebras.

Bożejko and Speicher associated a finite von Neumann algebra MT to a self-adjoint operator T on a complex Hilbert space of the form $\mathcal {H}\otimes \mathcal {H}$ which satisfies the Yang–Baxter relation and $ \left\| T \right\| < 1$. We show that if dim$(\mathcal {H})$ ⩾ 2, then MT is a factor when T admits an eigenvector of some special form.

We introduce inner amenability for discrete probability-measure-preserving (p.m.p.) groupoids and investigate its basic properties, examples, and the connection with central sequences in the full group of the groupoid or central sequences in the von Neumann algebra associated with the groupoid. Among other things, we show that every free ergodic p.m.p. compact action of an inner amenable group gives rise to an inner amenable orbit equivalence relation. We also obtain an analogous result for compact extensions of equivalence relations that either are stable or have a nontrivial central sequence in their full group.

We provide a class of separable II1 factors $M$ whose central sequence algebra is not the ‘tail’ algebra associated with any decreasing sequence of von Neumann subalgebras of $M$. This settles a question of McDuff [On residual sequences in a II1 factor, J. Lond. Math. Soc. (2) (1971), 273–280].

We prove simplicity of all intermediate $C^{\ast }$-algebras $C_{r}^{\ast }(\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4})\subseteq {\mathcal{B}}\subseteq \unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}\ltimes _{r}C(X)$ in the case of minimal actions of $C^{\ast }$-simple groups $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$ on compact spaces $X$. For this, we use the notion of stationary states, recently introduced by Hartman and Kalantar [Stationary $C^{\ast }$-dynamical systems. Preprint, 2017, arXiv:1712.10133]. We show that the Powers’ averaging property holds for the reduced crossed product $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}\ltimes _{r}{\mathcal{A}}$ for any action $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}\curvearrowright {\mathcal{A}}$ of a $C^{\ast }$-simple group $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$ on a unital $C^{\ast }$-algebra ${\mathcal{A}}$, and use it to prove a one-to-one correspondence between stationary states on ${\mathcal{A}}$ and those on $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}\ltimes _{r}{\mathcal{A}}$.