Fourier algebras of parabolic subgroups

We study the following question: given a locally compact group when does its Fourier algebra coincide with the subalgebra of the Fourier-Stieltjes algebra consisting of functions vanishing at infinity? We provide sufficient conditions for this to be the case. As an application, we show that when P is the minimal parabolic subgroup in one of the classical simple Lie groups of real rank one or the exceptional such group, then the Fourier algebra of P coincides with the subalgebra of the Fourier-Stieltjes algebra of P consisting of functions vanishing at infinity. In particular, the regular representation of P decomposes as a direct sum of irreducible representations although P is not compact.Comment: 17 pages. Major changes in the exposition. Final versio

Approximation properties of simple Lie groups made discrete

In this paper we consider the class of connected simple Lie groups equipped with the discrete topology. We show that within this class of groups the following approximation properties are equivalent: (1) the Haagerup property; (2) weak amenability; (3) the weak Haagerup property. In order to obtain the above result we prove that the discrete group GL(2,K) is weakly amenable with constant 1 for any field K.Comment: 15 pages. Final version. To appear in J. Lie Theor

The weak Haagerup property II: Examples

The weak Haagerup property for locally compact groups and the weak Haagerup constant was recently introduced by the second author. The weak Haagerup property is weaker than both weak amenability introduced by Cowling and the first author and the Haagerup property introduced by Connes and Choda. In this paper it is shown that a connected simple Lie group G has the weak Haagerup property if and only if the real rank of G is zero or one. Hence for connected simple Lie groups the weak Haagerup property coincides with weak amenability. Moreover, it turns out that for connected simple Lie groups the weak Haagerup constant coincides with the weak amenability constant, although this is not true for locally compact groups in general. It is also shown that the semidirect product of R^2 by SL(2,R) does not have the weak Haagerup property.Comment: 19 pages. Final version. To appear in IMR

A Schur multiplier characterization of coarse embeddability

We give a contractive Schur multiplier characterization of locally compact groups coarsely embeddable into Hilbert spaces. Consequently, all locally compact groups whose weak Haagerup constant is 1 embed coarsely into Hilbert spaces, and hence the Baum-Connes assembly map with coefficients is split-injective for such groups.Comment: 6 pages. Final version. To appear in Bull. Bel. Math. Soc. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1408.523

A complete characterization of connected Lie groups with the Approximation Property

We give a complete characterization of connected Lie groups with the Approximation Property for groups (AP). To this end, we introduce a strengthening of property (T), that we call property (T*), which is a natural obstruction to the AP. In order to define property (T*), we first prove that for every locally compact group G, there exists a unique left invariant mean on the space of completely bounded Fourier multipliers of G. A locally compact group G is said to have property (T*) if this mean is a weak* continuous functional. After proving that the groups SL(3,R), Sp(2,R), and the universal covering of Sp(2,R) have property (T*), we address the question which connected Lie groups have the AP. A technical problem that arises when considering this question from the point of view of the AP is that the semisimple part of the global Levi decomposition of a connected Lie group need not be closed. Because of an important permanence property of property (T*), this problem vanishes. It follows that a connected Lie group has the AP if and only if all simple factors in the semisimple part of its Levi decomposition have real rank 0 or 1. Finally, we are able to establish property (T*) for all connected simple higher rank Lie groups with finite center.Comment: 18 pages, more details were included in Sections 5 and 6 and some additional minor changes were mad

Semigroups of Herz-Schur Multipliers

In order to investigate the relationship between weak amenability and the Haagerup property for groups, we introduce the weak Haagerup property, and we prove that having this approximation property is equivalent to the existence of a semigroup of Herz-Schur multipliers generated by a proper function. It is then shown that a (not necessarily proper) generator of a semigroup of Herz-Schur multipliers splits into a positive definite kernel and a conditionally negative definite kernel. We also show that the generator has a particularly pleasant form if and only if the group is amenable. In the second half of the paper we study semigroups of radial Herz-Schur multipliers on free groups. We prove that a generator of such a semigroup is linearly bounded by the word length function.Comment: 38 pages. Final version. Version 2: Theorem 1.5 and Theorem 1.6 in the previous version are merged into on

On connected Lie groups and the approximation property

Recently, a complete characterization of connected Lie groups with the Approximation Property was given. The proof used of the newly introduced property (T*). We present here a short proof of the same result avoiding the use of property (T*). Using property (T*), however, the characterization is extended to every almost connected group. We end with some remarks about the impossibility of going beyond the almost connected case.Comment: 4 page