Spectral Radius and Amenability in Hilbert Geometries

Abstract

We study the bottom of the spectrum in Hilbert geometries, we show that it is zero if and only if the geometry is amenable, in other words if and only if it admits a F\"olner sequence. We also show that the bottom of the spectrum admits an upper bound, which depends only on the dimension and which is the bottom of the spectrum of the Hyperbolic geometry of the same dimension. Horoballs, from a purely metric point of view, and their relation with the bottom of the spectrum in Hilbert geometries are briefly studied.