Furstenberg entropy realizations for virtually free groups and lamplighter groups

Abstract

Let $(G,\mu)$ be a discrete group with a generating probability measure. Nevo shows that if $G$ has property (T) then there exists an $\epsilon>0$ such that the Furstenberg entropy of any $(G,\mu)$-stationary ergodic space is either zero or larger than $\epsilon$. Virtually free groups, such as $SL_2(\mathbb{Z})$, do not have property (T), and neither do their extensions, such as surface groups. For these, we construct stationary actions with arbitrarily small, positive entropy. This construction involves building and lifting spaces of lamplighter groups. For some classical lamplighters, these spaces realize a dense set of entropies between zero and the Poisson boundary entropy.