Two-Step and Three-Step Nilpotent Lie Algebras Constructed from Schreier Graphs

Abstract

We associate a two-step nilpotent Lie algebra to an arbitrary Schreier graph. We then use properties of the Schreier graph to determine necessary and sufficient conditions for this Lie algebra to extend to a three-step nilpotent Lie algebra. As an application, if we start with pairs of non-isomorphic Schreier graphs coming from Gassmann-Sunada triples, we prove that the pair of associated two-step nilpotent Lie algebras are always isometric. In contrast, we use a well-known pair of Schreier graphs to show that the associated three-step nilpotent extensions need not be isometric.