The Haagerup property and actions on von Neumann algebras

Abstract

In Chapter 2 of "Groups with the Haagerup Property", Jolissaint gives on the one hand a characterization of the Haagerup property in terms of strongly mixing actions on standard probability spaces; on the other hand he gives a noncommutative analogue of this result in terms of actions on factors. In the recent paper "A new characterization of the Haagerup property by actions on infinite measure spaces", the authors give a characterization of the Haagerup property but this time dealing with $C_0$-actions on infinite measure spaces. Following the spirit of this section, we give a noncommutative analogue in terms of $C_0$-actions on von Neumann algebras. Next we discuss some natural questions which remained open around $C_0$-dynamical systems. In particular we give examples of $C_0$- dynamical systems for groups acting properly on trees. Finally, we give a positive answer to the question of the ergodicity of such systems for non-periodic groups.