Relative invariant subalgebra rigidity for Thompson's group $F$

Abstract

We prove that Thompson's group $F$ satisfies the relative invariant subalgebra rigidity property with respect to its commutator subgroup: every von Neumann subalgebra of $L(F)$ that is invariant under conjugation by $[F,F]$ is of the form $L(N)$ for some normal subgroup $N \trianglelefteq F$. Along the way, we establish a general factoriality criterion for invariant subalgebras whose hypotheses are met whenever the ambient group is i.c.c., simple, and every faithful ergodic measure-preserving action of it on a probability space is essentially free.