The noncommutative topological factor theorem for rank-one product lattices

Abstract

We prove a noncommutative topological factor theorem for irreducible lattices in products of real rank-one simple Lie groups. The intermediate C*-subalgebras between the reduced group C*-algebra and the boundary crossed product are exactly the crossed products arising from coordinate subproducts of the Furstenberg boundary. This follows from a more general theorem for product boundary actions, which also yields tree and mixed local-field versions. We finally show that the corresponding classification for the full flag action of $\operatorname{SL}_3(\mathbb Z)$ would imply ordinary ITAP.