Abstract
A countable discrete group G is called Choquet-Deny if for every non-degenerate probability measure μ on G, it holds that all bounded μ-harmonic functions are constant. We show that a finitely generated group G is Choquet-Deny if and only if it is virtually nilpotent. For general countable discrete groups, we show that G is Choquet-Deny if and only if none of its quotients has the infinite conjugacy class property. Moreover, when G is not Choquet-Deny, then this is witnessed by a symmetric, finite entropy, non-degenerate measure.
Original language | American English |
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Pages (from-to) | 307-320 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Annals of Mathematics |
Volume | 190 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Jul 2019 |
Keywords
- Furstenberg-Poisson boundary
- Harmonic functions
- Random walks
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Mathematics (miscellaneous)