Group amenability properties for von Neumann algebras

Abstract

In his study of amenable unitary representations, M. E. B. Bekka asked if there is an analogue for such representations of the remarkable fixed-point property for amenable groups. In this paper, we prove such a fixed-point theorem in the more general context of a $G$-amenable von Neumann algebra $M$, where $G$ is a locally compact group acting on $M$. The Følner conditions of Connes and Bekka are extended to the case where $M$ is semifinite and admits a faithful, semifinite, normal trace which is invariant under the action of $G$.