W*-superrigidity for groups with infinite center

Abstract

We construct discrete groups $G$ with infinite center that are nevertheless W*-superrigid, meaning that the group von Neumann algebra $L(G)$ fully remembers the group $G$. We obtain these rigidity results both up to isomorphisms and up to virtual isomorphisms of the groups and their von Neumann algebras. Our methods combine rigidity results for the quotient of these groups by their center with rigidity results for their 2-cohomology.

v3: minor changes, final version, to appear in Advances in Mathematics