Continuous pointwise ergodicity for semigroup actions on locally compact spaces

Abstract

We investigate proper actions of arbitrary semigroups on separable locally compact metric spaces, where point orbits are allowed to escape to infinity. An action is pointwise uniquely ergodic when every compact orbit closure supports exactly one invariant probability measure and non-compact orbit closures support none. The associated ergodic map therefore assigns the selected probability measure to non-escaping points and the zero subprobability to escaping ones. Under the hypothesis that compact orbit closures admit at least one invariant measure, we establish that the weak* continuity of this ergodic map together with a vanishing at infinity condition is equivalent to the mean ergodicity of the Koopman representation on the space of continuous functions vanishing at infinity. In consequence, every such function and every finite signed measure split uniquely into invariant components and limits of coboundaries. The corresponding projections are obtained by integration against the ergodic map. Because this operator-theoretic characterization avoids explicit averaging schemes, it remains applicable even to semigroups without Følner sequences. When restricted to countable, discrete, bicancellative, and left amenable semigroups, these properties are shown to be equivalent to the uniform convergence of Følner averages and the weak-star continuity of their dual limits, extending classical results for group actions on compact spaces. Furthermore, we identify the space of ergodic measures with a compactified ergodic quotient, prove that the invariant measure simplex is Bauer, and show that these structural properties descend through proper factor maps. The theoretical framework is complemented by dynamical examples, including a continuously pointwise ergodic subshift that exhibits discontinuous entropy along the ergodic map.

40 pages