Equidistribution of Sparse Sequences on Nilmanifolds
EQUIDISTRIBUTION OF SPARSE SEQUENCES ON NILMANIFOLDS NIKOS FRANTZIKINAKIS n Abstract. We study equidistribution properties of nil-orbits (b x)n N when the parameter ∈ n is restricted to the range of some sparse sequence that is not necessarily polynomial. For example, we show that if X = G/Γ is a nilmanifold, b G is an ergodic nilrotation, and c [n ] ∈ c R Z is positive, then the sequence (b x)n N is equidistributed in X for every x X. ∈ \ c ∈ ∈ This is also the case when n is replaced with a(n), where a(t) is a function that belongs to some Hardy field, has polynomial growth, and stays logarithmically away from polynomials, and when it is replaced with a random sequence of integers with sub-exponential growth. Similar results have been established by Boshernitzan when X is the circle. Contents 1. Introduction and main results 1 2. Background on Hardy fields and nilmanifolds 8 3. A model equidistribution result 13 4. Single nil-orbits and Hardy sequences 16 5. Several nil-orbits and Hardy sequences 22 6. Random sequences of sub-exponential growth 26 References 31 1. Introduction and main results 1.1. Motivation. A nilmanifold is a homogeneous space X = G/Γ where G is a nilpotent Lie group, and Γ is a discrete cocompact subgroup of G. For b G and x = gΓ X we define bx = (bg)Γ. In recent years it has become clear that studying equidis∈ tribution properties∈ of nil- n arXiv:0810.4661v5 [math.DS] 23 Feb 2012 orbits (b x)n N, and their subsequences, is a central problem, with applications to various areas of mathematics∈ that include combinatorics ([2], [42], [18], [14], [4], [19], [20]), ergodic theory ([11], [28], [41], [29], [34], [16], [17], [30]), number theory ([1], [25], [3], [24]), and probability theory ([13]).
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