Inner amenability, property Gamma, McDuff factors and stable equivalence relations

Abstract

We say that a countable group $G$ is McDuff if it admits a free ergodic probability measure preserving action such that the crossed product is a McDuff $\text{II}_{1}$ factor. Similarly, $G$ is said to be stable if it admits such an action with the orbit equivalence relation being stable. The McDuff property, stability, inner amenability and property Gamma are subtly related and several implications and non-implications were obtained in Effros [Property $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$ and inner amenability. Proc. Amer. Math. Soc.47 (1975), 483–486], Jones and Schmidt [Asymptotically invariant sequences and approximate finiteness. Amer. J. Math.109 (1987), 91–114], Vaes [An inner amenable group whose von Neumann algebra does not have property Gamma. Acta Math.208 (2012), 389–394], Kida [Inner amenable groups having no stable action. Geom. Dedicata173 (2014), 185–192] and Kida [Stability in orbit equivalence for Baumslag–Solitar groups and Vaes groups. Groups Geom. Dyn.9 (2015), 203–235]. We complete the picture with the remaining implications and counterexamples.