W*-superrigidity for wreath products with groups having positive first ℓ2-Betti number

Abstract

In [M. Berbec and S. Vaes, W*-superrigidity for group von Neumann algebras of left–right wreath products, Proc. London Math. Soc.108 (2014) 1116–1152] we have proven that, for all hyperbolic groups and for all nontrivial free products Γ, the left–right wreath product group 𝒢 ≔ (ℤ/2ℤ)(Γ) ⋊ (Γ × Γ) is W*-superrigid, in the sense that its group von Neumann algebra L𝒢 completely remembers the group 𝒢. In this paper, we extend this result to other classes of countable groups. More precisely, we prove that for weakly amenable groups Γ having positive first ℓ2-Betti number, the same wreath product group 𝒢 is W*-superrigid.