Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 September 2022
Given a minimal action
$\alpha $
of a countable group on the Cantor set, we show that the alternating full group
$\mathsf {A}(\alpha )$
is non-amenable if and only if the topological full group
$\mathsf {F}(\alpha )$
is
$C^*$
-simple. This implies, for instance, that the Elek–Monod example of non-amenable topological full group coming from a Cantor minimal
$\mathbb {Z}^2$
-system is
$C^*$
-simple.
This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant Agreement No. 817597).