Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008
Let µ be a probability measure on the Borel subsets of R∞. If D is a countable subgroup of R∞ we say that µ is D-ergodic if (1) for any D invariant Borel subset A of R we have µ(A) = 0 or 1 and (2) if µ*δx ≈ µ for all x ∈ D (where δx stands for unit mass at x while the equivalence relation ≈ signifies that the two measures have the same null sets.) We say that x is an admissible translate for µ if µ*δx ≈ µ. We say that µ is D-smooth if sx is an admissible translate for µ for all x ∈ D and all s ∈ R. We say that µ is a smooth ergodic measure if µ is D-ergodic and D-smooth for some countable subgroup D as above. In this paper we show that any two smooth ergodic probability measures µl, µ2 are either equivalent or singular (where the latter means that there exist disjoint Borel sets Al, A2 ⊂ R∞ such that µi(Ai) = 1 and is signified by µ1 ┴ µ2). It is important to note that the countable subgroup D1 associated with µl need not be the same as the subgroup D2 associated with µ2.