Given a G-flow X, let $\mathrm{Aut}(G, X)$ , or simply $\mathrm{Aut}(X)$ , denote the group of homeomorphisms of X which commute with the G action. We show that for any pair of countable groups G and H with G infinite, there is a minimal, free, Cantor G-flow X so that H embeds into $\mathrm{Aut}(X)$ . This generalizes results of [2, 7].

Let (N,ℝ,θ) be a centrally ergodic W* dynamical system. When N is not a factor, we show that for each nonzero real number t, the crossed product induced by the time t automorphism θt is not a factor if and only if there exist a rational number r and an eigenvalue s of the restriction of θ to the center of N, such that rst=2π. In the C* setting, minimality seems to be the notion corresponding to central ergodicity. We show that if (A,ℝ,α) is a minimal unital C* dynamical system and A is not simple, then, for each nonzero real number t, the crossed product induced by the time t automorphism αt is not simple if there exist a rational number r and an eigenvalue s of the restriction of α to the center of A, such that rst=2π. The converse is true if, in addition, A is commutative or prime.

In this paper, a general construction of a skew-product dynamical system, for which the skew-product dynamical system studied by Hahn is a special case, is given. Then the ergodic and topological properties (of a special type) of our newly defined systems (called Milnes-type systems) are investigated. It is shown that the Milnes-type systems are actually natural extensions of dynamical systems corresponding to some special distal functions. Finally, the topological centre of Ellis groups of any skew-product dynamical system is calculated.