Dense and comeager conjugacy classes in zero-dimensional dynamics

Abstract: Let $G$ be a countable group. We consider the Polish space of all actions of $G$ on the Cantor space by homeomorphisms and study the existence of a comeager conjugacy class in this space and some natural subspaces. We also develop a general model-theoretic framework to study this and related questions. We prove that for a finitely generated free group, there is a comeager conjugacy class in the space of minimal actions, as well as in the space of minimal, probability measure-preserving actions. We also identify the two classes: the first one is the Fra\"iss\'e limit of all sofic minimal subshifts and the second, the universal profinite action. In the opposite direction, if $G$ is an amenable group which is not finitely generated, we show that there is no comeager conjugacy class in the space of all actions and if $G$ is locally finite, also in the space of minimal actions. Finally, we study the question of existence of a dense conjugacy class in the space of topologically transitive actions. We show that if $G$ is free or virtually polycyclic, then such a dense conjugacy class exists iff $G$ is virtually cyclic.