In this paper we generalize Wiener’s characterization of continuous measures to compact homogenous manifolds. In particular, we give necessary and sufficient conditions on probability measures on compact semisimple Lie groups and nilmanifolds to be continuous. The methods use only simple properties of heat kernels.
The notion of a contraction mapping for a probabilistic metric space recently introduced by T. L. Hicks is compared with the notion previously introduced by V. L. Sehgal and A. T. Bharucha-Reid. By means of appropriate examples, it is shown that these two notions are independent. It is further shown that every Hick's contraction on a PM space (S,F,tW) is an ordinary metric contraction with respect to a naturally defined metric on that space; and it is again pointed out that, in Menger spaces under...