Let $G$ be a semisimple Lie group acting on a space $X$, let $mu$ be a compactly supported measure on $G$, and let $A$ be a strongly irreducible linear cocycle over the action of $G$. We then have a random walk on $X$, and let $T$ be the associated s
hift map. We show that the cocycle $A$ over the action of $T$ is conjugate to a block conformal cocycle. This statement is used in the recent paper by Eskin-Mirzakhani on the classifications of invariant measures for the SL(2,R) action on moduli space. The ingredients of the proof are essentially contained in the papers of Guivarch and Raugi and also Goldsheid and Margulis.
In this note we show that the results of H. Furstenberg on the Poisson boundary of lattices of semisimple Lie groups allow to deduce simplicity properties of the Lyapunov spectrum of the Kontsevich-Zorich cocycle of Teichmueller curves in moduli spac
es of Abelian differentials without the usage of codings of the Teichmueller flow. As an application, we show the simplicity of some Lyapunov exponents in the setting of (some) Prym Teichmueller curves of genus 4 where a coding-based approach seems hard to implement because of the poor knowledge of the Veech group of these Teichmueller curves. Finally, we extend the discussion in this note to show the simplicity of Lyapunov exponents coming from (high weight) variations of Hodge structures associated to mirror quintic Calabi-Yau threefolds.
