Groups of piecewise linear homeomorphisms of flows

To every dynamical system $(X,\varphi)$ over a totally disconnected compact space, we associate a left-orderable group $T(\varphi)$. It is defined as a group of homeomorphisms of the suspension of $(X,\varphi)$ which preserve every orbit of the suspension flow and act by dyadic piecewise linear homeomorphisms in the flow direction. We show that if the system is minimal, the group is simple, and if it is a subshift then the group is finitely generated. The proofs of these two statements are short and elementary, providing straightforward examples of finitely generated simple left-orderable groups. We show that if the system is minimal, every action of the corresponding group on the circle has a fixed point. These constitute the first examples of finitely generated left-orderable groups with this fixed point property. We show that for every system $(X,\varphi)$, the group $T(\varphi)$ does not have infinite subgroups with Kazhdan's property $(T)$. In addition, we show that for every minimal subshift, the corresponding group is never finitely presentable. Finally if $(X,\varphi)$ has a dense orbit then the isomorphism type of the group $T(\varphi)$ is a complete invariant of flow equivalence of the pair $\{\varphi, \varphi^{-1}\}$. In the appendix we describe a Polish group into which $T(\varphi)$ embeds densely.
Comment: 27 pages, to appear in Compositio Mathematica