Algebraic bivariant \(K\)-theory and Leavitt path algebras. (Q2043505)

This article computes the bivariant \(K\)-theory of Leavitt path algebras. This implies a criterion when two Leavitt path algebras are equivalent in \(kk\)-theory. Leavitt path algebras are associated to directed graphs and are algebraic analogues of graph \(C^\ast\)-algebras. ``\(kk\)-theory'' here means the universal functor that is excisive, homotopy invariant and invariant for sufficiently large matrix stabilisations. The proof technique in the article is similar to the analogous computation for graph \(C^\ast\)-algebras. The Leavitt path algebra is defined as a quotient of another algebra, the Cohn algebra, which has fewer relations. The Cohn algebra is analogous to a Toeplitz algebra. Pimsner proved that the Toeplitz algebra of a \(C^\ast\)-correspondence over a \(C^\ast\)-algebra \(A\) is \(KK\)-equivalent to \(A\). This article proves an analogous result for the \(kk\)-theory of Cohn algebras. The role of \(A\) is played by a direct sum of copies of the ground ring with one summand for each vertex of the underlying graph. The kernel of the quotient map from the Cohn algebra to the Leavitt path algebra is identified in \(kk\)-theory with a direct sum of copies of the ground ring, with one summand for each vertex. The extension linking these three algebras gives an exact triangle in \(kk\)-theory. For a graph with finitely many vertices, the object in \(kk\)-theory given by a Leavitt path algebra \(L\) is computed quite explicitly in terms of the cokernels of the maps \(I-A^t\) and \(I-A\), where \(A\) is the incidence matrix of the graph, restricted to regular vertices in one direction. The article concludes by proving a version of the Universal Coefficient Theorem and the Künneth Theorem that compute the groups \(kk_n(L,R)\) for a Leavitt path algebra \(L\) of a finite graph over a ground ring~\(\ell\) and another \(\ell\)-algebra \(R\), under some assumptions on~\(\ell\). These computations exploit that the Leavitt path algebra is part of an exact triangle of the form \(\ell^n \to \ell^m \to L\) for some \(n,m\in\mathbb{N}\). Here~\(\ell^n\) denotes the direct sum of \(n\) copies of the ground ring~\(\ell\).