Representations of higher rank graph algebras (Q1019601)

The authors continue their study of operator algebras associated to finite higher-rank graphs with a single vertex. Such graphs can be equivalently described by a semigroup \(\mathbb{F}_{\theta}^+\) containing \(k\) free semigroups (on not necessarily the same number of generators) with the permutative commutation relations between generators belonging to different free semigroups. The dilation theory and careful analysis of \(*\)-representations of \(\mathbb{F}_{\theta}^+\) associated to infinite tails imply that every atomic \(*\)-representation of \(\mathbb{F}_{\theta}^+\) is a direct sum or integral of irreducible atomic \(*\)-representations, which in turn all arise as dilations of specific representations associated to finitely generated abelian groups. Each `infinite tail' representation possesses a symmetry group, essentially describing the periodicity of the tail. This allows the authors to associate symmetry groups to atomic \(*\)-representations satisfying the connectedness condition and, more generally, leads to the notion of \(H_{\theta}\), the symmetry group of \(\mathbb{F}_{\theta}^+\) (\(H_{\theta}\) is a subgroup of \(\mathbb{Z}^k\)). A delicate construction of approximately inner conditional expectations yields the following result: if \(H_{\theta}\approx \mathbb{Z}^s\), then the graph \(C^*\)-algebra \(C^*(\mathbb{F}_{\theta}^+)\) is isomorphic to the tensor product of \(C(\mathbb{T}^s)\) and a simple \(C^*\)-algebra. This generalises known equivalence of simplicity of \(C^*(\mathbb{F}_{\theta}^+)\) and aperiodicity of \(\mathbb{F}_{\theta}^+\) due to Kumjian, Pask, Robertson and Sims.