Vector bundles over classifying spaces (Q1126772)

Denote \(\mathbb{K}(X)\) to be the Grothendieck group of the monoid of complex vector bundles over the topological space \(X\). If by \(K(X)\) one denotes the \(K\)-theory of \(X\), there is a natural homomorphism \(\mathbb{K}(X)\to K(X)\); this is an isomorphism when \(X\) is compact, but not in general. In the paper under review, the author investigates the Grothendieck group of the classifying space \(BG\) of a compact Lie group \(G\). The main result (Theorem 1') is a description of \(\mathbb{K}(BG)\) in terms of representations of certain subgroups of \(G\) and a comparison of \(\mathbb{K}(BG)\) with the representation \(R(G)\) and with the \(K\)-theory of \(BG\). This result is a joint work of the author with \textit{S. Jackowski} [Acta Math. 176, No. 1, 109-143 (1996; Zbl 0896.55003)].