Proper group actions and the Baum-Connes conjecture (Q1399015)

The book contains a revised version of the lecture notes of the authors motivated by the advanced course at the CRM from September 18 to 22, 2001. In the first part are presented, by \textit{G. Mishlin}, the topological aspects of the Baum-Connes conjecture -- the left hand side of the equation \(K^G_* (\underline EG)\cong K_*^{\text{top}} (C^*_r(G))\) -- the equivariant \(K\)-homology of \(\underline EG\). The Baum-Connes conjecture predicts that the \(K\)-theory of the reduced \(C^*\) algebra \(C^*_r(G)\) of a group \(G\) can be computed as the \(K^G\)-homology of the universal space for proper \(G\)-actions, \(\underline EG\). Using the skeleton filtration of the \(G-cw\) complex \(\underline EG\), \(K^G_* (\underline EG)\) can be determined inductively. This filtration of \(\underline EG\) provides a spectral sequence with the \(E^2\)-term formed by certain Bredon homology groups. The necessary homological algebra entering the definition of the Bredon homology groups is presented, too. This computation of the groups \(K^G_* (\underline EG)\) via Bredon homology groups leads, when tensored with \(Q\), to a description of the rational \(K^G\)-groups in terms of a Chern character map. The Chern character reduces the calculation of \(K_*^{\text{top}} (C_rG)\otimes Q\) to a problem of homological algebra, provided \(G\) satisfies the Baum-Connes conjecture. The author also presents an extensive discussion of many conjectures related to the Baum-Connes conjecture (there is a scheme at the end of the appendix illustrating these connections in the form of a connected graph). In the second part, \textit{A. Valette} presents the analytical aspects of the subjects. The Baum-Connes conjecture is a tantalizing programme that identifies two objects associated with a discrete, countable group \(G\) -- one analytical and one geometrical or topological. The analytical side involves the \(K\)-theory of the reduced \(C^*\)-algebra \(C_r^*G\) and the opposite side is the \(K\)-homology of the classifying space. The link between both sides of the conjecture is provided by the analytic assembly map \[ \mu_i^G: RK_i^G (\underline EG)\to K_i (C^*_rG),\;i=0,1. \] The Baum-Connes conjecture asserts that, for any group \(G\) the map \(\mu_i^G\), \(i=0,1\) is an isomorphism. The contents of this paper are as follows: the construction of \(\widetilde\mu_i^G: RK_i^G(\underline EG)\to K_i (C^*G)\) and the detailed proof that \(\mu_i^G\) and \(\widetilde\mu_i^G\) provide \(K\)-theory elements of the corresponding \(C^*\)-algebras. Then the author describes the behaviour of the left hand side of the assembly maps under group homomorphisms and he proves that \(\widetilde\mu_i^G\) is natural with respect to arbitrary group homomorphisms. As a consequence, he gets a new proof of the fact that, if \(G\) acts freely on the space \(X\), then the equivalent \(K\)-homology \(K_*^G (X)\) is isomorphic to the \(K\)-homology \(K_* (G\setminus X)\) of the orbit space. To illustrate the non-triviality of the assembly map, the author gives a direct proof of the Baum-Connes conjecture for the group \(\mathbb{Z}\) of integers, not appealing to equivariant \(KK\)-theory. Denoting by \(\widetilde K_G:G\to K_1 (C_r^*G)\) the homomorphism induced by the canonical inclusion of \(G\) in the unitary group of \(C_r^*G\), the author shows that there exists a homomorphism \(\widetilde \beta_t:G\to RK_1^G(\underline EG)\) such that \(\widetilde K_G= \mu_i^G \cdot \widetilde \beta_t\). This extend a result of \textit{T. Natsume} [C. R. Math. Acad. Sci., Soc. R. Can. 10, 13-18 (1988; Zbl 0664.46069)] for \(G\) torsion-free. The appendix, by \textit{Dan Kucerowsky}, discusses the assembly map in terms of unbounded \(K\)-homology elements.