Algebraic \(K\)-theory and a semifinite Fuglede-Kadison determinant (Q1746039)

The authors use techniques from algebraic \(K\)-theory to construct a Fuglede-Kadison type determinant for semifinite von Neumann algebras. The upshot of their construction is that key properties of this determinant map follow immediately from the algebraic \(K\)-theory framework. The main section of the paper starts with an analysis of relative \(K\)-theory for pairs \((J,A)\), where \(A\) is a unital Banach algebra, \(J \subset A\) is a (not necessarily closed) ideal that is a Banach algebra in its own right and the two norms on \(A\) and \(J\) have to satisfy a compatibility condition. Given such a relative pair of Banach algebras, one can define an algebraic \(K\)-group \(K_1^{\mathrm{alg}}(J,A)\) and a relative \(K\)-group \(K_1^{\mathrm{rel}}(J,A)\) such that they fit into an exact sequence of the form \[ K_2^{\mathrm{top}}(J) \to K_1^{\mathrm{rel}}(J,A) \to K_1^{\mathrm{alg}}(J,A) \to K_1^{\mathrm{top}}(J) \to 0, \] where \(K_i^{\mathrm{top}}(J)\) denotes the usual topological \(K\)-theory as a Banach algebra. The authors then describe a relative Chern character, which is defined as follows: An element in \( K_1^{\mathrm{rel}}(J,A)\) is represented by a smooth path \(\sigma: [0,1] \to\operatorname{GL}_n(J)\) starting at the identity and \(ch^{\mathrm{rel}}\) is the composition of a logarithm map defined by \[ [\sigma] \mapsto \left[\int_0^1 \frac{d\sigma}{dt}\,\sigma^{-1}\,dt\right] \] with a trace \[ TR : \lim_{n \to \infty} HC_0(M_n(J), M_n(A)) \to HC_0(J,A). \] If the relative pair \((J,A)\) comes equipped with a linear functional \(\tau : J \to \mathbb{C}\) that satisfies \(\tau(ja) = \tau(aj)\) for all \(a \in A\) and \(j \in J\) (i.e., a hypertrace), then \(\tau\) induces a map \(\tau: HC_0(J,A) \to \mathbb{C}\). If \(p : K_1^{\mathrm{alg}}(J,A) \to K_1^{\mathrm{top}}(J)\) and \(\partial : K_2^{\mathrm{top}}(J) \to K_1^{\mathrm{rel}}(J,A)\) denote the maps from the above exact sequence and \(\tilde{\tau} = -\tau \circ ch^{\mathrm{rel}}\), then the relative Skandalis--de la Harpe determinant is defined by \[ \widetilde{\det\!_\tau} : \ker(p) \to \mathbb{C}/\Im(\tilde{\tau} \circ \partial), \quad \widetilde{\det\!_\tau}([g]) = \tilde{\tau}([\sigma]) + \Im (\tilde{\tau} \circ \partial), \] where \([\sigma] \in K_1^{\mathrm{rel}}(J,A)\) satisfies \([\sigma(1)^{-1}] = [g] \in K_1^{\mathrm{alg}}(J,A)\). Finally, the authors study the case where \(J = \mathcal{L}^1_{\tau}(N)\) is the ideal of trace class operators in a semifinite von Neumann algebra \(A = N\) with trace \(\tau\). They show that in this case \(K_1^{\mathrm{top}}(\mathcal{L}^1_{\tau}(N)) = 0\) and that the codomain of \(\widetilde{\det\!_\tau}\) agrees with \(\mathbb{C}/i\mathbb{R}\), which is isomorphic to \((0,\infty)\). They arrive at the following definition for the semifinite Fuglede-Kadison determinant \[ \det\!_\tau([g]) = e^{\Re(\widetilde{\det\!_\tau}([g])} . \] As mentioned above, key properties like the multiplicativity of \(\det\!_\tau\) follow immediately from this definition. Furthermore, the authors prove the explicit formula \[ \det\!_\tau([g]) = e^{\tau(\log(\lvert g \rvert))} \] for this determinant.