Noncommutative Borsuk-Ulam-type conjectures revisited (Q2043496)

Summary: Let \(H\) be the C*-algebra of a non-trivial compact quantum group acting freely on a unital C*-algebra \(A\). It was recently conjectured that there does not exist an equivariant *-homomorphism from \(A\) (type-I case) or \(H\) (type-II case) to the equivariant noncommutative join C*-algebra \(A\circledast^\delta H\) [\textit{P. F. Baum} et al., Banach Cent. Publ. 106, 9--18 (2015; Zbl 1343.46064)]. When \(A\) is the C*-algebra of functions on a sphere, and \(H\) is the C*-algebra of functions on \(\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}\) acting antipodally on the sphere, then the conjecture of type I becomes the celebrated Borsuk-Ulam theorem. Taking advantage of recent work of \textit{B. Passer} [Indiana Univ. Math. J. 67, No. 1, 187--203 (2018; Zbl 1411.46050)], we prove the conjecture of type I for compact quantum groups admitting a non-trivial torsion character. Next, we prove that, if the compact quantum group \((H,\Delta)\) admits a representation whose \(K_1\)-class is non-trivial and \(A\) admits a character, then a stronger version of the type-II conjecture holds: the finitely generated projective module associated with \(A\circledast^\delta H\) via this representation is not stably free. In particular, we apply this result to the \(q\)-deformations of compact connected semisimple Lie groups and to the reduced group C*-algebras of free groups on \(n>1\) generators.