Dimension, comparison, and almost finiteness (Q2216745)

A recent progress on the classification of \(C^*\)-algebras has come close to establishing the ``Toms-Winter conjecture'': three regularity properties for a simple separable and nuclear \(C^*\)-algebra are equivalent, namely, finite nuclear dimension, stability with respect to the Jiang-Su algebra \(\mathcal Z\), and strict comparison for positive elements. This article is devoted to the study of properties of an action of an amenable group \(G\) on a locally compact space \(X\) and relates them to each other and to the regularity of the crossed product. Dynamical system analogues for several theorems on the classification of \(C\)*-algebras are proved. A key concept is ``almost finiteness''. It generalises a concept by \textit{H. Matui} [Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. (3) 104, No. 1, 27--56 (2012; Zbl 1325.19001)] when \(X\) is totally disconnected. Several theorems suggest that almost finiteness of group actions behaves like the combination of amenability and \(\mathcal Z\)-stability for \(C\)*-algebras. In particular, the crossed product for a free minimal action is \(\mathcal Z\)-stable (and nuclear) if the action is almost finite and \(G\) is an infinite group. There are several concepts of dimension for group actions on spaces, which are somewhat analogous to the nuclear dimension of a \(C^*\)-algebra. This article highlights the concept of ``tower dimension''. It is related by inequalities to dynamical asymptotic dimension and amenability dimension. In particular, if the dimension of the space \(X\) is zero, then these three notions of dimension coincide. \textit{E. Guentner} et al. [Math. Ann. 367, No. 1--2, 785--829 (2017; Zbl 1380.37018)] have already proved an inequality that bounds the nuclear dimension of a crossed product by the dynamical asymptotic dimension of the action and the dimension of the space \(X\). Here a weaker inequality is shown for the tower dimension instead of the dynamical asymptotic dimension. The proofs offer further evidence that the tower dimension for group actions behaves like the nuclear dimension for \(C^*\)-algebras. If the action has finite tower dimension and the space \(X\) has finite covering dimension, then the action has \(m\)-comparison for an \(m\) depending on the two dimensions. This means that a certain relation on open subsets \(A\) and \(B\) of \(X\) follows if \(\mu(A) < \mu(B)\) holds for all invariant measures \(\mu\). If the set of ergodic invariant probability measures is finite, then the \(m\)-comparison properties for different \(m\) are all equivalent to each other and to almost finiteness. If \(X\) is a Cantor set, this is further equivalent to the type semigroup being almost unperforated. In general, almost finiteness implies comparison properties and that the type semigroup is almost unperforated. The type semigroup is introduced here only in case \(X\) is totally disconnected.