Equivalent groupoids have Morita equivalent Steinberg algebras. (Q2254779)

A groupoid is a small category in which every morphism has an inverse. Given a groupoid \(G\), we will write \(r(\alpha)\) and \(s(\alpha)\) for the range and source of \(\alpha\in G\). The common image of \(r\) and \(s\) is called the unit space of \(G\) and denoted by \(G^{(0)}\). An étale groupoid is a groupoid \(G\) endowed with a topology so that composition and inversion are continuous, and the source map \(s\) is a local homeomorphism. If this happens, \(r\) is also a local homeomorphism and there is a basis of open bisections; that is, a basis of sets \(B\subset G\) such that \(s\) and \(r\) restricted to \(B\) are homeomorphisms. A groupoid \(G\) is étale if and only if \(G^{(0)}\) is open in \(G\) and \(s\) is an open map. It is said that a groupoid is ample if \(G^{(0)}\) is Hausdorff and \(G\) has a basis of compact open bisections. Associated to any ample groupoid \(G\) and to any commutative unital ring \(R\) there is an algebra called the Steinberg algebra \(A_R(G)\) of \(G\) (in the case of a Hausdorff \(G\), the algebra \(A_n(R)\) agrees with the algebra of locally constant \(R\)-valued functions on \(G\) with compact support). It is noted in the work, that any Leavitt path algebra \(L_R(E)\) is a Steinberg algebra for a suitable groupoid \(G_E\). The main result of the work under review states that if \(G\) and \(H\) are ample groupoids and \(R\) a commutative unital ring, then if \(G\) and \(H\) are equivalent in the sense of Muhly-Renault-Williams, the associated Steinberg algebras are Morita equivalent. It is also deduced that collapsing a ``collapsible subgraph'' of a directed graph in the sense of Crisp and Gow does not change the Morita-equivalence class of the associated Leavitt path \(R\)-algebra. As a consequence, a number of graphical constructions which yield Morita equivalent \(C^*\)-algebras also yield Morita equivalent Leavitt path algebras.