K-theoretic amenability for \(SL_ 2({\mathbb{Q}}_ p)\), and the action on the associated tree (Q2266205)

This paper is an expanded version of a previous announcement [C. Acad. Ser. I 296, 977-980 (1983; Zbl 0537.46055)]. Another account of this work has been published by the authors in operator algebras and their connections with topology and ergodic theory proceedings, Buşteni/Rom. 1983, Lecture Note Math. 1132, 289-296. Part 1 states the main result and explains how to build a Fredholm G- module from an action of the (locally compact) group G on a tree. Part 2 contains the detailed proof of the homotopy of that Fredholm module with the trivial representation, using functions of negative type on G. In part 3 we extend to locally compact groups the theory of K-amenability developed by Cuntz for discrete groups. Finally (part 4) we give corollaries of our result, with emphasis on the K-amenability of SL(2) on the p-adics. When this paper was written, the meaning of the homotopy performed in part 2 was not clear. Meanwhile, the authors have been able to give an explicit link between the operator in the homotopy and the ''discrete de Rham operator'' on the tree, twisted ''à la Witten''. Details will be given in a paper to be published in J. Oper. Theory.