Some G-M-type Banach spaces and K-groups of operator algebras on them. (Q2386531)

This paper is concerned with properties of hereditarily indecomposable (H.I.) Banach spaces and related notions such as quotient H.I. (Q.H.I.) Banach spaces. A Banach space \(X\) is Q.H.I. if every quotient \(Y\) of a subspace of \(X\) is H.I., i.e., if \(Y= W\oplus Z\) then \(W\) or \(Z\) is finite-dimensional. Results presented include a proof of the theorem that if \(X\) is a complex H.I. space, then every operator on \(X\) has the form \(\lambda\cdot I+S\), where \(\lambda\in\mathbb C\) and \(S\) is strictly singular [\textit{W. T. Gowers} and \textit{B. Maurey}, J. Am. Math. Soc. 6, 851--874 (1993; Zbl 0827.46008)]. Similar arguments are used to prove that every operator on a complex Q.H.I. space has the form \(\lambda\cdot I+C\) where \(C\) is a strictly co-singular operator. The last two sections of the paper concern the computation of \(K\)-groups of \(B(X)\) for certain types of \(X\). For example, if \(X\) is complex H.I. or Q.H.I., then \(K_0(B(X))=\mathbb Z^2\) and \(K_1(B(X))=0\).