Operator algebras and Mauldin-Williams graphs (Q2477993)

The present article has a two-fold object: one is that of associating a \(C^*\)-correspondence, and thereby a Cuntz-Pimsner algebra, to a Mauldin-Williams graph, and studying the relation between this \(C^*\)-algebra and Cuntz and Krieger's \(C^*\)-algebra of the underlying directed graph. The second is that of pursuing an idea originating in work of \textit{C.\,Pinzari, Y.\,Watatani} and \textit{K.\,Yonetani} who considered noncommutative iterated function systems [Commun.\ Math.\ Phys.\ 213, No.\,2, 331--379 (2000; Zbl 0984.46043)]. The author proposes a generalisation to noncommutative analogues of Mauldin--Williams graphs, and also associates a Cuntz--Pimsner algebra to these objects. A Mauldin-Williams graph is a finite directed graph together with a family of metric spaces indexed by the vertices of the graph and a family of contraction maps, indexed by the edges, and satisfying certain technical conditions. The case of a graph with one vertex gives an iterated function system. The first main theorem shows that the Cuntz-Pimsner algebra of the Mauldin-Williams graph in which the underlying graph \(G\) has no sinks and no sources is isomorphic to Cuntz and Krieger's \(C^*(G)\). Thus the extra structure of the graph is not evident in the Cuntz-Pimsner algebra. As in the work of Pinzari, Watatani and Yonetani [loc.\,cit.], noncommutative Mauldin--Williams graphs were defined using Rieffel's notion of noncommutative metrics on state spaces. Thus, to each vertex \(v\) of the graph \(G\) will correspond a \(C^*\)-algebra \(A_v\) with the Rieffel norm. However, it turns out that this generalisation brings nothing new, as in fact, when \(G\) has no sources, each \(A_v\) must be commutative.