On the real rank of \(C^\ast\)-algebras of nilpotent locally compact groups (Q2879618)

The contents of this paper by Archbold and Kaniuth are: 1. Introduction; 2. The topological dimension of some group C*-algebras; 3. Almost connected, nilpotent groups.NEWLINENEWLINEIn Section 2, it is shown as a proposition that for a connected, simply connected, nilpotent Lie group \(G\), the topological dimension of the group \(C^*\)-algebra \(C^*(G)\) of \(G\) has as upper bound the dimension of \(G\), and as its corollary, that for a connected, nilpotent Lie group \(G\), the topological dimension of \(C^*(G)\) is finite. Note that for a type I \(C^*\)-algebra \(A\), its topological dimension is defined to be the supremum of the covering dimensions for compact Hausdorff spaces in the spectrum of \(A\) (or the primitive ideal space of \(A\)), which becomes a non-negative integer or infinite, see \textit{L. G. Brown} and \textit{G. K. Pedersen} [J. Oper. Theory 61, No. 2, 381--417 (2009; Zbl 1212.46073)]. Also, it is shown as a proposition that for a locally compact group \(G\) with a closed, normal, second countable subgroup \(N\) of finite index such that \(C^*(N)\) is a generalized continuous trace \(C^*\)-algebra, the topological dimension of \(C^*(G)\) is bounded above by that of \(C^*(N)\), and as a theorem, that for a locally compact group \(G\) with a closed normal subgroup \(N\) of finite index such that \(N\) is a connected, nilpotent Lie group, the topological dimension of \(C^*(G)\) is bounded above by that of \(C^*(N)\) and is finite.NEWLINENEWLINEIn Section 3, it is shown as a theorem that for an almost connected, nilpotent, locally compact group \(G\) with \(G_0\) the connected component of the identity element of \(G\), (1) the real rank of \(C^*(G)\) is equal to the rank of the quotients \(G/[G, G]\) or \(G_0/ [G_0, G_0]\), which is equal to the real rank of \(C^*(G_0)\), and is finite; (2) the topological stable rank of \(C^*(G)\) is equal to that of \(C^*(G_0)\), which is also computed in terms of the rank of the quotients, and as its corollary, that for a threadlike nilpotent Lie group \(G_N\) with \(N \geq 3\) and in particular, \(G_3\) the Heisenberg Lie group, both the real rank and the stable rank of \(C^*(G_N)\) are \(2\).NEWLINENEWLINETo the best of the reviewer's knowledge, the real rank result for \(G_3\) seems to be already known (or implicitly known).