Partial actions and subshifts (Q527383)

The authors propose a study of \(C^\ast\)-algebras associated to subshifts by means of partial actions. More precisely, for a finite alphabet \(\Lambda\) and a subshift \(X\subseteq \Lambda^\infty\), they consider a compactification \(\Omega_X\) of \(X\) and construct a partial action of the free group on \(\Lambda\) on \(\Omega_X\). The resulting partial crossed product \(C(\Omega_X)\rtimes F(\Lambda)\) turns out to be isomorphic to the Carlsen-Matsumoto \(C^\ast\)-algebra \(\mathcal O_X\) [\textit{T. M. Carlsen} and \textit{K. Matsumoto}, Math. Scand. 95, No.~1, 145--160 (2004; Zbl 1067.46045); \textit{T. M. Carlsen}, Int. J. Math. 19, No. 1, 47--70 (2008; Zbl 1153.46038)]. It should be noted that \(\Omega_X\) is the spectrum of a commutative \(C^\ast\)-algebra \(\mathcal D_X\) associated in some natural fashion to the subshift in previous studies (although probably never before referred to as ``ill-fated'', as the present authors put it, the reason seemingly being that useful descriptions of the spectrum have up until now been hard to come by). The partial action perspective introduced here allows the authors to obtain transparent descriptions of properties of \(\Omega_X\) and \(\mathcal O_X\) in dynamical terms. For example, their simplicity criterion, Theorem 14.5, is valid for arbitrary subshifts and expands upon earlier results obtained for example for subshifts of finite type. The approach taken here has a dynamical as well as graphical flavor, given that many properties are formulated in terms of circuits and exits based on finite and infinite words in the alphabet. For example, the authors formulate subtle versions of cofinality, and also versions of minimality and topological freeness for the subshift.