The coarse geometric Novikov conjecture and uniform convexity (Q850063)

Let \((\Gamma,d)\) be a discrete metric space. It is said to have bounded geometry if, for any \(r>0\), there exists \(N(r)\) such that the number of points of \(\Gamma\) in any ball of radius \(r\) is bounded by \(N(r)\). For each \(d\geq 0\), the Rips complex \(P_d(\Gamma)\) is the simplicial polyhedron where the set of all vertices is \(\Gamma\), and a finite subset \(\{\gamma_0,\dots,\gamma_n\}\subset\Gamma\) spans a simplex iff \(d(\gamma_i,\gamma_j)\leq d\) for all \(0\leq i,j\leq n\). Let \(K_*(P_d(\Gamma))\) denote the \(K\)-homology group of the locally compact space \(P_d(\Gamma)\) and let \(C^*(\Gamma)\) denote the Roe algebra of \(\Gamma\), which is defined as the norm closure of the \(*\)-algebra of all locally compact, finite propagation operators. A generalized index defines the index map \(\text{Ind}:\lim_{d\to\infty}K_*(P_d(\Gamma))\to K_*(C^*(\Gamma))\) and the coarse geometric Novikov conjecture states that \(\text{Ind}\) is an isomorphism when \(\Gamma\) has bounded geometry. Let \(X\) be a Banach space. A map \(f:\Gamma\to X\) is a coarse uniform embedding if there exist non-decreasing functions \(\rho_1,\rho_2:[0,\infty)\to\mathbb R\) such that \(\lim_{r\to+\infty}\rho_i(r)=+\infty\), \(i=1,2\), and \(\rho_1(d(x,y))\leq\| f(x)-f(y)\| \leq\rho_2(d(x,y))\) for all \(x,y\in\Gamma\). A Banach space \(X\) is called uniformly convex if, for any \(\varepsilon>0\), there exists \(\delta>0\) such that \(\| x\| =\| y\| =1\) and \(\| x-y\| \geq\varepsilon\) implies \(\| \frac{x+y}2\| <1-\delta\) for any \(x,y\in X\). The main result of the paper is the proof of the coarse geometric Novikov conjecture for spaces \(\Gamma\) which admit a coarse uniform embedding into a uniformly convex Banach space. The proof uses a \(K\)-theoretic finitization technique and Bott vector bundles over Banach spaces. As a corollary, it is shown that a Riemannian manifold cannot have uniformly positive scalar curvature if it has bounded geometry, admits a uniform embedding into a uniformly convex Banach space and is uniformly contractible.