The Atiyah conjecture and Artinian rings.

DOI10.4310/PAMQ.2012.V8.N2.A1MaRDI QIDQ448496zbMATH OpenWikidataFDO

Authors Thomas Schick, Peter A. Linnell

Publication date 6 September 2012

Published in Pure and Applied Mathematics Quarterly (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/0711.3328

zbMATH Keywords

algebras of unbounded operatorsAtiyah conjecturecomplex group algebrasdivision closuregroup von Neumann algebrasmatrix rings over skew fieldsorders of finite subgroups

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Group rings (16S34) Group rings of infinite groups and their modules (group-theoretic aspects) (20C07) (C^*)-algebras and (W^*)-algebras in relation to group representations (22D25) (L^p)-spaces and other function spaces on groups, semigroups, etc. (43A15) General theory of von Neumann algebras (46L10)

Abstract: Let G be a group such that its finite subgroups have bounded order, let d denote the lowest common multiple of the orders of the finite subgroups of G, and let K be a subfield of C that is closed under complex conjugation. Let U(G) denote the algebra of unbounded operators affiliated to the group von Neumann algebra N(G), and let D(KG,U(G)) denote the division closure of KG in U(G); thus D(KG,U(G)) is the smallest subring of U(G) containing KG that is closed under taking inverses. Suppose n is a positive integer, and alpha in Mat_n(KG). Then alpha induces a bounded linear map alpha: l^2(G)^n o l^2(G)^n, and keralpha has a well-defined von Neumann dimension dim_{N(G)} (keralpha). This is a nonnegative real number, and one version of the Atiyah conjecture states that d dim_{N(G)}(keralpha) in Z. Assuming this conjecture, we shall prove that if G has no nontrivial finite normal subgroup, then D(KG,U(G)) is a d imes d matrix ring over a skew field. We shall also consider the case when G has a nontrivial finite normal subgroup, and other subrings of U(G) that contain KG.

Review text

Let \(l^2(G)\) be the Hilbert space over the complex numbers \(\mathbb C\) with orthonormal basis the elements of a group \(G\). So the elements of \(l^2(G)\) have the form \(\sum_{g\in G}a_gg\), where \(a_g\in\mathbb C\) and \(\sum_{g\in G}|a_g|^2<\infty\). Let \(\mathbf B\) denote the bounded linear operators on \(l^2(G)\). Then \(\mathbb CG\) acts faithfully on the left on \(l^2(G)\) as bounded linear operators via the left regular representation and we may consider \(\mathbb CG\) as a subalgebra of \(\mathbf B\). The weak closure of \(\mathbb CG\) in \(\mathbf B\) is the group von Neumann algebra \(N(G)\) of \(G\). Suppose that \(n\) is a positive integer and \(\alpha\in M_n(\mathbb CG)\). Then \(\alpha\) induces a bounded linear map \(\alpha\colon l^2(G)^n\to l^2(G)^n\), and \(\ker\alpha\) has a well-defined von Neumann dimension \(\dim_{N(G)}(\ker\alpha)\) that is a nonnegative real number.NEWLINENEWLINE Let \(K\) be a subfield of \(\mathbb C\) that is closed under the complex conjugation. Assume that \(G\) is a group such that its finite subgroups have bounded orders and let \(\text{lcm}(G)\) be the lowest common multiple of the orders of the finite subgroups of \(G\). We say that the strong Atiyah conjecture holds for \(G\) over \(K\) if \(\text{lcm}(G)\dim_{N(G)}(\ker\alpha)\) is an integer for all \(\alpha\in M_n(KG)\).NEWLINENEWLINE Let \(U(G)\) be the algebra of unbounded operators on \(l^2(G)\) affiliated to \(N(G)\). Let \(D(KG)\) be the division closure of \(KG\) in \(U(G)\), i.e. \(D(KG)\) is the smallest subring of \(U(G)\) that is closed under taking inverses. If the maximal FC-subgroup of \(G\) is torsion-free and \(d=\text{lcm}(G)<\infty\), then the main result asserts that \(G\) satisfies the strong Atiyah conjecture over \(K\) if and only if \(D(KG)\) is a \((d\times d)\)-matrix ring over a skew field.NEWLINENEWLINE Let \(E(KG)\) be the extended division closure of \(KG\) in \(U(G)\), i.e. \(E(KG)\) is the smallest subring of \(U(G)\) containing \(KG\) with the properties:NEWLINENEWLINE (a) \(x\in E(KG)\) and \(x^{-1}\in U(G)\) implies \(x^{-1}\in E(KG)\);NEWLINENEWLINE (b) \(x\in E(KG)\) and \(xU(G)=eU(G)\), where \(e\) is a central idempotent of \(U(G)\), implies \(e\in E(KG)\).NEWLINENEWLINE The second main result asserts that if \(G\) satisfies the strong Atiyah conjecture over \(K\), then \(E(KG)\) is a semisimple Artinian ring. Observe that this result follows immediately from a more general result of the authors.

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