Topological K-theory is one of the most important invariants for noncommutative algebras. Bott periodicity, homotopy invariance, and various long exact sequences distinguish it from algebraic K-theory. This book describes a bivariant K-theory for bornological algebras, which provides a vast generalization of topological K-theory. In addition, it details other approaches to bivariant K-theories for operator algebras. The book studies a number of applications, including K-theory of crossed products, the Baum-Connes assembly map, twisted K-theory with some of its applications, and some variants of the Atiyah-Singer Index Theorem.
This book contains a collection of articles provided by the participants of the SFB-workshop on C*-algebras, March 8 - March 12, 1999 which was held at the Sonderforschungsbereich „Geometrische Strukturen in der reinen Mathematik“ of the University of Münster, Germany. The aim of the workshop was to bring together leading experts in the theory of C* -algebras with promising young researchers in the field, and to provide a stimulating atmosphere for discussions and interactions between the participants. There were 19 one-hour lectures on various topics like - classification of nuclear C* -algebras, - general K-theory for C* -algebras, - exact C* -algebras and exact groups, - C*-algebras associated to (infinite) matrices and C*-correspondences, - noncommutative prob ability theory, - deformation quantization, - group C* -algebras and the Baum-Connes conjecture, giving a broad overview of the latest developments in the field, and serving as a basis for discussions. We, the organizers of the workshop, were greatly pleased with the excellence of the lectures and so were led to the idea of publishing the proceedings of the conference. There are basically two kinds of contributions. On one side there are several articles giving surveys and overviews on new developments and im portant results of the theory, on the other side one finds original articles with interesting new results.
