Lefschetz Numbers for $C^*$-Algebras

http://dx.doi.org/10.4153/CMB-2010-084-5
Canad. Math. Bull. 54(2011), 82-99

  Published:2010-08-03
 Printed: Mar 2011

Using Poincar\'e duality, we obtain a formula of Lefschetz type that computes the Lefschetz number of an endomorphism of a separable nuclear $C^*$-algebra satisfying Poincar\'e duality and the Kunneth theorem. (The Lefschetz number of an endomorphism is the graded trace of the induced map on $\textrm{K}$-theory tensored with $\mathbb{C}$, as in the classical case.) We then examine endomorphisms of Cuntz--Krieger algebras $O_A$. An endomorphism has an invariant, which is a permutation of an infinite set, and the contracting and expanding behavior of this permutation describes the Lefschetz number of the endomorphism. Using this description, we derive a closed polynomial formula for the Lefschetz number depending on the matrix $A$ and the presentation of the endomorphism.