The paper studies the $K$-theoretic invariants of the crossed product $C^{*}$-algebras associated with an important family of homeomorphisms of the tori $\mathbb{T}^{n}$ called Furstenberg transformations. Using the Pimsner-Voiculescu theorem, we prove that given $n$, the $K$-groups of those crossed products, whose corresponding $n\times n$ integer matrices are unipotent of maximal degree, always have the same rank $a_{n}$. We show using the theory developed here that a claim made in the literature about the torsion subgroups of these $K$-groups is false. Using the representation theory of the simple Lie algebra $\frak{sl}(2,\mathbb{C})$, we show that, remarkably, $a_{n}$ has a combinatorial significance. For example, every $a_{2n+1}$ is just the number of ways that $0$ can be represented as a sum of integers between $-n$ and $n$ (with no repetitions). By adapting an argument of van Lint (in which he answered a question of Erd\H{o}s), a simple, explicit formula for the asymptotic behavior of the sequence $\{a_{n}\}$ is given. Finally, we describe the order structure of the $K_{0}$-groups of an important class of Furstenberg crossed products, obtaining their complete Elliott invariant using classification results of H. Lin and N. C. Phillips.

Let $\mathfrak{A}$ be a $C^{*}$-algebra with real rank zero which has the stable weak cancellation property. Let $\mathfrak{I}$ be an ideal of $\mathfrak{A}$ such that $\mathfrak{I}$ is stable and satisfies the corona factorization property. We prove that $ 0 \to \mathfrak{I} \to \mathfrak{A} \to \mathfrak{A} / \mathfrak{I} \to 0 $ is a full extension if and only if the extension is stenotic and $K$-lexicographic. {As an immediate application, we extend the classification result for graph $C^*$-algebras obtained by Tomforde and the first named author to the general non-unital case. In combination with recent results by Katsura, Tomforde, West and the first author, our result may also be used to give a purely $K$-theoretical description of when an essential extension of two simple and stable graph $C^*$-algebras is again a graph $C^*$-algebra.}

We study projections in the corona algebra of $C(X)\otimes K$, where K is the $C^*$-algebra of compact operators on a separable infinite dimensional Hilbert space and $X=[0,1],[0,\infty),(-\infty,\infty)$, or $[0,1]/\{ 0,1 \}$. Using BDF's essential codimension, we determine conditions for a projection in the corona algebra to be liftable to a projection in the multiplier algebra. We also determine the conditions for two projections to be equal in $K_0$, Murray-von Neumann equivalent, unitarily equivalent, or homotopic. In light of these characterizations, we construct examples showing that the equivalence notions above are all distinct.

Let $A$ be a separable amenable purely infinite simple \CA which satisfies the Universal Coefficient Theorem. We prove that $A$ is weakly semiprojective if and only if $K_i(A)$ is a countable direct sum of finitely generated groups ($i=0,1$). Therefore, if $A$ is such a \CA, for any $\ep>0$ and any finite subset ${\mathcal F}\subset A$ there exist $\dt>0$ and a finite subset ${\mathcal G}\subset A$ satisfying the following: for any contractive positive linear map $L: A\to B$ (for any \CA $B$) with $ \|L(ab)-L(a)L(b)\|<\dt$ for $a, b\in {\mathcal G}$ there exists a homomorphism $h\from A\to B$ such that $ \|h(a)-L(a)\|<\ep$ for $a\in {\mathcal F}$.

We show that the Elliott invariant is a classifying invariant for the class of $C^*$-algebras that are simple unital infinite dimensional inductive limits of finite direct sums of building blocks of the form $$ \{f \in C(\T) \otimes M_n : f(x_i) \in M_{d_i}, i = 1,2,\dots,N\}, $$ where $x_1,x_2,\dots,x_N \in \T$, $d_1,d_2,\dots,d_N$ are integers dividing $n$, and $M_{d_i}$ is embedded unitally into $M_n$. Furthermore we prove existence and uniqueness theorems for $*$-homomorphisms between such algebras and we identify the range of the invariant.

We prove a number of results about the stable and particularly the real ranks of tensor products of \ca s under the assumption that one of the factors is commutative. In particular, we prove the following: {\raggedright \begin{enumerate}[(5)] \item[(1)] If $X$ is any locally compact $\sm$-compact Hausdorff space and $A$ is any \ca, then\break $\RR \bigl( C_0 (X) \otimes A \bigr) \leq \dim (X) + \RR(A)$. \item[(2)] If $X$ is any locally compact Hausdorff space and $A$ is any \pisca, then $\RR \bigl( C_0 (X) \otimes A \bigr) \leq 1$. \item[(3)] $\RR \bigl( C ([0,1]) \otimes A \bigr) \geq 1$ for any nonzero \ca\ $A$, and $\sr \bigl( C ([0,1]^2) \otimes A \bigr) \geq 2$ for any unital \ca\ $A$. \item[(4)] If $A$ is a unital \ca\ such that $\RR(A) = 0$, $\sr (A) = 1$, and $K_1 (A) = 0$, then\break $\sr \bigl( C ([0,1]) \otimes A \bigr) = 1$. \item[(5)] There is a simple separable unital nuclear \ca\ $A$ such that $\RR(A) = 1$ and\break $\sr \bigl( C ([0,1]) \otimes A \bigr) = 1$. \end{enumerate}}

Let $\Gamma$ be a torsion free lattice in $G=\PGL(3, \mathbb{F})$ where $\mathbb{F}$ is a nonarchimedean local field. Then $\Gamma$ acts freely on the affine Bruhat-Tits building $\mathcal{B}$ of $G$ and there is an induced action on the boundary $\Omega$ of $\mathcal{B}$. The crossed product $C^*$-algebra $\mathcal{A}(\Gamma)=C(\Omega) \rtimes \Gamma$ depends only on $\Gamma$ and is classified by its $K$-theory. This article shows how to compute the $K$-theory of $\mathcal{A}(\Gamma)$ and of the larger class of rank two Cuntz-Krieger algebras.

We give a description of the monoid of Murray-von Neumann equivalence classes of projections for multiplier algebras of a wide class of $\sigma$-unital simple $C^\ast$-algebras $A$ with real rank zero and stable rank one. The lattice of ideals of this monoid, which is known to be crucial for understanding the ideal structure of the multiplier algebra $\mul$, is therefore analyzed. In important cases it is shown that, if $A$ has finite scale then the quotient of $\mul$ modulo any closed ideal $I$ that properly contains $A$ has stable rank one. The intricacy of the ideal structure of $\mul$ is reflected in the fact that $\mul$ can have uncountably many different quotients, each one having uncountably many closed ideals forming a chain with respect to inclusion.

For a dense $G_\delta$ set of real parameters $\theta$ in $[0,1]$ (containing the rationals) it is shown that the group $K_0 (A_\theta \rtimes_\sigma \mathbb{Z}_4)$ is isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z}^9$, where $A_\theta$ is the rotation C*-algebra generated by unitaries $U$, $V$ satisfying $VU = e^{2\pi i\theta} UV$ and $\sigma$ is the Fourier automorphism of $A_\theta$ defined by $\sigma(U) = V$, $\sigma(V) = U^{-1}$. More precisely, an explicit basis for $K_0$ consisting of nine canonical modules is given. (A slight generalization of this result is also obtained for certain separable continuous fields of unital C*-algebras over $[0,1]$.) The Connes Chern character $\ch \colon K_0 (A_\theta \rtimes_\sigma \mathbb{Z}_4) \to H^{\ev} (A_\theta \rtimes_\sigma \mathbb{Z}_4)^*$ is shown to be injective for a dense $G_\delta$ set of parameters $\theta$. The main computational tool in this paper is a group homomorphism $\vtr \colon K_0 (A_\theta \rtimes_\sigma \mathbb{Z}_4) \to \mathbb{R}^8 \times \mathbb{Z}$ obtained from the Connes Chern character by restricting the functionals in its codomain to a certain nine-dimensional subspace of $H^{\ev} (A_\theta \rtimes_\sigma \mathbb{Z}_4)$. The range of $\vtr$ is fully determined for each $\theta$. (We conjecture that this subspace is all of $H^{\ev}$.)

Giordano, Putnam and Skau showed that the transformation group $C^*$-algebra arising from a Cantor minimal system is an $AT$-algebra, and classified it by its $K$-theory. For approximately inner automorphisms that preserve $C(X)$, we will determine their classes in the Ext and OrderExt groups, and introduce a new invariant for the closure of the topological full group. We will also prove that every automorphism in the kernel of the homomorphism into the Ext group is homotopic to an inner automorphism, which extends Kishimoto's result.

A simple $\C^*$-algebra is constructed for which the Murray-von Neumann equivalence classes of projections, with the usual addition---induced by addition of orthogonal projections---form the additive semi-group $$ \{0,2,3,\dots\}. $$ (This is a particularly simple instance of the phenomenon of perforation of the ordered $\K_0$-group, which has long been known in the commutative case---for instance, in the case of the four-sphere---and was recently observed by the second author in the case of a simple $\C^*$-algebra.)

Let $A_\theta$ denote the rotation algebra---the universal $C^\ast$-algebra generated by unitaries $U,V$ satisfying $VU=e^{2\pi i\theta}UV$, where $\theta$ is a fixed real number. Let $\sigma$ denote the Fourier automorphism of $A_\theta$ defined by $U\mapsto V$, $V\mapsto U^{-1}$, and let $B_\theta = A_\theta \rtimes_\sigma \mathbb{Z}/4\mathbb{Z}$ denote the associated $C^\ast$-crossed product. It is shown that there is a canonical inclusion $\mathbb{Z}^9 \hookrightarrow K_0(B_\theta)$ for each $\theta$ given by nine canonical modules. The unbounded trace functionals of $B_\theta$ (yielding the Chern characters here) are calculated to obtain the cyclic cohomology group of order zero $\HC^0(B_\theta)$ when $\theta$ is irrational. The Chern characters of the nine modules---and more importantly, the Fourier module---are computed and shown to involve techniques from the theory of Jacobi's theta functions. Also derived are explicit equations connecting unbounded traces across strong Morita equivalence, which turn out to be non-commutative extensions of certain theta function equations. These results provide the basis for showing that for a dense $G_\delta$ set of values of $\theta$ one has $K_0(B_\theta)\cong\mathbb{Z}^9$ and is generated by the nine classes constructed here.

An {\it odd unbounded\/} (respectively, $p$-{\it summable}) {\it Fredholm module\/} for a unital Banach $\ast$-algebra, $A$, is a pair $(H,D)$ where $A$ is represented on the Hilbert space, $H$, and $D$ is an unbounded self-adjoint operator on $H$ satisfying: \item{(1)} $(1+D^2)^{-1}$ is compact (respectively, $\Trace\bigl((1+D^2)^{-(p/2)}\bigr) <\infty$), and \item{(2)} $\{a\in A\mid [D,a]$ is bounded$\}$ is a dense $\ast-$subalgebra of $A$. If $u$ is a unitary in the dense $\ast-$subalgebra mentioned in (2) then $$ uDu^\ast=D+u[D,u^{\ast}]=D+B $$ where $B$ is a bounded self-adjoint operator. The path $$ D_t^u:=(1-t) D+tuDu^\ast=D+tB $$ is a ``continuous'' path of unbounded self-adjoint ``Fredholm'' operators. More precisely, we show that $$ F_t^u:=D_t^u \bigl(1+(D_t^u)^2\bigr)^{-{1\over 2}} $$ is a norm-continuous path of (bounded) self-adjoint Fredholm operators. The {\it spectral flow\/} of this path $\{F_t^u\}$ (or $\{ D_t^u\}$) is roughly speaking the net number of eigenvalues that pass through $0$ in the positive direction as $t$ runs from $0$ to $1$. This integer, $$ \sf(\{D_t^u\}):=\sf(\{F_t^u\}), $$ recovers the pairing of the $K$-homology class $[D]$ with the $K$-theory class [$u$]. We use I.~M.~Singer's idea (as did E.~Getzler in the $\theta$-summable case) to consider the operator $B$ as a parameter in the Banach manifold, $B_{\sa}(H)$, so that spectral flow can be exhibited as the integral of a closed $1$-form on this manifold. Now, for $B$ in our manifold, any $X\in T_B(B_{\sa}(H))$ is given by an $X$ in $B_{\sa}(H)$ as the derivative at $B$ along the curve $t\mapsto B+tX$ in the manifold. Then we show that for $m$ a sufficiently large half-integer: $$ \alpha (X)={1\over {\tilde {C}_m}}\Tr \Bigl(X\bigl(1+(D+B)^2\bigr)^{-m}\Bigr) $$ is a closed $1$-form. For any piecewise smooth path $\{D_t=D+B_t\}$ with $D_0$ and $D_1$ unitarily equivalent we show that $$ \sf(\{D_t\})={1\over {\tilde {C}_m}} \int_0^1\Tr \Bigl({d\over {dt}} (D_t)(1+D_t^2)^{-m}\Bigr)\,dt $$ the integral of the $1$-form $\alpha$. If $D_0$ and $D_1$ are not unitarily equivalent, we must add a pair of correction terms to the right-hand side. We also prove a bounded finitely summable version of the form: $$ \sf(\{F_t\})={1\over C_n}\int_0^1\Tr\Bigl({d\over dt}(F_t)(1-F_t^2)^n\Bigr)\,dt $$ for $n\geq{{p-1}\over 2}$ an integer. The unbounded case is proved by reducing to the bounded case via the map $D\mapsto F=D(1+D^2 )^{-{1\over 2}}$. We prove simultaneously a type II version of our results.

Let $A$ be a simple $C^*$-algebra with real rank zero, stable rank one and weakly unperforated $K_0(A)$ of countable rank. We show that a monomorphism $\phi\colon C(S^2) \to A$ can be approximated pointwise by homomorphisms from $C(S^2)$ into $A$ with finite dimensional range if and only if certain index vanishes. In particular, we show that every homomorphism $\phi$ from $C(S^2)$ into a UHF-algebra can be approximated pointwise by homomorphisms from $C(S^2)$ into the UHF-algebra with finite dimensional range. As an application, we show that if $A$ is a simple $C^*$-algebra of real rank zero and is an inductive limit of matrices over $C(S^2)$ then $A$ is an AF-algebra. Similar results for tori are also obtained. Classification of ${\bf Hom}\bigl(C(X),A\bigr)$ for lower dimensional spaces is also studied.