Using the Dadarlat isomorphism, we give a characterization for the Kasparov product of $C^*$-algebra extensions. A certain relation between $KK(A, \mathcal q(B))$ and $KK(A, \mathcal q(\mathcal k B))$ is also considered when $B$ is not stable and it is proved that $KK(A, \mathcal q(B))$ and $KK(A, \mathcal q(\mathcal k B))$ are not isomorphic in general.

We show that the following $K_0$-monoid properties of $C^*$-algebras in the class $\Omega$ are inherited by simple unital $C^*$-algebras in the class $TA\Omega$: (1) weak comparability, (2) strictly unperforated, (3) strictly cancellative.

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.

We describe the representation theory of $C^*$-crossed-products of a unital $C^*$-algebra A by the cyclic group of order~2. We prove that there are two main types of irreducible representations for the crossed-product: those whose restriction to A is irreducible and those who are the sum of two unitarily unequivalent representations of~A. We characterize each class in term of the restriction of the representations to the fixed point $C^*$-subalgebra of~A. We apply our results to compute the K-theory of several crossed-products of the free group on two generators.

We say that a numerical semigroup is \emph{$d$-squashed} if it can be written in the form $$ S=\frac 1 N \langle a_1,\dots,a_d \rangle \cap \mathbb{Z}$$ for $N,a_1,\dots,a_d$ positive integers with $\gcd(a_1,\dots, a_d)=1$. Rosales and Urbano have shown that a numerical semigroup is 2-squashed if and only if it is proportionally modular. Recent works by Rosales \emph{et al.} give a concrete example of a numerical semigroup that cannot be written as an intersection of $2$-squashed semigroups. We will show the existence of infinitely many numerical semigroups that cannot be written as an intersection of $2$-squashed semigroups. We also will prove the same result for $3$-squashed semigroups. We conjecture that there are numerical semigroups that cannot be written as the intersection of $d$-squashed semigroups for any fixed $d$, and we prove some partial results towards this conjecture.

A Mauldin--Williams graph $\mathcal{M}$ is a generalization of an iterated function system by a directed graph. Its invariant set $K$ plays the role of the self-similar set. We associate a $C^{*}$-algebra $\mathcal{O}_{\mathcal{M}}(K)$ with a Mauldin--Williams graph $\mathcal{M}$ and the invariant set $K$, laying emphasis on the singular points. We assume that the underlying graph $G$ has no sinks and no sources. If $\mathcal{M}$ satisfies the open set condition in $K$, and $G$ is irreducible and is not a cyclic permutation, then the associated $C^{*}$-algebra $\mathcal{O}_{\mathcal{M}}(K)$ is simple and purely infinite. We calculate the $K$-groups for some examples including the inflation rule of the Penrose tilings.

We prove that a separable, nuclear, purely infinite, simple $C^*$-algebra satisfying the universal coefficient theorem is weakly semiprojective if and only if its $K$-groups are direct sums of cyclic groups.

Using ideas of S. Wassermann on non-exact $C^*$-algebras and property T groups, we show that one of his examples of non-invertible $C^*$-extensions is not semi-invertible. To prove this, we show that a certain element vanishes in the asymptotic tensor product. We also show that a modification of the example gives a $C^*$-extension which is not even invertible up to homotopy.

Let $A$ be a stable, separable, real rank zero $C^{*}$-algebra, and suppose that $A$ has an AF-skeleton with only finitely many extreme traces. Then the corona algebra ${\mathcal M}(A)/A$ is purely infinite in the sense of Kirchberg and R\o rdam, which implies that $A$ has the corona factorization property.

For a given irrational number $\theta$, we define Toeplitz operators with symbols in the irrational rotation algebra ${\mathcal A}_\theta$, and we show that the $C^*$-algebra $\mathcal T({\mathcal A}_\theta)$ generated by these Toeplitz operators is an extension of ${\mathcal A}_\theta$ by the algebra of compact operators. We then use these extensions to explicitly exhibit generators of the group $KK^1({\mathcal A}_\theta,\mathbb C)$. We also prove an index theorem for $\mathcal T({\mathcal A}_\theta)$ that generalizes the standard index theorem for Toeplitz operators on the circle.

Let $G_0$ and $G_1$ be countable abelian groups. Let $\gamma_i$ be an automorphism of $G_i$ of order two. Then there exists a unital Kirchberg algebra $A$ satisfying the Universal Coefficient Theorem and with $[1_A] = 0$ in $K_0 (A)$, and an automorphism $\alpha \in \Aut(A)$ of order two, such that $K_0 (A) \cong G_0$, such that $K_1 (A) \cong G_1$, and such that $\alpha_* \colon K_i (A) \to K_i (A)$ is $\gamma_i$. As a consequence, we prove that every $\mathbb{Z}_2$-graded countable module over the representation ring $R (\mathbb{Z}_2)$ of $\mathbb{Z}_2$ is isomorphic to the equivariant $K$-theory $K^{\mathbb{Z}_2} (A)$ for some action of $\mathbb{Z}_2$ on a unital Kirchberg algebra~$A$. Along the way, we prove that every not necessarily finitely generated $\mathbb{Z} [\mathbb{Z}_2]$-module which is free as a $\mathbb{Z}$-module has a direct sum decomposition with only three kinds of summands, namely $\mathbb{Z} [\mathbb{Z}_2]$ itself and $\mathbb{Z}$ on which the nontrivial element of $\mathbb{Z}_2$ acts either trivially or by multiplication by $-1$.

Let $A_\theta$ be the universal $C^*$-algebra generated by two unitaries $U$, $V$ satisfying $VU=e^{2\pi i\theta} UV$ and let $\Phi$ be the antiautomorphism of $A_\theta$ interchanging $U$ and $V$. The $K$-theory of $R_\theta=\{a\in A_\theta:\Phi(a)=a^*\}$ is computed. When $\theta$ is irrational, an inductive limit of algebras of the form $M_q(C(\mathbb{T})) \oplus M_{q'} (\mathbb{R}) \oplus M_q(\mathbb{R})$ is constructed which has complexification $A_\theta$ and the same $K$-theory as $R_\theta$.

It is known that a unital simple $C^*$-algebra $A$ with tracial topological rank zero has real rank zero. We show in this note that, in general, there are unital $C^*$-algebras with tracial topological rank zero that have real rank other than zero. Let $0\to J\to E\to A\to 0$ be a short exact sequence of $C^*$-algebras. Suppose that $J$ and $A$ have tracial topological rank zero. It is known that $E$ has tracial topological rank zero as a $C^*$-algebra if and only if $E$ is tracially quasidiagonal as an extension. We present an example of a tracially quasidiagonal extension which is not quasidiagonal.

The relative eta invariant of Atiyah-Patodi-Singer will be shown to be expressible in terms of the notion of Type~I and Type~II spectral flow.

We construct two non-isomorphic nuclear, stably finite, real rank zero $C^\ast$-algebras $E$ and $E'$ for which there is an isomorphism of ordered groups $\Theta\colon \bigoplus_{n \ge 0} K_\bullet(E;\ZZ/n) \to \bigoplus_{n \ge 0} K_\bullet(E';\ZZ/n)$ which is compatible with all the coefficient transformations. The $C^\ast$-algebras $E$ and $E'$ are not isomorphic since there is no $\Theta$ as above which is also compatible with the Bockstein operations. By tensoring with Cuntz's algebra $\OO_\infty$ one obtains a pair of non-isomorphic, real rank zero, purely infinite $C^\ast$-algebras with similar properties.

It is known that the Toeplitz algebra associated with any flow which is both minimal and uniquely ergodic always has a trivial $K_1$-group. We show in this note that if the unique ergodicity is dropped, then such $K_1$-group can be non-trivial. Therefore, in the general setting of minimal flows, even the $K$-theoretical index is not sufficient for the classification of Toeplitz operators which are invertible modulo the commutator ideal.