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# Partial Dynamical Systems and AF C∗-algebras

## 1. Introduction

The use of dynamical systems to study C-algebras has received much attention. In particular,  discusses the C-algebraic interpretations of a variety of dynamical systems concepts and  have considered, at least in part, AF subalgebras of crossed product C-algebras and used the properties of the dynamical system associated with the crossed product to gain information about these algebras. In addition to this, the theory of nonselfadjoint subalgebras of AF C-algebras has direct connections with dynamical systems.

By a partial homeomorphism $`\varphi `$ on a metric space $`X`$ we mean that $`\text{Dom}(\varphi )`$ and $`\text{Ran}(\varphi )`$ are open subsets of $`X`$ and $`\varphi `$ is a homeomorphism from $`\text{Dom}(\varphi )`$ to $`\text{Ran}(\varphi )`$. Suppose $`X`$ is a $`0`$-dimensional space and

$$_\varphi =\{(x,\varphi ^n(x)):x\text{Dom}(\varphi ^n),n\}$$

is the associated groupoid ($`\varphi ^0=\text{id}|_X`$). Then $`_\varphi `$ is AF if and only if for any open set $`U`$ containing $`\text{Dom}(\varphi )`$, $`_{n=0}^{\mathrm{}}\varphi ^n(U)=X`$ \[10, Corollary 4.7\].

The results of §2 arose from the question of how to generalize this to the case where the groupoid is the union of the graphs of a countable collection of partial homeomorphisms. Note that in the above result,

$$\{\sigma _{V,n}=\varphi ^n|_V:n,V\text{ a clopen set in }\text{Dom}(\varphi ^n)\}$$

is such a countable collection of partial homeomorphisms. Thus, the setting in §2 generalizes that of .

In this paper we will consider partial homeomorphisms for which the domain (and hence the range) are clopen subsets of the ambient $`0`$-dimensional space. The main result of §2 is a dynamical characterization of AF inverse semigroups (Definition 2.4). We use this theorem (Theorem 2.7) in Example 2.11 to show that the inverse semigroup of the odometer map is not AF. Previously, the proof of this fact had been via $`K`$-theory.

The importance of $`K`$-theory in the study of AF algebras makes it natural to then consider, in §3, how our dynamical system characterization can be used to compute the $`K_0`$ group of an AF algebra directly from a consideration of its groupoid. Motivation for this is provided in . In  and , the $`K`$-theory of AF subalgebras of certain crossed products is studied, and this $`K`$-theory is computed through use of the short exact sequence of Pimsner and Voiculescu . The computations done here are more closely related to those of , but valid for the more general partial dynamical systems considered as part of the characterization in §2.

The $`K`$-theoretic calculations of §3 are applied in §4 to some specific examples of AF algebras, including the CAR and GICAR algebras (Examples 4.2 and 4.5). It is here we find that, at least in some cases, the $`K_0`$ group of an AF algebra can be realized as a group of continuous functions acting on a $`0`$-dimensional compact Hausdorff space.

For certain types of simple dimension groups, we discuss in §5 a “Pontryagin-like” duality for groupoids which uses the structure of the resulting character group to directly construct an inverse semigroup of partial homeomorphisms and its associated groupoid. The results of §3 can then be used to prove that this groupoid is not only AF, but that the $`K_0`$ group of the groupoid C-algebra is isomorphic to the original dimension group. This method brings full-circle our ideas in §3 by reversing the process described there. That is, whereas in §3 we compute the $`K_0`$ group directly from the groupoid, for the types of dimension groups considered in §5, we are able to compute the groupoid directly from the $`K_0`$ group.

## 2. AF Groupoids and Partial Dynamical Systems

In this section we will develop a characterization of those groupoids that come from AF C-algebras. The conditions which describe this characterization are dynamical in nature, and therefore give a dynamical systems perspective on the nature of these AF groupoids.

Given an AF algebra $`𝔄=\overline{_{n1}𝔄_n}`$, where $`\{𝔄_n\}_{n1}`$ is an increasing sequence of finite-dimensional subalgebras of $`𝔄`$, consider $`𝔇=\overline{_{n1}𝔇_n}`$ where $`𝔇_n`$ is the subalgebra of $`𝔄_n`$ spanned by the diagonal matrix units in $`𝔄_n`$. As described in , we can identify the matrix units of each subalgebra $`𝔄_n`$ with partial homeomorphisms on the Gelfand space $`X`$ of $`𝔇`$. The set $`X`$ is a $`0`$-dimensional compact Hausdorff space, and the equivalence relation $`_𝔄`$ on $`X`$ that results from taking the union of the graphs of these partial homeomorphisms is an $`r`$-discrete groupoid and will be called the groupoid of the AF algebra $`𝔄`$.

In the theory of groupoid C-algebras, , one forms the C-algebra of a groupoid $``$, $`C^{}()`$, by considering the continuous functions of compact support on $``$. In the case of the groupoid $`_𝔄`$, the C-algebra of the groupoid is $`𝔄`$ itself. So, through a consideration of this groupoid, we can establish necessary conditions on those groupoids that give rise to AF algebras. The main result of this section (Theorem 2.7) will consider the converse. That is, we will establish conditions that ensure a given groupoid gives rise to a C-algebra which is AF. This leads us to make the following definition.

###### Definition 2.1.

A groupoid $``$ will be called an AF groupoid provided $`C^{}()`$ is AF.

To begin, we let $`X`$ be a $`0`$-dimensional compact Hausdorff space. That is, $`X`$ is compact Hausdorff and has a basis consisting of clopen sets. Suppose that $`\{\sigma _{r,s}^{(n)}:n0,1rm_n,1s\kappa (r,n)\}`$ is a countable collection of partial homeomorphisms on $`X`$ where $`\{m_n\}_{n=0}^{\mathrm{}}`$ is a sequence of positive integers (with $`m_0=1`$), and, for each $`n1`$ and $`1rm_n`$, $`\kappa (r,n)^+`$. Further suppose that for any partial homeomorphism in this collection, say $`\sigma _{r,s}^{(n)}`$, $`\text{Dom}(\sigma _{r,s}^{(n)})`$, the domain of $`\sigma _{r,s}^{(n)}`$, is the clopen set $`B(r,n)X`$. That is to say, for $`n`$ and $`r`$ fixed, $`\sigma _{r,1}^{(n)},\mathrm{},\sigma _{r,\kappa (r,n)}^{(n)}`$ share a common domain of $`B(r,n)`$.

We now form the clopen subsets $`U_n`$, for all $`n1`$, of $`X`$ by

$$U_n=\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}B(r,n),$$

and suppose that for each $`n1`$, the collection $`\{B(r,n)\}_{r=1}^{m_n}`$ partitions $`U_n`$. In particular, for each fixed $`n1`$, the sets $`\{B(r,n)\}_{r=1}^{m_n}`$ are pairwise disjoint. For notational convenience, let $`U_0=B(1,0)=X`$.

With the notation thus established, we assume that for each fixed $`n1`$ the collection $`\{\sigma _{r,s}^{(n)}:1rm_n,1s\kappa (r,n)\}`$ satisfies the following conditions.

###### Conditions 2.2.

* $`\sigma _{r,1}^{(n)}(x)=x`$, for all $`1rm_n`$ and $`xB(r,n)`$;
* for each $`1rm_n`$ and $`1s\kappa (r,n)`$, there exists an $`i`$, $`1im_{n1}`$, such that $`\sigma _{r,s}^{(n)}(B(r,n))B(i,n1)`$; and
* $`_{r=1}^{m_n}_{s=1}^{\kappa (r,n)}\sigma _{r,s}^{(n)}(B(r,n))`$ is a partition of $`U_{n1}`$.

We will consider the inverse semigroup generated by these partial homeomorphisms (Definition 2.3).

###### Remark 1.

From conditions (i) and (ii) it follows that the sequence $`\{U_n\}_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ is nested decreasing.

Now, given a collection $`T`$ of partial homeomorphisms on a topological space $`X`$, let $`A(T)`$ be the set of partial homeomorphisms on $`X`$ given by

$$A(T)=\{\rho :\sigma T\text{ and clopen subset }B\text{Dom}(\sigma )\text{ with }\rho =\sigma |_B\}.$$

Note that $`TA(T)`$. We then make the following definition.

###### Definition 2.3.

Given a collection $`T`$ of partial homeomorphisms on a topological space $`X`$, the inverse semigroup generated by $`T`$ will be the smallest set of partial homeomorphisms on $`X`$ which contains $`A(T)`$ and is closed for inverses and compositions (wherever those compositions make sense).

For the collection $`\{\sigma _{r,s}^{(n)}\}`$, we will now give a description of this inverse semigroup. To begin, let $`S`$ be the inverse semigroup generated by $`\{\sigma _{r,s}^{(n)}\}`$ and define $`\tau _{r,s}^{(1)}=\sigma _{r,s}^{(1)}`$ for all $`1rm_1`$ and $`1sk(r,1)=\kappa (r,1)`$. By then taking the compositions $`\tau _{r_1,s_1}^{(1)}\sigma _{r_2,s_2}^{(2)}`$ of the partial homeomorphisms $`\{\sigma _{r,s}^{(2)}\}`$ with the partial homeomorphisms $`\{\tau _{r,s}^{(1)}\}`$, we obtain partial homeomorphisms $`\{\tau _{r^{},s^{}}^{(2)}\}`$, for $`1r^{}m_2`$ and $`1s^{}k(r^{},s)`$ for some $`k(r^{},2)^+`$, which are in $`S`$ and for which $`\text{Dom}(\tau _{r^{},s^{}}^{(2)})=B(r^{},2)`$ for all $`r^{}`$ and $`s^{}`$. We proceed inductively to obtain, for all $`n1`$, the partial homeomorphisms $`\{\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}\}`$ where $`1rm_n`$ and $`1sk(r,n)`$ for some $`k(r,n)^+`$, such that $`\text{Dom}(\tau _{r,s}^{(n)})=B(r,n)`$, for all $`r`$ and $`s`$, and where each $`\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}`$ is an element of $`S`$.

###### Remark 2.

The collection $`\{\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}:n1,1rm_n,1sk(r,n)\}`$ of partial homeomorphisms so constructed is also a generating set for $`S`$ since it contains $`\sigma _{r,s}^{(n)}`$ for every $`n`$, $`r`$, and $`s`$.

###### Remark 3.

For each $`n1`$,

$$\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}\underset{s=1}{\overset{k(r,n)}{}}\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}(B(r,n))$$

forms a partition of $`X`$, and the sequence of partitions thus obtained is a sequence of successively finer partitions of $`X`$.

Now, let $``$ be an $`r`$-discrete groupoid which is an equivalence relation on $`X`$. We will say that an inverse semigroup of partial homeomorphisms $`Z`$ generates $``$ if the union of the graphs of the partial homeomorphisms in $`Z`$ equals $``$. This leads us to make the following definition.

###### Definition 2.4.

We will call an inverse semigroup $`Z`$ of partial homeomorphisms an AF inverse semigroup provided the groupoid generated by $`Z`$ is AF.

When a groupoid is generated by an inverse semigroup $`Z`$, we will assume the groupoid has a topology with basis consisting of the graphs of elements of $`Z`$ restricted to clopen subsets in $`X`$. For the inverse semigroup $`S`$ constructed above and the groupoid $``$ generated by it, make note of the fact that the collection

$$\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}\underset{s,s^{}=1}{\overset{k(r,n)}{}}\{\mathrm{\Gamma }(\rho ):B\text{Ran}(\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n)}),\text{clopen, with }\rho =\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}|_B\}$$

forms a basis for this topology on $``$, where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(\rho )`$ represents the graph of $`\rho `$ as a subset of $`X\times X`$. We will show that any such groupoid is AF. Before establishing this fact, however, we pause briefly to give a heuristic account of why the converse is true.

The partial homeomorphisms $`\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}`$ should be thought of as playing a role corresponding to the matrix unit partial homeomorphisms in the AF groupoid $`_𝔄`$. In particular, $`\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}`$ is the partial homeomorphism corresponding to the matrix unit $`e_{s^{},s}M_{k(r,n)}`$ where the AF algebra $`𝔄=\overline{_{n1}𝔄_n}`$ is such that

$$𝔄_n=M_{k(1,n)}\mathrm{}M_{k(m_n,n)}.$$

Also, the sets $`B(r,n)`$ act in the same way as the supports of the upper left diagonal matrix units in the subalgebras $`𝔄_n`$ when considering the groupoid of the AF algebra $`𝔄`$. With these motivating ideas in mind, it is fairly straightforward to show that for each AF algebra $`𝔄`$, there exists a collection of partial homeomorphisms satisfying Conditions 2.2 which generate $`_𝔄`$ in the sense just described. Therefore, Conditions 2.2 describe necessary conditions on AF groupoids.

In order to show that these conditions are sufficient we begin by defining, for any $`n1`$, the set

$$_n=\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}\underset{s,s^{}=1}{\overset{k(r,n)}{}}\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}\right),$$

and give $`_n`$ the topology inherited from $``$.

###### Lemma 2.5.

The sequence $`\{_n\}_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ is a nested increasing sequence of groupoids such that $`=_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}_n`$.

###### Proof.

First, for any $`n1`$ let $`(x,y)_n`$. That is to say, there exists $`r,s,s^{}`$ such that $`(x,y)\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}\right)`$. So, $`y=\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x)`$. It follows that

$$\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(y)=\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x)B(r,n).$$

By construction, there exists $`B(\overline{r},n+1)`$ and $`\tau _{\overline{r},\overline{s}}^{(n+1)}`$ such that

$$\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(y)=\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x)\tau _{\overline{r},\overline{s}}^{(n+1)}(B(\overline{r},n+1)).$$

So, for some $`zB(\overline{r},n+1)`$,

$$\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}\tau _{\overline{r},\overline{s}}^{(n+1)}(z)=y$$

and

$$\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n)}\tau _{\overline{r},\overline{s}}^{(n+1)}(z)=x.$$

Again, by construction, there exist $`s_1`$ and $`s_2`$ such that

$$\tau _{\overline{r},s_1}^{(n+1)}=\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}\tau _{\overline{r},\overline{s}}^{(n+1)}$$

and

$$\tau _{\overline{r},s_2}^{(n+1)}=\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n)}\tau _{\overline{r},\overline{s}}^{(n+1)}.$$

Hence, we see that $`y=\tau _{\overline{r},s_1}^{(n+1)}(z)`$ and $`z=\tau _{\overline{r},s_2}^{(n+1)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x)`$, which leaves $`y=\tau _{\overline{r},s_1}^{(n+1)}\tau _{\overline{r},s_2}^{(n+1)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x)`$. Therefore,

$$(x,y)\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_{n+1}}{}}\underset{s,s^{}=1}{\overset{k(r,n+1)}{}}\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\tau _{r,s}^{(n+1)}\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n+1)}{}_{}{}^{1}\right)=_{n+1}.$$

So, $`\{_n\}_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ is nested increasing. Since $`=_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}_n`$ is immediate, it remains to show that each $`_n`$ is a groupoid.

To show $`_n`$ is a groupoid, the only nontrivial part is to show that if $`(x,y),(y,z)_n`$ then $`(x,z)_n`$, which we leave to the reader.

###### Remark 4.

By using arguments similar to those in Lemma 2.5, one can show that if $`B_1=\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\tau _{r_1,s_1}^{(n_1)}\tau _{r_1,s_1^{}}^{(n_1)}{}_{}{}^{1}\right)`$ and $`B_2=\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\tau _{r_2,s_2}^{(n_2)}\tau _{r_2,s_2^{}}^{(n_2)}{}_{}{}^{1}\right)`$ are two basis elements of $``$ then either $`B_1`$ and $`B_2`$ are disjoint or one is a subset of the other. Hence, the topology of $``$ has a basis consisting of clopen sets. It also follows easily that each basis element is in fact compact. Thus, since each $`_n`$ is a finite union of compact open subsets of $``$, it follows that $`_n`$ is compact for all $`n1`$.

For $`n1`$ fixed, consider $`C_c(_n)=C(_n)`$, the continuous functions (of compact support) on $`_n`$. We endow this set with the groupoid convolution multiplication  in order to obtain a $``$-algebra structure. Let $`1rm_n`$, $`gC(B(r,n))`$, and $`1i,jk(r,n)`$ be given, and define $`f_{i,j}^{(r)}gC(_n)`$ by

$$f_{i,j}^{(r)}g(x,y)=\{\begin{array}{cc}g\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x),\hfill & \text{if }(x,y)\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\tau _{r,j}^{(n)}\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}\right)\hfill \\ 0,\hfill & \text{otherwise.}\hfill \end{array}$$

In the following lemma, which is somewhat similar to Lemma 2.2 of , we show that $`C(_n)`$ is spanned by functions of this form.

###### Lemma 2.6.

The algebra $`C(_n)`$ is isomorphic to

$$\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}M_{k(r,n)}\left(C(B(r,n))\right).$$

###### Proof.

First, we take $`gC(_n)`$. Let $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{i,j}^{(r)}=\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\tau _{r,j}^{(n)}\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}\right)`$. If we let

$$g|_{\mathrm{\Gamma }_{i,j}^{(r)}}(x,y)=\{\begin{array}{cc}g(x,y),\hfill & \text{if }(x,y)\mathrm{\Gamma }_{i,j}^{(r)}\hfill \\ 0,\hfill & \text{otherwise,}\hfill \end{array}$$

then it is clear that

$$g=\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}\underset{i,j=1}{\overset{k(r,n)}{}}g|_{\mathrm{\Gamma }_{i,j}^{(r)}}.$$

It is also straightforward to see that $`g|_{\mathrm{\Gamma }_{i,j}^{(r)}}=f_{i,j}^{(r)}\stackrel{~}{g}`$, with

$$\stackrel{~}{g}=gr^1\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}:B(r,n),$$

where here $`r:\mathrm{\Gamma }_{i,j}^{(r)}\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}(B(r,n))`$ is projection onto the first coordinate and restricted to the subset $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{i,j}^{(r)}`$ of $``$. The map $`r`$ is essentially the range map of Renault , and since both $`r`$ and $`\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}`$ are homeomorphisms in this case, we see that $`\stackrel{~}{g}C(B(r,n))`$. Hence, it follows that $`C(_n)`$ is equal to the span of the collection

$$\{f_{i,j}^{(r)}g:1rm_n,1i,jk(r,n),gC(B(r,n))\}.$$

Now, for $`1r_1<r_2m_n`$, $`g_1C(B(r_1,n))`$, $`g_2C(B(r_2,n))`$, $`1i_1,j_1k(r_1,n)`$, and $`1i_2,j_2k(r_2,n)`$ we have

$$\left(f_{i_1,j_1}^{(r_1)}g_1\right)\left(f_{i_2,j_2}^{(r_2)}g_2\right)=0$$

since $`\tau _{r_1,j_1}^{(n)}(B(r_1,n))\tau _{r_2,i_2}^{(n)}(B(r_2,n))=\mathrm{}`$, where $``$ is the convolution product on $`C(_n)`$.

Next, let $`1rm_n`$ be fixed and take $`1i,j,l,mk(r,n)`$. If $`jl`$ then $`\tau _{r,j}^{(n)}(B(r,n))\tau _{r,l}^{(n)}(B(r,n))=\mathrm{}`$, and so, for $`g_1,g_2C(B(r,n))`$, we again have

$$\left(f_{i,j}^{(r)}g_1\right)\left(f_{l,m}^{(r)}g_2\right)=0.$$

However, if $`j=l`$ take $`(x,z)\mathrm{\Gamma }_{i,j}^{(r)}`$ and $`(z,y)\mathrm{\Gamma }_{l,m}^{(r)}`$. Then,

$`\left(f_{i,j}^{(r)}g_1\right)\left(f_{l,m}^{(r)}g_2\right)(x,y)`$ $`=`$ $`f_{i,j}^{(r)}g_1(x,z)f_{l,m}^{(r)}g_2(z,y)`$
$`=`$ $`g_1\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x)g_2\tau _{r,l}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(z).`$
Also, we see that $`f_{i,m}^{(r)}(g_1g_2)(x,y)=(g_1g_2)\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x)`$ since

$`y`$ $`=`$ $`\tau _{r,m}^{(n)}\tau _{r,l}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(z)=\tau _{r,m}^{(n)}\tau _{r,l}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}\tau _{r,j}^{(n)}\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x)`$
$`=`$ $`\tau _{r,m}^{(n)}\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x).`$
So,

$$f_{i,m}^{(r)}(g_1g_2)(x,y)=g_1\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x)g_2\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x).$$

Since $`z=\tau _{r,j}^{(n)}\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x)`$ we see that $`\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x)=\tau _{r,l}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(z)`$ due to the fact that $`j=l`$. Hence, for all $`(x,y)_n`$,

$$f_{i,m}^{(r)}(g_1g_2)(x,y)=\left(f_{i,j}^{(r)}g_1\right)\left(f_{l,m}^{(r)}g_2\right)(x,y).$$

In particular,

$$\left(f_{i,j}^{(r)}\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}\right)\left(f_{l,m}^{(r)}\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}\right)=\delta _{j,l}\left(f_{i,m}^{(r)}\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}\right),$$

where $`\delta _{j,l}=1`$ if $`j=l`$ and $`0`$ if $`jl`$.

Next, for $`r,g,i,j`$ as above, we see that

$$f_{j,i}^{(r)}\overline{g}(x,y)=\{\begin{array}{cc}\overline{g}\tau _{r,j}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x),\hfill & \text{if }(x,y)\mathrm{\Gamma }_{j,i}^{(r)}\hfill \\ 0,\hfill & \text{otherwise}\hfill \end{array}$$

and

$$f_{i,j}^{(r)}\overline{g}(y,x)=\{\begin{array}{cc}\overline{g}\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(y),\hfill & \text{if }(y,x)\mathrm{\Gamma }_{i,j}^{(r)}\hfill \\ 0,\hfill & \text{otherwise.}\hfill \end{array}$$

Thus, since $`(x,y)\mathrm{\Gamma }_{j,i}^{(r)}`$ implies not only that $`(y,x)\mathrm{\Gamma }_{i,j}^{(r)}`$ but also that $`\tau _{r,j}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(x)=\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}(y)`$, we see that in fact,

$$f_{j,i}^{(r)}\overline{g}(x,y)=f_{i,j}^{(r)}\overline{g}(y,x),$$

for all $`(x,y)_n`$. Therefore,

$`\left(f_{i,j}^{(r)}g\right)^{}(x,y)`$ $`=`$ $`\overline{f_{i,j}^{(r)}g}(y,x)=f_{i,j}^{(r)}\overline{g}(y,x)`$
$`=`$ $`f_{j,i}^{(r)}\overline{g}(x,y).`$
So, $`\left(f_{i,j}^{(r)}\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}\right)^{}=f_{j,i}^{(r)}\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}`$.

Finally, because the images of the partial homeomorphisms $`\{\tau _{r,i}^{(n)}\}`$ partition $`X`$, we have that

$$\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}\underset{i=1}{\overset{k(r,n)}{}}f_{i,i}^{(r)}\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}=\chi _{_{\mathrm{\Delta }(X_𝔄)}}$$

is the identity on $`C(_n)`$.

This shows that for each $`1rm_n`$, the collection of functions $`\{f_{i,j}^{(r)}\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}\}_{i,j=1}^{k(r,n)}C(_n)`$ forms a system of matrix units for a full $`k(r,n)\times k(r,n)`$ matrix algebra. This completes the proof.

Now, considering the sequence of algebras $`\{C(_n)\}_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$, define, for each $`n1`$, the map $`\varphi _{n,n+1}:C(_n)C(_{n+1})`$ by

$$\varphi _{n,n+1}(f)(x,y)=\{\begin{array}{cc}f(x,y),\hfill & \text{if }(x,y)_n\hfill \\ 0,\hfill & \text{otherwise.}\hfill \end{array}$$

Since $`_n`$ is a subset of $`_{n+1}`$, it follows that $`\varphi _{n,n+1}(f)`$ is in fact an element of $`C(_{n+1})`$. It is also fairly clear that $`\varphi _{n,n+1}`$ is a unital injective $``$-homomorphism. We can therefore view $`C(_n)`$ as a subalgebra of $`C(_{n+1})`$, and in fact, via the map $`\mathrm{\Phi }_n:C(_n)C_c()`$, where

$$\mathrm{\Phi }_n(f)(x,y)=\{\begin{array}{cc}f(x,y),\hfill & \text{if }(x,y)_n\hfill \\ 0,\hfill & \text{otherwise,}\hfill \end{array}$$

we embed $`C(_n)`$ as a $``$-subalgebra of $`C_c()`$. As such, we have

$$\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}C(_n)C_c().$$

If, however, we let $`fC_c()`$, then by the compactness of $`\text{supp}(f)`$, the support of $`f`$, there exists an $`N1`$ such that

$$\text{supp}(f)\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_N}{}}\underset{s,s^{}=1}{\overset{k(r,N)}{}}\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}\right).$$

So, $`f|__NC(_N)`$ and we see that $`\mathrm{\Phi }_N\left(f|__N\right)=f`$. Therefore,

$$\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}C(_n)=C_c().$$

Now, if $`W`$ is a $`0`$-dimensional compact Hausdorff space, there exists a sequence $`\{E_n\}_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ of successively finer partitions of $`W`$ which generate the topology. Thus, $`C(W)`$ is the closed union of an increasing sequence of subalgebras, $`\{C(E_n)\}_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$, where $`C(E_n)`$ consists of those functions that are constant on elements of the partition $`E_n`$. Hence, $`C(W)`$ is AF. It follows that for $`k1`$, $`M_k(C(W))`$ is AF. Therefore, for all $`n1`$, $`C(_n)`$ is an AF algebra, and so, by ,

$$C^{}()=\overline{C_c()}$$

is an AF algebra. We summarize in the following theorem.

###### Theorem 2.7.

Suppose there exists a nested decreasing sequence of clopen subsets $`\{U_n\}_{n=0}^{\mathrm{}}`$ of $`X`$ ($`0`$-dimensional), clopen sets $`\{B(r,n)\}_{r=1}^{m_n}`$ for each $`n0`$ which partition $`U_n`$ (with $`U_0=B(1,0)=X`$), and a countable collection

$$\{\sigma _{r,s}^{(n)}:n0,1rm_n,1s\kappa (r,n)\}$$

of partial homeomorphisms on $`X`$ such that $`\text{Dom}(\sigma _{r,s}^{(n)})=B(r,n)`$ for all $`n`$, $`r`$, and $`s`$, and which satisfy Conditions 2.2. Then, the $`r`$-discrete groupoid corresponding to the inverse semigroup generated by this collection of partial homeomorphisms is AF.

This theorem, in conjunction with our earlier remarks leads to the following corollaries, the first of which is a generalization of \[10, Corollary $`4.7`$\].

###### Corollary 2.8.

The $`r`$-discrete groupoid $``$ is AF if and only if it is an equivalence relation on the $`0`$-dimensional space $`X`$ and there exists a countable collection of partial homeomorphisms (as in Theorem 2.7) satisfying Conditions 2.2 which generate $``$.

###### Corollary 2.9.

An inverse semigroup of partial homeomorphisms on $`X`$ ($`0`$-dimensional) is AF if and only if it is generated by a subset satisfying Conditions 2.2.

###### Remark 5.

We here briefly mention a connection between our results and the theory of nonselfadjoint subalgebras of C-algebras. Specifically, suppose $`T`$ is a set of partial homeomorphisms on $`X`$ and consider the inverse semigroup $`Z`$ generated by $`T`$. Suppose $`VZ`$ is a set of partial homeomorphisms containing $`A(T)`$ and for which $`VVV`$,$`VV^1=Z`$, and

$$VV^1=\{\rho :\text{ there exists a clopen subset }BX\text{ with }\rho =\text{id}|_B\}.$$

In the case that $`T`$ is a countable collection of partial homeomorphisms satisfying Conditions 2.2, Corollary 2.9 tells us that $`Z`$ is AF. If $`^{}`$ is the groupoid generated by $`Z`$, then the set $`V`$ will be such that its associated nonselfadjoint subalgebra of $`C^{}(^{})`$ is a triangular AF algebra . In the context of the above discussion, $`T`$ can be taken to be the collection

$$\{\sigma _{r,s}^{(n)}:n0,1rm_n,1s\kappa (r,n)\}$$

of partial homeomorphisms and the inverse semigroup $`Z`$ will then correspond to $`S`$.

We will also state here a lemma that, in addition to being useful in the following example, is of interest in its own right.

###### Lemma 2.10.

Suppose $`Z`$ is an AF inverse semigroup of partial homeomorphisms on $`X`$. If $`\rho Z`$ and $`\rho \left(\text{Dom}(\rho )\right)=\text{Dom}(\rho )`$ then $`\rho =\text{id}|_{\text{Dom}(\rho )}`$.

###### Proof.

By Corollary 2.9, there exists a generating set for $`Z`$ which satisfies Conditions 2.2. Thus, Remark 2 implies that if $`\rho Z`$ then there exists an $`n0`$, $`1rm_n`$, and $`1s,s^{}k(r,n)`$ such that

$$\rho =\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1}|_B$$

for some clopen subset $`BX`$. Now, by Remark 3, if $`ss^{}`$ then $`\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}(B(r,n))\tau _{r,s^{}}^{(n)}(B(r,n))=\mathrm{}`$. Thus, $`\rho (B)B=\mathrm{}`$. Hence, $`\rho (B)=B`$ implies $`s=s^{}`$, and so, $`\rho =\text{id}|_B`$.

###### Example 2.11.

To illustrate the use of Theorem 2.7, we use it to prove a groupoid is not AF. In particular, let $`X=_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}\{0,1\}_n`$ be the set of all sequences of $`0`$’s and $`1`$’s with the product topology. Define the odometer map $`\varphi :XX`$ by $`\varphi ((x_n))=(y_n)`$, where

$$y_n=\{\begin{array}{ccc}0,\hfill & \text{if }x_i=1\text{ for all }1in\hfill & \\ 1,\hfill & \text{if }x_i=1\text{ for all }1in1\text{ and }x_n=0\hfill & \\ x_n,\hfill & \text{if }x_i=0\text{ for some }1in1\text{.}\hfill & \end{array}$$

This map is a homeomorphism on $`X`$ and we will show that the groupoid $`\overline{}=\{(x,\varphi ^n(x)):xX,n\}`$ is not AF.

Considering $`\varphi `$, we let $`B=\{(x_n)X:x_1=a_1\}`$, for some fixed $`a_1`$. Then, $`\varphi ^2(B)=B`$ but, since

$$\varphi ^2((a_1,0,0,\mathrm{}))=(a_1,1,0,0,\mathrm{}),$$

we see that $`\varphi ^2|_B\text{id}|_B`$. Hence, the inverse semigroup which generates $`\overline{}`$ is not AF by Lemma 2.10.

###### Remark 6.

The groupoid $`\overline{}`$ is such that $`C^{}(\overline{})`$ is the crossed product C-algebra $`C(X)\times _\varphi `$. Hence, the result of this example could be obtained by appealing to $`K`$-theory and showing that $`K_1(C^{}(\overline{}))0`$. Since, cf. , the $`K_1`$ group of an AF algebra must be $`0`$, it follows that $`C^{}(\overline{})`$ is not AF.

## 3. AF Groupoids and $`K`$-theory

As we know from Elliott’s Theorem , the dimension group of an AF algebra is a complete isomorphism invariant for the algebra. In this section we use the partial dynamical systems described in the previous section to calculate the dimension group of the algebra.

To begin, we recall some facts from $`K`$-theory, of which  and  are good references. In a C-algebra $`𝔄`$, the projections $`P`$ and $`Q`$ are said to be $``$-equivalent if there exists an element $`R`$ in the algebra such that $`P=R^{}R`$ and $`Q=RR^{}`$. Two projections in $`_{n1}M_n(𝔄)`$, say $`PM_m(𝔄)`$ and $`QM_n(𝔄)`$ with $`mn`$, are then said to be equivalent if $`P0_{nm}`$ is $``$-equivalent to $`Q`$ in $`M_n(𝔄)`$. This is an equivalence relation on the set of all projections in $`_{n1}M_n(𝔄)`$ when $`𝔄`$ is an AF algebra. We let $`K_0^+(𝔄)`$ denote the collection of all such equivalence classes. The $`K_0`$ group of $`𝔄`$, $`K_0(𝔄)`$, is then defined to be the Grothendieck group of $`K_0^+(𝔄)`$. That is, $`K_0(𝔄)`$ is the set of all formal differences of elements in $`K_0^+(𝔄)`$ modulo the identification of $`a_1b_1`$ with $`a_2b_2`$ if and only if $`a_1+b_2=a_2+b_1`$.

To describe the dimension group of the algebra $`𝔄`$, one also needs the order unit of $`K_0(𝔄)`$. In particular, if $`𝔄`$ is unital, the order unit $`u`$ is simply $`u=[I]`$, the equivalence class of the identity. Then, the dimension group of the AF algebra $`𝔄`$ is the scaled ordered group

$$(K_0(𝔄),K_0^+(𝔄),u).$$

As mentioned in the previous section, if $`Z`$ is compact Hausdorff with a countable basis consisting of clopen sets, then there exists a sequence $`\{E_n\}_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ of successively finer partitions of $`Z`$ which generate the topology on $`Z`$. Thus, $`C(Z)`$ is the closed union of an increasing sequence of subalgebras, $`\{C(E_n)\}_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$, where $`C(E_n)`$ consists of those functions that are constant on elements of the partition $`E_n`$. Hence, $`C(Z)`$ is AF. It follows from this and  that $`K_0(C(Z))`$ is the direct limit of the sequence $`\{K_0(C(E_n))\}=\{C(E_n,)\}`$, and so,

$$K_0(C(Z))=C(Z,),$$

with $`K_0^+(C(Z))=\{gC(Z,):g0\}`$ (see also Example 4.3).

Now, suppose we have the AF groupoid $``$, which, as in the notation of the previous section, is the union of the increasing sequence $`\{_n\}_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$. We will use the following lemma to calculate the dimension group of the AF algebra $`𝔄`$ corresponding to $``$.

###### Lemma 3.1.

For each $`n1`$,

$$K_0(C(_n))C(U_n,)$$

and $`K_0^+(C(_n))=\{gC(U_n,):g0\}`$.

###### Proof.

We have by Lemma 2.6 that

$`K_0(C(_n))`$ $``$ $`K_0\left({\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}}M_{k(r,n)}(C(B(r,n)))\right)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}}K_0\left(M_{k(r,n)}(C(B(r,n)))\right).`$
Since $`K_0\left(M_{k(r,n)}(C(B(r,n)))\right)=K_0(C(B(r,n)))`$, we then have

$`K_0(C(_n))`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}}K_0(C(B(r,n)))`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}}C(B(r,n),).`$
Because $`U_n`$ is partitioned by $`\{B(r,n)\}_{r=1}^{m_n}`$, we have the desired result.

Since for $`Z`$ $`0`$-dimensional, $`C(Z)`$ is AF, it follows that for $`k1`$, $`M_k(C(Z))`$ is AF, and in fact, using our earlier notation, that

$$M_k(C(Z))=\overline{\underset{n1}{}M_k(C(E_n))}.$$

Furthermore, we note that $`M_k(C(E_n))_{l=1}^{|E_n|}M_k`$. From Davidson , any projection $`PM_k(C(Z))`$ is $``$-equivalent to a projection $`Q`$ in $`M_k(C(E_n))`$ for some $`n`$. But, a standard result from matrix theory then tells us that $`Q`$ is unitarily equivalent to a diagonal matrix in $`_{l=1}^{|E_n|}M_k`$. It is an easy result, cf. , which will not be repeated here, that if $`A`$ and $`B`$ are unitarily equivalent projections in a unital C-algebra then $`A`$ and $`B`$ are $``$-equivalent. So, by this result, $`P`$ is $``$-equivalent to a diagonal projection in $`_{l=1}^{|E_n|}M_k`$. Hence, every projection in $`M_k(C(Z))`$ is equivalent to a diagonal element $`\text{diag}(\lambda _1,\mathrm{},\lambda _k)`$ of $`M_k(C(Z))`$, where each of the $`\lambda _1,\mathrm{},\lambda _k`$ is a characteristic function of a clopen subset of $`Z`$.

Now, taking a projection $`pC(_n)_{r=1}^{m_n}M_{k(r,n)}(C(B(r,n)))`$, we will determine $`[p]`$, the equivalence class of $`p`$. By the arguments immediately above, we may assume without a loss of generality that $`p`$ is a direct sum of diagonal projections in $`_{r=1}^{m_n}M_{k(r,n)}(C(B(r,n)))`$. So,

$$p=\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}\underset{i=1}{\overset{k(r,n)}{}}f_{i,i}^{(r)}\chi _{_{A_{r,i}}}$$

where the $`A_{r,i}`$ are clopen subsets of $`B(r,n)`$, for all $`r`$ and $`i`$. Thus,

$$[p]=\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}\underset{i=1}{\overset{k(r,n)}{}}\chi _{_{A_{r,i}}}.$$

In particular, this gives the order unit $`u_n`$ of $`K_0(C(_n))`$ as

$`u_n`$ $`=`$ $`\left[\chi _{_{\mathrm{\Delta }(X)}}\right]=\left[{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{k(r,n)}{}}}f_{i,i}^{(r)}\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}\right]`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{k(r,n)}{}}}\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}}k(r,n)\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}.`$
We summarize in the following lemma.

###### Lemma 3.2.

For each $`n1`$ we have $`K_0(C(_n))C(U_n,)`$, with

$$K_0^+(C(_n))=\{gC(U_n,):g0\}$$

and order unit $`u_n=_{r=1}^{m_n}k(r,n)\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}`$.

This lemma, along with the fact that $`C^{}()`$ is the closure of the union of the increasing sequence $`\{C(_n)\}`$, gives us all we need to calculate the dimension group of $`C^{}()`$. We do so in the following theorem, which is similar to \[15, Corollary $`3.3`$\].

###### Theorem 3.3.

The dimension group of $`C^{}()`$ is equal to the direct limit of the scaled ordered groups $`K_0(C(_n))C(U_n,)`$ where the order unit $`u`$ is the direct limit of the order units

$$u_n=\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}k(r,n)\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}$$

and the connecting homomorphisms $`\varphi _{(n,n+1)}:C(U_n,)C(U_{n+1},)`$ are given by

$$\varphi _{(n,n+1)}(\xi )=\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}\underset{l=1}{\overset{t(r)}{}}\widehat{\xi \tau _{r_l,s_l}^{(n+1)}}$$

where

$$B(r,n)=\underset{l=1}{\overset{t(r)}{}}\tau _{r_l,s_l}^{(n+1)}(B(r_l,n+1))$$

and $`\widehat{\xi \tau _{r_l,s_l}^{(n+1)}}`$ is the function

$$\widehat{\xi \tau _{r_l,s_l}^{(n+1)}}(x)=\{\begin{array}{cc}\xi \tau _{r_l,s_l}^{(n+1)}(x),\hfill & \text{if }xB(r_l,n+1)\hfill \\ 0,\hfill & \text{otherwise.}\hfill \end{array}$$

###### Proof.

We have proven everything except for the nature of the connecting homomorphisms. Let $`n1`$ be given and take $`\xi C(U_n,)`$, $`0\xi u_n`$. Define, for $`1rm_n`$ and $`1ik(r,n)`$, the sets

$$A_{r,i}=B(r,n)\xi ^1([i,k(r,n)]),$$

where $`[i,k(r,n)]`$ is the set of integers $`\{i,i+1,\mathrm{},k(r,n)\}`$. These sets are clopen by the continuity of $`\xi `$. Let

$$p=\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}\underset{i=1}{\overset{k(r,n)}{}}f_{i,i}^{(r)}\chi _{_{A_{r,i}}}C(_n).$$

This is clearly a projection for which $`[p]=\xi `$. It follows from considering $`\varphi _{(n,n+1)}(p)`$ that

$$\varphi _{(n,n+1)}(\xi )=\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}\underset{l=1}{\overset{t(r)}{}}\widehat{\xi \tau _{r_l,s_l}^{(n+1)}}.$$

To show that this formula holds for an arbitrary element of $`C(U_n,)`$, we use the fact that $`\{\xi C(U_n,):0\xi u_n\}`$ is a scale for $`C(U_n,)`$. Thus, every element of $`C(U_n,)`$ can be written as a linear combination $`_j\alpha _j\xi _j`$ with $`0\xi _ju_n`$, for all $`j`$. This completes the proof.

## 4. Examples

We will now investigate some examples where Theorem 3.3 is used to calculate the dimension group of specific AF groupoids. To simplify the calculations, however, we will use the following lemma.

###### Lemma 4.1.

Retaining the notation from Theorem 3.3, let

$$\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,)=\{fC(U_n,):f|_{B(r,n)}=\alpha (r,n)\chi _{_{B(r,n)}},1rm_n\}.$$

If the collection of sets

$$\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}\underset{s=1}{\overset{k(r,n)}{}}\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}(B(r,n))$$

is a basis for the topology on $`X`$, then

$$\underset{}{lim}C(U_n,)\underset{}{lim}\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,),$$

where the connecting maps $`\stackrel{~}{\varphi }_{(n,n+1)}:\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,)\stackrel{~}{C}(U_{n+1},)`$ are just the restrictions of the maps $`\varphi _{(n,n+1)}`$ to the sets $`\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,)`$.

###### Proof.

To begin, let $`n1`$ be fixed and choose $`fC(U_n,)`$. By the continuity of $`f`$ and the compactness of $`U_n`$, there exists a partition $`\{𝒪_1,\mathrm{},𝒪_k\}`$ of $`U_n`$ such that $`f=_{i=1}^k\alpha _i\chi _{_{𝒪_i}}`$. Since we are assuming that

$$\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\underset{r=1}{\overset{m_n}{}}\underset{s=1}{\overset{k(r,n)}{}}\tau _{r,s}^{(n)}(B(r,n))$$

is a basis for the topology on $`X`$, we may assume, by refining the partition $`\{𝒪_1,\mathrm{},𝒪_k\}`$ if necessary, that for each $`1ik`$,

$$𝒪_i=\tau _{r_{l(1)},s_{l(1)}}^{(n+1)}\mathrm{}\tau _{r_{l(m)},s_{l(m)}}^{(n+m)}(B(r_{l(m)},n+m)),$$

where $`m`$ is a constant not depending on $`i`$. Thus, by Theorem 3.3, $`\varphi _{(n,n+1)}(f)=_{i=1}^{\overline{k}}\beta _i\chi _{_{\overline{𝒪}_i}}`$, where each set $`\overline{𝒪}_i`$ is of the form

$$\overline{𝒪}_i=\tau _{r_{l(2)},s_{l(2)}}^{(n+2)}\mathrm{}\tau _{r_{l(m)},s_{l(m)}}^{(n+m)}(B(r_{l(m)},n+m)).$$

Therefore, for each $`n1`$ and $`fC(U_n,)`$, there exists an $`Nn`$ such that

$$\varphi _{(N1,N)}\mathrm{}\varphi _{(n,n+1)}(f)\stackrel{~}{C}(U_N,).$$

The result now follows from this by applying the universal property of direct limits.

###### Example 4.2.

Consider the CAR algebra $`𝔄=\overline{_{n1}𝔄_n}`$, where $`𝔄_nM_{2^n}`$, for all $`n1`$, and whose Bratteli diagram looks like

$$\text{}.$$

From Lemma 4.1, we know that the dimension group of $`𝔄`$ is equal to the direct limit of the scaled ordered groups

$$(\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,),\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,^+),2^n\chi _{_{U_n}})$$

where, in the case of the CAR algebra, $`U_n=B(1,n)`$ in the notation of §2.

For each $`n1`$, we define the homomorphism

$$\varphi _n:\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,)[1/2],$$

where $`[1/2]`$ represents the diadic rationals, by $`\varphi _n\left(\alpha \chi _{_{B(1,n)}}\right)=\alpha 2^n`$. It can easily be shown that the diagram

commutes. It follows that

$$\underset{}{lim}C(U_n,)\underset{}{lim}\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,)[1/2].$$

We also see that the positive cone, cf. , is given as

$$K_0^+(𝔄)=\underset{n1}{}\varphi _n\left(\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,^+)\right)=^+[1/2],$$

with $`u=1`$, where $`u`$ is the order unit of $`[1/2]`$. Thus, we have the dimension group of the CAR algebra $`𝔄`$ given by

$$K_0(𝔄)=([1/2],^+[1/2],1).$$

We note that this example also appears in , and our calculations here could also be obtained using the results of Poon \[15, Corollary 3.3\].

###### Example 4.3.

The AF algebra with Bratelli diagram

is simply the set of all continuous complex-valued functions on the Cantor set $`X`$. This algebra is mentioned at the beginning of §3, and from the discussion given there one has that

$$K_0(C(X))=(C(X,),C(X,^+),\chi __X).$$

###### Example 4.4.

We now consider an AF algebra which is a hybrid of the two previous examples. In particular, let $`𝔄`$ be the AF algebra with Bratteli diagram

By Lemma 4.1 we know that $`K_0(𝔄)=\underset{}{lim}\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,)`$ where $`U_n=_{i=1}^{2^n}B(i,n)`$, for all $`n1`$, can be thought of diagrammatically as the union of the sets at level $`n`$ in the Bratelli diagram. For $`n1`$ given and $`_{i=1}^{2^n}\alpha _i\chi _{_{B(i,n)}}\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,)`$, we see that

$`\varphi _{(n,n+1)}\left({\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{2^n}{}}}\alpha _i\chi _{_{B(i,n)}}\right)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{2^n}{}}}\alpha _i\varphi _{(n,n+1)}\left(\chi _{_{B(i,n)}}\right)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{2^n}{}}}\alpha _i\left(2\chi _{_{B(i_1,n+1)}}+2\chi _{_{B(i_2,n+1)}}\right)`$
$`=`$ $`2{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{2^n}{}}}\alpha _i\chi _{_{\left[B(i_1,n+1)B(i_2,n+1)\right]}}`$
where $`B(i_1,n+1)`$ and $`B(i_2,n+1)`$ are exactly those sets in the collection $`_{r=1}^{m_{n+1}}B(r,n+1)`$ which lie in $`B(i,n)`$.

In general, for $`mn`$ we have

$$\varphi _{(m,n)}\left(\underset{i=1}{\overset{2^m}{}}\alpha _i\chi _{_{B(i,m)}}\right)=2^{nm}\underset{i=1}{\overset{2^m}{}}\alpha _i\chi _{_{\left[_{j=1}^{t(i)}B(r_j,n)\right]}}$$

where $`B(r_1,n),\mathrm{},B(r_{t(i)},n)`$ are exactly those sets in $`_{r=1}^{m_n}B(r,n)`$ which lie in $`B(i,m)`$.

Now, let $`X_{min}=_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}U_n`$, which can be shown to be the Cantor set. Indeed, the diagram for $`X_{min}`$ is that of Example 4.3. We then define a homomorphism

$$\varphi _n:\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,)C(X_{min},[1/2]),$$

for all $`n1`$ and where we give $`[1/2]`$ the discrete topology, by

$$\varphi _n\left(\underset{i=1}{\overset{2^n}{}}\alpha _i\chi _{_{B(i,n)}}\right)=2^n\underset{i=1}{\overset{2^n}{}}\alpha _i\chi _{_{\left[B(i,n)X_{min}\right]}}.$$

We see that for any $`mn`$,

$`\varphi _n\varphi _{(m,n)}\left({\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{2^m}{}}}\alpha _i\chi _{_{B(i,m)}}\right)`$ $`=`$ $`\varphi _n\left(2^{nm}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{2^m}{}}}\alpha _i\chi _{_{\left[_{j=1}^{t(i)}B(r_j,n)\right]}}\right)`$
$`=`$ $`2^m{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{2^m}{}}}\alpha _i\chi _{_{\left[_{j=1}^{t(i)}B(r_j,n)\right]X_{min}}}`$
$`=`$ $`2^m{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{2^m}{}}}\alpha _i\chi _{_{\left[B(i,m)X_{min}\right]}}`$
$`=`$ $`\varphi _m\left({\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{2^m}{}}}\alpha _i\chi _{_{B(i,m)}}\right).`$
Hence, the diagram

commutes. Therefore, $`\underset{}{lim}\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,)C(X_{min},[1/2])`$. However, if we let $`fC(X_{min},[1/2])`$, then, by the compactness of $`X_{min}`$, $`f`$ is a simple function, and therefore an element of $`\underset{}{lim}\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,)`$. Hence, by Lemma 4.1,

$$\underset{}{lim}C(U_n,)C(X_{min},[1/2]).$$

In addition to this,

$$K_0^+(𝔄)=\underset{n1}{}\varphi _n\left(\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,^+)\right)=\{fC(X_{min},[1/2]):f0\}$$

and the order unit $`u`$ is given by $`u=\chi _{_{X_{min}}}`$. Thus,

$$K_0(𝔄)=(C(X_{min},[1/2]),C(X_{min},[1/2]^+),\chi _{_{X_{min}}}).$$

###### Example 4.5.

Consider the GICAR algebra $`𝔄`$, whose Bratteli diagram is given by

We would like to use Lemma 4.1 to calculate the $`K_0`$ group of $`𝔄`$.

First, from §2, we know that we can use, as our decreasing sequence $`\{U_n\}_{n=0}^{\mathrm{}}`$ of sets, the collection where $`U_n=_{r=1}^{n+1}B(r,n)`$, for all $`n1`$, with the clopen sets $`\{B(r,n)\}_{r=1}^{n+1}`$ corresponding to the upper left matrix units in the subalgebra $`𝔄_n`$.

The direct system

$$\stackrel{~}{C}(U_1,)\stackrel{\varphi _{(1,2)}}{}\stackrel{~}{C}(U_2,)\stackrel{\varphi _{(2,3)}}{}\mathrm{}$$

that results from Theorem 3.3 and Lemma 4.1 is then such that the action of $`\varphi _{(n,n+1)}`$ can be realized by the matrix

$$A=\left[\begin{array}{ccccc}1& & & & \\ 1& 1& & & \\ & 1& & & \\ & & & \mathrm{}& \\ & & & & 1\\ & & & & 1\end{array}\right]M_{n+2,n+1},$$

where all unspecified entries are zero and the function $`_{r=1}^{n+1}\alpha _r\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,)`$ is viewed as the vector $`(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1})^T^{n+1}`$. We now define, by adding a column to this matrix, the new matrix

$$A_{n,n+1}=\left[\begin{array}{cccccc}1& & & & & \\ 1& 1& & & & \\ & 1& & & & \\ & & \mathrm{}& & & \\ & & & 1& 1& \\ & & & & 1& 1\end{array}\right]M_{n+2},$$

where, as above, all unspecified entries are zero. This matrix is lower triangular, and therefore invertible. So, for all $`n1`$, let

$$A_n=\left[A_{0,1}^1I_{n1}\right]\left[A_{1,2}^1I_{n2}\right]\mathrm{}\left[A_{n2,n1}^1I_1\right]A_{n1,n}^1M_{n+1},$$

and $`R_n:^{n+1}C(X_{min},)`$ be given by

$$R_n(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1})^T=\underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}\alpha _r\chi _{_{B(r,r1)X_{min}}},$$

where, as before, $`X_{min}=_{n=0}^{\mathrm{}}U_n`$.

###### Remark 7.

The set $`X_{min}`$ can be given a concrete realization as the set of all infinite paths in the diagram

which is homeomorphic to the set $`\{0,1,1/2,1/3,1/4,\mathrm{}\}`$ with the relative topology it inherits as a subset of $``$. Then, the set $`B(r,r1)`$, for any $`r1`$, is the set of all paths emanating from the vertex with label $`r1`$.

Finally, let $`\varphi _n:\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,)C(X_{min},)`$ be given by $`\varphi _n=R_nA_n`$, for all $`n1`$, where we know $`\varphi _n`$ maps to $`C(X_{min},)`$ since $`A_{r,r+1}^1`$ has integer entries for all $`r0`$. We would like to show that the diagram

commutes.

Let $`(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1})^T\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,)`$. Then,

$`\varphi _{n+1}\varphi _{(n,n+1)}(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1})^T`$
$`=`$ $`\varphi _{n+1}A_{n,n+1}(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1},0)^T`$
$`=`$ $`R_{n+1}A_{n+1}A_{n,n+1}(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1},0)^T`$
$`=`$ $`R_{n+1}[A_{0,1}^1I_n]\mathrm{}[A_{n1,n}^1I_1](\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1},0)^T.`$
If we define $`(\beta _1^{n1},\mathrm{},\beta _{n+1}^{n1})^T=A_{n1,n}^1(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1})^T`$ and, in general, for $`2i<n`$,

$$(\beta _1^{ni},\mathrm{},\beta _{ni+2}^{ni})^T=A_{ni,ni+1}^1(\beta _1^{ni+1},\mathrm{},\beta _{ni+2}^{ni+1})^T,$$

we see that

$`\varphi _{n+1}\varphi _{(n,n+1)}(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1})^T`$
$`=`$ $`R_{n+1}[A_{0,1}^1I_n]\mathrm{}[A_{n2,n1}^1I_2](\beta _1^{n1},\mathrm{},\beta _{n+1}^{n1},0)^T`$
$`=`$ $`R_{n+1}[A_{0,1}^1I_n]\mathrm{}[A_{n3,n2}^1I_3](\beta _1^{n2},\mathrm{},\beta _n^{n2},\beta _{n+1}^{n1},0)^T`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{}=R_{n+1}[A_{0,1}^1I_n](\beta _1^1,\beta _2^1,\beta _3^1,\mathrm{},\beta _n^{n2},\beta _{n+1}^{n1},0)^T`$
$`=`$ $`R_{n+1}(\beta _1^0,\beta _2^0,\beta _3^1,\mathrm{},\beta _n^{n2},\beta _{n+1}^{n1},0)^T`$
$`=`$ $`\beta _1^0\chi _{_{B(1,0)X_{min}}}+{\displaystyle \underset{r=2}{\overset{n+1}{}}}\beta _r^{r2}\chi _{_{B(r,r1)X_{min}}}.`$
However, we see from the following calculation that

$`\varphi _n(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1})^T`$
$`=`$ $`R_nA_n(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1})^T`$
$`=`$ $`R_n[A_{0,1}^1I_{n1}]\mathrm{}[A_{n2,n1}^1I_1]A_{n1,n}^1(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1})^T`$
$`=`$ $`R_n[A_{0,1}^1I_{n1}]\mathrm{}[A_{n2,n1}^1I_1](\beta _1^{n1},\mathrm{},\beta _{n+1}^{n1})^T`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{}=R_n(\beta _1^0,\beta _2^0,\beta _3^1,\mathrm{},\beta _n^{n2},\beta _{n+1}^{n1})^T`$
$`=`$ $`\beta _1^0\chi _{_{B(1,0)X_{min}}}+{\displaystyle \underset{r=2}{\overset{n+1}{}}}\beta _r^{r2}\chi _{_{B(r,r1)X_{min}}}.`$
Thus, $`\varphi _n=\varphi _{n+1}\varphi _{(n,n+1)}`$, and we conclude that the diagram commutes.

Now, in constructing the algebra $`𝔄`$, by choosing the appropriate embeddings between the finite-dimensional subalgebras, we may assume, without a loss of generality, that the sequence $`\{U_n\}_{n=0}^{\mathrm{}}`$ is such that $`B(r,n)B(r,n1)`$, for all $`1rn`$, and that $`B(n+1,n)B(n,n1)`$. For $`fC(X_{min},)`$, by the compactness of $`X_{min}`$, there exists an $`n1`$ and integers $`\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1}`$ such that

$$f=\underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}\alpha _r\chi _{_{B(r,n)X_{min}}}.$$

We would like to show that $`f`$ is an element of the image of $`\varphi _n`$.

Let $`1rn`$. Then, by assumption,

$$B(r,n)B(r,n1)\mathrm{}B(r,r1).$$

So, in particular, if $`r<ln+1`$, then $`B(r,n)B(r,l1)`$. Because the collection $`\{B(i,l1)\}_{i=1}^l`$ is pairwise disjoint, it follows that $`B(r,n)B(l,l1)=\mathrm{}`$. We also observe that our assumptions imply

$$B(r,n)B(r,r1)B(r1,r2)\mathrm{}B(1,0).$$

Now, define the function

$$f_{n+1}=\alpha _1\chi _{_{B(1,0)X_{min}}}+\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}(\alpha _{i+1}\alpha _i)\chi _{_{B(i+1,i)X_{min}}}.$$

Take $`xX_{min}`$, and suppose $`xB(r,n)`$, $`1rn`$. Then,

$$f_{n+1}(x)=\alpha _1\chi _{_{B(1,0)X_{min}}}(x)+\underset{i=1}{\overset{r1}{}}(\alpha _{i+1}\alpha _i)\chi _{_{B(i+1,i)X_{min}}}(x).$$

But, $`B(r,n)B(r,r1)\mathrm{}B(1,0)`$, from which it follows that

$$f_{n+1}(x)=\alpha _1+\underset{i=1}{\overset{r1}{}}(\alpha _{i+1}\alpha _i)=\alpha _r.$$

Thus, $`f(x)=\alpha _r=f_{n+1}(x)`$, whenever $`xB(r,n)`$, $`1rn`$. If $`xB(n+1,n)`$ then $`f(x)=\alpha _{n+1}`$ and

$`f_{n+1}(x)`$ $`=`$ $`\alpha _1\chi _{_{B(1,0)X_{min}}}(x)+{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}}(\alpha _{i+1}\alpha _i)\chi _{_{B(i+1,i)X_{min}}}(x)`$
$`=`$ $`\alpha _{n+1}`$
since $`B(n+1,n)B(n,n1)\mathrm{}B(1,0)`$. Therefore, $`f=f_{n+1}`$ as elements of $`C(X_{min},)`$. So, for all $`fC(X_{min},)`$ there exist integers $`\beta _1,\mathrm{},\beta _{n+1}`$ such that

$$f=\underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}\beta _r\chi _{_{B(r,r1)X_{min}}}.$$

###### Remark 8.

The continuous functions $`C(X_{min},)`$ can be identified with the set of all infinite sequences which are eventually zero.

Now, since $`A_n`$ is invertible and $`A_n^1`$ has integer entries,

$$A_n^1(\beta _1,\mathrm{},\beta _{n+1})^T^{n+1},$$

and $`\varphi _n(A_n^1(\beta _1,\mathrm{},\beta _{n+1})^T)=f`$. Thus, we have

$$\underset{n1}{}\varphi _n(\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,))=C(X_{min},).$$

The injectivity of the maps $`\varphi _n`$ then implies that

$$\underset{}{lim}\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,)=\underset{n1}{}\varphi _n(\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,))=C(X_{min},).$$

It also follows from Theorem 3.3 that the order unit $`u`$ is the function $`\chi _{_{X_{min}}}`$. To obtain a complete description of the dimension group of $`𝔄`$, it remains to describe the positive cone $`K_0^+(𝔄)`$.

To begin, as a notational convenience we will let the collection $`\{e_r(n+1)\}_{r=1}^{n+1}`$ represent the standard basis vectors for $`^{n+1}`$ for each $`n1`$. Our first step will be to describe the way the matrix $`A_n`$ acts on this collection. In what follows we will use $`(\begin{array}{c}a\\ b\end{array})`$ to denote the binomial coefficient $`{\displaystyle \frac{a!}{b!(ab)!}}`$.

###### Lemma 4.6.

For each $`n1`$ and $`1rn+1`$, we have

$$A_n(e_r(n+1))=\underset{j=r}{\overset{n+1}{}}(1)^{jr}(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})e_j(n+1).$$

###### Proof.

We proceed by induction on $`n`$. For the induction basis, it is easy to verify that the formula holds when $`n=1`$ and $`1r2`$. So, we suppose the formula is valid for $`n1`$ and all $`1rn+1`$.

Let $`1in+2`$ be arbitrary. We see that

$`A_{n+1}(e_i(n+2))`$
$`=`$ $`\left[\begin{array}{cc}A_n& 0\\ 0& 1\end{array}\right]A_{n,n+1}^1e_i(n+2)`$
$`=`$ $`\left[\begin{array}{cc}A_n& 0\\ 0& 1\end{array}\right]\left({\displaystyle \underset{r=i}{\overset{n+2}{}}}(1)^{ri}e_r(n+2)\right)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=i}{\overset{n+2}{}}}(1)^{ri}\left[\begin{array}{cc}A_n& 0\\ 0& 1\end{array}\right]e_r(n+2)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=i}{\overset{n+1}{}}}(1)^{ri}\left[\begin{array}{cc}A_n& 0\\ 0& 1\end{array}\right]e_r(n+2)+(1)^{ni}e_{n+2}(n+2)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=i}{\overset{n+1}{}}}(1)^{ri}(\begin{array}{c}A_ne_r(n+1)\\ 0\end{array})+(1)^{ni}e_{n+2}(n+2).`$
By the induction hypothesis we then have

$`A_{n+1}(e_i(n+2))`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=i}{\overset{n+1}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=r}{\overset{n+1}{}}}(1)^{ji}(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})e_j(n+2)+(1)^{ni}e_{n+2}(n+2).`$
If, in this double sum, we switch the order of summation, this becomes

$`A_{n+1}(e_i(n+2))`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{j=i}{\overset{n+1}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{r=i}{\overset{j}{}}}(1)^{ji}(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})e_j(n+2)+(1)^{ni}e_{n+2}(n+2)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{j=i}{\overset{n+1}{}}}(1)^{ji}\left[{\displaystyle \underset{r=i}{\overset{j}{}}}(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})\right]e_j(n+2)+(1)^{ni}e_{n+2}(n+2).`$
Here, we make note of the binomial coefficient identity

$$\underset{k=0}{\overset{n}{}}(\begin{array}{c}m+k\\ k\end{array})=(\begin{array}{c}m+n+1\\ n\end{array}),$$

which is valid for any nonnegative integers $`n`$ and $`m`$. By then letting $`k=jr`$ and $`m=n+1j`$, we see that we can write

$`{\displaystyle \underset{r=i}{\overset{j}{}}}(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=ji}{\overset{0}{}}}(\begin{array}{c}n+1+kj\\ k\end{array})`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{ji}{}}}(\begin{array}{c}m+k\\ k\end{array})`$
$`=`$ $`(\begin{array}{c}m+ji+1\\ ji\end{array})`$
$`=`$ $`(\begin{array}{c}ni+2\\ ji\end{array}).`$
Therefore,

$`A_{n+1}(e_i(n+2))`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{j=i}{\overset{n+1}{}}}(1)^{ji}(\begin{array}{c}ni+2\\ ji\end{array})e_j(n+2)+(1)^{ni}e_{n+2}(n+2)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{j=i}{\overset{n+2}{}}}(1)^{ji}(\begin{array}{c}ni+2\\ ji\end{array})e_j(n+2).`$
Hence, by induction, the formula holds for all $`n1`$ and $`1rn+1`$, completing the proof.

This gives us the tools we need to describe $`K_0^+(𝔄)`$. However, we first establish some notation. Let $`n1`$ be fixed and define

$$P_n=\{\underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}\beta _r\chi _{_{B(r,r1)X_{min}}}:\beta _r\text{ for all }1rn+1\}.$$

We then let $`P_n^+`$ be the subset of $`P_n`$ for which

$$\underset{l=0}{\overset{k}{}}(\begin{array}{c}nl\\ kl\end{array})\beta _{l+1}0,$$

for all $`k`$ such that $`0kn`$. We then have the following theorem describing $`K_0^+`$.

###### Theorem 4.7.

For the GICAR algebra $`𝔄`$, $`K_0^+(𝔄)={\displaystyle \underset{n1}{}}P_n^+`$.

###### Proof.

To begin, let $`fK_0^+(𝔄)=_{n1}\varphi _n\left(\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,^+)\right)`$. So, there exists an $`n1`$ and $`(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1})^T_+^{n+1}`$ such that $`f=\varphi _n(g)`$ where

$$g=\underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}\alpha _r\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}.$$

We will analyze the action of $`\varphi _n`$ on $`g`$ by considering the action of the matrix $`A_n`$ on the vector $`(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1})^T`$. So, we apply our previous lemma to get

$`A_n(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1})^T`$ $`=`$ $`A_n\left({\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}}\alpha _re_r(n+1)\right)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}}\alpha _rA_n(e_r(n+1))`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}}\alpha _r{\displaystyle \underset{j=r}{\overset{n+1}{}}}(1)^{jr}(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})e_j(n+1)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=r}{\overset{n+1}{}}}(1)^{jr}\alpha _r(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})e_j(n+1).`$
By switching the order of summation this becomes

$$A_n(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1})^T=\underset{j=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}\underset{r=1}{\overset{j}{}}(1)^{jr}\alpha _r(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})e_j(n+1)$$

and so we have

$`\varphi _n(g)`$ $`=`$ $`R_nA_n(\alpha _1,\mathrm{},\alpha _{n+1})^T`$
$`=`$ $`R_n\left({\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{j}{}}}(1)^{jr}\alpha _r(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})e_j(n+1)\right)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}}R_n\left({\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{j}{}}}(1)^{jr}\alpha _r(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})e_j(n+1)\right)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{j}{}}}(1)^{jr}\alpha _r(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})\chi _{_{B(j,j1)X_{min}}}.`$
Thus, we need to show that, for all $`0kn`$,

$$S_k=\underset{l=0}{\overset{k}{}}(\begin{array}{c}nl\\ kl\end{array})\underset{r=1}{\overset{l+1}{}}(1)^{l+1r}\alpha _r(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ l+1r\end{array})0.$$

If we now reverse the order of summation, $`S_k`$ can be written as

$$S_k=\underset{r=1}{\overset{k+1}{}}\underset{l=r1}{\overset{k}{}}(1)^{l+1r}\alpha _r(\begin{array}{c}nl\\ kl\end{array})(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ l+1r\end{array}).$$

By making use of the identity

$$(\begin{array}{c}nl\\ kl\end{array})(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ l+1r\end{array})=(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ k+1r\end{array})(\begin{array}{c}k+1r\\ l+1r\end{array}),$$

we are able to write

$`S_k`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{k+1}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=r1}{\overset{k}{}}}(1)^{l+1r}\alpha _r(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ k+1r\end{array})(\begin{array}{c}k+1r\\ l+1r\end{array})`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{k+1}{}}}\alpha _r(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ k+1r\end{array}){\displaystyle \underset{l=r1}{\overset{k}{}}}(1)^{l+1r}(\begin{array}{c}k+1r\\ l+1r\end{array}).`$
By a well-known binomial coefficient identity,

$$\underset{l=r1}{\overset{k}{}}(1)^{l+1r}(\begin{array}{c}k+1r\\ l+1r\end{array})=0,$$

provided $`r1<k`$. Thus, $`S_k=\alpha _{k+1}0`$. Therefore, $`fP_n^+`$, and we have established containment in one direction.

To prove the opposite containment, let $`n1`$ be given and suppose the function $`_{r=1}^{n+1}\beta _r\chi _{_{B(r,r1)X_{min}}}`$ is an element of $`P_n^+`$. It follows that for all $`0kn`$ we have $`\alpha _k0`$ where

$$\alpha _k=\underset{l=0}{\overset{k}{}}(\begin{array}{c}nl\\ kl\end{array})\beta _{l+1}.$$

Hence, the function $`_{r=1}^{n+1}\alpha _{r1}\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}`$ is an element of $`\stackrel{~}{C}(U_n,^+)`$, and therefore

$$\varphi _n\left(\underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}\alpha _{r1}\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}\right)K_0^+(𝔄).$$

So, we will have proven the desired result if we can show that

$$\varphi _n\left(\underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}\alpha _{r1}\chi _{_{B(r,n)}}\right)=\underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}\beta _r\chi _{_{B(r,r1)X_{min}}}.$$

In order to do this, we first notice that

$`A_n(\alpha _0,\mathrm{},\alpha _n)^T`$ $`=`$ $`A_n\left({\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}}\alpha _{r1}e_r(n+1)\right)`$
$`=`$ $`A_n\left({\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=0}{\overset{r1}{}}}(\begin{array}{c}nl\\ r1l\end{array})\beta _{l+1}e_r(n+1)\right)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=0}{\overset{r1}{}}}(\begin{array}{c}nl\\ r1l\end{array})\beta _{l+1}A_n(e_r(n+1)),`$
which, if we apply our previous lemma becomes

$$\underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}\underset{l=0}{\overset{r1}{}}\underset{j=r}{\overset{n+1}{}}(1)^{jr}\beta _{l+1}(\begin{array}{c}nl\\ r1l\end{array})(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})e_j(n+1).$$

By switching the order of summation, we can in turn write this sum as

$$\underset{j=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}\underset{r=1}{\overset{j}{}}\underset{l=0}{\overset{r1}{}}(1)^{jr}\beta _{l+1}(\begin{array}{c}nl\\ r1l\end{array})(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})e_j(n+1).$$

So, our task has become one of showing that, for each $`1jn+1`$, if

$$S_j=\underset{r=1}{\overset{j}{}}\underset{l=0}{\overset{r1}{}}(1)^{jr}\beta _{l+1}(\begin{array}{c}nl\\ r1l\end{array})(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})$$

then $`S_j=\beta _j`$.

To establish this, we first switch the order of summation in $`S_j`$ to obtain

$$S_j=\underset{l=0}{\overset{j1}{}}\underset{r=l+1}{\overset{j}{}}(1)^{jr}\beta _{l+1}(\begin{array}{c}nl\\ r1l\end{array})(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array}),$$

and notice that if $`0l<j1`$ then

$`{\displaystyle \underset{r=l+1}{\overset{j}{}}}(1)^{jr}(\begin{array}{c}nl\\ r1l\end{array})(\begin{array}{c}n+1r\\ jr\end{array})`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=l+1}{\overset{j}{}}}(1)^{jr}(\begin{array}{c}jl1\\ jr\end{array}){\displaystyle \frac{(nl)!}{(n+1j)!(jl1)!}}`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{(nl)!}{(n+1j)!(jl1)!}}{\displaystyle \underset{r=l+1}{\overset{j}{}}}(1)^{jr}(\begin{array}{c}jl1\\ jr\end{array})`$
$`=`$ $`0`$
since $`_{r=l+1}^j(1)^{jr}(\begin{array}{c}jl1\\ jr\end{array})=0`$. Therefore, we conclude that $`S_j=\beta _j`$. So,

$`\varphi _n(\alpha _0,\mathrm{},\alpha _n)^T`$ $`=`$ $`R_nA_n(\alpha _0,\mathrm{},\alpha _n)^T`$
$`=`$ $`R_n\left({\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}}\beta _je_j(n+1)\right)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{n+1}{}}}\beta _r\chi _{_{B(r,r1)X_{min}}},`$
which completes the proof.

For comparison, we mention that Davidson’s  description of $`K_0(𝔄)`$ for the GICAR algebra is

$$([y],\{f[y]:f>0\text{ on }(0,1)\},1).$$

## 5. Groupoids from Dimension Groups

The examples considered in the previous section lead naturally to certain additional questions. One, a partial answer to which we give below, is the question of how to reverse the process used in calculating these examples. The other, for which no answer is given here, has to do with the common characteristic shared by each of the examples. Specifically, these $`K_0`$ groups, as a result of the methods used to obtain them, all have in common the fact that they are groups of continuous functions. It is natural then to wonder if a general result can be obtained which gives the $`K_0`$ group of any AF algebra (or possibly only those of a specific type) as a group of continuous functions.

Returning to the first of the above questions, we note that the examples of the previous section illustrate a use of the result in §3 which allows a calculation of $`K_0(C^{}())`$ for an AF groupoid $``$ by making use of the inverse semigroup of partial homeomorphisms which generate the groupoid. So, in this sense, we are able to move directly from an AF groupoid to a dimension group without first directly constructing the algebra $`C^{}()`$. It is natural to ask then whether a converse to this operation is possible. Of course, by using the dimension group to build the associated AF algebra, cf. , it is possible to construct the appropriate groupoid. However, we would like to do this directly. That is, given a dimension group $`G`$, how can one directly construct the groupoid $``$ for which $`K_0(C^{}())G`$? We give a partial answer to this question for a certain class of dimension groups in the following example.

###### Example 5.1.

Consider the dimension group $`(G,G^+,u)`$ which is obtained as the direct limit of the sequence $`(,^+,u_n)`$ of scaled ordered groups. In this case, it is not hard to show that

$$G/u\underset{}{lim}/u_n,$$

where $`u`$ indicates the subgroup generated by $`u`$.

Before proceeding, we pause briefly to mention some additional background. Given a group $`Q`$, a character of $`Q`$ is a homomorphism of $`Q`$ into the multiplicative group $`𝕋=\{z:|z|=1\}`$, the unit circle in the complex plane. Suppose now that $`Q`$ is a topological abelian group. The set of all continuous characters of $`Q`$ forms a topological abelian group, called the character group of $`Q`$, and will be denoted by $`\widehat{Q}`$. We use  as a reference on character groups.

Now, letting $`Q=G/u`$ and $`Q_n=/u_n_{u_n}`$, for all $`n1`$, we consider $`\widehat{Q}`$ and $`\widehat{Q}_n`$, the character groups of $`Q`$ and $`Q_n`$, respectively. As an application of the notion of duality, one can show that the character group of $`Q`$ is the projective limit of the character groups of $`Q_n`$. In symbols,

$$\widehat{Q}\underset{}{lim}\widehat{Q}_n,$$

and the connecting homomorphisms $`\psi _n:\widehat{Q}\widehat{Q}_n`$ and $`\psi _{n+1,n}:\widehat{Q}_{n+1}\widehat{Q}_n`$ are continuous surjections, for all $`n1`$, such that the diagram

commutes.

Letting $`\text{id}_1\widehat{Q}_1`$ be the character which is identically $`1`$ on $`Q_1`$, consider the set $`B(1,1)=\psi _1^1(\text{id}_1)`$. By the continuity of $`\psi _1`$, it is clear that $`B(1,1)`$ is a clopen subgroup of $`\widehat{Q}`$. Hence, for all characters $`\chi _1,\chi _2\widehat{Q}`$, if the cosets $`\chi _1B(1,1)`$ and $`\chi _2B(1,1)`$ are such that $`\chi _1B(1,1)\chi _2B(1,1)\mathrm{}`$ then $`\chi _1B(1,1)=\chi _2B(1,1)`$. The collection of cosets $`\{\chi B(1,1):\chi \widehat{Q}\}`$ is clearly an open cover of $`\widehat{Q}`$, and so by the compactness of $`\widehat{Q}`$, there exist $`\chi _1^{(1)},\mathrm{},\chi _n^{(1)}\widehat{Q}`$ such that

$$\widehat{Q}=\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\chi _i^{(1)}B(1,1).$$

This is a disjoint union since we may assume, without a loss of generality by our above observations, that $`\chi _1^{(1)}=\text{id}\widehat{Q}`$ and $`\chi _i^{(1)}B(1,1)\chi _j^{(1)}B(1,1)=\mathrm{}`$ whenever $`ij`$.

Now, it is straightforward that $`\psi _1(\chi _i^{(1)}B(1,1))`$ is a singleton for each $`1in`$. If we suppose $`\psi _1(\chi _i^{(1)}B(1,1))`$ and $`\psi _1(\chi _j^{(1)}B(1,1))`$ are the same element, we find that $`i=j`$ by our choice of these characters. Thus, because $`\psi _1`$ surjects, $`\psi _1(\widehat{Q})=\widehat{Q}_1=\widehat{}_{u_1}=_{u_1}`$, and it must be that $`n=u_1`$. So, we obtain the partition

$$\underset{i=1}{\overset{u_1}{}}\chi _i^{(1)}B(1,1)$$

of $`\widehat{Q}`$.

Now, for each $`n1`$, let $`B(1,n)=\psi _n^1(\text{id}_n)\widehat{Q}`$, which is a clopen subgroup. We see that if we take $`\chi B(1,n+1)`$ then

$$\psi _n(\chi )=\psi _{n+1,n}\psi _{n+1}(\chi )=\psi _{n+1,n}(\text{id}_{n+1})=\text{id}_n.$$

Thus, $`\chi B(1,n)`$, and we see that $`\{B(1,n)\}_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ is a nested decreasing sequence of clopen subgroups in $`\widehat{Q}`$.

As above, for each $`n1`$, there exists characters $`\chi _1^{(n+1)},\mathrm{},\chi _{s(n+1)}^{(n+1)}B(1,n)`$ such that

$$\underset{i=1}{\overset{s(n+1)}{}}\chi _i^{(n+1)}B(1,n+1)$$

is a partition of $`B(1,n)`$.

###### Claim.

$`s(n+1)=u_{n+1}/u_n`$

###### Proof.

Suppose $`_{i=1}^r\chi _iB(1,n)`$ is a partition of $`\widehat{Q}`$. As above, $`r=u_n`$. It follows that

$$\underset{i=1}{\overset{u_n}{}}\underset{j=1}{\overset{s(n+1)}{}}\chi _i\chi _j^{(n+1)}B(1,n+1)$$

is a partition of $`\widehat{Q}`$ and thus that $`u_ns(n+1)=u_{n+1}`$. Hence, we have $`s(n+1)=u_{n+1}/u_n`$.

For each $`n1`$ and with $`B(1,0)=\widehat{Q}`$, if we now define the maps $`\sigma _{1,s}^{(n)}:B(1,n)B(1,n1)`$ by $`\sigma _{1,s}^{(n)}(\chi )=\chi _s^{(n)}\chi `$, then clearly the collection

$$\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\underset{s=1}{\overset{s(n)}{}}\{\sigma _{1,s}^{(n)}\}$$

is a collection of partial homeomorphisms on $`\widehat{Q}`$ that satisfy Conditions 2.2 of §2. Thus, for all $`n1`$, let $`\tau _{(s_1,\mathrm{},s_n)}^{(n)}:B(1,n)\widehat{Q}`$ be given by

$$\tau _{(s_1,\mathrm{},s_n)}^{(n)}(\chi )=\left[\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\chi _{s_i}^{(i)}\right]\chi ,$$

where $`(s_1,\mathrm{},s_n)_{i=1}^n[1,u_i/u_{i1}]`$, with $`u_0=1`$, and each of these intervals is a subset of $`^+`$. Then, by Corollary 2.9, the inverse semigroup $`S`$ generated by the partial homeomorphisms $`\tau _{(s_1,\mathrm{},s_n)}^{(n)}`$ is AF. Furthermore, Lemma 4.1 allows us to calculate its dimension group as the direct limit of the sequence

$$(,u_1)\stackrel{\varphi _{(1,2)}}{}(,u_2)\stackrel{\varphi _{(2,3)}}{}\mathrm{}$$

where the connecting maps $`\varphi _{(n,n+1)}`$ are such that

$$\varphi _{(n,n+1)}(x)=\left(u_{n+1}/u_n\right)x.$$

But then it is clear that with $``$ the groupoid generated by the inverse semigroup $`S`$, we have

$$(G,G^+,u)(K_0(C^{}()),K_0(C^{}()^+),1)$$

as desired.


format: text

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# Model atmosphere analysis of the extreme DQ white dwarf GSC2U J131147.2+292348

## 1 Introduction

The presence of carbon in the atmospheres of some non-DA white dwarfs (defined as spectral type DQ) is generally explained by the convective dredge-up from the stellar core to the outer photospheric layers (Koester et al. 1982; Pelletier et al. 1986). C2 molecules are responsible for the absorption bands (e.g. in particular the Swan bands) which are the typical signature of the DQ stars. The spectral energy distribution of these stars changes significantly as a function of the effective temperature, $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$, and carbon abundance, \[C/He\], as shown by the theoretical atmosphere models of Koester et al. (1982) and Wegner & Yackovich (1984). Typically, strong absorption bands are expected for the coolest DQ stars, even in the case of low carbon abundances.

However, past surveys revealed DQ stars with effective temperature above 6500 K only (Bergeron et al. 1997). The existence of this cut-off is not well understood. In fact, if cool DQ stars with $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}<6500`$ K do exist, their strong Swan bands would result in peculiar colors and spectra which should make these objects easily recognizable.

On the other hand, at low temperature carbon can be present also in a different form, as C2H molecules, if some hydrogen is also present. The electronic transition spectra of the C2H are not known from theory or laboratory experiments, but the observed spectra of the few known C2H stars show molecular absorption bands similar to the Swan bands shifted by about 150 Å toward the blue. This shift cannot be explained as an effect of pressure shift of the Swan bands in a helium dominated atmosphere (Bergeron at al. 1994) or as a displacement due to a magnetic field (Schmidt et al. 1995). The presence of a certain fraction of hydrogen in the atmosphere of such non-DA white dwarfs can also be inferred by the collision induced absorption in the near IR due to H2 molecules, as in the case of LHS 1126.

These observations suggest the hypothesis that DQ white dwarfs turn into C2H stars when $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ is below 6500 K, due to a not well identified physical mechanism that should inject hydrogen111The evolution of the “missing” cool DQ stars is related to the more general problem of the non-DA gap which derives from the apparent lack of non-DA stars observed with temperature $`5100T_{\mathrm{eff}}6100`$ K. At the moment, the cause of this effect, which could depend on the physical and chemical evolution of the white dwarf atmospheres during the cooling phases as well as on not sufficiently understood input physics, is not well established (see e.g. Bergeron et al. 1997, Malo et al. 1999). in the He-dominated atmosphere of the DQ stars (Bergeron et al. 1997, 2001).

Recently, Carollo et al. (2002) discovered GSC2U J131147.2+292348 during a proper motion survey for halo white dwarfs based on the photographic material used for the construction of the GSC-II (McLean et al. 2000). As shown in Figure 2 of Carollo et al. (2002), this object appears as a very peculiar carbon rich white dwarf due to the simultaneous presence of strong C2 Deslandres-d’Azambuja and Swan bands, with an evident depression of the continuum in the Swan region between 4500 and 6200 Å. No other DQ star shows both these extreme features.

GSC2U J131147.2+292348 represents an enigma as well as an opportunity to test the predictions of the scenario discussed above for these objects. In fact, temperatures as low as 6000 K were already estimated by Carollo et al. (2002) by means of a simple spectral analysis. As described in the next sections, here we adopt a more sophisticated fitting technique based on new atmosphere models in order to estimate accurately the temperature and composition of this object. The new results confirm cool values of the temperature, $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}5100`$ K, and the implications of this result will be briefly discussed.

## 2 Model atmosphere analysis of GSC2U J131147.2+292348

GSC2U J131147.2+292348 shows extremely strong bands of the C2 molecule, especially the Swan and Deslandres-d’Azambuja band systems in the optical range. As these bands obviously block a significant fraction of the total flux, they will influence the temperature structure of the atmosphere models. We have therefore calculated a new grid of model atmospheres, which takes into account the blanketing effect of 537 bands from the Swan, Deslandres-d’Azambuja, Fox-Herzberg, Phillips, and Ballik-Ramsay systems, as well as numerous atomic carbon lines and the resonance lines of HeI in the EUV. The general molecular data were taken from Huber & Herzberg (1979), the Franck-Condon factors for the vibrational transitions from various sources (Krishnaswamy & Odell 1977; Dwivedi et al. 1978; Spindler 1965; Sharp 1983). Molecular absorption is treated with the “just overlapping line approximation (JOLA)” in the version as described in Zeidler-K.T. & Koester (1982).

The general procedures and input physics of the model atmosphere calculations are very similar to the description in Finley et al. (1997). As it is practically impossible for very cool white dwarfs to determine effective temperature, surface gravity, and in our case the carbon abundance simultaneously, we have held $`\mathrm{log}g`$ fixed at the canonical value of 8.00. $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ for the grid ranges from 10000 to 4600 K, the abundance ratio $`\mathrm{log}`$\[C/He\] by numbers from $`8`$ to $`4`$.

### 2.1 Magnitudes and colors

For cool white dwarfs magnitudes and colors, especially in the infrared, are very useful for the determination of atmospheric parameters, a method pioneered by Bergeron et al. (1997).

Since magnitudes in both the standard and photographic system, with a spectral coverage from the ultraviolet to the near IR, have been observed for GSC2U J131147.2+292348 , we have also calculated theoretical magnitudes for our model grid. We adopted U,V from the photographic photometry given by Moreau & Reboul (1995), while Carollo et al. (2002) provided photographic BJ, RF and IN in the natural photographic system of the POSS-II plates, plus standard JHK photometry from observations carried out at the 4-m TNG (La Palma). The methods and the magnitude zeropoints used for the UV-JHK bandpasses in the standard Johnson system are described in detail in Zuckerman et al. (2003). For the photographic BJ, RF and IN (approximately corresponding to the Johnson-Cousins B(RI)c) we have used the same transmission curves adopted for the photometric calibration of the GSC-II plates and determined the zeropoints from integrations over the Vega flux as obtained from the STScI archive.

The available magnitudes from $`U`$ to $`K`$ completely determine the energy distribution of GSC2U J131147.2+292348 . We have used our automatic least squares fitting routine, described in Zuckerman et al. (2003) to determine the best fitting parameters within the $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ \- $`\mathrm{log}`$\[C/He\] grid, resulting in an extremely low effective temperature around 5000 K (Table 1). The first row in the Table gives the observed magnitudes, the second the assumed errors. The third row are the theoretical predictions for the best fit parameters $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ = 4980 K, $`\mathrm{log}`$\[C/He\] = $`6.17`$.

As an internal check, we tested the effect of fitting the physical parameters with only the standard UVJHK photometry with respect to the global solution including also the BJ, RF and IN magnitudes. The last two rows of Table 1 show that the parameters change only very little, indicating that the GSC-II magnitudes are certainly very consistent with the overall energy distribution.

Figure 1 shows the position of GSC2U J131147.2+292348 in a special two-color diagram $`JV`$ vs. $`JK`$, using only standard magnitudes to be able to compare with other known DQ white dwarfs. Continuous lines are lines of constant carbon abundance, from -4.0 to -8.0, dotted lines are lines of constant effective temperature from 4600 K to 10000 K in steps of 200 K. As can be seen, this diagram is not very useful at temperatures above 7000 K, because of the competing direct effect of flux blocking and the indirect blanketing effect on the temperature structure. However, in the range 4600 - 6600 K and the abundances considered here, the diagram gives a clear indication of the atmospheric parameters. The cross at the lowest temperatures is GSC2U J131147.2+292348 , for which we would determine $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$= 5100, $`\mathrm{log}`$\[C/He\] = $`6.0`$ from this position. The other 11 circles are observations of DQ white dwarfs from Bergeron et al. (1997) and Bergeron et al. (2001), which clearly are all much hotter, in agreement with temperatures derived in Bergeron et al. (1997).

### 2.2 Spectral fitting

The spectrum of GSC2U J131147.2+292348 has been described in detail in Carollo et al. (2002). They concluded that the extremely strong bands of the Swan and Deslandres-d’Azambuja systems in the optical range are compatible with models calculated in Wegner & Yackovich (1984), whereas the energy distribution in the infrared could be explained by a blackbody distribution of around 6000 K. With our consistent model atmospheres available, we can apply our standard spectral fitting technique (e.g. Koester et al. 2001) with a Levenberg-Marquard algorithm (Press et al. 1992) to find the minimum $`\chi ^2`$ solution, using $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ and $`\mathrm{log}`$\[C/He\] as two free fitting parameters instead of the usual $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ and $`\mathrm{log}g`$ in the case of DA or DB white dwarfs. The quasi continuum was forced to fit the model at two positions (around 4150 and 7000 Å), allowing for remaining small calibration errors of the spectral flux. The resulting parameters for the best fit are $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$= 5200 K, $`\mathrm{log}`$\[C/He\] = $`5.53`$. Figure 2 shows the observed spectrum together with the theoretical model corresponding to these parameters. Qualitatively, the theoretical model describes the main features of the spectrum, in particular the very strong band systems. In the details discrepancies remain, which may have a number of origins: the temperature structure of the models, the equation of state in these very high pressure atmospheres, and, most likely, missing bands, due to unkown Franck-Condon factors for the bands with highly excited lower levels, which are weak at laboratory conditions, but may be important in the much hotter stellar atmosphere. Nevertheless, we consider the fit satisfactory and a confirmation of the low temperatures derived from the photometry.

### 2.3 Results and conclusion

The fitting procedure for the photometry as well as for the spectrum provides formal errors, derived from the assumed statistical errors of the observations. These are very small — typically 30-40 K for $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ and 0.05 for $`\mathrm{log}`$\[C/He\] — and definitely unrealistic, because the errors are dominated by systematic errors of the models and reductions. These errors can be estimated only very roughly, taking the differences between the solutions from photometry and spectrum as a guide. Since we believe that the spectral result is more reliable, we give it double weight and take as the final result for the atmospheric parameters $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ = 5120$`\pm `$200 K and $`\mathrm{log}`$\[C/He\] = -5.8$`\pm `$0.5. The distance modulus obtained from the photometric solution is 3.69 mag, corresponding to a distance of 55 pc and to a tangential velocity $`V_{\mathrm{tan}}=4.74\mu d125`$ km s-1 ($`\mu =0.48^{\prime \prime }`$ yr-1). Adopting the same kinematics assumptions as in Carollo et al. (2002), we obtain galactic velocity components with respect to the LRS, $`(U,V)(115,1)`$ km s-1. These values are well consistent with the velocity ellipsoid of the galactic halo (1$`\sigma `$) and are still consistent with the thick disk kinematics (2$`\sigma `$), while the membership of GSC2U J131147.2+292348 to the thin disk appears much less probable.

However, one needs to keep in mind that the results have been derived using a fixed surface gravity of $`\mathrm{log}g`$= 8.00. While we do not expect the atmospheric parameters to change much with $`\mathrm{log}g`$, the distance modulus depends of course on the radius of the star, which depends strongly on the assumed surface gravity. Allowing for a plausible range of 7.5 - 8.5, the radius could be different up to $`\pm `$30%, with the same change resulting for the distance and velocity.

With $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ about 5100 K this star is by far the coolest known “normal” DQ object. It is below the cutoff seen by Bergeron et al. (1997) near 6500 K and also below or at least at the lower edge of the so-called non-DA gap. It cannot be true therefore that all DQ turn into C2H stars when they cool down, and one obvious explanation could be that some stars completely avoid any accretion of hydrogen, which is a prerequisite for the formation of this molecule. However, the final explanation of this puzzle as well as others concerning the non-DA gap will likely need to wait for the discovery of more similar objects from the ongoing large scale survey like the SDSS.

###### Acknowledgements.

The authors are grateful to B.J. McLean for his constant support of this program. The GSC II is a joint project of the Space Telescope Science Institute and the Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino. Space Telescope Science Institute is operated by AURA for NASA under contract NAS5-26555. Partial financial support to this research comes from the Italian CNAA and the Italian Ministry of Research (MIUR) through the COFIN-2001 program. This work is based on observations made with the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) operated on the island of La Palma by the Centro Galileo Galilei of the INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica) at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, and also based on observations made with the William Herschel Telescope operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias.


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# Topology of the World Trade Web

## Abstract

Economy, and consequently trade, is a fundamental part of human social organization which, until now, has not been studied within the network modelling framework. Networks are mathematical tools used in the modelling of a wide variety of systems in social and natural science. Examples of these networks range from metabolic and cell networks to technological webs. Here we present the first empirical characterization of the world trade web, that is, the network built upon the trade relationships between different countries in the world. This network displays the typical properties of complex networks, namely, scale-free degree distribution, the small world property, a high clustering coefficient and, in addition, degree-degree correlation between different vertices. All these properties make the world trade web a complex network, which is far from being well-described through a classical random network description.

The world is facing a challenging era. Social, political and economic arrangements initiated after the end of the Second World War are now culminating in the recognition of globalization, a process which has been accelerated by the new technological advances. When applied to the international economic order, globalization involves control of capital flow and liberalization of trade. As a consequence, economies around the world are becoming more and more interrelated, in other words, the world is becoming a global-village Krugman (1998); Amin (1998). In this scenario, trade plays a central role as one of the most important interaction channels between countries. The relevance of the international trade system goes beyond the fundamental exchange of goods and services. For instance, it can also be the channel for crises spreading Glick and Rose (1999). A good example is found in the recent Asiatic crisis, which shows how economic perturbations originated in a country can somehow propagate elsewhere in the world Noland et al. (1998); Goldstein (1998). Thus, it seems natural to analyze the world trade system at a global level, every country being important regardless of its size or wealth. Despite the extremely complex nature of the problem, relevant structural information can be extracted from modelling the system as a network, where countries are represented as vertices and trade channels as links between these vertices. In this way, the global trade system can be examined under a topological point of view. This analysis will reveal complex properties which cannot be explained by the classical random graph theory.

Complex networks have been the subject of an intense research activity over the last years Albert and Barabási (2002); Dorogovtsev and Mendes (2002). This great interest is fully justified by the extremely important role that this class of systems play in many different fields. Examples range from metabolic networks, where cell functionality is sustained by the network structure, to technological webs, where topology determines the system ability transmitting information Jeong et al. (1999); Ravasz et al. (2002); Vázquez et al. ; Albert et al. (1999). The term complex network typically refers to networks showing the following properties: (i) scale-free (SF) degree distribution, $`P(k)k^\gamma `$ with $`2<\gamma 3`$, where the degree, $`k`$, is defined as the number of edges emanating from a vertex, (ii) the small-world property Watts and Strogatz (1998), which states that the average path length between any pair of vertices grows logarithmically with the system size and (iii) a high clustering coefficient, that is, the neighbors of a given vertex are interconnected with high probability. In addition, degree-degree correlation has been recently added to this list since it appears as a common feature in many real-world networked systems Newman ; Vázquez et al. ; Pastor-Satorras et al. ; Goh et al. (2002). This correlation accounts for the probability that a vertex of degree $`k`$ is connected to a vertex of degree $`k^{}`$ and is a key issue for the correct description of the hierarchical organization within the network. This correlation is found to be assortative, that is, highly connected vertices tend to attach to other highly connected vertices in social networks such as scientific collaboration networks Newman ; conversely, the correlation is disassortative in technological networks, such as the Internet Vázquez et al. .

Classical random graph theory, first studied by Erdös and Rényi Erdös and Rényi (1959, 1960), does not provide a good framework to fit all the above properties. This fact has posed the question of the origin of these anomalous topological features. Two possible mechanisms could explain their appearance: either the network is the result of macroscopic constraints, that is, the network is made ad hoc so that those properties are satisfied, or there is a self-organized evolution process leading, in the stationary state, to complex structures. This idea is at the core of the preferential attachment mechanisms, first introduced by Barabási and Albert Barabási and Albert (1999), where a dynamical process of creation of new links, or rewiring of the existing ones, using global (or quasi global) information leads to SF networks displaying complex properties.

Among all the studied networks, the social and technological networks have become the paradigmatic example of complex networks. Perhaps, the reason lies in the fact that each type exemplifies human activity working at one of two different levels: the cooperative level, where concepts such as friendship are dominant, and the competitive level, where the activity is governed by optimization criteria. These two different levels will probably lead to different attachment mechanisms which could be the origin of the assortative/disassortative degree-degree correlation observed in these networks. As an example of social network working at the competitive level, we study the network of trade relationships between different countries in the world, hereafter referred to as the world trade web (WTW). The topological characterization of the WTW is of primary interest for the modelling of crisis propagation at the global level as well as for the understanding of the effects that the new liberalist policies have on the world trade system. Moreover, we shall show that the WTW is a complex network sharing many properties with technological networks.

In order to perform our analysis, we extracted data from aggregated trade statistics tables in the International Trade Center site not (b), which are based on the COMTRADE database of the United Nations Statistics Division. These tables contain, for each country, an import and an export list detailing the forty more important exchanged merchandises in the year 2000. Primary and secondary markets are also reported for each product. If we consider imports as in-degrees and exports as out-degrees, it is possible to construct a directed network where vertices represent countries and directed links represent the import/export relations between them. The fact that the number of merchandises is bounded is, a priori, a limitation for the analysis. However, it is possible to overcome this problem taking advantage of the symmetry between in and out degrees. Let $`\stackrel{~}{A}_{ij}^{imp}`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{A}_{ij}^{exp}`$ be the import/export adjacency matrices calculated from the import/export databases. Each adjacency matrix is defined so that $`\stackrel{~}{A}_{ij}=1`$ if the country $`i`$ imports from/exports to the country $`j`$ and zero otherwise. These matrices account only for a subset out of the total number of actual connections between countries. The import/export connections that are of little relevance for a given country are not considered in the matrices $`\stackrel{~}{A}`$, although they may be relevant to the partners as the symmetric export/import links. In fact, imports and exports definitions can apply to the same trade flow depending on whether origin or destination is considered. This implies that the complete adjacency matrices satisfy the symmetry relation $`A_{ij}^{imp}=A_{ji}^{exp}`$, which can be used in order to recover missing information from the original matrices. Thus, we can write

$$A_{ij}^{imp}=\frac{1}{1+\delta _{(\stackrel{~}{A}_{ij}^{imp}+\stackrel{~}{A}_{ji}^{exp}),2}}\left[\stackrel{~}{A}_{ij}^{imp}+\stackrel{~}{A}_{ji}^{exp}\right]$$
(1)
where $`\delta _,`$ is the Kronecker delta function. In this way we obtain an adjacency matrix where each connection is relevant, at least, to one of the two involved countries. At this point, it is worth noticing that we consider the unweighed version of the WTW. Since the weight of a link can be different depending on the import/export point of view, it is unclear how these weights should be assigned. After this symmetrization procedure, we obtain a directed network with 179 vertices representing countries and 7510 directed links representing commercial channels among them. The average degree of this network is $`k_{in}=k_{out}=30.9`$.

The question that first arises refers to the directed nature of the WTW. In fact, the in- and the out-degree of a given vertex are random quantities which may be correlated. A complete description should involve the knowledge of the joint probability $`p(k_{in},k_{out})`$. This function is often difficult to obtain although relevant information can be extracted from the correlation coefficient $`r=(k_{in}k_{out}k^2)/\sigma _{in}\sigma _{out}`$, where $`\sigma _{in}`$/$`\sigma _{out}`$ are the in/out standard deviations (notice that $`k_{in}=k_{out}=k`$). For the WTW this coefficient is $`r=0.91`$, pointing to a strong similarity in the number of in and out connections. However, not all these connections run in both directions, that is, the fact that country A imports from country B does not necessary imply that country B imports from country A. In order to quantify this effect we compute the reciprocity of the network, defined as the fraction of links pointing simultaneously to both ends of the link. In our case the reciprocity is 0.61. These results suggest that, actually, the WTW may be thought of as an undirected network without losing relevant topological information. The average degree for the undirected version of the WTW is $`k=43`$.

One of the most important topological properties of a network is the degree distribution, $`P(k)`$. This quantity measures the probability of a randomly chosen vertex to have $`k`$ connections to other vertices. In our case, due to the directed nature of the network, we have to distinguish between in- and out-degree distributions. Fig.1 shows the in, out, and undirected cumulative distributions for the WTW, defined as $`P_c(k)_{k^{}=k}P(k^{})`$. In all cases, the cumulative distribution shows a flat approach to the origin, indicating the presence of a maximum in $`P(k)`$, at $`k20`$, and, at this respect, similar to the Erdös-Rényi network. However, for $`k>20`$ the cumulative distribution is followed by a power law decay $`P_c(k)k^{1\gamma }`$, with $`\gamma 2.6`$, showing a strong deviation from the exponential tail predicted by the classical random graph theory. The exponent $`\gamma `$ is found to be within the range defined by many other complex networks and, thus, we can state that the WTW belongs to the recently identified class of SF networks Albert and Barabási (2002); Dorogovtsev and Mendes (2002). The SF property implies an extremely high level of degree heterogeneity. Indeed, the second moment of the degree distribution, $`k^2`$, diverges in the thermodynamic limit for any SF network.

It may be surprising that, in fact, the SF region does not extend to the whole degree domain and that, for small values of the degree, the distribution is similar to the Erdös-Rényi network. In fact, the underlying preferential attachment mechanisms could differ depending on the particular political and economic situation of a country. Low-degree countries, most of which turn out to be the poorest, are basically constrained to subsistence trade flows and, therefore, preferential attachment mechanisms could not hold. As expected, there exists a positive correlation between the number of trade channels of a country and its wealth, measured by the per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) not (b). This correlation is found to be high, 0.65, which means that, indeed, most low-connected countries are poor countries –Angola, Somalia, Rwanda, Cambodia…– and most high-connected countries are rich countries –the USA, Japan, Germany and the UK, for example. However, there also exists a significant number of cases in the reversal situation, that is, low per capita GDP countries with a large number of connections and high per capita GDP countries with a relatively low number of trade channels. A germane example for the first circumstance is that of Norway or Iceland, which are between the top ten wealthier countries but only have 56 and 24 trade channels respectively. For the second case Brazil, China or Russia are typical examples.

Thanks to a number of recent studies, it is becoming more and more evident that real networks are not completely random but they are organized according to a hierarchical structure Vázquez et al. ; Ravasz et al. (2002); Ravasz and Barabási (2002); Goh et al. (2002). This hierarchy is usually analyzed by means of the local clustering coefficient and the degree-degree correlation. The clustering coefficient of the vertex $`i`$, of degree $`k_i`$, is defined as $`c_i2n_i/k_i(k_i1)`$, where $`n_i`$ is the number of neighbors of $`i`$ that are interconnected. If hierarchy was not present in the system, the local clustering coefficient should be a random quantity independent of any other property. Fig. 2 shows the local clustering coefficient of the undirected WTW as a function of the vertex’s degree. As it is clearly seen, this function has a strong dependence on the vertex’s degree, with a power law behavior $`c_kk^\omega `$, with $`\omega =0.7\pm 0.05`$. The clustering coefficient averaged over the whole network is $`C=0.65`$, greater by a factor 2.7 than the value corresponding to a random network of the same size.

Hierarchy is also reflected on the degree-degree correlation through the conditional probability $`P(k|k^{})`$, which measures the probability of a vertex of degree $`k^{}`$ to be linked to a vertex of degree $`k`$. Again, this function is difficult to measure due to statistical fluctuations. In order to characterize this correlation, it is more useful to work with the average nearest neighbors degree (ANND), defined as $`k_{nn}(k)_k^{}k^{}P(k^{}|k)`$ Pastor-Satorras et al. . For uncorrelated networks, this function reads $`k_{nn}=k^2/k`$, independent of $`k`$. However, recent studies have revealed that almost all real networks show degree-degree correlation Vázquez et al. ; Newman  which translates into a $`k`$ dependence in the ANND. This correlation can be assortative or disassortative depending on whether the ANND is an increasing or decreasing function of the degree. Fig. 3 reports the ANND for the directed and undirected versions of the WTW. It can be observed a clear dependency on the vertex’s degree, with a power law decay $`k_{nn}(k)k^{\nu _k}`$ with $`\nu _k=0.5\pm 0.05`$. This result means that the WTW is a disassortative network where highly connected vertices tends to connect to poorly connected vertices. This result, together with the scaling law $`c_kk^\omega `$ reveals a hierarchical architecture of highly interconnected countries that belong to influential areas which, in turn, connect to other influential areas through hubs.

Surprisingly, these results point to a high similarity between the WTW and the Internet. Indeed, the Internet is a SF network, with a critical exponent $`\gamma =2.2`$, which is also organized in a hierarchical fashion. The functional behavior found for the clustering coefficient and the ANND is a power law decay as a function of the degree with exponents $`\omega _{int}=0.75`$ and $`\nu _k=0.5`$ Vázquez et al. , exponents that turn out to be very similar to the ones reported here for the WTW. In some sense, these results are not surprising since both are competitive systems evolving in a quasi free market and, in both cases, there exists, for instance, a geographic limitation that increases the connection costs and, thus, acts as a constraint in the optimization process of each vertex. Table 1 presents a summary of the main characteristics of the WTW, the Internet Vázquez et al.  and a random graph of the same size and average degree as the WTW.

As a final remark, the average path length, defined as the average of the shortest distances between all the pairs of vertices, is $`d=1.8`$, which, in this case, is very similar to the corresponding random network of the same size and average degree.

In conclusion, this first approach to the topology of the WTW points out some previously unnoticed features which are of primary importance in the understanding of the new international order. Our research suggests that the network’s evolution is guided by collective phenomena, and that self-organization plays a crucial role in structuring the WTW scale-free inhomogeneities and its hierarchical architecture. It remains an open question if these properties could also be made apparent at other different scales, for instance, in the trade relations between regions, cities or even individuals. At the country level, the activity is driven by competition. In the same way as it occurs with the Internet, optimization criteria are applied to local decisions made by the individual vertices. Resolutions are based on information that is biased toward the more visible vertices, and may be influenced by geographical or other convenience constraints. The findings in this paper may lead to consider that there exist underlying growing mechanisms common to all competitive systems, characterized by disassortative associations, and such mechanisms may differ from the evolutionary processes in social cooperative networks, characterized by assortative associations.

Further modelling efforts must be done for acquiring a more realistic representation of the WTW, where inward flows differ from outward flows and where their weights depend on the exchanged quantities. It is also essential to do further research on the underlying formation mechanisms and on the dynamic processes running on top of the WTW, such as economic crises spreading.

###### Acknowledgements.

Acknowledgements are due to Romualdo Pastor-Satorras for helpful discussion and advices. This work has been partially supported by the European commission FET Open project COSIN IST-2001-33555.