Lefschetz numbers for C*-algebras

Abstract

Using Poincare duality, we formulate a formula of Lefschetz type which computes the Lefschetz number of an endomorphism of a separable, nuclear C*-algebra satisfying Poincare duality and the Kunneth theorem. (The Lefschetz number of an endomorphism is the graded trace of the induced map on K-theory tensored with the complex numbers, as in the classical case.) We then consider endomorphisms of Cuntz-Krieger algebras O_A. An endomorphism has an invariant, which is a permutation of an infinite set, and the contracting and expanding behavior of this permutation describes the Lefschetz number of the endomorphism. Using this description we derive a closed polynomial formula for the Lefschetz number depending on the matrix A and the presentation of the endomorphism.