The primitive ideals of the Cuntz-Krieger algebra of a row-finite higher-rank graph with no sources

Abstract

We catalogue the primitive ideals of the Cuntz-Krieger algebra of a row-finite higher-rank graph with no sources. Each maximal tail in the vertex set has an abelian periodicity group of finite rank at most that of the graph; the primitive ideals in the Cuntz-Krieger algebra are indexed by pairs consisting of a maximal tail and a character of its periodicity group. The Cuntz-Krieger algebra is primitive if and only if the whole vertex set is a maximal tail and the graph is aperiodic.