Homology and twisted C*-algebras for self-similar actions and Zappa-Sz\'ep products

Abstract

We study the categorical homology of Zappa-Sz\'ep products of small categories, which include all self-similar actions. We prove that the categorical homology coincides with the homology of a double complex, and so can be computed via a spectral sequence involving homology groups of the constituent categories. We give explicit formulae for the isomorphisms involved, and compute the homology of a class of examples that generalise odometers. We define the C*-algebras of self-similar groupoid actions on k-graphs twisted by 2-cocycles arising from this homology theory, and prove some fundamental results about their structure.