On The C Algebras Of Foliations In The Plane

The main result of this original research monograph is the classification of C*-algebras of ordinary foliations of the plane in terms of a class of -trees. It reveals a close connection between some most recent developments in modern analysis and low-dimensional topology. It introduces noncommutative CW-complexes (as the global fibred products of C*-algebras), among other things, which adds a new aspect to the fast-growing field of noncommutative topology and geometry. The reader is only required to know basic functional analysis. However, some knowledge of topology and dynamical systems will be helpful. The book addresses graduate students and experts in the area of analysis, dynamical systems and topology.

This is the second of two volumes on foliations (the first is Volume 23 of this series). In this volume, three specialized topics are treated: analysis on foliated spaces, characteristic classes of foliations, and foliated three-manifolds. Each of these topics represents deep interaction between foliation theory and another highly developed area of mathematics. In each case, the goal is to provide students and other interested people with a substantial introduction to the topic leading to further study using the extensive available literature.

Combining analysis, geometry, and topology, this volume provides an introduction to current ideas involving the application of $K$-theory of operator algebras to index theory and geometry. In particular, the articles follow two main themes: the use of operator algebras to reflect properties of geometric objects and the application of index theory in settings where the relevant elliptic operators are invertible modulo a $C^*$-algebra other than that of the compact operators. The papers in this collection are the proceedings of the special sessions held at two AMS meetings: the Annual meeting in New Orleans in January 1986, and the Central Section meeting in April 1986. Jonathan Rosenberg's exposition supplies the best available introduction to Kasparov's $KK$-theory and its applications to representation theory and geometry. A striking application of these ideas is found in Thierry Fack's paper, which provides a complete and detailed proof of the Novikov Conjecture for fundamental groups of manifolds of non-positive curvature. Some of the papers involve Connes' foliation algebra and its $K$-theory, while others examine $C^*$-algebras associated to groups and group actions on spaces.

Time-evolution in low-dimensional topological spaces is a subject of puzzling vitality. This book is a state-of-the-art account, covering classical and new results. The volume comprises Poincaré-Bendixson, local and Morse-Smale theories, as well as a carefully written chapter on the invariants of surface flows. Of particular interest are chapters on the Anosov-Weil problem, C*-algebras and non-compact surfaces. The book invites graduate students and non-specialists to a fascinating realm of research. It is a valuable source of reference to the specialists.

Manifolds fall naturally into two classes depending on whether they can be fitted with a distance measuring function or not. The former, metrisable manifolds, and especially compact manifolds, have been intensively studied by topologists for over a century, whereas the latter, non-metrisable manifolds, are much more abundant but have a more modest history, having become of increasing interest only over the past 40 years or so. The first book on this topic, this book ranges from criteria for metrisability, dynamics on non-metrisable manifolds, Nyikos’s Bagpipe Theorem and whether perfectly normal manifolds are metrisable to structures on manifolds, especially the abundance of exotic differential structures and the dearth of foliations on the long plane. A rigid foliation of the Euclidean plane is described. This book is intended for graduate students and mathematicians who are curious about manifolds beyond the metrisability wall, and especially the use of Set Theory as a tool.

This volume contains surveys and research articles regarding different aspects of the theory of foliation. The main aspects concern the topology of foliations of low-dimensional manifolds, the geometry of foliated Riemannian manifolds and the dynamical properties of foliations. Among the surveys are lecture notes devoted to the analysis of some operator algebras on foliated manifolds and the theory of confoliations (objects defined recently by W Thurston and Y Eliashberg, situated between foliations and contact structures). Among the research articles one can find a detailed proof of an unpublished theorem (due to Duminy) concerning ends of leaves in exceptional minimal sets. Contents:Survey Articles:Some Results on Secondary Characteristic Classes of Transversely Holomorphic Foliations (T Asuke)LS-Categories for Foliated Manifolds (H Colman)Dynamics and the Godbillon–Vey Class: A History and Survey (S Hurder)Similarity and Conformal Geometry of Foliations (R Langevin)Foliations and Contact Structures on 3-Manifolds (Y Mitsumatsu)Operator Algebras and the Index Theorem on Foliated Manifolds (H Moriyoshi)Research Articles:Distributional Betti Numbers of Transitive Foliations of Codimension One (J Álvarez-López & Y Kordyukov)Tautly Foliated 3-Manifolds with No R-Covered Foliations (M Brittenham)Endests of Exceptional Leaves — A Theorem of G Duminy (J Cantwell & L Conlon)Foliations and Compactly Generated Pseudogroups (A Haefliger)Transverse Lusternik–Schnirelmann Category and Non-Proper Leaves (R Langevin & P Walczak)On Exact Poisson Manifolds of Dimension 3 (T Mizutani)On the Perfectness of Groups of Diffeomorphisms of the Interval Tangent to the Identity at the Endpoints (T Tsuboi)and other papers Readership: Researchers interested in mathematics, especially in fields related to differential geometry and topology, and the theory of dynamical systems. Keywords:Proceedings;Workshop;Geometry;Warsaw (Poland);Dynamics;Euroworkshop