Generalized Connes-Chern characters in KK-theory with an application to weak invariants of topological insulators

Abstract

We use constructive bounded Kasparov K-theory to investigate the numerical invariants stemming from the internal Kasparov products $K_i(\mathcal A) \times KK^i(\mathcal A, \mathcal B) \rightarrow K_0(\mathcal B) \rightarrow \mathbb R$, $i=0,1$, where the last morphism is provided by a tracial state. For the class of properly defined finitely-summable Kasparov $(\mathcal A,\mathcal B)$-cycles, the invariants are given by the pairing of K-theory of $\mathcal B$ with an element of the periodic cyclic cohomology of $\mathcal B$, which we call the generalized Connes-Chern character. When $\mathcal A$ is a twisted crossed product of $\mathcal B$ by $\mathbb Z^k$, $\mathcal A = \mathcal B \rtimes_ξ^θ\mathbb Z^k$, we derive a local formula for the character corresponding to the fundamental class of a properly defined Dirac cycle. Furthermore, when $\mathcal B = C(Ω) \rtimes_{ξ'}^ϕ \mathbb Z^j$, with $C(Ω)$ the algebra of continuous functions over a disorder configuration space, we show that the numerical invariants are connected to the weak topological invariants of the complex classes of topological insulators, defined in the physics literature. The end products are generalized index theorems for these weak invariants, which enable us to predict the range of the invariants and to identify regimes of strong disorder in which the invariants remain stable. The latter will be reported in a subsequent publication.

To appear in Reviews in Mathematical Physics