Contributions by three authors treat aspects of noncommutative geometry that are related to cyclic homology. The authors give rather complete accounts of cyclic theory from different points of view. The connections between (bivariant) K-theory and cyclic theory via generalized Chern-characters are discussed in detail. Cyclic theory is the natural setting for a variety of general abstract index theorems. A survey of such index theorems is given and the concepts and ideas involved in these theorems are explained.

Topological K-theory is one of the most important invariants for noncommutative algebras. Bott periodicity, homotopy invariance, and various long exact sequences distinguish it from algebraic K-theory. This book describes a bivariant K-theory for bornological algebras, which provides a vast generalization of topological K-theory. In addition, it details other approaches to bivariant K-theories for operator algebras. The book studies a number of applications, including K-theory of crossed products, the Baum-Connes assembly map, twisted K-theory with some of its applications, and some variants of the Atiyah-Singer Index Theorem.

Noncommutative Geometry is one of the most deep and vital research subjects of present-day Mathematics. Its development, mainly due to Alain Connes, is providing an increasing number of applications and deeper insights for instance in Foliations, K-Theory, Index Theory, Number Theory but also in Quantum Physics of elementary particles. The purpose of the Summer School in Martina Franca was to offer a fresh invitation to the subject and closely related topics; the contributions in this volume include the four main lectures, cover advanced developments and are delivered by prominent specialists.

This book contains a collection of articles provided by the participants of the SFB-workshop on C*-algebras, March 8 - March 12, 1999 which was held at the Sonderforschungsbereich "Geometrische Strukturen in der reinen Mathematik" of the University of Munster, Germany. The aim of the workshop was to bring together leading experts in the theory of C* -algebras with promising young researchers in the field, and to provide a stimulating atmosphere for discussions and interactions between the participants. There were 19 one-hour lectures on various topics like - classification of nuclear C* -algebras, - general K-theory for C* -algebras, - exact C* -algebras and exact groups, - C*-algebras associated to (infinite) matrices and C*-correspondences, - noncommutative prob ability theory, - deformation quantization, - group C* -algebras and the Baum-Connes conjecture, giving a broad overview of the latest developments in the field, and serving as a basis for discussions. We, the organizers of the workshop, were greatly pleased with the excellence of the lectures and so were led to the idea of publishing the proceedings of the conference. There are basically two kinds of contributions. On one side there are several articles giving surveys and overviews on new developments and im portant results of the theory, on the other side one finds original articles with interesting new results."