ALGEBRAIC CUNTZ–KRIEGER ALGEBRAS

We show that a directed graph $E$ is a finite graph with no sinks if and only if, for each commutative unital ring $R$, the Leavitt path algebra $L_{R}(E)$ is isomorphic to an algebraic Cuntz–Krieger algebra if and only if the $C^{\ast }$-algebra $C^{\ast }(E)$ is unital and $\text{rank}(K_{0}(C^{\ast }(E)))=\text{rank}(K_{1}(C^{\ast }(E)))$. Let $k$ be a field and $k^{\times }$ be the group of units of $k$. When $\text{rank}(k^{\times })<\infty$, we show that the Leavitt path algebra $L_{k}(E)$ is isomorphic to an algebraic Cuntz–Krieger algebra if and only if $L_{k}(E)$ is unital and $\text{rank}(K_{1}(L_{k}(E)))=(\text{rank}(k^{\times })+1)\text{rank}(K_{0}(L_{k}(E)))$. We also show that any unital $k$-algebra which is Morita equivalent or stably isomorphic to an algebraic Cuntz–Krieger algebra, is isomorphic to an algebraic Cuntz–Krieger algebra. As a consequence, corners of algebraic Cuntz–Krieger algebras are algebraic Cuntz–Krieger algebras.