An introduction to gropuoids and their C*-algebras

Abstract: 

C*-algebras were first introduced in order to model physical observables in quantum mechanics, but are now studied more abstractly in pure mathematics. Much of the current research of C*-algebraists involves constructing interesting classes of C*-algebras from various mathematical objects-such as groups, group actions, and graphs-and studying their properties. In this talk, I will define topological groupoids and examine Renault's 1980 construction of a groupoid C*-algebra, which provides a unifying model for C*-algebras associated to groups, group actions, and graphs.