(1) Department of Pure Mathematics, University of Waterloo, N2L 3G1 Waterloo, ON, Canada;(2) Present address: Department of Mathematics, University of Iowa, 52242 Iowa City, IA, USA
Abstract:
Non-commutative versions of Arveson's curvature invariant and Euler characteristic for a commutingn-tuple of operators are introduced. The non-commutative curvature invariant is sensitive enough to determine if ann-tuple is free. In general both invariants can be thought of as measuring the freeness or curvature of ann-tuple. The connection with dilation theory provides motivation and exhibits relationships between the invariants. A new class of examples is used to illustrate the differences encountered in the non-commutative setting and obtain information on the ranges of the invariants. The curvature invariant is also shown to be upper semi-continuous.