A Bivariant Theory for the Cuntz Semigroup

Abstract: We introduce a bivariant version of the Cuntz semigroup as equivalence classes of order zero maps generalizing the ordinary Cuntz semigroup. The theory has many properties formally analogous to KK-theory including a composition product. We establish basic properties, like additivity, stability and continuity, and study categorical aspects in the setting of local C*-algebras. We determine the bivariant Cuntz semigroup for numerous examples such as when the second algebra is a Kirchberg algebra, and Cuntz homology for compact Hausdorff spaces which provides a complete invariant. Moreover, we establish identities when tensoring with strongly self-absorbing C*-algebras. Finally, we show that the bivariant Cuntz semigroup of the present work can be used to classify all unital and stably finite C*-algebras.