We elaborate on the construction of the Evans chain complex for higher-rank graph $C^*$-algebras. Specifically, we introduce a block matrix presentation of the differential maps. These block matrices are then used to identify a wide family of higher-rank graph $C^*$-algebras with trivial K-theory. Additionally, in the specialised case where the higher-rank graph consists of one vertex, we are able to use the Künneth theorem to explicitly compute the homology groups of the Evans chain complex.

Using a result of Vdovina, we may associate to each complete connected bipartite graph $\kappa $ a two-dimensional square complex, which we call a tile complex, whose link at each vertex is $\kappa $ . We regard the tile complex in two different ways, each having a different structure as a $2$ -rank graph. To each $2$ -rank graph is associated a universal $C^{\star }$ -algebra, for which we compute the K-theory, thus providing a new infinite collection of $2$ -rank graph algebras with explicit K-groups. We determine the homology of the tile complexes and give generalisations of the procedures to complexes and systems consisting of polygons with a higher number of sides.

We consider groupoids constructed from a finite number of commuting local homeomorphisms acting on a compact metric space and study generalized Ruelle operators and $ C^{\ast } $ -algebras associated to these groupoids. We provide a new characterization of $ 1 $ -cocycles on these groupoids taking values in a locally compact abelian group, given in terms of $ k $ -tuples of continuous functions on the unit space satisfying certain canonical identities. Using this, we develop an extended Ruelle–Perron–Frobenius theory for dynamical systems of several commuting operators ( $ k $ -Ruelle triples and commuting Ruelle operators). Results on KMS states on $ C^{\ast } $ -algebras constructed from these groupoids are derived. When the groupoids being studied come from higher-rank graphs, our results recover existence and uniqueness results for KMS states associated to the graphs.

We introduce ‘generalised higher-rank k-graphs’ as a class of categories equipped with a notion of size. They extend not only higher-rank k-graphs, but also the Levi categories introduced by the first author as a categorical setting for graphs of groups. We prove that examples of generalised higher-rank k-graphs can be constructed using Zappa–Szép products of groupoids and higher-rank graphs.

We initiate the program of extending to higher-rank graphs (k-graphs) the geometric classification of directed graph $C^*$ -algebras, as completed in Eilers et al. (2016, Preprint). To be precise, we identify four “moves,” or modifications, one can perform on a k-graph $\Lambda $ , which leave invariant the Morita equivalence class of its $C^*$ -algebra $C^*(\Lambda )$ . These moves—in-splitting, delay, sink deletion, and reduction—are inspired by the moves for directed graphs described by Sørensen (Ergodic Th. Dyn. Syst. 33(2013), 1199–1220) and Bates and Pask (Ergodic Th. Dyn. Syst. 24(2004), 367–382). Because of this, our perspective on k-graphs focuses on the underlying directed graph. We consequently include two new results, Theorem 2.3 and Lemma 2.9, about the relationship between a k-graph and its underlying directed graph.