Contributions by three authors treat aspects of noncommutative geometry that are related to cyclic homology. The authors give rather complete accounts of cyclic theory from different points of view. The connections between (bivariant) K-theory and cyclic theory via generalized Chern-characters are discussed in detail. Cyclic theory is the natural setting for a variety of general abstract index theorems. A survey of such index theorems is given and the concepts and ideas involved in these theorems are explained.
Cyclic homology was introduced in the early eighties independently by Connes and Tsygan. They came from different directions. Connes wanted to associate homological invariants to K-homology classes and to describe the index pair? ing with K-theory in that way, while Tsygan was motivated by algebraic K-theory and Lie algebra cohomology. At the same time Karoubi had done work on characteristic classes that led him to study related structures, without however arriving at cyclic homology properly speaking. Many of the principal properties of cyclic homology were already developed in the fundamental article of Connes and in the long paper by Feigin-Tsygan. In the sequel, cyclic homology was recognized quickly by many specialists as a new intriguing structure in homological algebra, with unusual features. In a first phase it was tried to treat this structure as well as possible within the traditional framework of homological algebra. The cyclic homology groups were computed in many examples and new important properties such as prod? uct structures, excision for H-unital ideals, or connections with cyclic objects and simplicial topology, were established. An excellent account of the state of the theory after that phase is given in the book of Loday.Cyclic Theory, Bivariant K-Theory and the Bivariant Chern-Connes Character.- Cyclic Homology.- Noncommutative Geometry, the Transverse Signature Operator, and Hopf Algebras [after A. Connes and H. Moscovl3&