Title: A generalization of K-theory to operator systems
Abstract: We propose a generalization of K-theory to operator systems. Motivated by spectral truncations of
noncommutative spaces described by C*
-algebras and inspired by the realization of the K-theory of a C*-
algebra as the Witt group of hermitian forms, we introduce new operator system invariants indexed by the
corresponding matrix size. A direct system is constructed whose direct limit possesses a semigroup structure, and we define the K0-group as the corresponding Grothendieck group. This is an invariant of unital
operator systems, and, more generally, an invariant up to Morita equivalence of operator systems. For C*-algebras it reduces to the usual definition. We illustrate our invariant by means of the spectral localizer.