A Steinberg algebra approach to étale groupoid C*-algebras

Abstract: We construct the full and reduced C*-algebras of an ample groupoid from its complex Steinberg algebra. We also show that our construction gives the same C*-algebras as the standard constructions. In the last section, we consider an arbitrary locally compact, second-countable, \'etale groupoid, possibly non-Hausdorff. Using the techniques developed for Steinberg algebras, we show that every $*$-homomorphism from Connes' space of functions to $B(\mathcal{H})$ is automatically I-norm bounded. Previously, this was only known for Hausdorff groupoids.