Maximal and reduced Roe algebras of coarsely embeddable spaces

Gong, Wang and Yu introduced a maximal, or universal, version of the Roe C*-algebra associated to a metric space. We study the relationship between this maximal Roe algebra and the usual version, in both the uniform and non-uniform cases. The main result is that if a (uniformly discrete, bounded geometry) metric space X coarsely embeds in a Hilbert space, then the canonical map between the maximal and usual (uniform) Roe algebras induces an isomorphism on K-theory. We also give a simple proof that if X has property A, then the maximal and usual (uniform) Roe algebras are the same. These two results are natural coarse-geometric analogues of certain well-known implications of a-T-menability and amenability for group C*-algebras. The techniques used are E-theoretic, building on work of Higson-Kasparov-Trout and Yu.