Projective freeness and stable rank of algebras of complex-valued BV functions

Abstract The paper investigates the algebraic properties of weakly inverse-closed complex Banach function algebras generated by functions of bounded variation on a finite interval. It is proved that such algebras have Bass stable rank 1 and are projective-free if they do not contain nontrivial idempotents. These properties are derived from a new result on the vanishing of the second Čech cohomology group of the polynomially convex hull of a continuum of a finite linear measure described by the classical H. Alexander theorem.