C*-algebras of self-similar actions of groupoids on higher-rank graphs and their equilibrium states

We introduce the notion of a self-similar action of a groupoid G on a finite higher-rank graph. To these actions we associate a compactly aligned product system of Hilbert bimodules, and we show that the corresponding Nica-Toeplitz and Cuntz-Pimsner algebras are universal for generators and relations. We consider natural actions of the real numbers on both algebras and study the KMS states of the associated dynamics. For large inverse temperatures, we describe the simplex of KMS states on the Nica-Toeplitz algebra in terms of traces on the full C*-algebra of G. To study the KMS structure of the Cuntz-Pimsner algebra, we restrict to strongly-connected finite higher-rank graphs and a preferred dynamics. We generalise the G-periodicity group of Li and Yang, which is built to encode the periodicity of the underlying graph in the presence of the action of G. We prove that the KMS states of the Cuntz-Pimsner algebra are parametrised by states on the C*-algebra of the G-periodicity group, and we show that if the graph is G-aperiodic and the action satisfies a finite-state condition, then there is at most one KMS state on the Cuntz-Pimsner algebra. We illustrate our results by introducing the notion of a coloured-graph automaton, which we use to construct examples of self-similar actions. We compute the unique KMS states of the Cuntz-Pimsner algebra for some concrete examples.