Normal Elements of C*-Algebras of Real Rank Zero without Finite-Spectrum Approximants

We investigate inductive limits of Toeplitz-type C*-algebras.One example, which has real-rank zero, is the middle term ofan exact sequence where is a Bunce-Deddens algebra and I is AF. Using Berg's technique,we produce a normal element N that is not the limit of finite-spectrumnormals. Moreover, this is an example of a normal element inan inductive limit that is not the limit of normal elementsof the approximating subalgebras. A second example is an embedding of C() ( the closed disk) into , where is a simple AF algebra and is the Toeplitz algebra.Let _n, for n 2, be the CW complex obtained as the quotientof by an n-fold identification of the boundary. (So ₂ = RP².)Regarding C(_n) as a subalgebra of C(), we find nontrivial embeddingsof C(_n) into type I inductive limits. From this, we producea *-homomorphism, for n odd, C₀(_n\{pt}) _{n + 1}, that inducesan isomorphism on K-theory. More generally, for X a connectedCW complex minus a point, and for n odd, we show that the map is a split surjection.     

Systems of Diagonal Equations Over p-Adic Fields

Let K be a p-adic field, and consider the system F = (F₁,...,F_R)of diagonal equations (1) with coefficients in K. It is an interesting problem in numbertheory to determine when such a system possesses a nontrivialK-rational solution. In particular, we define *(k, R, K) tobe the smallest natural number such that any system of R equationsof degree k in N variables with coefficients in K has a nontrivialK-rational solution provided only that N*(k, R, K). For example,when k = 1, ordinary linear algebra tells us that *(1, R, K)= R + 1 for any field K. We also define *(k, R) to be the smallestinteger N such that *(k, R, Q_p) N for all primes p.     

Quadratic Integrals and Factorization of Linear Operators

We consider operators on the matrix-valued disc algebra. Weshow that any bounded linear operator to a Banach space X of cotype 2 induces a boundedoperator GX defined on some weighted Bergman space G on theunit disc. We give sufficient conditions on the weight forthe formal inclusion to be 2–C*-summing. Decompositions of T with respect to operator-valuedmeasures are obtained.     

On Borel Sets in Function Spaces with the Weak Topology

It is proved that the duality map ,:(, weak)x(()*, weak*)R isnot Borel. More generally, the evaluation e:(C)(K),x KR, e(f,x) = f(x), is not Borel for any function space C(K) on a compactF-space. It is also shown that a non-coincidence of norm-Boreland weak-Borel sets in a function space does not imply thatthe duality map is non-Borel.     

Theta-characteristics on singular curves

On a smooth curve a theta-characteristic is a line bundle L,the square of which is the canonical line bundle . The equivalentcondition om(L, ) L generalizes well to singular curves, asapplications show. More precisely, a theta-characteristic isa torsion-free sheaf of rank 1 with om(, ) . If the curvehas non-ADE singularities, then there are infinitely many theta-characteristics.Therefore, theta-characteristics are distinguished by theirlocal type. The main purpose of this article is to compute thenumber of even and odd theta-characteristics (that is withh⁰(C, ) 0 and h⁰(C, ) 1 modulo 2, respectively) in terms ofthe geometric genus of the curve and certain discrete invariantsof a fixed local type.     

Constructible Functions on Artin Stacks

Let be an algebraically closed field, let X be a -variety,and let X() be the set of closed points in X. A constructibleset C in X() is a finite union of subsets Y() for subvarietiesY in X. A constructible function f : X() has f(X()) finiteand f^–1(c) constructible for all c 0. Write CF(X) forthe vector space of such f. Let : X Y and : Y Z be morphismsof -varieties. MacPherson defined a linear pushforward CF(): CF(X) CF(Y) by ‘integration’ with respect tothe topological Euler characteristic. It is functorial, thatis, CF( ) = CF() CF(). This was extended to of characteristiczero by Kennedy. This paper generalizes these results to -schemes and Artin -stackswith affine stabilizer groups. We define the notions of Eulercharacteristic for constructible sets in -schemes and -stacks,and pushforwards and pullbacks of constructible functions, withfunctorial behaviour. Pushforwards and pullbacks commute inCartesian squares. We also define pseudomorphisms, a generalizationof morphisms well suited to constructible functions problems.     

Asymptotics for Fractional Nonlinear Heat Equations

The Cauchy problem is studied for the nonlinear equations withfractional power of the negative Laplacian where (0,2), with critical = /n and sub-critical (0,/n)powers of the nonlinearity. Let u₀ L^1,a L C, u₀(x) 0 in Rⁿ, = . The case of not small initial data is of interest. It is proved that the Cauchy problemhas a unique global solution u C([0,); L L^1,a C) and the largetime asymptotics are obtained.     

Immanant Inequalities, Induced Characters, and Rank Two Partitions

If = {₁, ₂, ..., _s}, where _{1 2} ... _s > 0, is a partitionof n then denotes the associated irreducible character of S_n,the symmetric group on {1, 2, ..., n}, and, if cCS_n, the groupalgebra generated by C and S_n, then d_c(·) denotes thegeneralized matrix function associated with c. If c₁, c₂ CS_nthen we write c₁ c₂ in case (A) (A) for each n x n positivesemi-definite Hermitian matrix A. If cCS_n and c(e) 0, wheree denotes the identity in S_n, then or denotes (c(e))^–1 c. The main result, an estimate for the norms of tensors of a certainanti-symmetry type, implies that if = {₁, ₂, ..., _s, 1^t} isa partition of n such that s > 1 and _s = 2, and ' denotes{₁, ₂, ..., _s-1, 1^t} then (, _{2}) where denotes characterinduction from S_n–2 x S₂ to S_n. This in turn implies thatif = {₁, ₂, ..., _s, 1^t} with s > 1, _s = 2, and ßdenotes {₁ + 2, ₂, ..., _s-1, 1^t} then _ß which,in conjunction with other known results, provides many new inequalitiesamong immanants. In particular it implies that the permanentfunction dominates all normalized immanants whose associatedpartitions are of rank 2, a result which has proved elusivefor some years. We also consider the non-relationship problem for immanants– that is the problem of identifying pairs, (,ß)such that _ß and _ß are both false.     

Tensor Products of C*-Algebras Over Abelian Subalgebras

Suppose that A is a C*-algebra and C is a unital abelian C*-subalgebrawhich is isomorphic to a unital subalgebra of the centre ofM(A), the multiplier algebra of A. Letting = , so that we maywrite C = C(), we call A a C()-algebra (following Blanchard[7]). Suppose that B is another C()-algebra, then we form A_CB, the algebraic tensor product of A with B over C as follows:A B is the algebraic tensor product over C, I_C = {ⁿ_i–1(f_i 1–1f_i)x|f_iC, xAB} is the ideal in AB generated by f1–1f|fC,and A _CB = AB/I_C. Then A_CB is an involutive algebra over C,and we shall be interested in deciding when A_CB is a pre-C*-algebra;that is, when is there a C*-norm on A_C B? There is a C*-semi-norm,which we denote by ||·||_C-min, which is minimal in thesense that it is dominated by any semi-norm whose kernel containsthe kernel of ||·||_C-min. Moreover, if A _C B has a C*-norm,then ||·||_C-min is a C*-norm on A_C B. The problem isto decide when ||·||_C-min is a norm. It was shown byBlanchard [7, Proposition 3.1] that when A and B are continuousfields and C is separable, then ||·||_C-min is a norm.In this paper we show that ||·||_C-min is a norm whenC is a von Neumann algebra, and then we examine some consequences.     

The Isolated Points of G{rho} and the w*-Strongly Exposed Points of P{rho}(G)0

Let G be a separable locally compact group and let be its dualspace with Fell's topology. It is well known that the set P(G)of continuous positive-definite functions on G can be identifiedwith the set of positive linear functionals on the group C^*-algebraC^*(G). We show that if is discrete in , then there exists anonzero positive-definite function associated with such that is a w^*-strongly exposed point of P(G)₀, where P(G)₀={f P(G):f(e)1. Conversely, if some nonzero positive-definite function associatedwith is a w^*-strongly exposed point of P(G)₀, then is isolatedin . Consequently, G is compact if and only if, for every ,there exists a nonzero positive-definite function associatedwith that is a w^*-strongly exposed point of P(G)₀. If, in addition,G is unimodular and , then is isolated in if and only if somenonzero positive-definite function associated with is a w^*-stronglyexposed point of P(G)₀, where is the left regular representationof G and is the reduced dual space of G. We prove that if B(G)has the Radon–Nikodym property, then the set of isolatedpoints of (so square-integrable if G is unimodular) is densein . It is also proved that if G is a separable SIN-group, thenG is amenable if and only if there exists a closed point in. In particular, for a countable discrete non-amenable groupG (for example the free group F₂ on two generators), there isno closed point in its reduced dual space .     

Regularity Conditions and Bernoulli Properties of Equilibrium States and g-Measures

When T : X X is a one-sided topologically mixing subshift offinite type and : X R is a continuous function, one can definethe Ruelle operator L : C(X) C(X) on the space C(X) of real-valuedcontinuous functions on X. The dual operator always has a probability measure as an eigenvectorcorresponding to a positive eigenvalue ( = with > 0). Necessary and sufficient conditionson such an eigenmeasure are obtained for to belong to twoimportant spaces of functions, W(X, T) and Bow (X, T). For example, Bow(X, T) if and only if is a measure with a certain approximateproduct structure. This is used to apply results of Bradleyto show that the natural extension of the unique equilibriumstate µ of Bow(X, T) has the weak Bernoulli propertyand hence is measure-theoretically isomorphic to a Bernoullishift. It is also shown that the unique equilibrium state ofa two-sided Bowen function has the weak Bernoulli property.The characterizations mentioned above are used in the case ofg-measures to obtain results on the ‘reverse’ ofa g-measure.     

Some Remarks on the Cone of Completely Positive Maps between Von Neumann Algebras

The close relationship between the notions of positive formsand representations for a C*-algebra A is one of the most basicfacts in the subject. In particular the weak containment ofrepresentations is well understood in terms of positive forms:given a representation of A in a Hilbert space H and a positiveform on A, its associated representation is weakly containedin (that is, ker ker ) if and only if belongs to the weak*closure of the cone of all finite sums of coefficients of .Among the results on the subject, let us recall the followingones. Suppose that A is concretely represented in H. Then everypositive form on A is the weak* limit of forms of the typex ^k_{i=1 i}, x_i with the _i in H; moreover if A is a von Neumannsubalgebra of (H) and is normal, there exists a sequence (_i)_{i 1} in H such that (x) = _{i 1 i}, x_i for all x.     

Nonpositively Curved Metric in the Positive Cone of a Finite Von Neumann Algebra

In this paper we study the metric geometry of the space ofpositive invertible elements of a von Neumann algebra A witha finite, normal and faithful tracial state . The trace inducesan incomplete Riemannian metric x,y_a = (ya^–1xa^–1),and, though the techniques involved are quite different, thesituation here resembles in many relevant aspects that of then x n matrices when they are regarded as a symmetric space.For instance, we prove that geodesics are the shortest pathsfor the metric induced, and that the geodesic distance is aconvex function; we give an intrinsic (algebraic) characterizationof the geodesically convex submanifolds M of ; and under a suitablehypothesis we prove a factorization theorem for elements inthe algebra that resembles the Iwasawa decomposition for matrices.This factorization is obtained via a nonlinear orthogonal projection_M : M, a map which turns out to be contractive for the geodesicdistance.     

Extremal Subgroups in Chevalley Groups

Throughout this paper G(k) denotes a Chevalley group of rankn defined over the field k, where n3. Let be the root systemassociated with G(k) and let ={₁, ₂, ..., _n} be a set of fundamentalroots of , with ⁺ being the set of positive roots of with respectto . For and ⁺, let n() be the coefficient of in the expressionof as a sum of fundamental roots; so =n(). Also we recall thatht(), the height of , is given by ht()=n(). The highest rootin ⁺ will be denoted by . We additionally assume that the Dynkindiagram of G(k) is connected.     

Random walks on free products of cyclic groups

Let G be a free product of a finite family of finite groups,with the set of generators being formed by the union of thefinite groups. We consider a transient nearest-neighbour randomwalk on G. We give a new proof of the fact that the harmonicmeasure is a special Markovian measure entirely determined bya finite set of polynomial equations. We show that in severalsimple cases of interest, the polynomial equations can be explicitlysolved to get closed form formulae for the drift. The examplesconsidered are /2 /3, /3 /3, /k /k and the Hecke groups /2 /k.We also use these various examples to study Vershik's notionof extremal generators, which is based on the relation betweenthe drift, the entropy and the growth of the group.     

Generators and defining relations for ring of invariants of commuting locally nilpotent derivations or automorphisms

Let A be an algebra over a field K of characteristic zero andlet ₁, ..., _sDer _K(A) be commuting locally nilpotent K-derivationssuch that _i(x_j) equals _ij, the Kronecker delta, for some elementsx₁, ..., x_sA. A set of generators for the algebra is found explicitly and a set of defining relationsfor the algebra A is described. Similarly, let ₁, ..., _s Aut_K(A)be commuting K-automorphisms of the algebra A is given suchthat the maps _i – id_A are locally nilpotent and _i (x_j)= x_j + _ij, for some elements x₁, ..., x_s A. A set of generatorsfor the algebra A: = {a A | ₁(a) = ... = _s(a) = a} is foundexplicitly and a set of defining relations for the algebra Ais described. In general, even for a finitely generated non-commutativealgebra A the algebras of invariants A and A are not finitelygenerated, not (left or right) Noetherian and a minimal numberof defining relations is infinite. However, for a finitely generatedcommutative algebra A the opposite is always true. The derivations(or automorphisms) just described appear often in many differentsituations (possibly) after localization of the algebra A.     

Set Theory is Interpretable in the Automorphism Group of an Infinitely Generated Free Group

In [6] S. Shelah showed that in the endomorphism semi-groupof an infinitely generated algebra which is free in a varietyone can interpret some set theory. It follows from his resultsthat, for an algebra F which is free of infinite rank in avariety of algebras in a language L, if > |L|, then thefirst-order theory of the endomorphism semi-group of F, Th(End(F)),syntactically interprets Th(,L₂), the second-order theory ofthe cardinal . This means that for any second-order sentence of empty language there exists *, a first-order sentence ofsemi-group language, such that for any infinite cardinal >|L|, Th(,L₂)*Th(End(F)) In his paper Shelah notes that it is natural to study a similarproblem for automorphism groups instead of endomorphism semi-groups;a priori the expressive power of the first-order logic for automorphismgroups is less than the one for endomorphism semi-groups. Forinstance, according to Shelah's results on permutation groups[4, 5], one cannot interpret set theory by means of first-orderlogic in the permutation group of an infinite set, the automorphismgroup of an algebra in empty language. On the other hand, onecan do this in the endomorphism semi-group of such an algebra. In [7, 8] the author found a solution for the case of the varietyof vector spaces over a fixed field. If V is a vector spaceof an infinite dimension over a division ring D, then the theoryTh(, L₂) is interpretable in the first-order theory of GL(V),the automorphism group of V. When a field D is countable anddefinable up to isomorphism by a second-order sentence, thenthe theories Th(GL(V)) and Th(, L₂) are mutually syntacticallyinterpretable. In the general case, the formulation is a bitmore complicated. The main result of this paper states that a similar result holdsfor the variety of all groups.     

Geometry of Critical Loci

Let :(Z,z)(U,0) be the germ of a finite (that is, proper with finite fibres)complex analytic morphism from a complex analytic normal surfaceonto an open neighbourhood U of the origin 0 in the complexplane C². Let u and v be coordinates of C² defined on U. Weshall call the triple (, u, v) the initial data. Let stand for the discriminant locus of the germ , that is,the image by of the critical locus of . Let ()_A be the branches of the discriminant locus at O whichare not the coordinate axes. For each A, we define a rational number d by where I(–, –) denotes the intersection number at0 of complex analytic curves in C². The set of rational numbersd, for A, is a finite subset D of the set of rational numbersQ. We shall call D the set of discriminantal ratios of the initialdata (, u, v). The interesting situation is when one of thetwo coordinates (u, v) is tangent to some branch of , otherwiseD = {1}. The definition of D depends not only on the choiceof the two coordinates, but also on their ordering. In this paper we prove that the set D is a topological invariantof the initial data (, u, v) (in a sense that we shall definebelow) and we give several ways to compute it. These resultsare first steps in the understanding of the geometry of thediscriminant locus. We shall also see the relation with thegeometry of the critical locus.     

BOUNDARY CONCENTRATION IN RADIAL SOLUTIONS TO A SYSTEM OF SEMILINEAR ELLIPTIC EQUATIONS

We study concentration phenomena for the system in the unit ball B₁ of ³ with Dirichlet boundaryconditions. Here , , > 0 and p > 1. We prove the existenceof positive radial solutions (, ) such that concentrates ata distance (/2)|log | away from the boundary B₁ as the parameter tends to 0. The approach is based on a combination of Lyapunov–Schmidtreduction procedure together with a variational method.     

A Torsion-Free Milnor-Moore Theorem

Let X be the space of Moore loops on a finite, q-connected,n-dimensional CW complex X, and let R Q be a subring containing1/2. Let (R) be the least non-invertible prime in R. For a gradedR-module M of finite type, let FM = M/Torsion M. We show thatthe inclusion P FH_*(X;R) of the sub-Lie algebra of primitiveelements induces an isomorphism of Hopf algebras provided that (R) n/q. Furthermore, the Hurewiczhomomorphism induces an embedding of F(_*(X) R) in P, with P/F(_*(X)R)torsion. As a corollary, if X is elliptic, then FH_*(X;R) isa finitely generated R-algebra.