Groups with T1 primitive ideal spaces

We give a simple necessary and sufficient condition for the group C¹-algebra of a connected locally compact group to have a T₁ primitive ideal space, i.e., to have the property that all primitive ideals are maximal. A companion result settles the same question almost entirely for almost connected groups. As a by-product of the method used, we show that every point in the primitive ideal space of the group C¹-algebra of a connected locally compact group is at least locally closed. Finally, we obtain an analog of these results for discrete finitely generated groups; in particular the primitive ideal space of the group C¹-algebra of a discrete finitely generated solvable group is T₁ if and only if the group is a finite extension of a nilpotent group.     

Induced characters, Mackey analysis and primitive ideal spaces of nilpotent discrete groups

Let G be a nilpotent discrete group and Prim(C^*(G)) the primitive ideal space of the group C^*-algebra C^*(G). If G is either finitely generated or has absolutely idempotent characters, we are able to describe the hull-kernel topology on Prim(C^*(G)) in terms of a topology on a parametrizing space of subgroup-character pairs. For that purpose, we introduce and study induced traces and develop a Mackey machine for characters. We heavily exploit the fact that the groups under consideration have the property that every faithful character vanishes outside the finite conjugacy class subgroup.     

The projection theorem for spectral sets

LetG be a locally compact group with polynomial growth and symmetricL ¹-algebra andN a closed normal subgroup ofG. LetF be a closedG-invariant subset of Prim_* L ¹(N) andE={ker; with |N(k(F))=0}. We prove thatE is a spectral subset of Prim_* L ¹(G) ifF is spectral. Moreover we give the following application to the ideal theory ofL ¹(G). Suppose that, in addition,N is CCR andG/N is compact. Then all primary ideals inL ¹(G) are maximal, provided allG-orbits in Prim_* L ¹(N) are spectral.Dedicated to Professor Elmar Thoma on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Continuous spectral decompositions of Abelian group actions on -algebras

Let G be a locally compact Abelian group. Following Ruy Exel, we view Fell bundles over the Pontrjagin dual group of G as continuous spectral decompositions of G-actions on C^*-algebras. We classify such spectral decompositions using certain dense subspaces related to Marc Rieffel's theory of square-integrability. There is a unique continuous spectral decomposition if the group acts properly on the primitive ideal space of the C^*-algebra. But there are also examples of group actions without or with several inequivalent spectral decompositions.     

The structure of crossed productC *-algebras: A proof of the generalized Effros-Hahn conjecture

IfG is a second countable locally compact group acting continuously on a separableC ^*-algebraA, then every primitive ideal of the crossed productC ^* (G, A) is contained in an induced primitive ideal, and ifG is amenable, equality holds. Thus ifG is amenable and acts freely on Prim(A), the generalized Effros-Hahn conjecture holds: there is a canonical bijection between primitive ideals ofC ^* (G, A) andG-quasi-orbits in Prim(A). Applications to the Mackey machine for a non-regularly embedded normal subgroup of a locally compact group are discussed. The proof of the theorem is based on a local cross-section result together with Mackey's original methods.The authors were partially supported by National Science Foundation Research GrantsThe first-named author would like to thank the Department of Mathematics, University of Pennsylvania, for its warm hospitality during his 1977–78 stay, during which time this research was conducted     

Polynomial growth and ideals in group algebras

Let G be a locally compact group with polynomial growth and symmetric group algebra L¹ (G). To every closed subset C of Prim^* (L¹(G)), there exists a smallest twosided closed ideal j (C) in L¹(G), whose hull is equal to C. If H is a closed normal subgroup of G, then H¹ is a set of synthesis in Prim^* (L¹(G)).     

The injection and the projection theorem for spectral sets

For a closed normal subgroupN of a locally compact groupG view a closed subset of Prim_* L ¹ (G/N) as a subsetE of Prim_* L ¹ (G) in the canonical way and writeN for Prim_* L ¹ (G/N) as a subset of Prim_* L ¹ (G); then the injection theorem says: IfE is spectral (i.e. of synthesis), then is so; and if andN are spectral, thenE is too. In case of a group of polynomial growth with symmetricL ¹-algebra, where smallest idealsj (E) with given hulls exist, it is known thatN is always spectral. For a closed,G-invariant subsetF of Prim_* L ¹ (N) define a closed subsetE of Prim_* L ¹ (G) by . Denote by e (I') the ideal generated byC ₀₀ (G)*I', where theG-invariant idealI' ofL ¹ (N) is viewed as a subset of measures onG, then the projection theorem states: IfE is spectral, thenF is so, and ifF is spectral withe (j (F))=j (E) thenE is spectral. All assumptions are fulfilled for instance, ifG andN are of polynomial growth with symmetricL ¹-algebra and eitherSIN-groups or solvable.     

Polynomial mappings of groups

A mapping ϕ of a groupG to a groupF is said to be polynomial if it trivializes after several consecutive applications of operatorsD _h ,h ∈G, defined byD _h ϕ(g)=ϕ(g) ⁻¹ ϕ(gh). We study polynomial mappings of groups, mainly to nilpotent groups. In particular, we prove that polynomial mappings to a nilpotent group form a group with respect to the elementwise multiplication, and that any polynomial mappingG→F to a nilpotent groupF splits into a homomorphismG→G’ to a nilpotent groupG’ and a polynomial mappingG’→F. We apply the obtained results to prove the existence of the compact/weak mixing decomposition of a Hilbert space under a unitary polynomial action of a finitely generated nilpotent group. This work was supported by NSF, Grants DMS-9706057 and 0070566.     

The Socle and finite dimensionality of some Banach algebras

The purpose of this note is to describe some algebraic conditions on a Banach algebra which force it to be finite dimensional. One of the main results in Theorem 2 which states that for a locally compact groupG, G is compact if there exists a measure μ in Soc(L ¹(G)) such that μ(G) ≠ 0. We also prove thatG is finite if Soc(M(G)) is closed and every nonzero left ideal inM(G) contains a minimal left ideal.     

The primitive ideal space of solvable Lie groups

LetG be a connected and simply connected solvable Lie group. In a previous paper (cf.[22]) we associated withG a familyM of geometrical objects (generalized orbits), and with each elementO ofM a unitary equivalence classF(O) of factor representations. IfG is nilpotent,M coincides with the orbit space of the coadjoint representation, and the mapOF(O) reproduces essentially the Kirillov isomorphism betweenM and the dual ofG. As a fargoing extension of this, the principal result of the present paper asserts, that upon assigning to 0M the kernel of the representation, associated with some element ofF(O), of the groupC ^* algebraC ^*(G), we obtain a bijection betweenM and the primitive ideal space ofC ^*(G).This work was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation     

Zur Idealtheorie in Gruppenalgebren von [FIA] B − -Gruppen

In this paper we consider closedB-invariant ideals in the group algebraL ¹(G), whereG is a locally compact group with a relatively compact groupB of topological automorphisms, which contains the set of all inner automorphisms. We study conditions when closedB-invariant ideals are completely determined by their hull. Also questions concerning the existence of approximate units in these ideals will be answered. Above all, we shall study these properties with regard to the relations between ideals inL ¹(G),L ¹ (G/N) andL ¹(N), whereN is a closedB-invariant subgroup ofG.     

Locally compact groups acting on trees and propertyT

FollowingKazhdan, a separable locally compact groupG is said to have propertyT if the trivial representation is isolated in the dual space,, of equivalence classes of continuous irreducible unitary representations ofG. We generalize results ofMargulis—Tits by showing that groups which have propertyT can not be amalgams.Research supported by NSF.     

The primitive dual space of [FC]− groups

We show that if G is a σ compact locally compact group with relatively compact conjugacy classes, then the enveloping C¹-algebra $\text{C}{}^1\text{(G)}$ has a Hausdorff primitive ideal space. We also discuss some open problems and a partial converse result.     

Ideals with bounded approximate identities in Fourier algebras

We make use of the operator space structure of the Fourier algebra A(G) of an amenable locally compact group to prove that if H is any closed subgroup of G, then the ideal I(H) consisting of all functions in A(G) vanishing on H has a bounded approximate identity. This result allows us to completely characterize the ideals of A(G) with bounded approximate identities. We also show that for several classes of locally compact groups, including all nilpotent groups, I(H) has an approximate identity with norm bounded by 2, the best possible norm bound.     

Primitive Limit Algebras and C-Envelopes

In this paper, we study irreducible representations of regular limit subalgebras of AF-algebras. The main result is twofold: every closed prime ideal of a limit of direct sums of nest algebras (NSAF) is primitive, and every prime regular limit algebra is primitive. A key step is that the quotient of an NSAF algebra by any closed ideal has an AF C^*-envelope, and this algebra is exhibited as a quotient of a concretely represented AF-algebra. When the ideal is prime, the C^*-envelope is primitive. The GNS construction is used to produce algebraically irreducible (in fact n-transitive for all n1) representations for quotients of NSAF algebras by closed prime ideals. Thus the closed prime ideals of NSAF algebras coincide with the primitive ideals. Moreover, these representations extend to *-representations of the C^*-envelope of the quotient, so that a fortiori these algebras are also operator primitive. The same holds true for arbitrary limit algebras and the {0} ideal.     

On periodic solvable groups having automorphisms with nilpotent fixed point groups

Letp be a prime,G a periodic solvablep′-group acted on by an elementary groupV of orderp ². We show that ifC _G(v) is abelian for eachv ∈V ^# thenG has nilpotent derived group, and ifp=2 andC _G(v) is nilpotent for eachv ∈V ^# thenG is metanilpotent. Earlier results of this kind were known only for finite groups.     

Relating a Locally Compact Abelian Group to Its Bohr Compactification

We find several conditions on a locally compact Abelian groupGnecessary and sufficient thatG⁺, the groupGin the topology inherited from its Bohr compactification, is realcompact. We show further for suchGthat every continuous real-valued function from a closed subgroup ofG⁺extends continuously overG⁺; when in additionGis discrete, every continuous function from a subgroup ofG⁺to a complete metric space extends continuously overG⁺. These results respond to several of the questions posed by E. K. van Douwen [Topology and Its Applications34(1990), 69–91].     

On a Class of Graded Ideals of Semigroup <Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis>*-Algebras

We present general results about graded C*-algebras and continue the previously initiated research of the C*-algebra generated by the left regular representation of an abelian semigroup. We study the invariant ideals of this C*-algebra invariant with respect to the representation of a compact group G in the automorphism group of this algebra. We prove that the invariance of the ideal is equivalent to the fact that this ideal is graded C*-algebra, that there is a maximum of all invariant ideals, and it is the commutator ideal. Separately we study a class of graded primitive ideals generated by a single projector.     

A non-reflexive Grothendieck space that does not containl ∞

A compact spaceS is constructed such that, in the dual Banach spaceC(S)^*, every weak^* convergent sequence is weakly convergent, whileC(S) does not have a subspace isomorphic tol _∞. The construction introduces a weak version of completeness for Boolean algebras, here called the Subsequential Completeness Property. A related construction leads to a counterexample to a conjecture about holomorphic functions on Banach spaces. A compact spaceT is constructed such thatC(T) does not containl _∞ but does have a “bounding” subset that is not relatively compact. The first of the examples was presented at the International Conference on Banach spaces, Kent, Ohio, 1979.