Functorial methods in the theory of group representations I

We introduce a candidate for the group algebra of a Hausdorff group which plays the same role as the group algebra of a finite group. It allows to define a natural bijection betweenk-continuous representations of the group in a Hilbert space and continuous representations of the group algebra. Such bijections are known, but to our knowledge only for locally compact groups. We can establish such a bijection for more general groups, namely Hausdorff groups, because we replace integration techniques by functorial methods, i.e., by using a duality functor which lives in certain categories of topological Banach balls (resp., unit balls of Saks spaces).This paper was written while the authors were supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation under grant 21-33644.92.