Ideal Spaces of Measurable Operators Affiliated to A Semifinite Von Neumann Algebra

Suppose that M is a von Neumann algebra of operators on a Hilbert space H and τ is a faithful normal semifinite trace on M. Let E, F and G be ideal spaces on (M, τ). We find when a τ-measurable operator X belongs to E in terms of the idempotent P of M. The sets E+F and E·F are also ideal spaces on (M, τ); moreover, E·F = F·E and (E+F)·G = E·G+F·G. The structure of ideal spaces is modular. We establish some new properties of the L₁(M, τ) space of integrable operators affiliated to the algebra M. The results are new even for the *-algebra M = B(H) of all bounded linear operators on H which is endowed with the canonical trace τ = tr.