Peak point theorems for uniform algebras on smooth manifolds

It was once conjectured that if A is a uniform algebra on its maximal ideal space X, and if each point of X is a peak point for A, then A = C(X). This peak point conjecture was disproved by Brian Cole in 1968. However, Anderson and Izzo showed that the peak point conjecture does hold for uniform algebras generated by smooth functions on smooth two-manifolds with boundary. The corresponding assertion for smooth three-manifolds is false, but Anderson, Izzo, and Wermer established a peak point theorem for polynomial approximation on real-analytic three-manifolds with boundary. Here we establish a more general peak point theorem for real-analytic three-manifolds with boundary analogous to the two-dimensional result. We also show that if A is a counterexample to the peak point conjecture generated by smooth functions on a manifold of arbitrary dimension, then the essential set for A has empty interior.     

Derivations on the Algebra of τ-Compact Operators Affiliated with a Type I von Neumann Algebra

Let M be a type I von Neumann algebra with the center Z, and a faithful normal semi-finite trace τ. Consider the algebra L(M, τ) of all τ-measurable operators with respect to M and let S ₀(M, τ) be the subalgebra of τ-compact operators in L(M, τ). We prove that any Z-linear derivation of S ₀(M, τ) is spatial and generated by an element from L(M, τ).      

Real Hypersurfaces in Complex Two-Plane Grassmannians

 The complex two-plane Grassmannian G ₂(C ^m+2 in equipped with both a K?hler and a quaternionic K?hler structure. By applying these two structures to the normal bundle of a real hypersurface M in G ₂(C ^m+2 one gets a one- and a three-dimensional distribution on M. We classify all real hypersurfaces M in G ₂ C ^m+2 , m≥3, for which these two distributions are invariant under the shape operator of M. Received 13 November 1996; in revised form 3 March 1997     

Enveloping Σ-C *-algebra of a smooth Frechet algebra crossed product by ℝ,K-theory and differential structure inC *-algebras

Given anm-tempered strongly continuous action α of ℝ by continuous^*-automorphisms of a Frechet^*-algebraA, it is shown that the enveloping ↡-C ^*-algebraE(S(ℝ, A^∞, α)) of the smooth Schwartz crossed productS(ℝ,A ^∞, α) of the Frechet algebra A^∞ of C^∞-elements ofA is isomorphic to the Σ-C ^*-crossed productC ^*(ℝ,E(A), α) of the enveloping Σ-C ^*-algebraE(A) ofA by the induced action. WhenA is a hermitianQ-algebra, one getsK-theory isomorphismRK _*(S(ℝ, A^∞, α)) =K ^*(C ^*(ℝ,E(A), α) for the representableK-theory of Frechet algebras. An application to the differential structure of aC ^*-algebra defined by densely defined differential seminorms is given.     

Preduals of semigroup algebras

For a locally compact group G, the measure convolution algebra M(G) carries a natural coproduct. In previous work, we showed that the canonical predual C ₀(G) of M(G) is the unique predual which makes both the product and the coproduct on M(G) weak^*-continuous. Given a discrete semigroup S, the convolution algebra ℓ ¹(S) also carries a coproduct. In this paper we examine preduals for ℓ ¹(S) making both the product and the coproduct weak^*-continuous. Under certain conditions on S, we show that ℓ ¹(S) has a unique such predual. Such S include the free semigroup on finitely many generators. In general, however, this need not be the case even for quite simple semigroups and we construct uncountably many such preduals on ℓ ¹(S) when S is either ℤ₊×ℤ or (ℕ,⋅).     

Torsion in Boundary Coinvariants and K -Theory for Affine Buildings

Let (G, I, N, S) be an affine topological Tits system, and let Γ be a torsion-free cocompact lattice in G. This article studies the coinvariants H ₀(Γ; C(Ω,Z)), where Ω is the Furstenberg boundary of G. It is shown that the class [1] of the identity function in H ₀(Γ; C(Ω, Z)) has finite order, with explicit bounds for the order. A similar statement applies to the K ₀ group of the boundary crossed product C ^*-algebra C(Ω)Γ. If the Tits system has type ? ₂, exact computations are given, both for the crossed product algebra and for the reduced group C ^*-algebra.     

On Stability of Cones in <Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis><Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>+1</Superscript> with Zero Scalar Curvature

In this work we generalize the case of scalar curvature zero the results of Simmons (Ann. Math. 88 (1968), 62–105) for minimal cones in Rⁿ⁺¹. If Mⁿ⁻¹ is a compact hypersurface of the sphere Sⁿ(1) we represent by C(M)ε the truncated cone based on M with center at the origin. It is easy to see that M has zero scalar curvature if and only if the cone base on M also has zero scalar curvature. Hounie and Leite (J. Differential Geom. 41 (1995), 247–258) recently gave the conditions for the ellipticity of the partial differential equation of the scalar curvature. To show that, we have to assume n ⩾ 4 and the three-curvature of M to be different from zero. For such cones, we prove that, for n ≤slant 7 there is an ε for which the truncate cone C(M)_ε is not stable. We also show that for n ⩾ 8 there exist compact, orientable hypersurfaces Mⁿ⁻¹ of the sphere with zero scalar curvature and S₃ different from zero, for which all truncated cones based on M are stable. Mathematics Subject Classifications (2000): 53C42, 53C40, 49F10, 57R70.     

Connected components in the space of composition operators on<Emphasis Type="Italic">H∞</Emphasis> functions of many variables

LetE be a complex Banach space with open unit ballB _e. The structure of the space of composition operators on the Banach algebra H∞, of bounded analytic functions onB _e with the uniform topology, is studied. We prove that the composition operators arising from mappings whose range lies strictly insideB _e form a path connected component. WhenE is a Hilbert space or aC _o(X)- space, the path connected components are shown to be the open balls of radius 2. The research of this author was supported by grant number SAB1999-0214 from the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte during his stay at the Universidad de Valencia. The research of this author was partially supported DGES(Spain) pr. 96-0758. The research of this author was partially supported by Magnus Ehrnrooths stiftelse.     

On character amenability of semigroup algebras

We study the character amenability of semigroup algebras. We work on general semigroups and certain semigroups such as inverse semigroups with a finite number of idempotents, inverse semigroups with uniformly locally finite idempotent set, Brandt and Rees semigroup and study the character amenability of the semigroup algebra l¹(S) in relation to the structures of the semigroup S. In particular, we show that for any semigroup S, if ?¹(S) is character amenable, then S is amenable and regular. We also show that the left character amenability of the semigroup algebra ?¹(S) on a Brandt semigroup S over a group G with index set J is equivalent to the amenability of G and J being finite. Finally, we show that for a Rees semigroup S with a zero over the group G, the left character amenability of ?¹(S) is equivalent to its amenability, this is in turn equivalent to G being amenable.     

A homotopy theoretic realization of string topology

Let M be a closed, oriented manifold of dimension d. Let LM be the space of smooth loops in M. In [2] Chas and Sullivan defined a product on the homology H _* (LM) of degree -d. They then investigated other structure that this product induces, including a Batalin -Vilkovisky structure, and a Lie algebra structure on the S¹ equivariant homology H _* ^{S 1} (LM). These algebraic structures, as well as others, came under the general heading of the ”string topology” of M. In this paper we will describe a realization of the Chas-Sullivan loop product in terms of a ring spectrum structure on the Thom spectrum of a certain virtual bundle over the loop space. We also show that an operad action on the homology of the loop space discovered by Voronov has a homotopy theoretic realization on the level of Thom spectra. This is the ” cactus operad” defined in [6] which is equivalent to operad of framed disks in . This operad action realizes the Chas - Sullivan BV structure on H _* (LM). We then describe a cosimplicial model of this ring spectrum, and by applying the singular cochain functor to this cosimplicial spectrum we show that this ring structure can be interpreted as the cup product in the Hochschild cohomology, HH ^* (C ^* (M); C ^* (M)). Received: 31 July 2001 / Revised version: 11 September 2001 Published online: 5 September 2002     

A complex semigroup approach to group algebras of infinite dimensional Lie groups

A host algebra of a topological group G is a C ^*-algebra whose representations are in one-to-one correspondence with certain continuous unitary representations of G. In this paper we present an approach to host algebras for infinite dimensional Lie groups which is based on complex involutive semigroups. Any locally bounded absolute value α on such a semigroup S leads in a natural way to a C ^*-algebra C ^*(S,α), and we describe a setting which permits us to conclude that this C ^*-algebra is a host algebra for a Lie group G. We further explain how to attach to any such host algebra an invariant weak-*-closed convex set in the dual of the Lie algebra of G enjoying certain nice convex geometric properties. If G is the additive group of a locally convex space, we describe all host algebras arising this way. The general non-commutative case is left for the future. To K.H. Hofmann on the occasion of his 75th birthday     

Dihedral manifold approximate fibrations over the circle

Consider the cyclic group C ₂ of order two acting by complex-conjugation on the unit circle S ¹. The main result is that a finitely dominated manifold W of dimension > 4 admits a cocompact, free, discontinuous action by the infinite dihedral group D _∞ if and only if W is the infinite cyclic cover of a free C ₂-manifold M such that M admits a C ₂-equivariant manifold approximate fibration to S ¹. The novelty in this setting is the existence of codimension-one, invariant submanifolds of M and W. Along the way, we develop an equivariant sucking principle for orthogonal actions of finite groups on Euclidean space.     

Geometrie du plan projectif des octaves de Cayley

In this article we study certain geometric aspects of the projective plane P ₂(O) over the octaves (Cayley numbers) over the reals. First, we use the explicit representation of points of P ₂(O) by Hermitian 3×3 matrices over the octaves to determine homogeneous coordinates on the projective line with the help of the fibration of S ¹⁵ with basis S ⁸ and fiber S ⁷. Next we give a table of Lie products in the Lie algebra F ₄, which enables us to explicitly compute the curvature tensor of P ₂(O) as a symmetric space. Finally we exhibit a non-zero skew symmetric 8-form which is invariant under the holonomy group Spin(9). The expression we obtain is the analog of the Kähler form and the fundamental 4-form on the complex and quaternion projective plane, respectively.     

On the Universal C*-Algebra Generated by a Partial Isometry

A universal C*-algebra is constructed which is generated by a partial isometry. Using grading on this algebra we construct an analog of Cuntz algebras which gives a homotopical interpretation of KK-groups. It is proved that this algebra is homotopy equivalent up to stabilization by 2×2 matrices to M ₂(C). Therefore those algebras are KK-isomorphic.     

Multipliers of weighted semigroups and associated Beurling Banach algebras

Given a weighted discrete abelian semigroup (S, ω), the semigroup M _ω (S) of ω-bounded multipliers as well as the Rees quotient M _ω (S)/S together with their respective weights [(w)\tilde]\tilde{\omega} and [(w)\tilde]_q\tilde{\omega}_q induced by ω are studied; for a large class of weights ω, the quotient l¹(M_w(S),[(w)\tilde])/l¹(S,w)\ell^1(M_{\omega}(S),\tilde{\omega})/\ell^1(S,{\omega}) is realized as a Beurling algebra on the quotient semigroup M _ω (S)/S; the Gel’fand spaces of these algebras are determined; and Banach algebra properties like semisimplicity, uniqueness of uniform norm and regularity of associated Beurling algebras on these semigroups are investigated. The involutive analogues of these are also considered. The results are exhibited in the context of several examples.     

Ergodic Theory and Maximal Abelian Subalgebras of the Hyperfinite Factor

Let T be a free ergodic measure-preserving action of an abelian group G on (X,μ). The crossed product algebra R_T=L^∞(X,μ)? G has two distinguished masas, the image C_T of L^∞(X,μ) and the algebra S_T generated by the image of G. We conjecture that conjugacy of the singular masas S_T⁽¹⁾ and S_T⁽²⁾ for weakly mixing actions T⁽¹⁾ and T⁽²⁾ of different groups implies that the groups are isomorphic and the actions are conjugate with respect to this isomorphism. Our main result supporting this conjecture is that the conclusion is true under the additional assumption that the isomorphism γ : R_T⁽¹⁾→R_T⁽²⁾ such that γ(S_T⁽¹⁾)=S_T⁽²⁾ has the property that the Cartan subalgebras γ(C_T⁽¹⁾) and C_T⁽²⁾ of R_T⁽²⁾ are inner conjugate. We discuss a stronger conjecture about the structure of the automorphism group Aut(R_T,S_T), and a weaker one about entropy as a conjugacy invariant. We study also the Pukanszky and some related invariants of S_T, and show that they have a simple interpretation in terms of the spectral theory of the action T. It follows that essentially all values of the Pukanszky invariant are realized by the masas S_T, and there exist non-conjugate singular masas with the same Pukanszky invariant.     

On the Space of Weakly Almost Periodic Functionals and Its Amenability

Let S be a locally compact semitopological semigroup with measure algebra M(S), M₀(S) the set of all probability measures in M(S) and WF(S) the space of weakly almost periodic functionals on M(S)^*. Assuming that M₀(S) has the semiright invariant isometry property, it is shown that WF(S) has a topological left invariant mean (TLIM) whenever the center of M₀(S) is nonempty; in particular if either the center of S is nonempty or S has a left identity, then WF(S) has a TLIM. Finally if, for each M₀(S), the mapping v v * of M₀(S) into itself is surjective and the center of M₀(S) is nonempty, then WF(S) has a TLIM. We also generalize some results from discrete case to topological one.AMS Subject Classification (1991): 43A07     

On the root closedness of continuous function algebras

For a compact Hausdorff space X, C(X) denotes the algebra of all complex-valued continuous functions on X. For a positive integer n, we say that C(X) is n-th root closed if, for each f∈C(X), there exists g∈C(X) such that f=gn. It is shown that, for each integer m?2, there exists a compact Hausdorff space Xm such that C(Xm) is m-th root closed, but not n-th root closed for each integer n relatively prime to m. This answers a question posed by Countryman Jr. [R.S. Countryman Jr., On the characterization of compact Hausdorff X for which C(X) is algebraically closed, Pacific J. Math. 20 (1967) 433-438] et al.     

Semisimplicity of Some Class of Operator Algebras on Banach Space

Let G be a locally compact abelian group and let be a representation of G by means of isometries on a Banach space. We define W_T as the closure with respect to the weak operator topology of the set where is the Fourier transform of f ∈L¹(G) with respect to the group T. Then W_T is a commutative Banach algebra. In this paper we study semisimlicity problem for such algebras. The main result is that if the Arveson spectrum sp(T) of T is scattered (i.e. it does not contain a nonempty perfect subset) then the algebra W_T is semisimple. Some related problems are also discussed.     

A class of Banach algebras whose duals have the Radon-Nikodym property

Let A be a complex, commutative Banach algebra and let M_A be the structure space of A. Assume that there exists a continuous homomorphism h : L¹(G) → A with dense range, where L¹(G) is the group algebra of a locally compact abelian group G. The main results of this paper can be summarized as follows: (a) If the dual space A* has the Radon-Nikodym property, then M_A is scattered (i.e., it has no nonempty perfect subset) and . (b) If the algebra A has an identity, then the space A* has the Radon-Nikodym property if and only if . Furthermore, any of these conditions implies that M_A is scattered. Several applications are given. Received: 29 September 2005