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.     

Biflatness and biprojectivity of the Fourier algebra

We show that the biflatness—in the sense of A. Ya. Helemskiĭ—of the Fourier algebra A(G) of a locally compact group G forces G to either have an abelian subgroup of finite index or to be non-amenable without containing as a closed subgroup. An analogous dichotomy is obtained for biprojectivity. Received: 4 August 2008     

Continuity of epimorphisms and derivations on vector-valued group algebras

This paper deals with the automatic continuity theory for the convolution algebra of all Bochner integrable functions from a locally compact abelian group G into an arbitrary unital complex Banach algebra A. For non-compact G, it is shown that all epimorphisms and all derivations on this vector-valued group algebra are necessarily continuous while for compact G, such results depend heavily on the automatic continuity properties of the range algebra a. Dedicated to Heinz Konig on the occasion of his 65th birthday Research supported by Grant SNF 11-1015 from the Danish Science Research Council.     

Operator biflatness of the Fourier algebra and approximate indicators for subgroups

We investigate if, for a locally compact group G, the Fourier algebra A(G) is biflat in the sense of quantized Banach homology. A central rôle in our investigation is played by the notion of an approximate indicator of a closed subgroup of G: The Fourier algebra is operator biflat whenever the diagonal in G×G has an approximate indicator. Although we have been unable to settle the question of whether A(G) is always operator biflat, we show that, for , the diagonal in G×G fails to have an approximate indicator.     

Hyper-Tauberian algebras and weak amenability of Figà-Talamanca-Herz algebras

We study certain commutative regular semisimple Banach algebras which we call hyper-Tauberian algebras. We first show that they form a subclass of weakly amenable Tauberian algebras. Then we investigate the basic and hereditary properties of them. Moreover, we show that if A is a hyper-Tauberian algebra, then the linear space of bounded derivations from A into any Banach A-bimodule is reflexive. We apply these results to the Figà-Talamanca-Herz algebra A_p(G) of a locally compact group G for p∈(1,∞). We show that A_p(G) is hyper-Tauberian if the principal component of G is abelian. Finally, by considering the quantization of these results, we show that for any locally compact group G, A_p(G), equipped with an appropriate operator space structure, is a quantized hyper-Tauberian algebra. This, in particular, implies that A_p(G) is operator weakly amenable.     

Amenability of the Second Dual of Hypergroup Algebras

The amenability of the Banach algebra L ¹(G), the measure algebra M(G) and their second duals of a locally compact group have been considered by a number of authors. During these investigations it has been shown that L ¹(G)^** is amenable if and only if G is finite. If LUC (G)^*, the dual of the space of left uniformly continuous functions on G, is amenable, then G is compact and M(G) is amenable. Finally, if M(G)^** is amenable, then G is finite. The aim of this paper is to generalize all of the above results to the locally compact hypergroups.     

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     

Homological properties of Fourier algebras on homogeneous spaces

Let K be a compact subgroup of a locally compact group G. Completely complemented ideals in A(G/K) are characterised. Biprojectivity and biflatness for the Fourier algebra A(G/K) are studied. A(G/K) is operator biprojective precisely when K is open and if this happens, then G does not contain the free group on two generators as a closed subgroup.     

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.     

Automatic continuity over Moore groups

LetG be a Moore group, letB be a Banach algebra, and let :L ¹(G)B be a homomorphism. We show that is continuous if and only if its restriction to the center ofL ¹(G) is continuous. As a consequence, we obtain that (i) every homomorphism fromL ¹(G) orC ^*(G) onto a dense subalgebra of a semisimple Banach algebra, and (ii) every epimorphism fromC ^*(G) onto a Banach algebra is automatically continuous.     

Generalized Group Algebras of Locally Compact Groups

This article studies the homological properties of generalized group algebra L ¹(G, A) of a locally compact group G over a Banach algebra A with an identity of norm 1. It is shown that if L ¹(G, A) is right continuous then G is finite and A is right continuous. It is also shown that L ¹(G, A) is right self-injective if and only if G is finite and A is right self-injective.     

Entropy of automorphisms arising from dynamical systems through discrete groups with amenable actions

Let G⊂Aut(A) be a discrete group which is exact, that is, admits an amenable action on some compact space. Then the entropy of an automorphism of the algebra A does not change by the canonical extension to the crossed product A×G. This is shown for the topological entropy of an exact C∗-algebra A and for the dynamical entropy of an AFD von Neumann algebra A. These have applications to the case of transformations on Lebesgue spaces.     

Operator space structure and amenability for Figà-Talamanca-Herz algebras

Column and row operator spaces—which we denote by COL and ROW, respectively—over arbitrary Banach spaces were introduced by the first-named author; for Hilbert spaces, these definitions coincide with the usual ones. Given a locally compact group G and p,p′∈(1,∞) with , we use the operator space structure on to equip the Figà-Talamanca-Herz algebra A_p(G) with an operator space structure, turning it into a quantized Banach algebra. Moreover, we show that, for p?q?2 or 2?q?p and amenable G, the canonical inclusion A_q(G)⊂A_p(G) is completely bounded (with cb-norm at most , where is Grothendieck's constant). As an application, we show that G is amenable if and only if A_p(G) is operator amenable for all—and equivalently for one—p∈(1,∞); this extends a theorem by Ruan.     

Simplicity of Skew Group Rings of Abelian Groups

Necessary and sufficient conditions for simplicity of a general skew group ring A ?_σ G are not known. In this article, we show that a skew group ring A ?_σ G, of an abelian group G, is simple if and only if its centre is a field and A is G-simple. As an application, we show that a transformation group (X, G), where X is a compact Hausdorff space acted upon by an abelian group G, is minimal and faithful if and only if its associated skew group algebra C(X) ?_σ G is simple.     

On automorphism groups of Cayley graphs

LetX _G,H denote the Cayley graph of a finite groupG with respect to a subsetH. It is well-known that its automorphism groupA(X_G,H) must contain the regular subgroupL _G corresponding to the set of left multiplications by elements ofG. This paper is concerned with minimizing the index [A(X_G,H)L_G] for givenG, in particular when this index is always greater than 1. IfG is abelian but not one of seven exceptional groups, then a Cayley graph ofG exists for which this index is at most 2. Nearly complete results for the generalized dicyclic groups are also obtained.     

On topologically finite-dimensional simple <Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis>*-algebras

We show that, if a simple C*-algebra A is topologically finite-dimensional in a suitable sense, then not only K₀(A) has certain good properties, but A is even accessible to Elliott’s classification program. More precisely, we prove the following results:If A is simple, separable and unital with finite decomposition rank and real rank zero, then K₀(A) is weakly unperforated.If A has finite decomposition rank, real rank zero and the space of extremal tracial states is compact and zero-dimensional, then A has stable rank one and tracial rank zero. As a consequence, if B is another such algebra, and if A and B have isomorphic Elliott invariants and satisfy the Universal coefficients theorem, then they are isomorphic.In the case where A has finite decomposition rank and the space of extremal tracial states is compact and zero-dimensional, we also give a criterion (in terms of the ordered K₀-group) for A to have real rank zero. As a byproduct, we show that there are examples of simple, stably finite and quasidiagonal C*-algebras with infinite decomposition rank.Supported by: EU-Network Quantum Spaces - Noncommutative Geometry (Contract No. HPRN-CT-2002-00280) and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 478).     

Weak factorizations of operators in the group von Neumann algebras of certain amenable groups and applications

Let G be a compact group whose local weight b(G) has uncountable cofinality. Let H be an amenable locally compact group and A(G × H) be the Fourier algebra of G × H. We prove that the group von Neumann algebra VN(G × H) = A(G × H)^* has the weak uniform A(G × H)^** factorization property of level b(G). As a corollary we show that A(G × H) is strongly Arens irregular, and the topological centre of UC ₂(G × H)^* is equal to the Fourier–Stieltjes algebra B(G × H).     

Nevanlinna-Pick interpolation for non-commutative analytic Toeplitz algebras

The non-commutative analytic Toeplitz algebra is the WOT-closed algebra generated by the left regular representation of the free semigroup onn generators. We obtain a distance formula to an arbitrary WOT-closed right ideal and thereby show that the quotient is completely isometrically isomorphic to the compression of the algebra to the orthogonal complement of the range of the ideal. This is used to obtain Nevanlinna-Pick type interpolation theoremsFirst author partially supported by an NSERC grant and a Killam Research Fellowship.Second author partially supported by an NSF grant.