Duality and operator algebras: automatic weak* continuity and applications

We investigate some subtle and interesting phenomena in the duality theory of operator spaces and operator algebras, and give several applications of the surprising fact that certain maps are always weak^*-continuous on dual spaces. In particular, if X is a subspace of a C^*-algebra A, and if a∈A satisfies aX⊂X, then we show that the function x?ax on X is automatically weak^* continuous if either (a) X is a dual operator space, or (b) a^*X⊂X and X is a dual Banach space. These results hinge on a generalization to Banach modules of Tomiyama's famous theorem on contractive projections onto a C^*-subalgebra. Applications include a new characterization of the σ-weakly closed (possibly nonunital and nonselfadjoint) operator algebras, and a generalization of the theory of W^*-modules to the framework of modules over such algebras. We also give a Banach module characterization of σ-weakly closed spaces of operators which are invariant under the action of a von Neumann algebra.     

Jordan operator algebras: basic theory

Jordan operator algebras are norm‐closed spaces of operators on a Hilbert space which are closed under the Jordan product. The discovery of the present paper is that there exists a huge and tractable theory of possibly nonselfadjoint Jordan operator algebras; they are far more similar to associative operator algebras than was suspected. We initiate the theory of such algebras.     

The weak* similarity property on dual operator algebras

This paper is devoted to dual operator algebras, that isw ^*-closed algebras of bounded operators on Hilbert space. We investigate unital dual operator algebrasA with the following weak^* similarity property: for every Hilbert spaceH, anyw ^*-continuous unital homomorphism fromA intoB(H) is completely bounded and thus similar to a contractive one. We develop a notion of dual similarity degree for these algebras, in analogy with some recent work of Pisier on the similarity problem on operator algebras.     

Morita equivalence of dual operator algebras

We consider notions of Morita equivalence appropriate to weak* closed algebras of Hilbert space operators. We obtain new variants, appropriate to the dual algebra setting, of the basic theory of strong Morita equivalence, and new nonselfadjoint analogues of aspects of Rieffel’s W^∗-algebraic Morita equivalence.     

Multipliers on matrix ordered operator spaces and some K-groups

Matrix ordered operator spaces are ‘non-commutative Banach spaces equipped with a non-commutative order’. Examples include C*-algebras as well as their duals. In this article, we define and intrinsically characterize the multiplier algebra for this class of spaces and briefly tackle the problem of extending K-theory to this context.     

Jordan operator algebras revisited

Jordan operator algebras are norm‐closed spaces of operators on a Hilbert space with for all . In two recent papers by the authors and Neal, a theory for these spaces was developed. It was shown there that much of the theory of associative operator algebras, in particular, surprisingly much of the associative theory from several recent papers of the first author and coauthors, generalizes to Jordan operator algebras. In the present paper we complete this task, giving several results which generalize the associative case in these papers, relating to unitizations, real positivity, hereditary subalgebras, and a couple of other topics. We also solve one of the three open problems stated at the end of our earlier joint paper on Jordan operator algebras.     

The isomorphism problem for some universal operator algebras

This paper addresses the isomorphism problem for the universal (non-self-adjoint) operator algebras generated by a row contraction subject to homogeneous polynomial relations. We find that two such algebras are isometrically isomorphic if and only if the defining polynomial relations are the same up to a unitary change of variables, and that this happens if and only if the associated subproduct systems are isomorphic. The proof makes use of the complex analytic structure of the character space, together with some recent results on subproduct systems. Restricting attention to commutative operator algebras defined by a radical ideal of relations yields strong resemblances with classical algebraic geometry. These commutative operator algebras turn out to be algebras of analytic functions on algebraic varieties. We prove a projective Nullstellensatz connecting closed ideals and their zero sets. Under some technical assumptions, we find that two such algebras are isomorphic as algebras if and only if they are similar, and we obtain a clear geometrical picture of when this happens. This result is obtained with tools from algebraic geometry, reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces, and some new complex-geometric rigidity results of independent interest. The C^?-envelopes of these algebras are also determined. The Banach-algebraic and the algebraic classification results are shown to hold for the wot-closures of these algebras as well.     

On the topological stable rank of non-selfadjoint operator algebras

We provide a negative solution to a question of M. Rieffel who asked if the right and left topological stable ranks of a Banach algebra must always agree. Our example is found amongst a class of nest algebras. We show that for many other nest algebras, both the left and right topological stable ranks are infinite. We extend this latter result to Popescu’s non-commutative disc algebras and to free semigroup algebras as well. K. R. Davidson, L. W. Marcoux, H. Radjavi’s research was supported in part by NSERC (Canada). An erratum to this article can be found at     

Exposed and denting points in duals of operator spaces

We study the extremal structure of the dual unit balls of various operator spaces. Mainly, we show that the classes of [w*-] strongly exposed, [w*-] exposed, and denting points in the dual unit balls of spaces of compact operators between Banach spacesX andY are completely — and in a canonical way — determined by the corresponding classes of points in the unit balls of the (bi-)duals of the factor spacesX andY. Applications to the duality of operator spaces and differentiability properties of the norm in operator spaces are given.     

Quasi-multipliers and algebrizations of an operator space

Let X be an operator space, let φ be a product on X, and let (X,φ) denote the algebra that one obtains. We give necessary and sufficient conditions on the bilinear mapping φ for the algebra (X,φ) to have a completely isometric representation as an algebra of operators on some Hilbert space. In particular, we give an elegant geometrical characterization of such products by using the Haagerup tensor product. Our result makes no assumptions about identities or approximate identities. Our proof is independent of the earlier result of Blecher, Ruan and Sinclair [D.P. Blecher, Z.-J. Ruan, A.M. Sinclair, A characterization of operator algebras, J. Funct. Anal. 89 (1) (1990) 188-201] which solved the case when the bilinear mapping has an identity of norm one, and our result is used to give a simple direct proof of this earlier result. We also develop further the connections between quasi-multipliers of operator spaces and their representations on a Hilbert space or their embeddings in the second dual, and show that the quasi-multipliers of operator spaces defined in [M. Kaneda, V.I. Paulsen, Quasi-multipliers of operator spaces, J. Funct. Anal. 217 (2) (2004) 347-365] coincide with their C^∗-algebraic counterparts.     

Certain free products of operator spaces

Certain free products are introduced for operator spaces and dual operator spaces. It is shown that the free product of operator spaces does not preserve the injectivity. The linking C*-algebra of the full free product of two ternary rings of operators (simply, TRO's) is *-isomorphic to the full free product of the linking C*-algebras of the two TRO's. The operator space-reduced free product of the preduals of von Neumann algebras agrees with the predual of the reduced free product of the von Neumann algebras. Each of two operator spaces can be embedded completely isometrically into the reduced free product of the operator spaces. Finally, an example is presented to show that the C*-algebra-reduced free product of two C*-algebras may be contractively isomorphic to a proper subspace of their reduced free product as operator spaces.     

Semisimplicity of reflexive amenable operator algebras

We prove that amenable and reflexive operator algebras are semisimple and are finite direct sums of simple Banach algebras of operators.     

Noncommutative topology and Jordan operator algebras

Jordan operator algebras are norm‐closed spaces of operators on a Hilbert space with for all . We study noncommutative topology, noncommutative peak sets and peak interpolation, and hereditary subalgebras of Jordan operator algebras. We show that Jordan operator algebras present perhaps the most general setting for a “full” noncommutative topology in the ‐algebraic sense of Akemann, L. G. Brown, Pedersen, etc, and as modified for not necessarily selfadjoint algebras by the authors with Read, Hay and other coauthors. Our breakthrough relies in part on establishing several strong variants of ‐algebraic results of Brown relating to hereditary subalgebras, proximinality, deeper facts about for a left ideal L in a ‐algebra, noncommutative Urysohn lemmas, etc. We also prove several other approximation results in ‐algebras and various subspaces of ‐algebras, related to open and closed projections and technical ‐algebraic results of Brown.     

On the simplicial cohomology of Banach operator algebras

We investigate the simplicial cohomology of certain Banach operator algebras. The two main examples considered are the Banach algebra of all bounded operators on a Banach space and its ideal of approximable operators. Sufficient conditions will be given forcing Banach algebras of this kind to be simplicially trivial.     

A Morita theorem for dual operator algebras

We prove that two dual operator algebras are weak^∗ Morita equivalent in the sense of [D.P. Blecher, U. Kashyap, Morita equivalence of dual operator algebras, J. Pure Appl. Algebra 212 (2008) 2401-2412] if and only if they have equivalent categories of dual operator modules via completely contractive functors which are also weak^∗-continuous on appropriate morphism spaces. Moreover, in a fashion similar to the operator algebra case, we characterize such functors as the module normal Haagerup tensor product with an appropriate weak^∗ Morita equivalence bimodule. We also develop the theory of the W^∗-dilation, which connects the non-selfadjoint dual operator algebra with the W^∗-algebraic framework. In the case of weak^∗ Morita equivalence, this W^∗-dilation is a W^∗-module over a von Neumann algebra generated by the non-selfadjoint dual operator algebra. The theory of the W^∗-dilation is a key part of the proof of our main theorem.     

Biseparating maps between operator algebras

We prove that a biseparating map between spaces B(E), and some other Banach algebras, is automatically continuous and a multiple of an algebra isomorphism.     

Local automorphisms of operator algebras on Banach spaces

In this paper we extend a result of Semrl stating that every 2-local automorphism of the full operator algebra on a separable infinite dimensional Hilbert space is an automorphism. In fact, besides separable Hilbert spaces, we obtain the same conclusion for the much larger class of Banach spaces with Schauder bases. The proof rests on an analogous statement concerning the 2-local automorphisms of matrix algebras for which we present a short proof. The need to get such a proof was formulated in Semrl's paper.

     

Duality and normal parts of operator modules

For an operator bimodule X over von Neumann algebras A⊆B(H) and B⊆B(K), the space of all completely bounded A,B-bimodule maps from X into B(K,H), is the bimodule dual of X. Basic duality theory is developed with a particular attention to the Haagerup tensor product over von Neumann algebras. To X a normal operator bimodule X_n is associated so that completely bounded A,B-bimodule maps from X into normal operator bimodules factorize uniquely through X_n. A construction of X_n in terms of biduals of X, A and B is presented. Various operator bimodule structures are considered on a Banach bimodule admitting a normal such structure.     

Derivations and isomorphisms of certain reflexive operator algebras

In this paper, we will prove that every derivation of completely distributive subspace lattice (CDS) algebras on Banach space is automatically continuous. This is new even in the Hilbert space case. As an application of this result, we obtain that every additive derivation of nest algebras on Banach spaces is inne. We will also prove that every isomorphism between nest algebras on Banach space is automatically continuous, and in addition, is spatial. Research supported by NSF of China and YSF of Shandong     

Reflexive *-derivations and lattices of invariant subspaces of operator algebras associated with them

The paper studies unbounded reflexive *-derivations δ of C*-algebras of bounded operators on Hilbert spaces H whose domains D(δ) are weekly dense in B(H and contain compact operators. It describes a one-to-one correspondence between these derivations and pairs S,L, where S are symmetric densely operators on H and L are J-orthogonal π-reflexive lattices of subspaces in the deficiency spaces of S. The domains D(δ) of these *-derivations are associated with some non-selfadjoint reflexive algebras A_δ of bounded operators on H⊕H. The paper analyzes the structure of the lattices of invariant subspaces of A_δ and of the normalizers of A_δ-the largest Lie subalgebras of B(H⊕H) such that A_δ are their Lie ideals.