Dualizing Complex and the Canonical Element Conjecture II

In this paper we continue our study of the Canonical ElementConjecture (henceforth C.E.C.) via the dualizing complex. Throughoutthe work (A, m, k) will denote a noetherian complete local ringA of dimension n, m its maximal ideal and k=A/m. Since A iscomplete, we can find a complete local Gorenstein ring (R, m_R,k) (complete intersection) such that dim R=dim A and A=R/I.Let denote the canonical module of A, that is, =Hom_R (A, R),which may be identified with the annihilator of I in R, an idealof R. When A is a domain, we change notation and denote I byP; in this case P is a height 0 prime ideal of R.     

The Second Transpose of a Derivation

Let A be a Banach algebra, and let D: A A* be a continuousderivation, where A* is the topological dual space of A. Thepaper discusses the situation when the second transpose D**:A** (A**)* is also a derivation in the case where A** has thefirst Arens product.     

Algebras with Collapsing Monomials

A semigroup S is called collapsing if there exists a positiveinteger n such that for every subset of n elements in S, atleast two distinct words of length n on these letters are equalin S. In particular, S is collapsing whenever it satisfies alaw. Let U(A) denote the group of units of a unitary associativealgebra A over a field k of characteristic zero. If A is generatedby its nilpotent elements, then the following conditions areequivalent: U(A) is collapsing; U(A) satisfies some semigrouplaw; U(A) satisfies the Engel condition; U(A) is nilpotent;A is nilpotent when considered as a Lie algebra.     

A WKB analysis of the buckling condition for a cylindrical shell of arbitrary thickness subjected to an external pressure

We consider the plane-strain buckling of a cylindrical shellof arbitrary thickness which is made of a Varga material andis subjected to an external hydrostatic pressure on its outersurface. The WKB method is used to solve the eigenvalue problemthat results from the linear bifurcation analysis. We show thatthe circular cross-section buckles into a non-circular shapeat a value of µ₁ which depends on A₁/A₂ and a mode number,where A₁ and A₂ are the undeformed inner and outer radii, andµ₁ is the ratio of the deformed inner radius to A₁. Inthe large mode number limit, we find that the dependence ofµ₁ on A₁/A₂ has a boundary layer structure: it is constantover almost the entire region of 0 < A₁/A₂ < 1 and decreasessharply from this constant value to unity as A₁/A₂ tends tounity. Our asymptotic results for A₁ – 1 = O(1) and A₁– 1 = O(1/n) are shown to agree with the numerical resultsobtained by using the compound matrix method.     

Smoothness Properties of the Unit Ball in a JB*-Triple

An element a of norm one in a JB^*-triple A is said to be smoothif there exists a unique element x in the unit ball A₁^* of thedual A^* of A at which a attains its norm, and is said to beFréchet-smooth if, in addition, any sequence (x_n) ofelements in A₁^* for which (x_n(a)) converges to one necessarilyconverges in norm to x. The sequence (a²ⁿ⁺¹) of odd powers ofa converges in the weak^*-topology to a tripotent u(a) in theJBW^*-envelope A^** of A. It is shown that a is smooth if andonly if u(a) is a minimal tripotent in A^** and a is Fréchet-smoothif and only if, in addition, u(a) lies in A.     

Structural Projections on JBW*-Triples

A linear projection R on a Jordan*-triple A is said to be structuralprovided that, for all elements a, b and c in A, the equality{Rab Rc} = R{a Rbc} holds. A subtriple B of A is said to becomplemented if A = B + Ker(B), where Ker(B) = {aA: {B a B}= 0}. It is shown that a subtriple of a JBW*-triple is complementedif and only if it is the range of a structural projection. A weak* closed subspace B of the dual E* of a Banach space Eis said to be an N*-ideal if every weak* continuous linear functionalon B has a norm preserving extension to a weak* continuous linearfunctional on E* and the set of elements in E which attain theirnorm on the unit ball in B is a subspace of E. It is shown thata subtriple of a JBW*-triple A is complemented if and only ifit is an N*-ideal, from which it follows that complemented subtriplesof A are weak* closed, and structural projections on A are weak*continuous and norm non-increasing. It is also shown that everyN*-ideal in A possesses a triple product with respect to whichit is a JBW*-triple which is isomorphic to a complemented subtripleof A.     

Relatively Weakly Open Sets in Closed Balls of C*-Algebras

Let A be an infinite-dimensional C*-algebra. It is proved thatevery nonempty relatively weakly open subset of the closed unitball B_A of A has diameter equal to 2. This implies that B_A isnot dentable, and that there is not any point of continuityfor the identity mapping (B_A,weak)(B_A,norm).     

Inner Derivations and Primal Ideals of C*-Algebras

Let A be a C*-algebra. For a A let D(a, A) denote the innerderivation induced by a, regarded as a bounded operator on A,and let d(a, Z(A)) denote the distance of a from Z(A), the centreof A. Let K(A) be the smallest number in [0, ] such that d(a,Z(A)) K(A)||D(a, A)|| for all a A. It is shown that if A isnon-commutative and has an identity then either K(A) = , or K(A) = 1 / 3, or K(A) 1. Necessaryand sufficient conditions for these three possibilities aregiven in terms of the primitive and primal ideals of A. If Ais a quotient of an AW*-algebra then K(A) . Helly's Theorem is used to show that if A is aweakly central C*-algebra then K(A) 1.     

Fields of Definition for Division Algebras

Let A be a finite-dimensional division algebra containing abase field k in its center F. A is defined over a subfield F₀if there exists an F₀-algebra A₀ such that . The following are shown. (i) In many cases A canbe defined over a rational extension of k. (ii) If A has odddegree n 5, then A is defined over a field F₀ of transcendencedegree 1/2(n–1)(n–2) over k. (iii) If A is a Z/mx Z/2-crossed product for some m 2 (and in particular, if Ais any algebra of degree 4) then A is Brauer equivalent to atensor product of two symbol algebras. Consequently, M_m(A) canbe defined over a field F₀ such that trdeg_k(F₀) 4. (iv) IfA has degree 4 then the trace form of A can be defined overa field F₀ of transcendence degree 4. (In (i), (iii) and (iv)it is assumed that the center of A contains certain roots ofunity.)     

The Marica-Schonheim Inequality in Lattices

The Marica-Schönheim Inequality says that if A is a finitefamily of sets, then |A–||A| where A–A=[A₁\A₂:A₁,A₂A]. For a finite lattice L and AL, we define a–b=(J_a\J_b)where J_a=[jL:ja and j is join-irreducible], and if AL then welet A–A=[a₁–a₂: a₁, a₂A]. Then the analogue of theMarica-Schöonheim Inequality is |A–A|A| for all AL.We prove that this is true if L is distributive or complementedand modular or L is a partition lattice.     

Continuity of Derivations, Intertwining Maps, and Cocycles from Banach Algebras

Let A be a Banach algebra, and let E be a Banach A-bimodule.A linear map S:AE is intertwining if the bilinear map is continuous, and a linear map D:AE is a derivation if ¹D=0,so that a derivation is an intertwining map. Derivations fromA to E are not necessarily continuous. The purpose of the present paper is to prove that the continuityof all intertwining maps from a Banach algebra A into each BanachA-bimodule follows from the fact that all derivations from Ainto each such bimodule are continuous; this resolves a questionleft open in [1, p. 36]. Indeed, we prove a somewhat strongerresult involving left- (or right-) intertwining maps.     

The A-Complexity of a Space

Suppose that A is a pointed CW-complex. The paper looks at howdifficult it is to construct an A-cellular space B from copiesof A by repeatedly taking homotopy colimits; this is determinedby an ordinal number called the complexity of B. Studying thecomplexity leads to an iterative technique, based on resolutions,for constructing the A-cellular approximation CW_A(X) of an arbitraryspace X.     

Reduction of CalderON Commutators

Let A₁,..., A_n be Lipschitz functions on R such that A'₁,...,A'_nVMO. We show that on any bounded interval, the Calderóncommutator associated with the kernel (A₁(x)–A₁(y)) ...(A_n(x) – A_n(y))/(x–y) ⁿ¹ is a compact perturbationof , where H is the Hilberttransform. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification 47B38, 47B47,47G10, 45E99.     

On the Structure of the Moving Finite-element Equations

Address from 1st April 1985, School of Mathematics, Universityof Bristol, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TW. The morning finite-element method for evolutionary partial differentialequations leads to a coupled non-linear system of ordinary differentialequations in time, with a coefficien matrix A, say, for thetime derivaties, We show for linear elements in any number ofdimensions, A can be written in the form M^TCM, where the matrixC depends solely on the mesh geometry and the matrix M on thegradient of the section, As a simple consequence we show thatA is singular only in the cases (i) element degeneracy () and (ii) collinearity of nodes (M not out of fullrank). We give constructions for the inversion of A in all cases. In one dimension, if A is non-singular, it has a simple explicitinverse. If A is singular we replace it by reduced matrix A^*.It can be shown that every case the spectral radius of the Jacobiiteration matrix ia ?and that A or A^* can be efficiently invertedby conjugate gradient methods. Finally, we discuss the applicability of these arguments tosystem of equations in any number of dimensions.     

Actions of Commutative Hopf Algebras

We show that actions of finite-dimensional semisimple commutativeHopf algebras H on H-module algebras A are essentially group-gradings.Moreover we show that the centralizer of H in the smash productA # H equals A^H H. Using these we invoke results about groupgraded algebras and results about centralizers of separablesubalgebras to give connections between the ideal structureof A, A^H and A # H. Examples of the above occur naturally when one considers: (1) finite abelian groups G of automorphisms of an algebra Awith | G |^–1 A; (2) G-graded algebras, for finite groups G; (3) finite-dimensional restricted Lie algebras L, with semisimplerestricted enveloping algebra u(L), acting as derivations onan algebra A.     

A Peak Point Theorem for Uniform Algebras Generated by Smooth Functions on Two-Manifolds

We establish the peak point conjecture for uniform algebrasgenerated by smooth functions on two-manifolds: if A is a uniformalgebra generated by smooth functions on a compact smooth two-manifoldM, such that the maximal ideal space of A is M, and every pointof M is a peak point for A, then A = C(M). We also give an alternativeproof in the case when the algebra A is the uniform closureP(M) of the polynomials on a polynomially convex smooth two-manifoldM lying in a strictly pseudoconvex hypersurface in Cⁿ.     

Smooth Lipschitz Retractions of Starlike Bodies onto their Boundaries in Infinite-Dimensional Banach Spaces

Let X be an infinite-dimensional Banach space, and let A bea C^p Lipschitz bounded starlike body (for instance the unitball of a smooth norm). We prove that:

1. the boundary A is C^p Lipschitzcontractible;
2. there is a C^p Lipschitz retraction from A ontoA;
3. there is a C^p Lipschitz map T: A A with no approximatefixedpoints.

     

Discontinuous Homomorphisms from Non-Commutative Banach Algebras

In the 1970s, a question of Kaplansky about discontinuous homomorphismsfrom certain commutative Banach algebras was resolved. Let Abe the commutative C*-algebra C(), where is an infinite compactspace. Then, if the continuum hypothesis (CH) be assumed, thereis a discontinuous homomorphism from C() into a Banach algebra[2, 7]. In fact, let A be a commutative Banach algebra. Then(with (CH)) there is a discontinuous homomorphism from A intoa Banach algebra whenever the character space _A of A is infinite[3, Theorem 3] and also whenever there is a non-maximal, primeideal P in A such that |A/P|=2^₀ [4, 8]. (It is an open questionwhether or not every infinite-dimensional, commutative Banachalgebra A satisfies this latter condition.) 1991 MathematicsSubject Classification 46H40.     

Continuous Bundles of C*-Algebras with Discontinuous Tensor Products

For each non-exact C*-algebra A and infinite compact Hausdorffspace X there exists a continuous bundle B of C*-algebras onX such that the minimal tensor product bundle AB is discontinuous.The bundle B can be chosen to be unital with constant simplefibre. When X is metrizable, B can also be chosen to be separable.As a corollary, a C*-algebra A is exact if and only if A Bis continuous for all unital continuous C*-bundles B on a giveninfinite compact Hausdorff base space. The key to proving theseresults is showing that for a non-exact C*-algebra A there existsa separable unital continuous C*-bundle B on [0,1] such thatA B is continuous on [0,1] and discontinuous at 1, a counter-intuitiveresult. For a non-exact C*-algebra A and separable C*-bundleB on [0,1], the set of points of discontinuity of A B in [0,1]can be of positive Lebesgue measure, and even of measure 1.2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 46L06 (primary), 46L35(secondary).