On the structure of inner ideals of nest algebras

IfA is a nest algebra andA _s=A ∩ A* , whereA* is the set of the adjoints of the operators lying inA, then the pair (A, A _s) forms a partial Jordan *-triple. Important tools when investigating the structure of a partial Jordan *-triple are its tripotents. In particular, given an orthogonal family of tripotents of the partial Jordan *-triple (A, A _s), the nest algebraA splits into a direct sum of subspaces known as the Peirce decomposition relative to that family. In this paper, the Peirce decomposition relative to an orthogonal family of minimal tripotents is used to investigate the structure of the inner ideals of (A, A _s), whereA is a nest algebra associated with an atomic nest. A property enjoyed by inner ideals of the partial Jordan *-triple (A, A _s) is presented as the main theorem. This result is then applied in the final part of the paper to provide examples of inner ideals. A characterization of the minimal tripotents as a certain class of rank one operators is also obtained as a means to deduce the principal theorem.