On a class of smooth Frechet subalgebras of C * -algebras

The paper contributes to understanding the differential structure in a C ^*-algebra. Refining the Banach $(D_p^*)$ -algebras investigated by Kissin and Shulman as noncommutative analogues of the algebra C ^p [a,b] of p-times continuously differentiable functions, we investigate a Frechet $(D_infty^*)$ -subalgebra $ensuremath{{mathcal B}}$ of a C ^*-algebra as a noncommutative analogue of the algebra C ^?∞?[a,b] of smooth functions. Regularity properties like spectral invariance, closure under functional calculi and domain invariance of homomorphisms are derived expressing $ensuremath{{mathcal B}}$ as an inverse limit over n of Banach $(D^*_n)$ -algebras. Several examples of such smooth algebras are exhibited.