The kernels of radical homomorphisms and intersections of prime ideals

We establish a necessary condition for a commutative Banach algebra so that there exists a homomorphism from into another Banach algebra such that the prime radical of the continuity ideal of is not a finite intersection of prime ideals in . We prove that the prime radical of the continuity ideal of an epimorphism from onto another Banach algebra (or of a derivation from into a Banach -bimodule) is always a finite intersection of prime ideals. Under an additional cardinality condition (and assuming the Continuum Hypothesis), this necessary condition is proved to be sufficient. En route, we give a general result on norming commutative semiprime algebras; extending the class of algebras known to be normable. We characterize those locally compact metrizable spaces for which there exists a homomorphism from into a radical Banach algebra whose kernel is not a finite intersection of prime ideals.