arXiv subjects

Lawrence G. Brown

Publications and source records attributed to Lawrence G. Brown.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Projective Hilbert Modules and Sequential Approximation

We show that, when $A$ is a separable C*-algebra, every countably generated Hilbert $A$-module is projective (with bounded module maps as morphisms). We also study the approximate extensions of bounded module maps. In the case that $A$ is a $σ$-unital simple C*-algebra with strict comparison and every strictly positive lower semicontinuous affine function on quasitraces can be realized as the rank of an element in Cuntz semigroup, we show that the Cuntz semigroup is the same as unitarily equivalent class of countably generated Hilbert $A$-modules if and only if $A$ has stable rank one.

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arXiv2018

When is Every Quasi-Multiplier a Multiplier?

We answer the title question for sigma-unital C*-algebras. The answer is that the algebra must be the direct sum of a dual C*-algebra and a C*-algebra satisfying a certain local unitality condition. We also discuss similar problems in the context of Hilbert C*-bimodules and imprimitivity bimodules and in the context of centralizers of Pedersen's ideal.

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arXiv2018

On the property IR of Friis and Rordam

In a 1997 paper Lin solved a longstanding problem as follows: For each epsilon > 0, there is delta > 0 such that if h and k are self-adjoint contractive n x n matrices and ||hk - kh|| < delta, then there are commuting self-adjoint matrices h' and k' such that ||h' - h||, ||k' - k|| < epsilon. Here delta depends only on epsilon and not on n. In a 1996 paper Friis and Rordam greatly simplified Lin's proof by using a property they called IR. They also generalized Lin's result by showing that the matrix algebras can be replaced by any C*-algebras satisfying IR. The purpose of this paper is to study the property IR. One of our results shows how IR behaves for C*-algebra extensions. Other results concern non-stable K-theory. One shows that IR (at least the stable version) implies a cancellation property for projections which is intermediate between the strong cancellation property satisfied by C*-algebras of stable rank one and the weak cancellation defined in a 2014 paper of Pedersen and the author.

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arXiv2017

Some methods for constructing new operator monotone functions from old ones

We observe that if f is a continuous function on an interval I and x_0 \in I, then f is operator monotone if and only if the function (f(x) - f(x_0)/(x - x_0) is strongly operator convex. Then starting with an operator monotone function f_0, we construct a strongly operator convex function f_1, an (ordinary) operator convex function f_2, and then a new operator monotone function f_3. The process can be continued to obtain an infinite sequence which cycles between the three classes of functions. We also describe two other constructions, similar in spirit. We prove two lemmas which enable a treatment of those aspects of strong operator convexity needed for this paper which is more elementary than previous treatments. And we discuss the functions phi such that the composite phi \circ f is operator convex or strongly operator convex whenever f is strongly operator convex.

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arXiv2017

Some results on strongly operator convex functions and operator monotone functions

This paper concerns three classes of real-valued functions on intervals, operator monotone functions, operator convex functions, and strongly operator convex functions. Strongly operator convex functions were previously treated in [3] and [4], where operator algebraic semicontinuity theory or operator theory were substantially used. In this paper we provide an alternate treatment that uses only operator inequalities (or even just matrix inequalities). We also show that if t_0 is a point in the domain of a continuous function f, then f is operator monotone if and only if (f(t) - f(t_0))/(t - t_0) is strongly operator convex. Using this and previously known results, we provide some methods for constructing new functions in one of the three classes from old ones. We also include some discussion of completely monotone functions in this context and some results on the operator convexity or strong operator convexity of phi \circ f when f is operator convex or strongly operator convex.

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arXiv2017

Some Automatic Continuity Theorems for Operator Algebras and Centralizers of Pedersen's Ideal

We prove automatic continuity theorems for "decomposable" or "local" linear transformations between certain natural subspaces of operator algebras. The transformations involved are not algebra homomorphisms but often are module homomorphisms. We show that all left (respectively quasi-) centralizers of the Pedersen ideal of a C*-algebra A are locally bounded if and only if A has no infinite dimensional elementary direct summand. It has previously been shown by Lazar and Taylor and Phillips that double centralizers of Pedersen's ideal are always locally bounded.

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arXiv2016

Convergence of functions of self-adjoint operators and applications

The main result (roughly) is that if (H_i) converges weakly to H and if also f(H_i) converges weakly to f(H), for a single strictly convex continuous function f, then (H_i) must converge strongly to H. One application is that if f(pr(H)) = pr(f(H)), where pr denotes compression to a closed subspace M, then M must be invariant for H. A consequence of this is the verification of a conjecture of Arveson, that Theorem 9.4 of [Arv] remains true in the infinite dimensional case. And there are two applications to operator algebras. If h and f(h) are both quasimultipliers, then h must be a multiplier. Also (still roughly stated) if h and f(h) are both in pA_sa p, for a closed projection p, then h must be strongly q-continuous on p.

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arXiv2016

Some metric and homotopy properties of partial isometries

We show that ||u*u - v*v|| \leq ||u - v|| for partial isometries u and v. There is a stronger inequality if both u and v are extreme points of the unit ball of a C*-algebra, and both inequalities are sharp. If u and v are partial isometries in a C*-algebra A such that ||u - v|| < 1, then u and v are homotopic through partial isometries in A. If both u and v are extremal, then it is sufficient that ||u - v|| < 2. The constants 1 and 2 are both sharp. We also discuss the continuity points of the map which assigns to each closed range element of A the partial isometry in its canonical polar decomposition.

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arXiv2015

Close hereditary C-algebras and the structure of quasi-multipliers

We answer a question of Takesaki by showing that the following can be derived from the thesis of N-T Shen: If A and B are sigma-unital hereditary C*-subalgebras of C such that ||p - q|| < 1, where p and q are the corresponding open projections, then A and B are isomorphic. We give some further elaborations and counterexamples with regard to the sigma-unitality hypothesis. We produce a natural one-to-one correspondence between complete order isomorphisms of C*-algebras and invertible left multipliers of imprimitivity bimodules. A corollary of the above two results is that any complete order isomorphism between sigma-unital C*-algebras is the composite of an isomorphism with an inner complete order isomorphism. We give a separable counterexample to a question of Akemann and Pedersen; namely, the space of quasi-multipliers is not linearly generated by left and right multipliers. But we show that the space of quasi-multipliers is multiplicatively generated by left and right multipliers in the sigma-unital case. In particular every positive quasi-multiplier is of the form T*T for T a left multiplier. We show that a Lie theory consequence of the negative result just stated is that the map sending T to T*T need not be open, even for very nice C*-algebras. We show that surjective maps between sigma-unital C*-algebras induce surjective maps on left, right, and quasi-multipliers. (The more significant similar result for multipliers is Pedersen's "Non-commutative Tietze extension theorem.") We elaborate the relations of the above results with continuous fields of Hilbert spaces and in so doing answer a question of Dixmier and Douady (yes for separable fields, no in general). We discuss the relationship of our results to the theory of perturbations of C*-algebras.

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arXiv2015

Graph games and the pizza problem

We propose a class of two person perfect information games based on weighted graphs. One of these games can be described in terms of a round pizza which is cut radially into pieces of varying size. The two players alternately take pieces subject to the following rule: Once the first piece has been chosen, all subsequent selections must be adjacent to the hole left by the previously taken pieces. Each player tries to get as much pizza as possible. The original pizza problem was to settle the conjecture that Player One can always get at least half of the pizza. The conjecture turned out to be false. Our main result is a complete solution of a somewhat simpler class of games, concatenations of stacks and two-ended stacks, and we provide a linear time algorithm for this. The algorithm and its output can be described without reference to games. It produces a certain kind of partition of a given finite sequence of real numbers. The conditions on the partition involve alternating sums of various segments of the given sequence. We do not know whether these partitions have applications outside of game theory. The algorithm leads to a quadratic time algorithm which gives the value and an optimal initial move for pizza games. We also provide some general theory concerning the semigroup of equivalence classes of graph games.

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arXiv2014

A treatment of strongly operator convex functions that does not require any knowledge of operator algebras

In [B1, Theorem 2.36] we proved the equivalence of six conditions on a continuous function f on an interval. These conditions define a subset of the set of operator convex functions, whose elements are called strongly operator convex. Two of the six conditions involve operator-algebraic semicontinuity theory, as given by C. Akemann and G. Pedersen in [AP], and the other four conditions do not involve operator algebras at all. Two of these conditions are operator inequalities, one is a global condition on f, and the fourth is an integral representation of f stronger than the usual integral representation for operator convex functions. The purpose of this paper is to make the equivalence of these four conditions accessible to people who do not know operator algebra theory as well as to operator algebraists who do not know the semicontinuity theory. We also provide a similar treatment of one theorem from [B1] concerning (usual) operator convex functions. And in two final sections we give a somewhat tentative treatment of some other operator inequalities for strongly operator convex functions, and we give a differential criterion for strong operator convexity.

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arXiv2014

Semicontinuity and closed faces of C*-algebras

C. Akemann and G. Pedersen defined three concepts of semicontinuity for self-adjoint elements of A**, the enveloping von Neumann algebra of a C*-algebra A. We give the basic properties of the analogous concepts for elements of pA**p, where p is a closed projection in A**. In other words, in place of affine functionals on Q, the quasi-state space of A, we consider functionals on F(p), the closed face of Q supported by p. We prove an interpolation theorem: If h \geq k, where h is lower semicontinuous on F(p) and k upper semicontinuous, then there is a continuous affine functional x on F(p) such that x is between h and k. We also prove an interpolation-extension theorem: Now h and k are given on Q, x is given on F(p) between h|F(p) and k|F(p), and we seek to extend x to x on Q so that x is between h and k. We give a characterization of p(M(A)_sa)p in terms of semicontinuity. And we give new characterizations of operator convexity and strong operator convexity in terms of semicontinuity.

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arXiv2014

Nearly relatively compact projections in operator algebras

Let A be a C*-algebra and A** its enveloping von Neumann algebra. C. Akemann suggested a kind of non-commutative topology in which certain projections in A** play the role of open sets. The adjectives "open", "closed", "compact", and "relatively compact" all can be applied to projections in A**. Two operator inequalities were used by Akemann in connection with compactness. Both of these inequalities are equivalent to compactness for a closed projection in A**, but only one is equivalent to relative compactness for a general projection. A third operator inequality, also related to compactness, was used by the author. It turns out that the study of all three inequalities can be unified by considering a numerical invariant which is equivalent to the distance of a projection from the set of relatively compact projections. Since the subject concerns the relation between a projection and its closure, Tomita's concept of regularity of projections seems relevant, and some results and examples on regularity are also given. A few related results on semicontinuity are also included.

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arXiv2014

Some directed subsets of C*-algebras and semicontinuity theory

The main result concerns a sigma-unital C*-algebra A, a strongly lower semicontinuous element h of A**, the enveloping von Neumann algebra, and the set of self-adjoint elements a of A such that a \le h - delta 1 for some delta > 0, where 1 is the identity of A**. The theorem is that this set is directed upward. It follows that if this set is non-empty, then h is the limit of an increasing net of self-adjoint elements of A. A complement to the main result, which may be new even if h = 1, is that if a and b are self-adjoint in A, a \le h, and b \le h - delta 1 for delta > 0, then there is a self-adjoint c in A such that c \le h, a \le c, and b \le c.

math.OA↗

arXiv2014

Non-stable K-theory and extremally rich C*-algebras

We consider the properties weak cancellation, K_1-surjectivity, good index theory, and K_1-injectivity for the class of extremally rich C*-algebras, and for the smaller class of isometrically rich C*-algebras. We establish all four properties for isometrically rich C*-algebras and for extremally rich C*-algebras that are either purely infinite or of real rank zero, K_1-injectivity in the real rank zero case following from a prior result of H. Lin. We also show that weak cancellation implies the other properties for extremally rich C*-algebras and that the class of extremally rich C*-algebras with weak cancellation is closed under extensions. Moreover, we consider analogous properties which replace the group K_1(A) with the extremal K-set K_e(A) as well as two versions of K_0-surjectivity.

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arXiv2013

Large C*-algebras of universally measurable operators

For a C*-algebra A, G. Pedersen defined the concept of universal measurability for self-adjoint elements of A**, the universal enveloping algebra of A. Although he was unable to show that U, the set of universally measurable elements, is a Jordan algebra, he showed that U contains a large Jordan algebra, U_0. We show by means of a 2 x 2 matrix trick that U_0 is in fact the real part of a C*-algebra. If it is ever shown that U is always a C*-algebra, then the same trick will show that U is the real part of a C*-algebra.

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arXiv2010

Homotopy classification of projections in the corona algebra of a non-simple $C\sp *$-algebra

We study projections in the corona algebra of $C(X)\otimes K$ where $X=[0,1],[0,\infty),(-\infty,\infty)$, and $[0,1]/\{0,1 \}$. Using BDF's essential codimension, we determine conditions for a projection in the corona algebra to be liftable to a projection in the multiplier algebra. Then we also characterize the conditions for two projections to be equal in $K_0$-group, Murray-von Neumann equivalent, unitarily equivalent, and homotopic from the weakest to the strongest. In light of these characterizations, we construct examples showing that any two equivalence notions do not coincide, which serve as examples of non-stable K-theory of $C\sp*$-algebras.

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arXiv2007

On higher real and stable ranks for CCR C*-algebras

We calculate the real rank and stable rank of CCR algebras which either have only finite dimensional irreducible representations or have finite topological dimension. We show that either rank of A is determined in a good way by the ranks of an ideal I and the quotient A/I in four cases: When A is CCR; when I has only finite dimensional irreducible representations; when I is separable, of generalized continuous trace and finite topological dimension, and all irreducible representations of I are infinite dimensional; or when I is separable, stable, has an approximate identity consisting of projections, and has the corona factorization property. We also present a counterexample on higher ranks of M(A), A subhomogeneous, and a theorem of P. Green on generalized continuous trace algebras.

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