Archiv des Autors: hannesthiel

Pure group C*-algebras

Von | Februar 15, 2026

Question: Is pure if (and only if) is non-amenable? Here, denotes the reduced group C*-algebra of a discrete group . A C*-algebra is said to be \emph{pure} if it is Jiang-Su stable at the level of Cuntz semigroups, in the sense that     Equivalently, the Cuntz semigroup is almost unperforated and almost divisible (see… Weiterlesen »

Automatic continuity of homomorphisms

Von | September 17, 2025

Introduction: The study of automatic continuity for homomorphisms (multiplicative, linear maps) between Banach algebras has a long history. In 1960, Bade and Curtis [1] proved the existence of discontinuous homomorphisms between commutative Banach algebras in ZFC, showing that automatic continuity results can only be achieved by imposing additional hypotheses on the algebras , or on… Weiterlesen »

Von Neumann’s problem for II-1 factors

Von | Dezember 8, 2023

In the 1920s, von Neumann introduced the notion of amenability for groups, and he showed that a group is nonamenable whenever it contains the free group . The question of whether this characterizes (non)amenability became known as von Neumann’s problem, and it was finally answered negatively by Olshanskii in 1980: There exist nonamenable groups that… Weiterlesen »

Nonseparable, exact C*-algebras

Von | Dezember 8, 2023

It is known that every nuclear C*-algebra is exact, and that exactness passes to sub-C*-algebras. It follows that every sub-C*-algebra of a nuclear C*-algebra is exact. For separable C*-algebras, the converse holds. In fact, Kirchberg’s -embedding theorem shows that a separable C*-algebra is exact if and only if it embeds into the Cuntz algebra (which… Weiterlesen »

Traces on purely infinite C*-algebras

Von | Oktober 26, 2022

Does there exist a purely infinite C*-algebra that admits a tracial weight taking a finite, nonzero value? Here a C*-algebra is purely infinite if every element is properly infinite ( is Cuntz subequivalent to in ). This notion was introduced and studied by Kirchberg-Rørdam in ​[1]​ and ​[2]​. Further, a weight on a C*-algebra is… Weiterlesen »

Commutators in factors

Von | Oktober 8, 2022

Question: Is every element of trace zero in a factor a commutator? Update (August 2024): A positive answer to the questions was recently given In the following article: S. Wen, J. Fang, Z. Yao. A stronger version of Dixmier’s averaging theorem and some applications. J. Funct. Anal. 287 (2024). Background on commutators: It is a… Weiterlesen »

The Blackadar-Handelman conjectures

Von | November 1, 2021

In ​[1]​, Blackadar and Handelman made two conjectures: Conjecture 1: (Below Theorem I.2.4 in ​[1]​) Let be a unital C*-algebra. Then the set of lower-semicontinuous dimension functions is dense in the set of dimension functions. Conjecture 2: (Below Theorem II.4.4 in ​[1]​) Let be a unital C*-algebra. Then the compact, convex set is a Choquet… Weiterlesen »