In mathematics, especially functional analysis, a Fréchet algebra, named after Maurice René Fréchet, is an associative algebra over the real or complex numbers that at the same time is also a (locally convex) Fréchet space. The multiplication operation for is required to be jointly continuous. If is an increasing family[a] of seminorms for the topology of , the joint continuity of multiplication is equivalent to there being a constant and integer for each such that for all .[b] Fréchet algebras are also called B0-algebras.[1]

A Fréchet algebra is -convex if there exists such a family of semi-norms for which . In that case, by rescaling the seminorms, we may also take for each and the seminorms are said to be submultiplicative: for all [c] -convex Fréchet algebras may also be called Fréchet algebras.[2]

A Fréchet algebra may or may not have an identity element . If is unital, we do not require that as is often done for Banach algebras.

Properties

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  • Continuity of multiplication. Multiplication is separately continuous if   and   for every   and sequence   converging in the Fréchet topology of  . Multiplication is jointly continuous if   and   imply  . Joint continuity of multiplication is part of the definition of a Fréchet algebra. For a Fréchet space with an algebra structure, if the multiplication is separately continuous, then it is automatically jointly continuous.[3]
  • Group of invertible elements. If   is the set of invertible elements of  , then the inverse map   is continuous if and only if   is a   set.[4] Unlike for Banach algebras,   may not be an open set. If   is open, then   is called a  -algebra. (If   happens to be non-unital, then we may adjoin a unit to  [d] and work with  , or the set of quasi invertibles[e] may take the place of  .)
  • Conditions for  -convexity. A Fréchet algebra is  -convex if and only if for every, if and only if for one, increasing family   of seminorms which topologize  , for each   there exists   and   such that   for all   and  .[5] A commutative Fréchet  -algebra is  -convex,[6] but there exist examples of non-commutative Fréchet  -algebras which are not  -convex.[7]
  • Properties of  -convex Fréchet algebras. A Fréchet algebra is  -convex if and only if it is a countable projective limit of Banach algebras.[8] An element of   is invertible if and only if its image in each Banach algebra of the projective limit is invertible.[f][9][10]

Examples

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  • Zero multiplication. If   is any Fréchet space, we can make a Fréchet algebra structure by setting   for all  .
  • Smooth functions on the circle. Let   be the 1-sphere. This is a 1-dimensional compact differentiable manifold, with no boundary. Let   be the set of infinitely differentiable complex-valued functions on  . This is clearly an algebra over the complex numbers, for pointwise multiplication. (Use the product rule for differentiation.) It is commutative, and the constant function   acts as an identity. Define a countable set of seminorms on   by   where   denotes the supremum of the absolute value of the  th derivative  .[g] Then, by the product rule for differentiation, we have   where   denotes the binomial coefficient and   The primed seminorms are submultiplicative after re-scaling by  .
  • Sequences on  . Let   be the space of complex-valued sequences on the natural numbers  . Define an increasing family of seminorms on   by   With pointwise multiplication,   is a commutative Fréchet algebra. In fact, each seminorm is submultiplicative   for  . This  -convex Fréchet algebra is unital, since the constant sequence   is in  .
  • Equipped with the topology of uniform convergence on compact sets, and pointwise multiplication,  , the algebra of all continuous functions on the complex plane  , or to the algebra   of holomorphic functions on  .
  • Convolution algebra of rapidly vanishing functions on a finitely generated discrete group. Let   be a finitely generated group, with the discrete topology. This means that there exists a set of finitely many elements   such that:   Without loss of generality, we may also assume that the identity element   of   is contained in  . Define a function   by   Then  , and  , since we define  .[h] Let   be the  -vector space   where the seminorms   are defined by  [i]   is an  -convex Fréchet algebra for the convolution multiplication  [j]   is unital because   is discrete, and   is commutative if and only if   is Abelian.
  • Non  -convex Fréchet algebras. The Aren's algebra   is an example of a commutative non- -convex Fréchet algebra with discontinuous inversion. The topology is given by   norms   and multiplication is given by convolution of functions with respect to Lebesgue measure on  .[11]

Generalizations

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We can drop the requirement for the algebra to be locally convex, but still a complete metric space. In this case, the underlying space may be called a Fréchet space[12] or an F-space.[13]

If the requirement that the number of seminorms be countable is dropped, the algebra becomes locally convex (LC) or locally multiplicatively convex (LMC).[14] A complete LMC algebra is called an Arens-Michael algebra.[15]

Michael's Conjecture

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The question of whether all linear multiplicative functionals on an  -convex Frechet algebra are continuous is known as Michael's Conjecture.[16]. For a long time, this conjecture was perhaps the most famous open problem in the theory of topological algebras. Michael's Conjecture was solved completely and affirmatively in 2022.[17]

Notes

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  1. ^ An increasing family means that for each  
     .
  2. ^ Joint continuity of multiplication means that for every absolutely convex neighborhood   of zero, there is an absolutely convex neighborhood   of zero for which   from which the seminorm inequality follows. Conversely,
     
  3. ^ In other words, an  -convex Fréchet algebra is a topological algebra, in which the topology is given by a countable family of submultiplicative seminorms:   and the algebra is complete.
  4. ^ If   is an algebra over a field  , the unitization   of   is the direct sum  , with multiplication defined as  
  5. ^ If  , then   is a quasi-inverse for   if  .
  6. ^ If   is non-unital, replace invertible with quasi-invertible.
  7. ^ To see the completeness, let   be a Cauchy sequence. Then each derivative   is a Cauchy sequence in the sup norm on  , and hence converges uniformly to a continuous function   on  . It suffices to check that   is the  th derivative of  . But, using the fundamental theorem of calculus, and taking the limit inside the integral (using uniform convergence), we have
     
  8. ^ We can replace the generating set   with  , so that  . Then   satisfies the additional property  , and is a length function on  .
  9. ^ To see that   is Fréchet space, let   be a Cauchy sequence. Then for each  ,   is a Cauchy sequence in  . Define   to be the limit. Then
     
    where the sum ranges over any finite subset   of  . Let  , and let   be such that   for  . By letting   run, we have
     
    for  . Summing over all of  , we therefore have   for  . By the estimate
     
    we obtain  . Since this holds for each  , we have   and   in the Fréchet topology, so   is complete.
  10. ^
     

Citations

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  1. ^ Mitiagin, Rolewicz & Żelazko 1962; Żelazko 2001.
  2. ^ Husain 1991; Żelazko 2001.
  3. ^ Waelbroeck 1971, Chapter VII, Proposition 1; Palmer 1994,   2.9.
  4. ^ Waelbroeck 1971, Chapter VII, Proposition 2.
  5. ^ Mitiagin, Rolewicz & Żelazko 1962, Lemma 1.2.
  6. ^ Żelazko 1965, Theorem 13.17.
  7. ^ Żelazko 1994, pp. 283–290.
  8. ^ Michael 1952, Theorem 5.1.
  9. ^ Michael 1952, Theorem 5.2.
  10. ^ See also Palmer 1994, Theorem 2.9.6.
  11. ^ Fragoulopoulou 2005, Example 6.13 (2).
  12. ^ Waelbroeck 1971.
  13. ^ Rudin 1973, 1.8(e).
  14. ^ Michael 1952; Husain 1991.
  15. ^ Fragoulopoulou 2005, Chapter 1.
  16. ^ Michael 1952,   12, Question 1; Palmer 1994,   3.1.
  17. ^ Patel, S. R. (2022-06-28), On affirmative solution to Michael's acclaimed problem in the theory of Fr\'{e}chet algebras, with applications to automatic continuity theory, doi:10.48550/arXiv.2006.11134, retrieved 2024-07-11

Sources

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