Related papers: Rings and C*-algebras generated by commutators

We show that every proper, dense ideal in a C*-algebra is contained in a prime ideal. It follows that a subset generates a C*-algebra as a not necessarily closed ideal if and only if it is not contained in any prime ideal. This allows us to…

A ring is called a commutator ring if every element is a sum of additive commutators. In this paper we give examples of such rings. In particular, we show that given any ring R, a right R-module N, and a set X, End_R(\bigoplus_X N) and…

A famous result due to I. M. Isaacs states that if a commutative ring $R$ has the property that every prime ideal is principal, then every ideal of $R$ is principal. This motivates ring theorists to study commutative rings for which every…

C*-algebras are rings, sometimes nonunital, obeying certain axioms that ensure a very well-behaved representation theory upon Hilbert space. Moreover, there are some well-known features of the representation theory leading to subtle…

The problem of expressing a selfadjoint element that is zero on every bounded trace as a finite sum (or a limit of sums) of commutators is investigated in the setting of C*-algebras of finite nuclear dimension. Upper bounds -- in terms of…

We show that every Lie ideal in a unital, properly infinite C*-algebra is commutator equivalent to a unique two-sided ideal. It follows that the Lie ideal structure of such a C*-algebra is concisely encoded by its lattice of two-sided…

We show that elements of unital $C^*$-algebras without tracial states are finite sums of commutators. Moreover, the number of commutators involved is bounded, depending only on the given $C^*$-algebra.

In the theory of C*-algebras, interesting noncommutative structures arise as deformations of the tensor product. For instance, the rotation algebra may be seen as a scalar twist deformation of the tensor product of the functions on the…

In this paper we show that for a given set of pairwise comaximal ideals $\{X_i\}_{i\in I}$ in a ring $R$ with unity and any right $R$-module $M$ with generating set $Y$ and $C(X_i)=\sum\limits_{k\in\mathbb{N}}\underline{\ell}_M(X_i^{k})$,…

Consider the following inductively defined set. Given a collection $U$ of unit magnitude complex numbers, and a set initially containing just 0 and 1, through each point in the set, draw lines whose angles with the real axis are in $U$. Add…

Let $R$ be a ring and let $n\ge 2$. We discuss the question of whether every element in the matrix ring $M_n(R)$ is a product of (additive) commutators $[x,y]=xy-yx$, for $x,y\in M_n(R)$. An example showing that this does not always hold,…

We show that every separable C*-algebra of real rank zero that tensorially absorbs the Jiang-Su algebra contains a dense set of generators. It follows that in every classifiable, simple, nuclear C*-algebra, a generic element is a generator.

In a simple C*-algebra with suitable regularity properties, any unitary or invertible element with de la Harpe--Skandalis determinant zero is a finite product of commutators.

The universal C*-algebra generated by n projections has been described. As an immediate corollary one obtains structure theorem for a pair of projections and the solution to an associated index problem. This puts the study of a pair of…

Let $A$ be a unital separable simple ${\cal Z}$-stable C*-algebra which has rational tracial rank at most one and let $u\in U_0(A),$ the connected component of the unitary group of $A.$ We show that, for any $\epsilon>0,$ there exists a…

We associate reduced and full C*-algebras to arbitrary rings and study the inner structure of these ring C*-algebras. As a result, we obtain conditions for them to be purely infinite and simple. We also discuss several examples.…

This article studies the equation $[A,B]^k = {\rm Id}_n$ for matrices over $\mathbb{C}$, characterizing the pairs $(k,n)$ for which solutions exist via a classical result of Lam and Leung on sums of roots of unity. The problem is next…

We obtain a characterization of the unital C*-algebras with the property that every element is a limit of products of positive elements, thereby answering a question of Murphy and Phillips.

Let $K$ be a number field with ring of integers $R$. Given a modulus $\mathfrak{m}$ for $K$ and a group $\Gamma$ of residues modulo $\mathfrak{m}$, we consider the semi-direct product $R\rtimes R_{\mathfrak{m},\Gamma}$ obtained by…

In this paper we study commutative rings $R$ whose prime ideals are direct sums of cyclic modules. In the case $R$ is a finite direct product of commutative local rings, the structure of such rings is completely described. In particular, it…