Related papers: A non-commutative, analytic version of Hilbert's 1…

We show that Connes' embedding conjecture on von Neumann algebras is equivalent to the existence of certain algebraic certificates for a polynomial in noncommuting variables to satisfy the following nonnegativity condition: The trace is…

We show that Connes' embedding problem for II_1-factors is equivalent to a statement about distributions of sums of self-adjoint operators with matrix coefficients. This is an application of a linearization result for finite von Neumann…

This paper solves the rational noncommutative analog of Hilbert's 17th problem: if a noncommutative rational function is positive semidefinite on all tuples of hermitian matrices in its domain, then it is a sum of hermitian squares of…

Positivstellens{\"a}tze are a group of theorems on the positivity of involution algebras over $\mathbb{R}$ or $\mathbb{C}$. One of the most well-known Positivstellensatz is the solution to Hilbert's 17th problem given by E. Artin, which…

We give a short and elementary proof of a theorem of Procesi, Schacher and (independently) Gondard, Ribenboim that generalizes a famous result of Artin. Let $A$ be an $n \times n$ symmetric matrix with entries in the polynomial ring…

Let M be a von Neumann algebra of type II_1 which is also a complemented subspace of B(H). We establish an algebraic criterion, which ensures that M is an injective von Neumann algebra. As a corollary we show that if M is a complemented…

Let $\mathscr{M}$ be a $II_1$ factor acting on the Hilbert space $\mathscr{H}$, and $\mathscr{M}_{\textrm{aff}}$ be the Murray-von Neumann algebra of closed densely-defined operators affiliated with $\mathscr{M}$. Let $\tau$ denote the…

This paper addresses a conjecture of Kadison and Kastler that a von Neumann algebra M on a Hilbert space H should be unitarily equivalent to each sufficiently close von Neumann algebra N and, moreover, the implementing unitary can be chosen…

This article gives a class of Nullstellens\"atze for noncommutative polynomials. The singularity set of a noncommutative polynomial $f=f(x_1,\dots,x_g)$ is $Z(f)=(Z_n(f))_n$, where $Z_n(f)=\{X \in M_n^g: \det f(X) = 0\}.$ The first main…

We pose and discuss several Hermitian analogues of Hilbert's $17$-th problem. We survey what is known, offer many explicit examples and some proofs, and give applications to CR geometry. We prove one new algebraic theorem: a non-negative…

We consider the 2-generated free metabelian associative and Lie algebras over the complex field and the invariants of the dihedral groups of finite order acting on these algebras. In the associative case we find a finite set of generators…

We find a class of algebras A satisfying the following property: for every nontrivial noncommutative polynomial, the linear span of all its values in A equals A. This class includes the algebras of all bounded and all compact operators on…

We use continuous model theory to obtain several results concerning isomorphisms and embeddings between II_1 factors and their ultrapowers. Among other things, we show that for any II_1 factor M, there are continuum many nonisomorphic…

We prove that every separable tracial von Neumann algebra embeds into a II$_1$ factor with property (T) which can be taken to have trivial outer automorphism and fundamental groups. We also establish an analogous result for the trivial…

We show that a formal power series in $2N$ non-commuting indeterminates is a positive non-commutative kernel if and only if the kernel on $N$-tuples of matrices of any size obtained from this series by matrix substitution is positive. We…

We define the notion of self-tracial stability for tracial von Neumann algebras and show that a tracial von Neumann algebra satisfying the Connes Embedding Problem is self-tracially stable if and only if it is amenable. We then generalize a…

A contractive $n$-tuple $A=(A_1,...,A_n)$ has a minimal joint isometric dilation $S=(S_1,...,S_n)$ where the $S_i$'s are isometries with pairwise orthogonal ranges. This determines a representation of the Cuntz-Toeplitz algebra. When $A$…

This is an expanded lecture note for "Masterclass on sofic groups and applications to operator algebras" (University of Copenhagen, 5-9 November 2012). It is about algebraic aspects of the Connes Embedding Conjecture. It contains new proofs…

We propose and discuss how basic notions (quadratic modules, positive elements, semialgebraic sets, Archimedean orderings) and results (Positivstellensaetze) from real algebraic geometry can be generalized to noncommutative $*$-algebras. A…

We make two observations regarding the invertibility of Keller maps. i.e., polynomial maps for which the determinant of their Jacobian matrix is identically equal to 1. In our first result, we show that if P is a n-dimensional Keller map,…