In this note we point out and discuss a relationship between the following two properties which a C*-algebra A may have:

(D) all derivations on A are inner;

(P) the set of pure states of A is w*-compact.

The relationship is deduced from a comparison of two existing theorems ((I) and (II) below).

It is well known that the lattice Λ(S) of congruences on a regular semigroup S contains certain fundamental congruences. For example there is always a minimum band congruence β, which Spitznagel has used in his study of the lattice of congruences on a band of groups [16]. Of key importance to his investigation is the fact that β separates congruences on a band of groups in the sense that two congruences are the same if they have the same meet and join with β. This result enabled him to characterize θ-modular bands of groups as precisely those bands of groups for which ρ⃗(ρ∨β, ρ∧β)is an embedding of Λ(S) into a product of sublattices.

Quadratic forms associated with graphs were introduced over a century ago by Jordan [4]. We are concerned with the optimisation of such quadratic forms, following Motzkin and Straus [5], and we use the setting of categories and functors to express the nice interplay between the algebra and the graph theory. Applications to interchange graphs are also obtained.

Let R be an associative ring with identity, X a set of noncommuting variables, = {αx} x ∈ X a set of automorphisms αx of R and R {X} the -twisted free associative algebra on X over R. Let Y be another set of noncommuting variables, ℬ = {βy}y∈Y a set of automorphisms βy of R {X} and S = (R{X})ℬ {Y} the ℬ-twisted free associative algebra on Y over R{X}. Next, let X1 be a set of noncommuting variables, for each l = 1,2,…. We form the free associative algebra S1 = S{X1}on Xl over S and inductively, we form the free associative algebra Sl+1 = Sl{Xl+1} on Xl+1 over Sl, l = 1,2,….

Let (Ω,Σ,μ) be a finite measure space and X a Banach space. Denote by L1 (μ,X) the Banach space of (equivalence classes of) μ-strongly measurable X-valued Bochner integrable functions f:Ω→X normed by

The problem of characterizing the relatively weakly compact subsets of L1(Ω, X) remains open. It is known that for a bounded subset of L1(μ, X) to be relatively weakly compact it is necessary that the set be uniformly integrable; recall that K ⊆ L1, (μ, X) is uniformly integrable whenever given ε >0 there exists δ > 0 such that if μ (E) ≦ δ then ∫E∥f∥ dμ ≦ δ, for all f ∈ K. S. Chatterji has noted that in case X is reflexive this condition is also sufficient [4]. At present unless one assumes that both X and X* have the Radon-Nikodym Property (see [1]), a rather severe restriction which, for purposes of potential applicability, is tantamount to assuming reflexivity, no good sufficient conditions for weak compactness in L1(μ, X) exist. This note puts forth such sufficient conditions; the basic tool is the recent factorization method of W. J. Davis, T. Figiel, W. B. Johnson and A. Pelczynski [3].

Let X be a Banach space and L(X) the Banach algebra of bounded linear operators on X. An operator T in L(X) is hermitian if ∥eitT∥ = 1 (t ∈ R), and is normal if T = R + iJ where R and J are commuting normal operators; R and J are then determined uniquely by T, and we may write T* = R–iJ. These definitions extend those for operators on Hilbert spaces. More details may be found in [1].

Apart from simple Ore extensions such as the Weyl algebras, the best known example of a primitive Ore extension is the universal enveloping algebra U(g) of the 2-dimensional solvable Lie algebra g over a field k of characteristic zero, see [4, p. 22]. U(g) is a polynomial algebra over k in two indeterminates x and y with multiplication subject to the relation xy – yx = y, and may be regarded either as an Ore extension of k [x] by the k-automorphism which maps x to x – 1 or as an Ore extension of k[y] by the derivation yd/dy. The argument suggested in [4, p. 22] to prove the primitivity of U(g) can easily be generalised [6] to show that, if α is an automorphism of the ring R then the following conditions are sufficient for R[x, α] to be primitive: (i) no power αs, s ≧ 1, of α is inner; (ii) the only ideals of R invariant under α are 0 and R. These conditions are necessary and sufficient for the simplicity of the skew Laurent polynomial ring R[x, x–1, α] but are not necessary for the primitivity of R[x, α] (the ordinary polynomial ring D[x] over a division ring D not algebraic over its centre is easily seen to be primitive).

All topological spaces here are assumed to be T2. The collection F(Y)of all homeomorphisms whose domains and ranges are closed subsets of a topological space Y is an inverse semigroup under the operation of composition. We are interested in the general problem of getting some information about the subsemigroups of F(Y) whenever Y is a compact metric space. Here, we specifically look at the problem of determining those spaces X with the property that F(X) is isomorphic to a subsemigroup of F(Y). The main result states that if X is any first countable space with an uncountable number of points, then the semigroup F(X) can be embedded into the semigroup F(Y) if and only if either X is compact and Y contains a copy of X, or X is noncompact and locally compact and Y contains a copy of the one-point compactification of X.

In recent years various authors have studied integral operators involving confluent hypergeometric functions Mκ,μ and Wκ,μ. Using the method devised by Fox [2], Saxena [5] obtained the inverse of an integral operator with kernel (xt) μ− ½e− ½xtWκ,μ (xt). Singh [6] derived the solution of an integral equation of convolution type with kernel

Several people, including Wallace [4] and Passman [3], have studied the Jacobson radical of the group algebra F[G] where F is a field and G is a multiplicative group. In [4], for instance, Wallace proves that if G is an abelian group with Sylow p-subgroup P and if F is a field of characteristic p, then the Jacobson radical of F[G] equals the right ideal generated by the radical of F[P]. In this paper we shall study group algebras over arbitrary commutative rings. By a reduction to the case of a semi-simple commutative ring, we obtain Theorem 1 whose corollary contains a generalization of Wallace's theorem. Theorem 2, on the other hand, uses the first theorem to obtain results related to the main theorem of [3].

The present paper incorporates a preliminary study of a new generalization of several known polynomial systems belonging to (or providing extensions of) the families of the classical Jacobi, Hermite and Laguerre polynomials. It is shown how suitable specializations will yield a number of known or new results in the theory of the special functions considered.

During the past few years, some papers of P. Deligne and J.-P. Serre (see [2], [9], [10] and other references cited there) have included an investigation of certain properties of coefficients of modular forms, and in particular Serre [10] (see also [11]) obtained the divisibility property (1) below. Let

be a modular form of integral weight k ≧ 1 on a congruence subgroup of SL2(Z), and suppose that each cn belongs to the ring RK of integers of an algebraic number field K finite over Q. For c ∈ RK and m ≧ 1 an integer, write c ≡ 0 (mod m) if c ∈ m RK and c ≢ 0 (mod m) otherwise. Then Serre showed that there exists α > 0 such that

as x → ∞, where throughout this note N(n ≦ x: P) denotes the number of positive integers n ≦ x with the property P.