We establish a theory of noncommutative (NC) functions on a class of von Neumann algebras with a particular direct sum property, e.g., $B({\mathcal H})$ . In contrast to the theory’s origins, we do not rely on appealing to results from the matricial case. We prove that the $k{\mathrm {th}}$ directional derivative of any NC function at a scalar point is a k-linear homogeneous polynomial in its directions. Consequences include the fact that NC functions defined on domains containing scalar points can be uniformly approximated by free polynomials as well as realization formulas for NC functions bounded on particular sets, e.g., the NC polydisk and NC row ball.

This short note refines a noncommutative (nc) Oka–Weil theorem by using a characterization of free compact nc sets based on the notion of dilation hulls. A consequence of it is that any free holomorphic function can be represented as a free polynomial on each free compact nc set.

We establish rigidity (or uniqueness) theorems for non-commutative (NC) automorphisms that are natural extensions of classical results of H. Cartan and are improvements of recent results. We apply our results to NC domains consisting of unit balls of rectangular matrices.