Papers

Using operator-valued subordination, we derive a formula for the $2$-norm distance on reflexive lattices generated by double triangles of projections under freeness assumptions on their graph coefficients, and provide explicit evaluations in both the scalar and free-projection cases.

We consider an action of an inverse semigroup on a C*-algebra $A$ and use it to construct a groupoid of germs with unit space the spectrum of $A$. Motivated by the representation theory of C*-algebras of groupoids, we construct a concrete family of covariant representations for the action. We use this family to give new definitions of the reduced and essential crossed product C*-algebras that avoid, respectively, passing to the double commutant and local multiplier algebra of $A$. Our reduced crossed product is isomorphic to the one defined by Exel, Buss and Meyer, and when the inverse semigroup is quasi-countable our essential crossed product is isomorphic to the one defined by Kwaśniewski and Meyer.

Let $\mathbb{R}\langle X,Y\rangle$ be the free algebra on two symmetric letters. A polynomial is trace-positive if it has non-negative trace on every pair of real symmetric matrices, and it lies in the cone $\Theta$ if it is cyclically equivalent to a sum of Hermitian squares. Burgdorf and Klep proved that the two notions coincide in degree at most four; from degree six onwards they differ. We give a complete, explicit description of both cones on the six-dimensional space $Z$ of symmetric homogeneous sextics in two symmetric letters whose abelianization vanishes identically, and show that on $Z$ they coincide: for $f\in Z$, trace-positivity is equivalent to membership in $\Theta_3$, to non-negativity of the trace on pairs of $2\times2$ symmetric matrices, and to being cyclically equivalent to a sum of four Hermitian squares of cubics with vanishing abelianization. Membership in $\Theta$ reduces to a $4\times4$ positive semidefinite Gram matrix whose diagonal blocks are fixed by the content-$(4,2)$ and $(2,4)$ parts of $f$; each of those parts ranges over a two-dimensional cone with two linear facets, and the content-$(3,3)$ part is then confined to a rectangle whose sides are the geometric means $\sqrt{p_+q_+}$ and $\sqrt{p_-q_-}$ of the eigenvalues of those blocks. Each facet is certified by one of two families of pairs of $2\times2$ symmetric matrices. The abelianization hypothesis is natural: every bivariate degree-six example we are aware of – a trace-positive polynomial outside $\Theta$ – arises by lifting a non-negative, non-SOS polynomial in two variables to a cyclically sorted polynomial; and that lifting cannot operate when the abelianization vanishes. Symmetry of $f$ is essential: dropping it adds one antisymmetric direction, on which the trace vanishes identically, yet whose non-zero elements all lie outside $\Theta$.

In this paper we obtain a complete description of all indecomposable characters (central positive-definite functions) of "block-diagonal" inductive limits of semidirect products $\mathbb{T}^N\rtimes\mathfrak{S}_{N}$ of the compact $N$-dimensional torus $\mathbb{T}^{N}$ with the symmetric group $\mathfrak{S}_{N}$. The classification is proved by means of a variant of the ergodic method of Vershik and Kerov, namely by studying the weak limits of characters of finite-dimensional subgroups. As an application of our results, we give another proof of the classification of indecomposable characters of the infinite unitary group with block diagonal embeddings.

For every odd $N$, we construct a Haagerup-Izumi (HI) category for $\mathbb Z/N$, using Barnes double-sine functions. Equivariantization gives near-group categories of type $((\mathbb Z/N)^2,N^2)$ for every odd $N$. We classify connected separable algebras up to Morita equivalence in such HI categories and describe their dual categories. These duals are often HI for noncyclic groups with nontrivial pointed associators. We prove the Evans-Gannon conjecture that the modular data of the center is always a smashed sum involving a finite metric group of order $N^2+4$ and recover this group and its quadratic form directly from the data of the HI category. We also give the HI equations and reconstruction in arbitrary characteristic and prove a Frobenius symmetry in characteristic two. Using this, we obtain the complete list of (untwisted, subfactor type) HI categories over $\mathbb{C}$ for odd $N\le 43$. Other applications include finding three pairwise non-Morita-equivalent $\mathbb Z/15$ categories whose centers have the same modular data. We show that the center of a $\mathbb Z/5$ HI category cannot be defined (i.e., admits no split ribbon form) over a cyclotomic field, disproving a conjecture of Davidovich-Hagge-Wang.

In this short paper, we prove the bi-exactness of all wreath-like product groups $G\in\mathcal{WR}(A,B\curvearrowright I)$, whenever $A$ is amenable, $B$ is bi-exact, and the action $B\curvearrowright I$ has amenable stabilizers. As applications, we obtain solidity for the associated group von Neumann algebras and, by combining our result with existing rigidity theorems, new examples exhibiting the McDuff superrigidity.

We study dimension-free Riesz transform estimates on hypercubes equipped with non-uniform product measures. For $2\leq p<\infty$, we prove a dimension-free Meyer inequality for the associated carré du champ, with constants independent of both the dimension and the product measure. In contrast to the uniform case, the carré-du-champ square function does not in general coincide with the unweighted Riesz square function. Under an additional boundedness assumption on the weight parameters, we further obtain dimension-free estimates for the latter. Our proof is based on a transference from the biased hypercube to a non-tracial baby Fock model. We introduce new annihilation operators and the associated Riesz transforms on the biased hypercube, and derive explicit formulas relating them to the Riesz transforms on the non-tracial baby Fock model. The main analytic ingredient is a dimension-free $L_p$-estimate for the resulting noncommutative Riesz transform, proved by a rotation argument in the spirit of Pisier and Lust-Piquard. The same analytic mechanism also yields dimension-free Riesz transform estimates on $q$-Araki–Woods algebras.

We obtain a complete characterization of eventually entanglement breaking (EEB) unital channels in terms of some simple commutation properties of their eigenvectors. Specifically, the following properties are equivalent for a unital channel: (i) it is EEB; (ii) it is eventually positive partial transpose (PPT); (iii) it is eventually mixed twisted dephasing; and (iv) its eigenvectors corresponding to non-zero eigenvalues commute with all its peripheral eigenvectors. Similar results hold for one-parameter semigroups of unital quantum channels, where continuity forces such semigroups to become primitive. We employ a matrix integral technique inspired by a result of Watrous. We also characterize the extreme points of the convex set of unital EB channels and, using this characterization and the theory of equiangular tight frames (ETFs), identify several extreme points beyond the twisted dephasing channels.

In this paper, within the framework of real infinitesimal free probability introduced by Cébron and the second author, we compute the real infinitesimal free cumulants of independent complex Wigner matrices. Our approach relies on establishing a combinatorial relation between annular non-crossing partitions and families of directed graphs. As a consequence, we demonstrate that independent complex Wigner matrices are asymptotically real infinitesimally free. In particular, we show (under mild conditions) that a complex Wigner matrix is asymptotically infinitesimally free from its transpose.

We show that exact self-testing of a quantum correlation does not imply robust self-testing. Mančinska and Schmidt previously established such a separation for non-local games, but their obstruction to robustness arises from two distinct optimal correlations, with the self-tested one remaining robust. We establish the separation for a single correlation. Our proof is operator-algebraic. The main technical contribution is a general construction that associates a synchronous binary correlation to any finitely presented C*-algebra with unitary generators and real-coefficient relations. The implementing states of the correlation correspond exactly to the tracial states on the algebra. We apply this construction to an algebra with a unique finite-dimensional tracial state and a distinct amenable tracial state. By a characterization established by Zhao and independently by Kar, the resulting correlation is a self-test but not a robust self-test.

We propose a new framework for noncommutative stochastic integration in $L^p$, inspired by Bichteler's notion of $L^p$-integrators, that massively generalizes our previous theory of $L^2$-valued stochastic integration against $L^2$-decomposable processes. Central to our framework is a noncommutative analog of a predictable integrand we call a predictable linear process. We develop basic properties of stochastic integrals against "noncommutative $L^p$-integrators" and establish a useful criterion for a noncommutative stochastic process to be a noncommutative $L^p$-integrator. This criterion applies, in particular, to a rich class of processes we call measured decomposable processes, which includes free Brownian motion and, more generally, the $q$-Brownian motions. We also show that, when specialized appropriately, our framework recovers the classical notion of an $L^p$-integrator up to the fact that the noncommutative theory sees only the modification class of a classical stochastic process. As an application, we use our theory to study noncommutative stochastic differential equations (SDEs) in $L^p$. Under natural local-Lipschitz and boundedness assumptions, we establish the existence and uniqueness of maximal solutions and show that a maximal solution with finite lifetime must blow up in $L^p$ norm. As corollaries, we obtain new existence and uniqueness results for free SDEs and SDEs driven by $q$-Brownian motion. Notably, in the free case, our results apply to coefficients arising through the continuous functional calculus from merely locally Lipschitz scalar functions, as opposed to locally operator-Lipschitz functions.

The unitary group of a von Neumann algebra on an $\aleph_0$-dimensional Hilbert space is polynomially weak$^*$-dense (equivalently, $G_{delta}$ dense or residual) in the normal unit ball if and only if the canonical finite atomic quotient of the von Neumann algebra is trivial. The analogous result holds for the usual weak$^*$ topology, in which case one can drop the normality constraint. In the latter form, this answers a question of T. Eisner and generalizes the counterpart for full bounded-operator algebras.

We prove that every action of a countably infinite discrete amenable group on a nonempty compact Hausdorff zero-dimensional space has dynamical comparison, without assuming minimality, freeness, or metrizability. More precisely, strict inequalities under all invariant probability measures imply comparison in the clopen type semigroup with an order-unit remainder. For minimal Cantor actions, the clopen type semigroup is cancellative and almost unperforated, and its canonical map onto the positive cone of the coinvariant group is an isomorphism of ordered monoids. These results answer Melleray's cancellation question and the amenable case of his comparison question. For minimal Cantor actions, we also prove goodness of the associated affine evaluation map and obtain a minimal homeomorphism of the same Cantor space with the same invariant probability measures. We identify the precise obstruction to recovering clopen equidecomposability from affine evaluation alone. This obstruction is given by the infinitesimal subgroup: for every nonempty proper clopen set $A$, it parametrizes the topological-full-group orbits of clopen sets having the same affine evaluation as $A$. Combining comparison with the theorems of Kerr and Szabó, we prove that every free action of a countably infinite discrete amenable group on a nonempty compact metrizable space with the topological small boundary property is almost finite. This settles Naryshkin's almost-finiteness conjecture for finite-dimensional compact metrizable spaces. If the action is also minimal, its reduced crossed product is $\mathcal Z$-stable, has nuclear dimension at most one, and satisfies all the regularity conditions in the Toms–Winter conjecture.

In this paper, we study modulated $(C,\alpha)$-ergodic averages with operator-valued weights and their subsequential versions in the setting of semifinite von Neumann algebras. Our framework combines $(C,\alpha)$-type modulation with operator-valued weights and extends both scalar-weighted and operator-valued weighted ergodic theories. We establish mean ergodic theorems and maximal inequalities for these averages on noncommutative $L_p$-spaces. We then study bilateral almost uniform and almost uniform convergence in noncommutative Orlicz spaces, including convergence along subsequences of density one. A key ingredient in our approach is the introduction of the $p$-convexity condition on the underlying Orlicz function. This condition enables us to transfer appropriate maximal estimates from noncommutative $L_p$-spaces to establish bilateral uniform equicontinuity in measure at zero on the corresponding noncommutative $p$-convex Orlicz spaces. Together with the noncommutative Banach principle, this yields the desired pointwise convergence results. As an additional consequence of our $p$-convexity argument, we extend Rota's theorem to a larger class of noncommutative Orlicz spaces associated with the $p$-convex Orlicz functions considered in this article.

Let $R$ be a continuous von Neumann regular ring with no nonzero abelian idempotents. We prove that every element of $R$ is a single additive commutator. In particular, every operator affiliated with a type $\mathrm{II}_1$ von Neumann algebra is a commutator of operators affiliated with the same algebra. Our commutator theorem, together with a theorem of Jaikin-Zapirain and López-Álvarez, implies that, if $R$ is a nonzero unital algebra over a field $\mathbb{K}$ of characteristic zero, the quotient division ring of the first Weyl algebra over $\mathbb{K}$ embeds unitally into $R$. We also give a direct proof of this consequence.

We develop a quantitative approach to quasi-local operators with bounded block-rank. Our main results are a quantitative decomposition for quasi-local operators into block-rank-one pieces and a quantitative finite-propagation approximation in the block-rank-one case, leading to a quantitative proof of the bounded block-rank rigidity result for Roe and quasi-local algebras.

In this paper, we continue to investigate Campanato spaces via semigroups on von Neumann algebras. One of the main results is their coincidence with Lipschitz spaces for all regularity indices $\alpha > 0$ and for all analytic semigroups on von Neumann algebras not necessarily being finite; the desired self-improving property of Campanato spaces has also been verified. As a consequence, we demonstrate that the column Campanato spaces are isomorphic to the row ones for all $\alpha > 0$. This not only removes several restrictions in the previous work \cite{HJ24} by the first two authors, but also extends the previous results to any analytic semigroup, and thus resolves several problems left open in \cite{HJ24}. Both the results and the proof are new even in the commutative setting.

Given a unital inclusion of $C^*$-algebras $\mathcal C \subset \mathcal A$ and a unital inclusion $\mathcal C \subset \mathcal B$ into a von Neumann algebra $\mathcal B$, we investigate the extreme points of unital completely positive maps from $\mathcal A$ to $\mathcal B$ that fix $\mathcal C$ denoted by $UCP_\mathcal C(\mathcal A, \mathcal B)$. This space is obviously convex and $C^*$-convex with respect to the $C^*$-algebra $\mathcal C' \cap \mathcal B$. In this article we show that the $\mathcal C' \cap \mathcal B$-extreme points are exactly the $*$-homomorphisms that fix $\mathcal C$ when $\mathcal A$ is commutative and $\mathcal B$ has a normal faithful center valued trace. This generalizes a result due to Farenick and Morenz where $\mathcal C = \mathbb C 1$ and $\mathcal B = M_n(\mathbb C)$.

We show that if a sequence of expander graphs equi-coarsely embeds into a Banach space, then this Banach space fails Kasparov and Yu's Property (H). Consequently, no Banach space with Property (H) can be coarsely universal for all countable groups. We provide a Lean verification of our results.

For every integer $n\ge 2$, we introduce a new combinatorial condition PP$(n)$ inspired by paradoxical decompositions of groups. As $n$ increases, the property PP$(n)$ weakens, and the resulting hierarchy interpolates between group-theoretic manifestations of negative curvature and proper proximality. More precisely, we prove that a countable group is properly proximal if and only if it satisfies PP$(n)$ for some $n$. On the other hand, every acylindrically hyperbolic group satisfies PP$(2)$; furthermore, finitely generated PP$(2)$-groups admit a geometric characterization: they are precisely the groups containing strongly quasi-convex, non-cyclic, free subgroups. In particular, we obtain that every countable acylindrically hyperbolic group is properly proximal. Finally, for every $n\in\mathbb N$, we provide examples of finitely generated properly proximal groups that do not satisfy PP$(n)$, thus proving that our hierarchy is indeed infinite.

We show that, for a second-countable locally compact Hausdorff étale minimal groupoid with compact unit space, simplicity of the reduced groupoid C*-algebra implies the existence of a comeager set of unit points with C*-simple isotropy group. Combining this result with work of Christensen and Neshveyev on exotic completions of isotropy group algebras, we show that the converse implication is also true. Finally, we construct a Hausdorff étale minimal groupoid with an isotropy group whose induced exotic completion differs from its reduced group C*-algebra, answering a question of Christensen and Neshveyev.

We introduce and study the family of super adaptable monoids, which includes, among many others, all conical refinement monoids that are either finitely generated, or countable, primely generated, and regular. Our main result shows that any countable super adaptable monoid can be realized by a von Neumann regular ring, thus answering affirmatively the Realization problem for this class. The result is new even for the subclass of countable, primely generated, regular conical refinement monoids, which we show can be realized by both a von Neumann regular ring and a purely infinite, real rank zero C*-algebra. To prove this result, we develop a systematic framework that connects three fundamental structures: abstract monoids, separated graphs (a specific class of colored graphs), and von Neumann regular rings. By establishing functorial connections among these classes, we translate several algebraic properties of monoids into combinatorial and ring-theoretic notions. This allows us not only to prove the main realization result, but also to obtain several characterizations of super adaptable monoids. As a particular application, these can be used to provide a complete characterization of which regular monoids arise as graph monoids. To our knowledge, this work offers the first self-contained treatment in the literature where the complete realization process —from abstract monoids through I-systems and separated graphs to regular rings and C*-algebras— is developed sequentially and in full detail within a single text.

In this paper, we establish a quantum Cheeger inequality for primitive KMS-symmetric quantum Markov semigroups in terms of projection conductance. We discuss both projection conductance and classical conductance for graph-based KMS-symmetric quantum Markov semigroups. We show that hypercontractivity and the logarithmic Sobolev inequality hold for primitive KMS-symmetric quantum Markov semigroups. We also present applications of the quantum Cheeger inequality to logarithmic Sobolev inequalities, hypercontractivity, and complete modified logarithmic Sobolev inequalities.

An important result due to Radjabalipour asserts that if ${A\in\BB(\H)}$ is an invertible positive operator and ${T\in\BB(\H)}$ is arbitrary, then the operator sequence $\{A^{-n}TA^n\}_{n\in\ZZ}$ is norm-bounded if and only if ${TA=AT}.$ Using the concept of spectral gaps, we show that if $A$ possesses a spectral gap and the sequence $\{A^{-n}TA^n\}_{n\in\ZZ}$ is norm-bounded, then $T$ must be block diagonal with respect to a certain orthogonal decomposition of $\H$. We also provide an alternative proof of Radjabalipour's theorem. We also extend the theorem to some rich classes of operators, including invertible normal operators and invertible weighted sums of projections. Moreover, we provide simple proofs for the fact that a positive definite matrix ${A\in\MM_N}$ is a positive multiple of the identity if and only if the sequence $\{A^{-n}TA^n\}_{n\in\ZZ}$ is norm-bounded for every~${T\in\MM_N}.$

We prove that hypercontractivity implies entropy contraction for a single quantum channel, without a detailed balance condition. For primitive quantum Markov semigroups that are KMS-symmetric with respect to a faithful invariant state \(\sigma\), we obtain the modified Log-Sobolev bound $\alpha_1\geq \frac{\lambda}{(2+\log\|\sigma^{-1}\|_\infty)}$ where $\lambda$ is the spectral gap. This removes the assumption of \(L_p\)-regularity for the comparison through the log-Sobolev constant. As an application, we show that the hypercontractivity of an average of two conditional expectations implies the approximate tensorization of relative entropy.

The article arXiv:2410.21454 constructed a braided $\mathrm{W^*}$-tensor category of superselection sectors associated to a net of von Neumann algebras on a suitably geometric poset using localized and transportable endomorphisms. In this article, we construct an equivalent tensor product and braiding using the Connes fusion tensor product without localizing, using ideas from arXiv:1812.04470 for conformal nets. As an application, we prove that the category of superselection sectors associated to the 2D braided quantum spin system constructed from a unitary braided fusion category $\mathcal{B}$ in arXiv:2506.19969 is equivalent to $\mathsf{Hilb}(\mathcal{B})^{\rm op}$, the opposite of the unitary ind-completion of $\mathcal{B}$, as a braided $\mathrm{W^*}$-tensor category.

Christensen and Pedersen proved that every properly infinite $\mathrm{AW}^*$-algebra is monotone sequentially complete, and Saitô and Wright developed a transfinite form of their dilation argument. We revisit the transfinite construction using normality of $\mathrm{AW}^*$-algebras. Normality simplifies the limit stages by turning suprema into compressions of joins, so the construction only needs a supply of fresh orthogonal projections large enough to contain the supports of the summands at successor stages. We use this simplified proof to show that a $*$-homomorphism between $\mathrm{AW}^*$-algebras that preserves only the joins needed to encode such a sum preserves the sum itself. We also use it to deduce order-continuity facts about $\kappa$-join-preserving $*$-homomorphisms. We also show that a finite $\mathrm{AW}^*$-algebra has suprema for all bounded positive families whose supports have bounded total center-valued dimension.

We prove RE-completeness of the quantum homomorphism problem parameterised by families of graphs derived from the classic metric association schemes. These include Kneser graphs, $q$-Kneser graphs, and the complements of Johnson, Grassmann, and Hamming graphs. Our proof develops a spectral method for establishing non-contextuality of quantum polymorphisms. It combines an equality analysis of Roberson's bound on the projective packing number in terms of Schrijver's theta with a structural argument inspired by Erdős-Ko-Rado theory.

We prove that every compact operator $T$ on a separable infinite-dimensional complex Hilbert space is a commutator of two compact operators, thereby answering a question of Pearcy and Topping. Moreover, the compact factors $A$ and $B$ can be chosen such that $[A, B] = T$ and $\max\{\Vert{}A\Vert{},\Vert{}B\Vert{}\}\leq c\Vert{}T\Vert{}^{1/2}$ for a universal constant $c$.

We study Toeplitz operators acting on radial weighted Fock spaces. We use tools from representation theory to construct commutative families of $C^*$-algebras that are generated by Toeplitz operators whose symbols are invariant under the action of $\U(n)$. For a partition $m=(b_1,...,b_k)$ of an integer $n$, we realize \[\mathbf{\U_m}:=\U(b_1)\times...\times\U(b_k)\] as a block diagonally subgroup of $\U(n)$ and describe the decomposition of the weighted Fock space into irreducible $\mathbf{U_m}$-modules. This allows us to study Toeplitz operators with $\mathbf{U_m}$-invariant, equivalently $k$-quasi-radial, symbols. Also, we provide an explicit integral representation of their eigenvalues. More generally, for an arbitrary compact subgroup $H\subseteq\U(n)$, we characterize the commutativity of the $C^*$-algebra generated by $H$-invariant Toeplitz operators in terms of the multiplicity-free property of the representation $\pi|_H$. Finally, for a logarithmically growing radial weight, we construct a bounded radial symbol for which the corresponding eigenvalue sequence is not uniformly continuous with respect to the square-root metric. Consequently, the uniform closure of the set of eigenvalue sequences does not coincide with the $C^*$-algebra of bounded sequences that are uniformly continuous with respect to the square-root metric.