We study the second dual algebra of a Banach algebra and related problems. We resolve some questions raised by Ülger, which are related to Arens products. We then discuss a question of Gulick on the radical of the second dual algebra of the group algebra of a discrete abelian group and give an application of Arens regularity to Fourier and Fourier–Stieltjes transforms.

We define extensions of the weighted core–EP inverse and weighted core–EP pre-orders of bounded linear operators on Hilbert spaces to elements of a $C^{\ast }$-algebra. Some properties of the weighted core–EP inverse and weighted core–EP pre-orders are generalized and some new ones are proved. Using the weighted element, the weighted core–EP pre-order, the minus partial order and the star partial order of certain elements, new weighted pre-orders are presented on the set of all $wg$-Drazin invertible elements of a $C^{\ast }$-algebra. Applying these results, we introduce and characterize new partial orders which extend the core–EP pre-order to a partial order.

Let ${\mathcal{A}}$ be a complex unital Banach algebra, let $a$ be an element in it and let $0<\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}<1$. In this article, we study the upper and lower hemicontinuity and joint continuity of the condition spectrum and its level set maps in appropriate settings. We emphasize that the empty interior of the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}$-level set of a condition spectrum at a given $(\unicode[STIX]{x1D716},a)$ plays a pivotal role in the continuity of the required maps at that point. Further, uniform continuity of the condition spectrum map is obtained in the domain of normal matrices.

For a compact metric space (K, d), LipK denotes the Banach algebra of all complex-valued Lipschitz functions on (K, d). We show that the continuous Hochschild cohomology Hn(LipK, (LipK)*) and Hn(LipK, ℂe) are both infinite-dimensional vector spaces for each n ≥ 1 if the space K contains a certain infinite sequence which converges to a point e ∈ K. Here (LipK)* is the dual module of LipK and ℂe denotes the complex numbers with a LipK-bimodule structure defined by evaluations of LipK-functions at e. Examples of such metric spaces include all compact Riemannian manifolds, compact geodesic metric spaces and infinite compact subsets of ℝ. In particular, the (small) global homological dimension of LipK is infinite for every such space. Our proof uses the description of point derivations by Sherbert [‘The structure of ideals and point derivations in Banach algebras of Lipschitz functions’, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc.111 (1964), 240–272] and directly constructs non-trivial cocycles with the help of alternating cocycles of Johnson [‘Higher-dimensional weak amenability’, Studia Math.123 (1997), 117–134]. An alternating construction of cocycles on the basis of the idea of Kleshchev [‘Homological dimension of Banach algebras of smooth functions is equal to infinity’, Vest. Math. Mosk. Univ. Ser. 1. Mat. Mech.6 (1988), 57–60] is also discussed.

We show that an essentially amenable Banach algebra need not have an approximate identity. This answers a question posed by Ghahramani and Loy [‘Generalized notions of amenability’, J. Funct. Anal.  208 (2004), 229–260]. Essentially Connes-amenable dual Banach algebras are introduced and studied.

Motivated by the definition of a semigroup compactication of a locally compact group and a large collection of examples, we introduce the notion of an (operator) homogeneous left dual Banach algebra (HLDBA) over a (completely contractive) Banach algebra $A$. We prove a Gelfand-type representation theorem showing that every HLDBA over A has a concrete realization as an (operator) homogeneous left Arens product algebra: the dual of a subspace of $A^{\ast }$ with a compatible (matrix) norm and a type of left Arens product $\Box$. Examples include all left Arens product algebras over $A$, but also, when $A$ is the group algebra of a locally compact group, the dual of its Fourier algebra. Beginning with any (completely) contractive (operator) $A$-module action $Q$ on a space $X$, we introduce the (operator) Fourier space $({\mathcal{F}}_{Q}(A^{\ast }),\Vert \cdot \Vert _{Q})$ and prove that $({\mathcal{F}}_{Q}(A^{\ast })^{\ast },\Box )$ is the unique (operator) HLDBA over $A$ for which there is a weak$^{\ast }$-continuous completely isometric representation as completely bounded operators on $X^{\ast }$ extending the dual module representation. Applying our theory to several examples of (completely contractive) Banach algebras $A$ and module operations, we provide new characterizations of familiar HLDBAs over A and we recover, and often extend, some (completely) isometric representation theorems concerning these HLDBAs.

We consider the unital Banach algebra $\ell ^{1}(\mathbb{Z}_{+})$ and prove directly, without using cyclic cohomology, that the simplicial cohomology groups ${\mathcal{H}}^{n}(\ell ^{1}(\mathbb{Z}_{+}),\ell ^{1}(\mathbb{Z}_{+})^{\ast })$ vanish for all $n\geqslant 2$. This proceeds via the introduction of an explicit bounded linear operator which produces a contracting homotopy for $n\geqslant 2$. This construction is generalised to unital Banach algebras $\ell ^{1}({\mathcal{S}})$, where ${\mathcal{S}}={\mathcal{G}}\cap \mathbb{R}_{+}$ and ${\mathcal{G}}$ is a subgroup of $\mathbb{R}_{+}$.

Harte (1982, Math. Z.179, 431–436) initiated the study of Fredholm theory relative to a unital homomorphism T: A → B between unital Banach algebras A and B based on the following notions: an element a ∈ A is called Fredholm if 0 is not in the spectrum of Ta, while a is Weyl (Browder) if there exist (commuting) elements b and c in A with a = b + c such that 0 is not in the spectrum of b and c is in the null space of T. We introduce and investigate the concepts of r-Fredholm, r-Weyl and r-Browder elements, where 0 in these definitions is replaced by the spectral radii of a and b, respectively.

In this paper we define B-Fredholm elements in a Banach algebra A modulo an ideal J of A. When a trace function is given on the ideal J, it generates an index for B-Fredholm elements. In the case of a B-Fredholm operator T acting on a Banach space, we prove that its usual index ind(T) is equal to the trace of the commutator [T, T0], where T0 is a Drazin inverse of T modulo the ideal of finite rank operators, extending Fedosov's trace formula for Fredholm operators (see Böttcher and Silbermann [Analysis of Toeplitz operators, 2nd edn (Springer, 2006)]. In the case of a primitive Banach algebra, we prove a punctured neighbourhood theorem for the index.

We add to the list of Banach spaces X for which it is known that the space of bounded linear operators on X has a unique maximal ideal. In particular, the result holds if X is a subsymmetric direct sum of ℓp or of the Schlumprecht space S. We also show that two recently identified ideals in L(J p ), where J p is the pth James space, each contains a unique maximal ideal.

It is shown that various definitions of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}$ -Connes amenability and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}$ -contractibility are equivalent to older and simpler concepts.

We show in a straightforward way that the non-commutative Schwartz space is weakly amenable. At the end, we leave an open problem.

We focus on a question raised by Daws [‘Arens regularity of the algebra of operators on a Banach space’, Bull. Lond. Math. Soc.36 (2004), 493–503] concerning the Arens regularity of $B(X)$ , the algebra of operators on a Banach space $X$ . Among other things, we show that $B(X)$ is Arens regular if and only if $X$ is ultrareflexive.

Several papers have, as their raison d’être, the exploration of the generalised Lau product associated to a homomorphism $T:B\rightarrow A$ of Banach algebras. In this short note, we demonstrate that the generalised Lau product is isomorphic as a Banach algebra to the usual direct product $A\oplus B$ . We also correct some misleading claims made about the relationship between this generalised Lau product and an older construction of Monfared [‘On certain products of Banach algebras with applications to harmonic analysis’, Studia Math. 178(3) (2007), 277–294].

This paper considers Banach algebras with properties 𝔸 or 𝔹, introduced recently by Alaminos et al. The class of Banach algebras satisfying either of these two properties is quite large; in particular, it includes C *-algebras and group algebras on locally compact groups. Our first main result states that a continuous orthogonally additive n-homogeneous polynomial on a commutative Banach algebra with property 𝔸 and having a bounded approximate identity is of a standard form. The other main results describe Banach algebras A with property 𝔹 and having a bounded approximate identity that admit non-zero continuous symmetric orthosymmetric n-linear maps from An into ℂ.

The Banach $^{\ast }$-operator algebras, exhibiting the second-order noncommutative differential structure and the noncommutative Lipschitz structure, that are determined by the unbounded derivation and induced by a closed symmetric operator in a Hilbert space, are explored.

We show that, under special hypotheses, each 3-Jordan homomorphism ${\it\varphi}$ between Banach algebras ${\mathcal{A}}$ and ${\mathcal{B}}$ is a 3-homomorphism.

Let $T$ be a Banach algebra homomorphism from a Banach algebra ${\mathcal{B}}$ to a Banach algebra ${\mathcal{A}}$ with $\Vert T\Vert \leq 1$. Recently, Bhatt and Dabhi [‘Arens regularity and amenability of Lau product of Banach algebras defined by a Banach algebra morphism’, Bull. Aust. Math. Soc.87 (2013), 195–206] showed that cyclic amenability of ${\mathcal{A}}\times _{T}{\mathcal{B}}$ is stable with respect to $T$, for the case where ${\mathcal{A}}$ is commutative. In this note, we address a gap in the proof of this stability result and extend it to an arbitrary Banach algebra ${\mathcal{A}}$.

It is an open question whether every derivation of a Fréchet GB$^{\ast }$-algebra $A[{\it\tau}]$ is continuous. We give an affirmative answer for the case where $A[{\it\tau}]$ is a smooth Fréchet nuclear GB$^{\ast }$-algebra. Motivated by this result, we give examples of smooth Fréchet nuclear GB$^{\ast }$-algebras which are not pro-C$^{\ast }$-algebras.

In this paper, for an arbitrary $\ell ^{1}$-Munn algebra $\mathfrak{A}$ over a Banach algebra $A$ with a sandwich matrix $P$, we characterise all homomorphisms from $\mathfrak{A}$ to a commutative Banach algebra $B$. Especially, we study the character space of this algebra. Then, as an application, its character amenability is investigated. Finally, we apply these results to certain semigroups, which are called Rees matrix semigroups.