Firstly, a specific algebra consists of a vector space over a ground field (typically
or
) equipped with a bilinear and distributive multiplication . Note that is not necessarily commutative or associative.
A Jordan algebra (over
), is an algebra over
for which:
,
for all elements of the algebra.
It is worthwhile noting now that in the algebraic theory of Jordan algebras, an important role is played by the Jordan triple product as defined by:
which is linear in each factor and for which
. Certain examples entail setting
.
A Jordan Lie Algebra is a real vector space
together with a Jordan product and Poisson bracket
, satisfying :
1. |
for all
,

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2. |
the Leibniz rule holds
for all
, along with |
3. |
the Jacobi identity :
|
4. |
for some
, there is the associator identity :
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By a Poisson algebra we mean a Jordan algebra in which is associative. The usual algebraic types of morphisms automorphism, isomorphism, etc.) apply to Jordan-Lie (Poisson) algebras (see Landsman, 2003).
Consider the classical configuration space
of a moving particle whose phase space is the cotangent bundle
, and for which the space of (classical) observables is taken to be the real vector space of smooth functions
. The usual pointwise multiplication of functions defines a bilinear map on
, which is seen to be commutative and associative. Further, the Poisson bracket on functions
which can be easily seen to satisfy the Liebniz rule above. The axioms above then set the stage of passage to quantum mechanical systems which the parameter suggests.
An involution on a complex algebra
is a real–linear map
such that for all
and
, we have also
A *–algebra is said to be a complex associative algebra together with an involution .
A C*–algebra is a simultaneously a *–algebra and a Banach space
, satisfying for all
:

One can easily see that
. By the above axioms a C*–algebra is a special case of a Banach algebra where the latter requires the above norm property but not the involution (*) property. Given Banach spaces the space
of (bounded) linear operators from to forms a Banach space, where for , the space
is a Banach algebra with respect to the norm

In quantum field theory one may start with a Hilbert space , and consider the Banach algebra of bounded linear operators
which given to be closed under the usual algebraic operations and taking adjoints, forms a –algebra of bounded operators, where the adjoint operation functions as the involution, and for
we have :
and

By a morphism between C*–algebras
we mean a linear map
, such that for all
, the following hold :
where a bijective morphism is said to be an isomorphism (in which case it is then an isometry). A fundamental relation is that any norm-closed –algebra
in
is a C*–algebra, and conversely, any C*–algebra is isomorphic to a norm–closed –algebra in
for some Hilbert space .
For a C*–algebra
, we say that
is self–adjoint if . Accordingly, the self–adjoint part
of
is a real vector space since we can decompose
as :
A commutative C*–algebra is one for which the associative multiplication is commutative. Given a commutative C*–algebra
, we have
, the algebra of continuous functions on a compact Hausdorff space .
A Jordan–Banach algebra (a JB–algebra for short) is both a real Jordan algebra and a Banach space, where for all
, we have

A JLB–algebra is a JB–algebra
together with a Poisson bracket for which it becomes a Jordan–Lie algebra for some
. Such JLB–algebras often constitute the real part of several widely studied complex associative algebras.
For the purpose of quantization, there are fundamental relations between
, JLB and Poisson algebras.
Conversely, given a JLB–algebra
with
, its complexification
is a -algebra under the operations :

For further details see Landsman (2003) (Thm. 1.1.9).
A JB–algebra which is monotone complete and admits a separating set of normal sets is called a JBW-algebra. These appeared in the work of von Neumann who developed a (orthomodular) lattice theory of projections on
on which to study quantum logic. BW-algebras have the following property: whereas
is a J(L)B–algebra, the self adjoint part of a von Neumann algebra is a JBW–algebra.
A JC–algebra is a norm closed real linear subspace of
which is closed under the bilinear product
(non–commutative and nonassociative). Since any norm closed Jordan subalgebra of
is a JB–algebra, it is natural to specify the exact relationship between JB and JC–algebras, at least in finite dimensions. In order to do this, one introduces the `exceptional' algebra
, the algebra of
Hermitian matrices with values in the octonians
. Then a finite dimensional JB–algebra is a JC–algebra if and only if it does not contain
as a (direct) summand [1].
The above definitions and constructions follow the approach of Alfsen and Schultz (2003), and also reported earlier by Landsman (1998).
- 1
- Alfsen, E.M. and F. W. Schultz: Geometry of State Spaces of Operator Algebras, Birkhäuser, Boston-Basel-Berlin.(2003).
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