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Let A be a Banach algebra, and let D : A → A be a (possibly unbounded) derivation. We are interested in two problems concerning the range of D: 1. When does D map into the (Jacobson) radical of A? 2. If [a,Da] = 0 for some a ∈ A, is Da necessarily quasinilpotent? We prove that derivations satisfying certain polynomial identities map into the radical. As an application, we show that if [a,[a,[a,Da]]] lies in the prime radical of A for all a ∈ A, then D maps into the radical. This generalizes a result...

Let A be an A*-algebra with enveloping C*-algebra C*(A). We show that, under certain conditions, a homomorphism from C*(A) into a Banach algebra is continuous if and only if its restriction to A is continuous. We apply this result to the question in the title.

Let G be a locally compact group. We use the canonical operator space structure on the spaces $L^p\left(G\right)$ for p ∈ [1,∞] introduced by G. Pisier to define operator space analogues $O{A}_p\left(G\right)$ of the classical Figà-Talamanca-Herz algebras $A_p\left(G\right)$. If p ∈ (1,∞) is arbitrary, then $A_p\left(G\right)\subset O{A}_p\left(G\right)$ and the inclusion is a contraction; if p = 2, then OA₂(G) ≅ A(G) as Banach spaces, but not necessarily as operator spaces. We show that $O{A}_p\left(G\right)$ is a completely contractive Banach algebra for each p ∈ (1,∞), and that $O{A}_q\left(G\right)\subset O{A}_p\left(G\right)$ completely contractively for amenable...

In 1972, the late B. E. Johnson introduced the notion of an amenable Banach algebra and asked whether the Banach algebra ℬ(E) of all bounded linear operators on a Banach space E could ever be amenable if dim E = ∞. Somewhat surprisingly, this question was answered positively only very recently as a by-product of the Argyros-Haydon result that solves the “scalar plus compact problem”: there is an infinite-dimensional Banach space E, the dual of which is ℓ¹, such that $ℬ\left(E\right)=\left(E\right)+ℂi{d}_E$. Still, ℬ(ℓ²) is not amenable,...

It is known that $ℬ\left({\ell }^p\right)$ is not amenable for p = 1,2,∞, but whether or not $ℬ\left({\ell }^p\right)$ is amenable for p ∈ (1,∞) ∖ 2 is an open problem. We show that, if $ℬ\left({\ell }^p\right)$ is amenable for p ∈ (1,∞), then so are ${\ell }^{\infty }\left(ℬ\left({\ell }^p\right)\right)$ and ${\ell }^{\infty }\left(\left({\ell }^p\right)\right)$. Moreover, if ${\ell }^{\infty }\left(\left({\ell }^p\right)\right)$ is amenable so is ${\ell }^{\infty }(,\left(E\right))$ for any index set and for any infinite-dimensional ${ℒ}^p$-space E; in particular, if ${\ell }^{\infty }\left(\left({\ell }^p\right)\right)$ is amenable for p ∈ (1,∞), then so is ${\ell }^{\infty }\left(\left({\ell }^p\oplus \ell ²\right)\right)$. We show that ${\ell }^{\infty }\left(\left({\ell }^p\oplus \ell ²\right)\right)$ is not amenable for p = 1,∞, but also that our methods fail us if p ∈ (1,∞). Finally, for p ∈ (1,2) and a free ultrafilter over ℕ, we exhibit...

For a locally compact group G and p ∈ (1,∞), we define and study the Beurling-Figà-Talamanca-Herz algebras $A_p(G,\omega )$. For p = 2 and abelian G, these are precisely the Beurling algebras on the dual group Ĝ. For p = 2 and compact G, our approach subsumes an earlier one by H. H. Lee and E. Samei. The key to our approach is not to define Beurling algebras through weights, i.e., possibly unbounded continuous functions, but rather through their inverses, which are bounded continuous functions. We prove that...