In functional analysis , a Banach function algebra on a compact Hausdorff space X is unital subalgebra , A , of the commutative C*-algebra C(X) of all continuous , complex -valued functions from X , together with a norm on A that makes it a Banach algebra .
A function algebra is said to vanish at a point p if f (p ) = 0 for all
f
∈ ∈ -->
A
{\displaystyle f\in A}
. A function algebra separates points if for each distinct pair of points
p
,
q
∈ ∈ -->
X
{\displaystyle p,q\in X}
, there is a function
f
∈ ∈ -->
A
{\displaystyle f\in A}
such that
f
(
p
)
≠ ≠ -->
f
(
q
)
{\displaystyle f(p)\neq f(q)}
.
For every
x
∈ ∈ -->
X
{\displaystyle x\in X}
define
ε ε -->
x
(
f
)
=
f
(
x
)
,
{\displaystyle \varepsilon _{x}(f)=f(x),}
for
f
∈ ∈ -->
A
{\displaystyle f\in A}
. Then
ε ε -->
x
{\displaystyle \varepsilon _{x}}
is a homomorphism (character) on
A
{\displaystyle A}
, non-zero if
A
{\displaystyle A}
does not vanish at
x
{\displaystyle x}
.
Theorem: A Banach function algebra is semisimple (that is its Jacobson radical is equal to zero) and each commutative unital , semisimple Banach algebra is isomorphic (via the Gelfand transform ) to a Banach function algebra on its character space (the space of algebra homomorphisms from A into the complex numbers given the relative weak* topology ).
If the norm on
A
{\displaystyle A}
is the uniform norm (or sup-norm) on
X
{\displaystyle X}
, then
A
{\displaystyle A}
is called
a uniform algebra . Uniform algebras are an important special case of Banach function algebras.
References
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