Closed Lie Ideals in Operator Algebras

Abstract

If M is an associative algebra with product xy, M can be made into a Lie algebra by endowing M with a new multiplication [x, y] = xy – yx. The Poincare-Birkoff-Witt Theorem, in part, shows that every Lie algebra is (Lie) isomorphic to a Lie subalgebra of such an associative algebra M. A Lie ideal in M is a linear subspace U ⊆ M such that [x, u] ∊ U for all x £ M, u ∊ U. In [9], as a step in characterizing Lie mappings between von Neumann algebras, Lie ideals which are closed in the ultra-weak topology, and closed under the adjoint operation are characterized when If is a von Neumann algebra. However the restrictions of ultra-weak closure and adjoint closure seemed unnatural, and in this paper we characterize those uniformly closed linear subspaces which can occur as Lie ideals in von Neumann algebras.