On groups of automorphisms of operator algebras

Abstract

In section 3 we shall prove the following results: Let G be a separable locally compact abelian group, R a von Neumann algebra acting on a separable Hilbert space, and α a weakly continuous representation of G by inner *-automorphisms of R, say α(g) = ad Wg with Wg ∈ U(R). Then there is a weakly continuous unitary representation of G, by unitaries in R, implementing α if and only if the Wg's commute with each other. The result was motivated by the proof of (7), theorem 1. Suppose now Gis a discrete amenable group of *-automorphisms of a countably decomposable von Neumann algebra R. In section 3 we give a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a faithful normal G-invariant state on R. This generalizes a result of Hajian and Kakutani on invariant measures (2).