The exocenter and type decomposition of a generalized pseudoeffect algebra

Abstract

We extend the notion of the exocenter of a generalized effect algebra (GEA) to a generalized pseudoeffect algebra (GPEA) and show that elements of the exocenter are in one-to-one correspondence with direct decompositions of the GPEA; thus the exocenter is a generalization of the center of a pseudoeffect algebra (PEA). The exocenter forms a boolean algebra and the central elements of the GPEA correspond to elements of a sublattice of the exocenter which forms a generalized boolean algebra. We extend the notion of central orthocompleteness to GPEA, prove that the exocenter of a centrally orthocomplete GPEA (COGPEA) is a complete boolean algebra and show that the sublattice corresponding to the center is a complete boolean subalgebra. We also show that in a COGPEA, every element admits an exocentral cover and that the family of all exocentral covers, the so-called exocentral cover system, has the properties of a hull system on a generalized effect algebra. We extend the notion of type determining (TD) sets, originally introduced for effect algebras and then extended to GEAs 14 D.J. Foulis, S. Pulmannova and E. Vincekova and PEAs, to GPEAs, and prove a type-decomposition theorem, analogous to the type decomposition of von Neumann algebras.