Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
In this article we introduce and develop a theory of tensor products of JW-algebras. Since JW-algebras are so close to W*-algebras, one can expect that the W*-algebra tensor product theory will be actively involved. It is shown that if Mand N are JW-algebras with centres Z1 and Z2 respectively, then Z1 ⊗ Z2 is not the centre of the JW-tensor product JW() (see below for notation) ofMand N, in general. Also, the type decomposition of JW() has been determined in terms of the type decomposition of the JW-algebras M and N which, essentially, rely on the relationship between the types of the JW-algebra and the types of its universal enveloping Von Neumann algebra.