We prove novel asymptotic freeness results in tracial ultraproduct von Neumann algebras. In particular, we show that whenever $M = M_1 \ast M_2$ is a tracial free product von Neumann algebra and $u_1 \in \mathscr U(M_1)$, $u_2 \in \mathscr U(M_2)$ are Haar unitaries, the relative commutants $\{u_1\}' \cap M^{\mathcal U}$ and $\{u_2\}' \cap M^{\mathcal U}$ are freely independent in the ultraproduct $M^{\mathcal U}$. Our proof relies on Mei–Ricard’s results [MR16] regarding $\operatorname {L}^p$-boundedness (for all $1 < p < +\infty $) of certain Fourier multipliers in tracial amalgamated free products von Neumann algebras. We derive two applications. Firstly, we obtain a general absorption result in tracial amalgamated free products that recovers several previous maximal amenability/Gamma absorption results. Secondly, we prove a new lifting theorem which we combine with our asymptotic freeness results and Chifan–Ioana–Kunnawalkam Elayavalli’s recent construction [CIKE22] to provide the first example of a $\mathrm {II_1}$ factor that does not have property Gamma and is not elementary equivalent to any free product of diffuse tracial von Neumann algebras.

We discuss the class of functions, which are well approximated on compacta by the geometric mean of the eigenvalues of a unital (completely) positive map into a matrix algebra or more generally a type $II_1$ factor, using the notion of a Fuglede–Kadison determinant. In two variables, the two classes are the same, but in three or more noncommuting variables, there are generally functions arising from type $II_1$ von Neumann algebras, due to the recently established failure of the Connes embedding conjecture. The question of whether or not approximability holds for scalar inputs is shown to be equivalent to a restricted form of the Connes embedding conjecture, the so-called shuffle-word-embedding conjecture.

We study hermitian operators and isometries on spaces of vector-valued Lipschitz maps with the sum norm. There are two main theorems in this paper. Firstly, we prove that every hermitian operator on $\operatorname {Lip}(X,E)$, where E is a complex Banach space, is a generalized composition operator. Secondly, we give a complete description of unital surjective complex linear isometries on $\operatorname {Lip}(X,\mathcal {A})$, where $\mathcal {A}$ is a unital factor $C^{*}$-algebra. These results improve previous results stated by the author.

We revisit tensor algebras of subproduct systems with Hilbert space fibers, resolving some open questions in the case of infinite-dimensional fibers. We characterize when a tensor algebra can be identified as the algebra of uniformly continuous noncommutative functions on a noncommutative homogeneous variety or, equivalently, when it is residually finite-dimensional: this happens precisely when the closed homogeneous ideal associated with the subproduct system satisfies a Nullstellensatz with respect to the algebra of uniformly continuous noncommutative functions on the noncommutative closed unit ball. We show that – in contrast to the finite-dimensional case – in the case of infinite-dimensional fibers, this Nullstellensatz may fail. Finally, we also resolve the isomorphism problem for tensor algebras of subproduct systems: two such tensor algebras are (isometrically) isomorphic if and only if their subproduct systems are isomorphic in an appropriate sense.

The existence of isometric embedding of $S_q^m$ into $S_p^n$, where $1\leq p\neq q\leq \infty$ and $m,n\geq 2$, has been recently studied in [6]. In this article, we extend the study of isometric embeddability beyond the above-mentioned range of $p$ and $q$. More precisely, we show that there is no isometric embedding of the commutative quasi-Banach space $\ell _q^m(\mathbb {R})$ into $\ell _p^n(\mathbb {R})$, where $(q,p)\in (0,\infty )\times (0,1)$ and $p\neq q$. As non-commutative quasi-Banach spaces, we show that there is no isometric embedding of $S_q^m$ into $S_p^n$, where $(q,p)\in (0,2)\setminus \{1\}\times (0,1)$ $\cup \, \{1\}\times (0,1)\setminus \left \{\!\frac {1}{n}:n\in \mathbb {N}\right \}$ $\cup \, \{\infty \}\times (0,1)\setminus \left \{\!\frac {1}{n}:n\in \mathbb {N}\right \}$ and $p\neq q$. Moreover, in some restrictive cases, we also show that there is no isometric embedding of $S_q^m$ into $S_p^n$, where $(q,p)\in [2, \infty )\times (0,1)$. A new tool in our paper is the non-commutative Clarkson's inequality for Schatten class operators. Other tools involved are the Kato–Rellich theorem and multiple operator integrals in perturbation theory, followed by intricate computations involving power-series analysis.

Answering a question by Chatterji–Druţu–Haglund, we prove that, for every locally compact group $G$, there exists a critical constant $p_G \in [0,\infty ]$ such that $G$ admits a continuous affine isometric action on an $L_p$ space ($0< p<\infty$) with unbounded orbits if and only if $p \geq p_G$. A similar result holds for the existence of proper continuous affine isometric actions on $L_p$ spaces. Using a representation of cohomology by harmonic cocycles, we also show that such unbounded orbits cannot occur when the linear part comes from a measure-preserving action, or more generally a state-preserving action on a von Neumann algebra and $p>2$. We also prove the stability of this critical constant $p_G$ under $L_p$ measure equivalence, answering a question of Fisher.

In this paper, we prove a noncommutative (nc) analog of Schwarz lemma for the nc Schur–Agler class and prove that the regular nc Schur–Agler class and the regular free Herglotz–Agler class are homeomorphic. Moreover, we give a characterization of regular free Herglotz–Agler functions. As an application, we will show that any regular free Herglotz–Agler functions can uniformly be approximated by regular Herglotz–Agler free polynomials.

We characterize the noncommutative Aleksandrov–Clark measures and the minimal realization formulas of contractive and, in particular, isometric noncommutative rational multipliers of the Fock space. Here, the full Fock space over $\mathbb {C} ^d$ is defined as the Hilbert space of square-summable power series in several noncommuting (NC) formal variables, and we interpret this space as the noncommutative and multivariable analogue of the Hardy space of square-summable Taylor series in the complex unit disk. We further obtain analogues of several classical results in Aleksandrov–Clark measure theory for noncommutative and contractive rational multipliers.

Noncommutative measures are defined as positive linear functionals on a certain self-adjoint subspace of the Cuntz–Toeplitz algebra, the unital $C^*$-algebra generated by the left creation operators on the full Fock space. Our results demonstrate that there is a fundamental relationship between NC Hardy space theory, representation theory of the Cuntz–Toeplitz and Cuntz algebras, and the emerging field of noncommutative rational functions.

Let $\mathcal {M}$ be a semifinite von Nemann algebra equipped with an increasing filtration $(\mathcal {M}_n)_{n\geq 1}$ of (semifinite) von Neumann subalgebras of $\mathcal {M}$ . For $0<p <\infty $ , let $\mathsf {h}_p^c(\mathcal {M})$ denote the noncommutative column conditioned martingale Hardy space and $\mathsf {bmo}^c(\mathcal {M})$ denote the column “little” martingale BMO space associated with the filtration $(\mathcal {M}_n)_{n\geq 1}$ .

We prove the following real interpolation identity: if $0<p <\infty $ and $0<\theta <1$ , then for $1/r=(1-\theta )/p$ ,

$$ \begin{align*} \big(\mathsf{h}_p^c(\mathcal{M}), \mathsf{bmo}^c(\mathcal{M})\big)_{\theta, r}=\mathsf{h}_{r}^c(\mathcal{M}), \end{align*} $$

For the case of complex interpolation, we obtain that if $0<p<q<\infty $ and $0<\theta <1$ , then for $1/r =(1-\theta )/p +\theta /q$ ,

$$ \begin{align*} \big[\mathsf{h}_p^c(\mathcal{M}), \mathsf{h}_q^c(\mathcal{M})\big]_{\theta}=\mathsf{h}_{r}^c(\mathcal{M}) \end{align*} $$

These extend previously known results from $p\geq 1$ to the full range $0<p<\infty $ . Other related spaces such as spaces of adapted sequences and Junge’s noncommutative conditioned $L_p$ -spaces are also shown to form interpolation scale for the full range $0<p<\infty $ when either the real method or the complex method is used. Our method of proof is based on a new algebraic atomic decomposition for Orlicz space version of Junge’s noncommutative conditioned $L_p$ -spaces.

We apply these results to derive various inequalities for martingales in noncommutative symmetric quasi-Banach spaces.

In this paper, we characterize surjective isometries on certain classes of noncommutative spaces associated with semi-finite von Neumann algebras: the Lorentz spaces $L^{w,1}$ , as well as the spaces $L^1+L^\infty$ and $L^1\cap L^\infty$ . The technique used in all three cases relies on characterizations of the extreme points of the unit balls of these spaces. Of particular interest is that the representations of isometries obtained in this paper are global representations.

Given an infinite, compact, monothetic group $G$ we study decompositions and structure of unbounded derivations in a crossed product $\text{C}^{\ast }$-algebra $C(G)\rtimes \mathbb{Z}$ obtained from a translation on $G$ by a generator of a dense cyclic subgroup. We also study derivations in a Toeplitz extension of the crossed product and the question whether unbounded derivations can be lifted from one algebra to the other.

In this paper, we investigate noncommutative symmetric and asymmetric maximal inequalities associated with martingale transforms and fractional integrals. Our proofs depend on some recent advances on algebraic atomic decomposition and the noncommutative Gundy decomposition. We also prove several fractional maximal inequalities.

Let ℳ be a semifinite von Neumann algebra with a faithful semifinite normal trace τ. Assume that E(0, ∞) is an M-embedded fully symmetric function space having order continuous norm and is not a superset of the set of all bounded vanishing functions on (0, ∞). In this paper, we prove that the corresponding operator space E(ℳ, τ) is also M-embedded. It extends earlier results by Werner [48, Proposition 4∙1] from the particular case of symmetric ideals of bounded operators on a separable Hilbert space to the case of symmetric spaces (consisting of possibly unbounded operators) on an arbitrary semifinite von Neumann algebra. Several applications are given, e.g., the derivation problem for noncommutative Lorentz spaces ℒp,1(ℳ, τ), 1 < p < ∞, has a positive answer.

We establish the following results on higher order ${\mathcal{S}}^{p}$-differentiability, $1<p<\infty$, of the operator function arising from a continuous scalar function $f$ and self-adjoint operators defined on a fixed separable Hilbert space:

1. (i) $f$ is $n$ times continuously Fréchet ${\mathcal{S}}^{p}$-differentiable at every bounded self-adjoint operator if and only if $f\in C^{n}(\mathbb{R})$;

2. (ii) if $f^{\prime },\ldots ,f^{(n-1)}\in C_{b}(\mathbb{R})$ and $f^{(n)}\in C_{0}(\mathbb{R})$, then $f$ is $n$ times continuously Fréchet ${\mathcal{S}}^{p}$-differentiable at every self-adjoint operator;

3. (iii) if $f^{\prime },\ldots ,f^{(n)}\in C_{b}(\mathbb{R})$, then $f$ is $n-1$ times continuously Fréchet ${\mathcal{S}}^{p}$-differentiable and $n$ times Gâteaux ${\mathcal{S}}^{p}$-differentiable at every self-adjoint operator.

We also prove that if $f\in B_{\infty 1}^{n}(\mathbb{R})\cap B_{\infty 1}^{1}(\mathbb{R})$, then $f$ is $n$ times continuously Fréchet ${\mathcal{S}}^{q}$-differentiable, $1\leqslant q<\infty$, at every self-adjoint operator. These results generalize and extend analogous results of Kissin et al. (Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. (3)108(3) (2014), 327–349) to arbitrary $n$ and unbounded operators as well as substantially extend the results of Azamov et al. (Canad. J. Math.61(2) (2009), 241–263); Coine et al. (J. Funct. Anal.; doi:10.1016/j.jfa.2018.09.005); Peller (J. Funct. Anal.233(2) (2006), 515–544) on higher order ${\mathcal{S}}^{p}$-differentiability of $f$ in a certain Wiener class, Gâteaux ${\mathcal{S}}^{2}$-differentiability of $f\in C^{n}(\mathbb{R})$ with $f^{\prime },\ldots ,f^{(n)}\in C_{b}(\mathbb{R})$, and Gâteaux ${\mathcal{S}}^{q}$-differentiability of $f$ in the intersection of the Besov classes $B_{\infty 1}^{n}(\mathbb{R})\cap B_{\infty 1}^{1}(\mathbb{R})$. As an application, we extend ${\mathcal{S}}^{p}$-estimates for operator Taylor remainders to a broad set of symbols. Finally, we establish explicit formulas for Fréchet differentials and Gâteaux derivatives.

We study restriction and extension properties for states on ${{\text{C}}^{*}}$-algebras with an eye towards hyperrigidity of operator systems. We use these ideas to provide supporting evidence for Arveson’s hyperrigidity conjecture. Prompted by various characterizations of hyperrigidity in terms of states, we examine unperforated pairs of self-adjoint subspaces in a ${{\text{C}}^{*}}$-algebra. The configuration of the subspaces forming an unperforated pair is in some sense compatible with the order structure of the ambient ${{\text{C}}^{*}}$-algebra. We prove that commuting pairs are unperforated and obtain consequences for hyperrigidity. Finally, by exploiting recent advances in the tensor theory of operator systems, we show how the weak expectation property can serve as a flexible relaxation of the notion of unperforated pairs.

This paper concerns free function theory. Free maps are free analogs of analytic functions in several complex variables and are defined in terms of freely noncommuting variables. A function of $g$ noncommuting variables is a function on $g$-tuples of square matrices of all sizes that respects direct sums and simultaneous conjugation. Examples of such maps include noncommutative polynomials, noncommutative rational functions, and convergent noncommutative power series.

In sharp contrast to the existing literature in free analysis, this article investigates free maps with involution, free analogs of real analytic functions. To get a grip on these, techniques and tools from invariant theory are developed and applied to free analysis. Here is a sample of the results obtained. A characterization of polynomial free maps via properties of their finite-dimensional slices is presented and then used to establish power series expansions for analytic free maps about scalar and non-scalar points; the latter are series of generalized polynomials for which an invariant-theoretic characterization is given. Furthermore, an inverse and implicit function theorem for free maps with involution is obtained. Finally, with a selection of carefully chosen examples it is shown that free maps with involution do not exhibit strong rigidity properties enjoyed by their involution-free counterparts.

The notion of positive-definite functions over locally compact quantum groups was recently introduced and studied by Daws and Salmi. Based on this work, we generalize various well-known results about positive-definite functions over groups to the quantum framework. Among these are theorems on “square roots” of positive-definite functions, comparison of various topologies, positive-definite measures and characterizations of amenability, and the separation property with respect to compact quantum subgroups.

We show that the assignment of the (left) completely bounded multiplier algebra $M_{cb}^{l}({{L}^{1}}(\mathbb{G}))$ to a locally compact quantum group $\mathbb{G}$, and the assignment of the intrinsic group, form functors between appropriate categories. Morphisms of locally compact quantum groups can be described by Hopf $*$-homomorphisms between universal ${{C}^{*}}$-algebras, by bicharacters, or by special sorts of coactions. We show that the whole theory of completely bounded multipliers can be lifted to the universal ${{C}^{*}}$-algebra level, and that the different pictures of both multipliers (reduced, universal, and as centralisers) and morphisms then interact in extremely natural ways. The intrinsic group of a quantum group can be realised as a class of multipliers, and so our techniques immediately apply. We also show how to think of the intrinsic group using the universal ${{C}^{*}}$-algebra picture, and then, again, how the differing views on the intrinsic group interact naturally with morphisms. We show that the intrinsic group is the “maximal classical” quantum subgroup of a locally compact quantum group, that it is even closed in the strong Vaes sense, and that the intrinsic group functor is an adjoint to the inclusion functor from locally compact groups to quantum groups.

We show that the multiplier algebra of the Fourier algebra on a locally compact group $G$ can be isometrically represented on a direct sum on non-commutative ${{L}^{p}}$ spaces associated with the right von Neumann algebra of $G$. The resulting image is the idealiser of the image of the Fourier algebra. If these spaces are given their canonical operator space structure, then we get a completely isometric representation of the completely bounded multiplier algebra. We make a careful study of the noncommutative ${{L}^{p}}$ spaces we construct and show that they are completely isometric to those considered recently by Forrest, Lee, and Samei. We improve a result of theirs about module homomorphisms. We suggest a definition of a Figa-Talamanca–Herz algebra built out of these non-commutative ${{L}^{p}}$ spaces, say ${{A}_{p}}(\hat{G})$. It is shown that ${{A}_{2}}(\hat{G})$ is isometric to ${{L}^{1}}(G)$, generalising the abelian situation.

We shall present examples of Schauder bases in the preduals to the hyperfinite factors of types $\text{I}{{\text{I}}_{1}},\,\text{I}{{\text{I}}_{\infty }},\,\text{II}{{\text{I}}_{\lambda }},\,0\,<\,\lambda \,\le \,1$. In the semifinite (respectively, purely infinite) setting, these systems form Schauder bases in any associated separable symmetric space of measurable operators (respectively, in any non-commutative ${{L}^{p}}$-space).