Excludes a noncompact image by making one separating character take
both zero and one on the same projection.
Statement
Let
be a nonzero complex
-algebra,
with no unit assumed, let
be a separable complex Hilbert space, and let
represent the unique unitary-equivalence class of nonzero irreducible
-representations
of
.
Then
Assumptions
No simplicity or separability of
is assumed. The argument uses faithfulness of
on
,
not faithfulness of its unital extension on the whole unitization.
Conclusion
This proves the inclusion
for the specified representation.
Proof route
Separate a noncompact self-adjoint image from the compact-preimage
ideal in a maximal abelian subalgebra. Its character produces a rank-one
projection which belongs to the ideal but has character value one.
Proof steps
Suppose
is noncompact. Write
If both self-adjoint parts had compact images, their sum would too.
Choose a self-adjoint part
with noncompact
.
Write
,,,
and
.
Apply A
maximal abelian subalgebra containing a self-adjoint element to the
self-adjoint
in the unital
,
obtaining a maximal abelian unital
-subalgebra
containing it. Such a
is norm closed.
Commutativity makes it an ordinary ideal of the commutative
-algebra
.
The element
is outside
,
since
.
Apply A
character separating a closed ideal to
:
obtain one character
with
and
.
The specified representation is nonzero irreducible, and every
nonzero irreducible
-representation
of the same algebra is unitarily equivalent to it.
∀ a : A, IsCompactOperator (pi a)
For every element of the original
,
its represented operator on
is compact. This is one inclusion of ranges, not the assertion that
every bounded operator is compact.