Amenability properties of the centres of group algebras (Q1011438)

For \(G\) a locally compact group, \(ZL^1(G)\) denotes the center of its group algebra \(L^1(G)\). The main result is that for \(G\) non-Abelian connected and compact or the product of infinitely many finite non-Abelian groups, \(ZL^1(G)\) is not amenable. For \(A\) a commutative semi-simple Banach algebra, regular on its spectrum, a linear operator \(T: A\to A^*\) is local if \(\text{supp\,}Tf\subset\text{supp\,}f\) for every \(f\) in \(A\). \(A\) is called hyper-Tauberian if every such bounded local operator is an \(A\)-module map. The authors prove that if each conjugacy class of \(G\) is relatively compact then \(ZL^1(G)\) is hyper-Tauberian. Other special groups are considered. For example, \(ZL^1(G)\) is shown to be non-amenable in case that the commutator subgroup \([G,G_0]\) is finite, where \(G_0\) denotes the subgroup of all elements with relatively compact conjugacy classes.