On the quest for positivity in operator algebras (Q541246)

In this paper, an operator algebra is a norm-closed subalgebra of the algebra \(B(H)\) of all bounded linear operators on some Hilbert space \(H\). It is shown that if a nonzero operator algebra has a contractive approximate identity, then it also contains a contractive approximate identity consisting of operators \(T\) with \(\|\mathrm{Id} - 2T\|\leqslant 1\). This is a necessarily weakened form of the result for \(C^*\)-algebras, where there is always a contractive approximate identity consisting of operators \(T\) with \(0\leqslant T \leqslant 1\).