Nonlinear maps preserving the Jordan triple \(\ast\)-product between factors (Q1705753)

This paper is concerned with maps between von Neumann algebra factors preserving the Jordan \(*\)-product of three elements. Given a factor \(\mathcal{A}\), the Jordan \(*\)-product \(\bullet\) is defined in the paper, for all \(A, B\in \mathcal{A}\), by \[ A\bullet B=AB+BA^*, \] and \(A\bullet B\bullet C \) is to be understood as \[ A\bullet B\bullet C:=(A\bullet B)\bullet C, \] where \(C\in \mathcal{A}\). The main theorem asserts that a bijective map \(\Phi : \mathcal{A}\to \mathcal{B}\) between two factors \(\mathcal{A}, \mathcal{B}\) satisfies, for all \(A,B,C\in \mathcal{A}\), \[ \Phi(A\bullet B\bullet C)= \Phi(A)\bullet \Phi(B)\bullet \Phi(C) \] if and only if \(\Phi\) is a linear \(*\)-isomorphism, a conjugate linear \(*\)-isomorphism, the negative of a linear \(*\)-isomorphism or the negative of the conjugate of a linear \(*\)-isomorphism. The paper is essentially devoted to the proof of this theorem, except for a final corollary concerning type I factors.