On isometries of operator algebras (Q1328344)

The authors study the Banach space isometries of triangular subalgebras of \(C^*\)-algebras that contain diagonals in the sense of Kumjian. Under a mild technical assumption, they prove that every isometry between two such algebras decomposes as a direct sum of a unitary multiple of an isometric algebra isomorphism and a unitary multiple of an isometric algebra anti-isomorphism. Moreover, each isometric algebraic isomorphism (anti-isomorphism) between two algebras of the type considered here extends to a \(C^*\)-isomorphism (\(C^*\)-anti-isomorphism) between the enveloping \(C^*\)-algebras. Our hypotheses enable us to ``coordinatize'' the algebras under consideration, and the structure of the isometries between the algebras is expressed in terms of the coordinates.