Unbounded disjointness preserving linear functionals (Q1424405)

Let \(X\) and \(Y\) be locally compact Hausdorff spaces and let \(C_0(X)\) be the Banach space of continuous (real or complex-valued) functions on \(X\) vanishing at infinity. A linear operator \(T:C_0(X) \to C_0(Y)\) is called disjointness-preserving if \(fg=0\) implies \(T(f) T(g) =0\) for all \(f,g\in C_0(X).\) \textit{K. ~Jarosz} [Can. Math. Bull. 33, 139--144 (1990; Zbl 0714.46040)] showed that for infinite sets \(X\) and \(Y\) there always exists an unbounded disjointness-preserving linear operator \(T:C_0(X) \to C_0(Y).\) In this paper, the authors start a systematic treatment of (unbounded) disjointness-preserving functionals. Let \(\mathcal M\) be the set of all cozero-sets in \(X,\) i.e., sets of the form \(f^{-1}(V)\) for \(f\in C_0(X)\), and \(V\) an open set in the real or complex field. The kernel ideal of a functional \(\varphi\) on \(C_0(X)\) is the set of all \(U\in \mathcal M\) such that \(\varphi\) vanishes on the space \(\{ f\in C_0(X) :f^{-1}\{ 0\} \subset U\}.\) Under the assumption that the set \(\mathcal M\) has cardinality at most the continuum (e.g., if \(X\) is second countable), the main result states that every prime cozero-set ideal \(J\) in \(X\) is the kernel ideal of a disjointness-preserving linear functional \(\varphi\) on \(C_0(X).\) In the case of \(X=\mathbb N\), this result says that disjoint preserving functionals can be described by means of ultrafilters on \(\mathbb N.\) This also gives an easy way to construct disjointness preserving functionals in the general case. At the end of the paper, the authors give some extensions to general \(C^{\ast}\)-algebras.