Semisimplicity of \(\mathcal B(E)''\) (Q1766533)

For a Banach space \(E\), let \({\mathcal B}(E)\) denote the space of bounded linear operators. In this paper, the authors settle the important question of semisimplicity of the bidual algebra \({\mathcal B}(E)^{\ast\ast}\) under either Arens product. When \(E\) is a reflexive Banach space, since \((E \otimes_{\pi}E^\ast)^\ast = {\mathcal B}(E)\), the authors first observe that the canonical projection \(k'\) when \({\mathcal B}(E)^{\ast\ast}\) is viewed as the third dual, is a homomorphism for either Arens product and \(\text{rad\,} {\mathcal B}(E)^{\ast\ast} = \text{rad }\text{ker\,} k'\). Using this, it is proved that for reflexive Banach spaces \(E,F\) with one of them having the approximation property and such that \({\mathcal B}(E,F) = {\mathcal K}(E,F)\) but \({\mathcal B}( F,E) \neq {\mathcal K}(F,E)\), then \({\mathcal B}(E \oplus F)^{\ast\ast}\) is not semi-simple. It is known that for \(1 < p < q < \infty\) the spaces \(\ell^q\), \(\ell^p\) satisfy the assumptions on \(E,F\) made above. Section 3 is devoted to the difficult task of proving that \({\mathcal B}(\ell^p)\) is not semi-simple. Since \(A^{op}\) with the reversed product is semi-simple if and only if \(A\) is and also since when \(A\) is Arens regular, \((A^{\ast\ast})^{op} = (A^{op})^{\ast\ast}\), it is enough to consider the case \(1 < p <2\). Here the authors use for an ultrafilter \(U\) and for a super-reflexive space \(E\), an embedding \(\phi\) of \((E)_U \otimes_{\pi} (E^\ast)_U\) into \({\mathcal B}(E)\) considered earlier by \textit{M. Daws} [Bull. Lond. Math. Soc. 36, 493--503 (2004; Zbl 1066.47073), see the preceding review]. For \(1 < p < \infty\), they show that \(\phi\) is a surjection when \(E = \ell^p\) for a suitable ultrafilter \(U\). In the last section, they show that for a unital Banach algebra \(A\) with orthogonal idempotents \(p,q\), if \(pAp\) is not semi-simple, then \(A\) is not semi-simple. This allows them to show that for \(2<p<\infty\), if \(E \subset L^p(\nu)\) is not isomorphic to a Hilbert space, \({\mathcal B}(E)^{\ast\ast}\) is not semi-simple.