Descent of Hilbert \(C^*\)-modules (Q2032756)

The present article studies tensor product functors on operator modules, that is, functors of the form \(X \mapsto X \otimes^{\mathrm{h}}_A F\) where \(\otimes^{\mathrm{h}}_A\) denotes the relative Haagerup tensor product. Thanks to the agreement of the Haagerup tensor product and the internal tensor product of Hilbert-\(C^*\)-modules, also tensor product functors on Hilbert-\(C^*\)-modules are in the scope of this setup. The main aim and achievement of the article is to characterise the essential image of such functors. We adopt the notation of the article. Then Remark~5.7 explains how the main Theorem~5.6 describes the essential image of a tensor product functor. Given a \(C^*\)-correspondence \({}_A F_B\) between two \(C^*\)-algebras \(A\) and \(B\) such that \(A\) acts faithfully by \(B\)-compact operators on \(F\) and such that the associated inclusion \(A \to \mathrm{K}_B(F)\) admits a weak expectation \(\mathrm{K}_B(F) \to A^{\vee \vee}\), it follows that a Hilbert-\(C^*\)-\(B\)-module is unitarily isomorphic to one of the form \(X \otimes_A F\) if and only if it can be equipped with a suitably defined Hilbert-C*-comodule structure over the operator \(B\)-coalgebra \(F^\star \otimes_A F\). In the article's introduction, this result is compared with and put into the context of Rieffel's imprimitivity theorem [\textit{M. A. Rieffel}, Adv. Math. 13, 176--257 (1974; Zbl 0284.46040)], highlighting the dual character of the two results. The present results are operator algebraic analogues of descent theorems from algebraic geometry, whose category theoretic proofs are carefully adapted and explained in a way that is accessible to operator algebraists, too. Concerning the relation to purely categorical constructions, an interesting observation is made in Remark~3.10d), describing the relation of a suitable category of operator comodules to abstract constructions using Eilenberg-Moore categories of comonads. The author provides several applications of his results. Among them are the parabolic induction and restriction functors, which motivated the present work.