A nonlinear characterization of type I factors based on strong Birkhoff-James orthogonality (Q2120581)

The author characterizes type I factors among von Neumann algebras using strong Birkhoff-James orthogonality. In a Banach space \(\mathbb{X}\), an element \(x\) is said to be Birkhoff-James orthogonal to an element \(y\) if \( \| x + \lambda y\| \geq \|x\|\) for all scalars \(\lambda\); in symbols this is written as \( x \perp_{BJ}y.\) The definition of strong Birkhoff-James orthogonality is as follows: Let \(\mathfrak{U}\) be a \(C^*\)-algebra and let \(\mathfrak{M}\) be a right \(\mathfrak{U}\)-module. For \(x, y \in \mathfrak{M}\), \(x\) is said to be strongly Birkhoff-James orthogonal to \(y\) if \(x \perp_{BJ} ya\) for each \( a \in \mathfrak{M}\); in symbols this is written as \( x \perp^{s}_{BJ} y.\) The main result of the paper is: A von Neumann algebra \(\mathcal{R}\) is a type~I factor if and only if there exists a subset \(( A_\gamma) _{\gamma \in \Gamma} \) of \( \mathcal{R} \setminus \{0\}\) satisfying the properties: (i)~each \(A_\gamma\) is left symmetric for strong Birkhoff-James orthogonality in \(\mathcal{R}\), (ii)~there exists a \(\gamma_0 \in \Gamma\) such that \( A_{\gamma_0} \not\perp^{s}_{BJ} A_{\gamma}\)for each \( \gamma \in \Gamma \setminus\{\gamma_0\},\) (iii) if \(A_\gamma \perp^{s}_{BJ} A\) for each \( \gamma \in \Gamma,\) then \(A=0.\) Readers interested in Problem 3.11 posed in the paper may like to the see the article [\textit{D.~Ilišević} and \textit{A.~Turnšek}, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 511, No.~1, Article ID 126045, 10~p. (2022; Zbl 1492.46009)].