Metrics on projections of the von Neumann algebra associated with tracial functionals (Q2186300)

The author considers certain metrics on the lattice \(\mathcal A^{pr}\) of all projections in a von Neumann algebra \(\mathcal A\) acting on a complex Hilbert space \(\mathcal H\). Given a positive functional \(\varphi\) on \(\mathcal A\), \(\rho_{\varphi}\) and \(d_{\varphi}\): \(\mathcal A^{pr}\times \mathcal A^{pr}\to \mathbb R^+\) are defined by \[\rho_{\varphi}(P,Q)=\varphi(|P-Q|) \mbox{ and } d_{\varphi}(P,Q)=\varphi(P\vee Q-P\wedge Q) \text{ for all }P, Q\in \mathcal A^{pr}.\] It is shown that both \(\rho_{\varphi}\) and \(d_{\varphi}\) are metrics on \(\mathcal A^{pr}\) if \(\varphi\) is a faithful tracial functional. In this case, \(\rho_{\varphi}\) and \(d_{\varphi}\) are equivalent metrics if and only if \(\mathcal A\) is abelian. Furthermore, if \(\varphi\) is a faithful normal trace on \(\mathcal A\), then both \((\mathcal A^{pr}, \rho_{\varphi})\) and \(\mathcal A^{pr}, d_{\varphi})\) are complete metric spaces. In addition, certain criteria for a positive normal functional \(\varphi\) to be tracial are given, using some triangle inequalities for \(\rho_{\varphi}\) and \(d_{\varphi}\).