Approximately norm-unital products on \(C^{\ast}\)-algebras, and a non-associative Gelfand-Naimark theorem (Q2428031)

Given a product \(p\) on a Banach space \(B\), it is said that \(p\) is approximately norm-unital if it is norm-submultiplicative and there exists a net \((x_{\lambda})\) in the closed unit ball of \(B\) such that \(\lim p(x, x_{\lambda})= \lim p(x_{\lambda}, x)=x\) for every \(x \in B\). For a \(C^*\)-algebra \(A\), the \(C^*\)-algebra of multipliers of \(A\) will be denoted by \(M(A)\), the closed ideal generated by the commutators by \(A_0\) and the center of \(M(A)\) by \(\Gamma(A)\). The present paper begins by describing, in terms of elements in \(M(A)\) and \(\Gamma(A_0)\), the possible approximately norm-unital products which can be defined on a \(C^*\)-algebra \(A\). Later, the associative products are also described and characterized. A new Gelfand-Naimark type theorem asserting that a non-associative \(C^*\)-algebra is alternative if and only if it has an approximate unit bounded by 1, is also proved. Finally, approximately norm-unital products are also studied in the more general setting of \(JB^*\)-triples; and a Banach space description of the closed ideal generated by the commutators in a \(C^*\)-algebra and a Banach space characterization of the associativity of an alternative \(C^*\)-algebra are given.