Cones with a mapping cone symmetry in the finite-dimensional case (Q2431197)

The author presents a new approach to the finite-dimensional Størmer theory of symmetric mapping cones. It considers a slightly modified class of cones and involves defining an inner product in the space of linear maps between two operator algebras and the fact that the Jamiołkowski-Choi isomorphism is an isometry. This approach allows certain known results to be derived more quickly and in more generality. The main result is a characterization of symmetric mapping cones: a given map is an element of such a cone if and only if the map composed with the conjugate of an arbitrary element in the dual cone is completely positive. A similar result was known for the case where the map goes from an operator algebra to itself and the cone is a symmetric mapping cone. The author proves the above characterization without the assumptions of symmetry and of equality of domain and range space, and derives a number of older results as corollaries.