Extensions of operator algebras. I. (Q2465900)

In the paper under review, the authors lay the foundations of a theory of extensions in the category of operator algebras, transferring to the non-selfadjoint setting a substantial portion of the rich and important theory of extensions of \(C^*\)-algebras. Suppose that \(A\) and \(C\) are (non-trivial) operator algebras (i.e., closed subalgebras of the algebra of all bounded linear operators on a Hilbert space), with \(A\) approximately unital. An extension of \(C\) by \(A\) is an exact sequence of the form \[ 0\rightarrow A \rightarrow B \rightarrow C\rightarrow 0, \] where \(B\) is an operator algebra, the morphism from \(A\) into \(B\) is a completely isometric homomorphism, and the morphism from \(B\) onto \(C\) is a completely contractive homomorphism that is a complete quotient map. The authors define the Busby invariant of an extension as a completely contractive homomorphism \(\tau : C\rightarrow \mathcal{Q}(A)\), where \(\mathcal{Q}(A)\) is the corona algebra of \(A\), generalising the corresponding notion for \(C^*\)-algebras. They show that the Busby invariant encodes important information about the corresponding extension -- the correspondence between extensions and Busby invariants is one-to-one, and the essential extensions (that is, the extensions for which the natural inclusion of \(B\) in the multiplier algebra of \(A\) is completely isometric) correspond precisely to Busby invariants which are complete isometries. They define a subextension of a given extension \(E\) as an extension \(F\) whose terms are closed subalgebras of the corresponding terms of \(E\) and whose morphisms are the restrictions of the corresponding morphisms of \(E\). They classify the subextensions of a given extension with a fixed first term, and establish a relation between the Busby invariant of the original extension and that of its subextension. The authors also introduce the notion of a covering extension: the extension \(0\rightarrow \mathcal{D}\overset{\tilde{\alpha}}{\rightarrow} \mathcal{E}\overset{\tilde{\beta}}{\rightarrow} \mathcal{F}\rightarrow 0\), where \(\mathcal{D}\), \(\mathcal{E}\) and \(\mathcal{F}\) are C*-algebras, is called a covering extension of the extension \(0\rightarrow A\overset{\alpha}{\rightarrow} B\overset{\beta}{\rightarrow} C\rightarrow 0\), if the latter extension is a subextension of the former one and, moreover, each of the C*-algebras appearing in the former extension is a \(C^*\)-cover of the operator algebra at the corresponding place of the latter extension. (A \(C^*\)-cover of an operator algebra \(A\) is a pair \((\mathcal{D},j)\) where \(\mathcal{D}\) is a \(C^*\)-algebra and \(j : A\rightarrow \mathcal{D}\) is a completely isometric homomorphism whose range generates \(\mathcal{D}\) as a \(C^*\)-algebra.) A number of results concerning covering extensions are proved, including the existence of a ``minimal'' covering extension of a given extension, whose first term is a fixed \(C^*\)-cover of the first term of the given extension. The ``minimal'' covering extension has the property that each of its terms is a complete quotient of the corresponding term of any other covering extensions starting with the given first term. In their study of subextensions and covering extensions, the authors use extensively a number of results that they establish at the beginning of the paper concerning the relationship between various canonical constructions associated with an operator algebra and those associated with its ideals or subalgebras. They also provide a number of characterisations of essential ideals of operator algebras.