A noncommutative de Finetti theorem for Boolean independence (Q2517322)

The classical de Finetti theorem characterises infinite sequences of random variables which are exchangeable (i.e., whose distribution is invariant under permutations) as those which are conditionally independent under the tail \(\sigma\)-algebra. In [Commun. Math. Phys. 291, No. 2, 473--490 (2009; Zbl 1183.81099)], \textit{C. Köstler} and \textit{R. Speicher} showed that an infinite sequence of noncommutative random variables, that is, a sequence of self-adjoint operators in a von Neumann algebra \(M\) with a faithful normal state \(\varphi\), is quantum exchangeable (has distribution invariant under the action of the quantum permutation groups of Wang) if and only if it is conditionally freely distributed with respect to the tail von Neumann algebra. The paper under review is concerned with the analysis of similar phenomena in the framework of Boolean independence. As the latter is naturally formulated in the language of not necessarily unital algebras, there are several technical difficulties that need be overcome. In particular, the assumption of faithfulness of the initial state need be relaxed to non-degeneracy. To define Boolean exchangeability, the author introduces a new family of quantum semigroups, providing the appropriate notion of distributional invariance, and he shows later that, thus understood, Boolean exchangeability of an infinite sequence of noncommutative random variables is equivalent to its conditional Boolean independence with respect to a tail von Neumann algebra (again, the Boolean context forces distinguishing between the case of a `unital' and `non-unital' tail algebras). The author also discusses two other possible notions of Boolean exchangeability, showing that they yield trivial outcomes.