Linear combinations of projections in type III factors (Q2675218)

At the present paper, the authors aim to research the linear combinations of projections in operator algebras. Whenever an algebra is a (complex) linear span of its projections, the following question presents itself: What is the smallest number of projections such that each self-adjoint element of such an algebra can be written as a linear combination of this specific number of projections? In [\textit{V. Rabanovich}, ``Every bounded self-adjoint operators is a real linear combination of \(4\) orthoprojections'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1608.04445}], it was shown that every bounded self-adjoint operator in Hilbert space is a real linear combination of \(4\) projections. And the operators of the form identity minus compact positive operator can not be decomposed in a real linear combination of \(3\) projections. In [\textit{S. Goldstein} and \textit{A. Paszkiewicz}, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 489, No. 1, Article ID 124135, 16 p. (2020; Zbl 1448.46047)], the authors have shown that any self-adjoint operator in an infinite factor can be written as a linear combination of \(4\) projections, but in each semifinite factor (including \(II_1\) ones) there is a self-adjoint operator that is not a linear combination of \(3\) projections. At the present paper, it is shown that the situation in \(\sigma\)-finite type \(III\) factors is diametrally different -- each self-adjoint operator is a linear combination of \(3\) projections.