Second duals of measure algebras (Q2896202)

Let \(G\) be a locally compact group, \(M(G)\) the measure algebra and \(L^1(G)\) the group algebra. As Banach algebras, the second duals \(M(G)''\) and \(L^1(G)''\) of these algebras are endowed with the first Arens products.NEWLINENEWLINEFor a semigroup \(S\) there is the Stone-Čech compactification \(\beta S\). The hyper-Stonean envelope \(\tilde{G}\) of \(G\) has semigroup-like properties. It is shown (Theorem 7.9) that the hyper-Stonean compactification \(\tilde{G}\) determines the locally compact group \(G\). This answers a question raised by \textit{F. Ghahramani} and \textit{T.-M. Lau} in [J. Funct. Anal. 132, No. 1, 170--191 (1995; Zbl 0832.22007)] and solved by Ghahramani and McClure in the case of compact groups [\textit{F. Ghahramani} and \textit{J.-P. McClure}, Bull. Lond. Math. Soc. 29, No. 2, 223--226 (1997; Zbl 0881.43004)]. In Chapter 8, it is shown that the second dual \(M(G)''\) is a semigroup if and only if the group \(G\) is discrete (Theorem 8.16). It is shown in Corollary 9.5 that the spectrum \(\Phi\) of \(L^\infty(G)\) is determining for the left topological centre of \(L^1(G)''\); this gives a strong form of the known result that \(L^1(G)\) is always strongly Arens irregular.