Maps on the positive definite cone of a \(C^\ast\)-algebra preserving certain quasi-entropies (Q335412)

Let \(\mathcal {A}\) be an arbitrary \(C^*\)-algebra with unit \(1\). The set of all positive elements of \(\mathcal {A}\) is denoted by \(\mathcal {A}_+\). \(\mathcal {A}_+^{-1}\) stands for the set of all invertible elements of \(\mathcal{A}_+\) and is called the positive definite cone of \(\mathcal{A}\). A positive linear function Tr on \(\mathcal {A}\) is called a normalized trace if \(\mathrm{Tr}(xy)=\mathrm{Tr}(yx)\) holds true for all \(x, y\in \mathcal {A}\) and \(\mathrm {Tr}(1)=1\). It is said to be faithful, if for any \(a\in \mathcal{A}_+\), the equality \(\mathrm{Tr}(a)=0\) implies \(a=0\). Let \(w\in \mathcal {A}\) and \(f\) be a continuous function on the positive real line, then the corresponding quasi-entropy of any pair \((a, b)\) of positive invertible elements of \(\mathcal {A}\) is defined by \[ \mathrm{Tr}\big ((wa^{1/2})^*f(\Delta_{b, a})(wa^{1/2})\big )=\mathrm{Tr}\big ([f(\Delta _{b, a})(wa^{1/2})]a^{1/2}w^*\big ), \] where \(\Delta _{b, a}\) is the so-called relative modular operator, i.e., \[ \Delta _{b, a}=L_bR_{a}^{-1}. \] Here, \(L_b\) is the operator of left multiplication by \(b\) and \(R_a\) is the operator of right multiplication by \(a\). In the paper under review, the structure of those bijective maps on the cone of all positive invertible elements of a \(C^*\)-algebra with a normalized faithful trace which preserve certain kinds of quasi-entropy is described. It is shown that essentially any such map is equal to a Jordan \(*\)-isomorphism of the underlying algebra multiplied by a central positive invertible element. Several open problems are posed at the end of this paper.