Sums of Murray-von Neumann equivalent operators (Q387761)

Let \(\mathbb{B}(H)\) stand for bounded linear operators on Hilbert space \(H\). Two positive operators \(A,B\in\mathbb{B}(H)\) are called Murray-von Neumann equivalent (\(A\sim B\)) if their restrictions to their supports are unitarily equivalent. For every positive operator \(A\in\mathbb{B}(H)\) with \(\mathrm{Tr}(A-I)_+=\infty\), it was proved by \textit{V. Kaftal} et al. [J. Funct. Anal. 257, No. 8, 2497--2529 (2009; Zbl 1192.46058)] that there exists a family of infinite projections \(Q_i\) such that \(A=\sum_{i=1}^{\infty}Q_i\) in the strong thopology. In this paper, the authors extend this result to the Murray-von Neumann equivalent positive operators instead of infinite projections as follows. Let \(A\) be a positive operator such that \(\mathrm{Tr}(A-I)_+=\infty\) and let \(B\neq0\) be a positive contraction. Then there exists a decomposition \(A=\sum_{j=1}^{\infty}B_ j\), where \(B_j\sim B\) for all \(j\).