Lipschitzness of \(^*\)-homomorphisms between \(C^*\)-metric algebras (Q424890)

Gel'fand-Naĭmark duality gives a contravariant equivalence of categories between the category of compact Hausdorff spaces and continuous maps and the category of commutative unital \(C^\ast\)-algebras and unital \(\ast\)-homomorphisms; as a result, unital \(C^\ast\)-algebras are identified contravariantly in operator-algebraic noncommutative geometry as compact noncommutative topological spaces. Building on this identification, Rieffel defined a compact quantum metric space as a unital \(C^\ast\)-algebra \(A\) together with a Lip-norm \(L\), generalising the Lipschitz seminorms on ordinary compact metric spaces. Of particular interest are \(C^\ast\)-metric algebras, compact quantum metric spaces with Lip-norm satisfying a Leibniz inequality; in particular, the compact quantum metric spaces defined by suitable spectral triples are \(C^\ast\)-metric algebras. In the paper under review, dedicated to R. W. Kadison on the occasion of his 85th birthday, the author considers the question of when a \(\ast\)-homomorphism \(\alpha : (A_1,L_1) \to (A_2,L_2)\) of \(C^\ast\)-metric algebras is Lipschitz, i.e., satisfies the inequality \(L_2(\alpha(a)) \leq \mu L_1(a)\) for some uniform constant \(\mu > 0\). The main result, then, is that, if \((A_1,L_1)\) and \((A_2,L_2)\) have lower semicontinuous Lip-norms \(L_1\) and \(L_2\), respectively, then any \(\ast\)-homomorphism \((A_1,L_1) \to (A_2,L_2)\) is Lipschitz. As a consequence, it is shown that suitable free products of \(\ast\)-homomorphisms of \(C^\ast\)-metric algebras are Lipschitz. Along the way, the author gives a clear and concise account of the relevant theory of \(C^\ast\)-metric algebras.