On the linear span of the projections in certain simple C*-algebras (Q4431114)

Expressing an operator on a Hilbert space as a product, sum or linear combination of ``nice'' operators such as projections, commutators or idempotents has been considered for many years. Results in the finite dimensional case are different from infinite dimensional ones. For instance, a unitary operator on an infinite dimensional Hilbert space is a product of 16 positive operators, cf. \textit{G. J. Murphy} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 125, 3675--3677 (1997; Zbl 0887.47018)], whereas in the finite dimensional case, a matrix (= an operator) is a product of positive matrices if and only if its determinant is non-negative, cf. \textit{C. S. Ballantine} [Linear Algebra Appl. 3, 79--114 (1970; Zbl 0192.37002)]. In this elegant paper, it is proved that if \(A\) is a \(C^{*}\)-algebra with mutually orthogonal projections \(p_{1}, p_{2}\) and \(p_{3}\) such that \(p_{1}+p_{2}+p_{3}=1\) (and so one can identify \(A\) with the matrix algebra \([p_{i}Ap_{j}]\)) and for \(1\leq i\leq 3\), the projection \(p_{i}\) is (Murray-von Neumann) equivalent to \(1-p_{i}\) (and so \(A\) contains an isomorphic copy of \(M_{2}(p_{i}Ap_{i})\)), then every commutator in \(A\) can be expressed as a sum of at most \(21\) nilpotents of index \(2\) and can be written as a linear combination of at most \(84\) projections in \(A\). The author shows that many \(C^{*}\)-algebras including Bunce-Deddens algebras, irrational rotation algebras, simple unital AF-algebras, and unital simple infinite algebras, admit such a decomposition. He also shows that for some of these classes of algebras, there is a number \(k>0\) so that every element of \(A\) can be written as a linear combination of at most \(k\) projections in \(A\). At the end of the paper, he asks whether a simple unital \(C^{*}\)-algebra which is the closed linear span of its projections must be linearly spanned by its projections.