The Bochner-Schoenberg-Eberlein property for \(L^{1}(\mathbb{R}^{+})\) (Q485225)

A bounded complex-valued continuous function \(\sigma\) on the spectrum \(\Delta(A)\) of a commutative Banach algebra \(A\) is called a BSE-function if there is a constant \(C>0\) such that for any finite collection \(\phi_1, \phi_2, \dots, \phi_n\) in \(\Delta(A)\) and complex numbers \(c_1, c_2, \dots, c_n\), we have \[ \biggl|\sum_{j=1}^n c_j \sigma(\phi_j)\biggr| \leq C\biggl \|\sum_{j=1}^n c_j \phi_j\biggr\|_{A^*}. \] A commutative Banach algebra \(A\) without order (i.e., which has no non-zero annihilators) is called a BSE-algebra if the BSE-functions are precisely the canonical transformations of the multipliers of \(A\). The terminology, due to \textit{S.-E. Takahasi} and \textit{O. Hatori} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 110, No. 1, 149--158 (1990; Zbl 0722.46025)], comes from the classical result by \textit{S. Bochner} [Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 40, 271--276 (1934; Zbl 0009.24703)], \textit{I. J. Schoenberg} [ibid., 277--278 (1934; Zbl 0009.24704)] and \textit{W. F. Eberlein} [Duke Math. J. 22, 465--468 (1955; Zbl 0065.01603)] that says, in the above terminology, that the group algebra \(L^1(G)\) of a locally compact abelian group \(G\) is a BSE-algebra. In the paper under review, the authors show that the semigroup algebra \(L^1({\mathbb R}^+)\) is a BSE-algebra, answering a question raised by Takahasi and Hatori [loc.\,cit.].