On properness of uniform algebras (Q6166444)

A uniform algebra \(A\) on a compact Hausdorff space \(K\) is a closed subalgebra of the abelian \(C^*\)-algebra \(C(K)\) that contains the constant functions on \(K\) and separates the points of \(K\). Note that \(A\) is said to separate the points of \(K\) if, whenever \(s,t \in K\) and \(s \neq t\), there exists an \(f \in A\) such that \(f(s) \neq f(t)\). If \(A \neq C(K)\), then \(A\) is said to be proper. Let \(\mathbb{X}\) be a complex Banach space. For any \(x \in \mathbb{X}\), \(x\) is said to be Birkhoff-James orthogonal to \(y\), denoted by \(x \perp_{B} y\), if \(\|x+ \lambda y\| \geq \|x\|\) for each \(\lambda \in \mathbb{C}\). Banach spaces \(\mathbb{X}\) and \(\mathbb{Y}\) are said to be isomorphic with respect to the structure of Birkhoff-James orthogonality, denoted by \(\mathbb{X} \sim_{B} \mathbb Y\) if there exists a (possibly nonlinear) bijection \(T : \mathbb{X} \to \mathbb{Y}\) such that \(x \perp_{B} y\) if and only if \(Tx \perp_{B} Ty\). Such a \(T\) is called a Birkhoff-James orthogonality preserver. In this article, the author first shows that every Birkhoff-James orthogonality preserver between uniform algebras induces a special bijection between their Choquet boundaries. The author presents examples of Banach spaces with topologizable geometric structure spaces that are not isomorphic to any quotient of \(C(K)\)-spaces; this is the first example of this kind. It is further proved that no proper uniform algebra with closed Choquet boundary is isomorphic to a \(C(K)\)-space with respect to the structure of Birkhoff-James orthogonality. In a similar way, the author shows that no proper regular uniform algebra is isomorphic to a \(C(K)\)-space with respect to the structure of Birkhoff-James orthogonality.