Extensions and degenerations of spectral triples (Q731285)

The so-called Toeplitz algebra \(\mathcal{T}\) may be obtained via the algebra \(\mathcal{C}:=C(\mathbb{T})\). A function \(f\) in this algebra is represented as a multiplication operator \(M_f\) on the Hilbert space \(H: =L^2(\mathbb{T})\) of square integrable functions. This space has a subspace \(H_+\) which consists of those functions in \(H\) that have an analytic extension to the interior of the disk. Let \(P_+\) denote the orthogonal projection of \(H\) onto \(H_+\) and let \(T_f : = P_+ M_f |_{H_+}\). These operators form a subspace in the Toeplitz algebra such that the Toeplitz algebra becomes the direct sum of \(\{T_f: f \in \mathcal{C}\}\) and the algebra of compact operators on \(H_+\). In this way, the Toeplitz algebra becomes an extension of \(\mathcal{C}\) by the compact operators. The authors study this process, which is an extension of Toeplitz type, from a more general point of view. The study is based on Connes' notion of a \textit{spectral triple} \((A, H, D)\) associated to a unital \(C^*\)-algebra \(\mathcal{A}\), which is a subalgebra of \(B(H)\) [cf.\ \textit{A.\,Connes}, ``Noncommutative geometry'' (San Diego:\ Academic Press) (1996; Zbl 0818.46076)]. The authors investigate some possibilities for constructing spectral triples associated to an extension of \(\mathcal{A}\) by the algebra of compact operators on an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space, and consider an orthogonal projection \(P\) in \(B(H)\) which commutes with \(\mathcal{A}\) modulo the compact operators. One can define a \(C^*\)-algebra \(\mathcal{B}\) on \(PH\) as the \(C^*\)-algebra generated by the space \(\{Pa|_{PH} : a \in \mathcal{A}\}\) in \(B(PH)\). Let \(C(PH)\) denote the algebra of compact operators on \(PH\). The \(C^*\)-algebra \(\mathcal{T}: = \mathcal{B} + C(PH)\) is considered. The authors construct a two parameter family of spectral triples \((A_t , K, D_{\alpha, \beta} )\) associated to \(\mathcal{T}\). Using Rieffel's notation of quantum Gromov-Hausdorff distance between compact quantum metric spaces, the authors define a metric on this family of spectral triples and show that the distance between a pair of spectral triples varies continuously with respect to the parameters. It turns out that a spectral triple associated to the unitarization of the algebra of compact operators is obtained under the limit in this metric for \((\alpha, 1) \rightarrow (0, 1)\), while the basic spectral triple \((A, H, D)\) is obtained from this family under a sort of dual limiting process for \((1, \beta)\rightarrow (1, 0)\). The authors give a couple of examples and show that the method creates an abundance of spectral triples for the unitarized compact operators on a separable infinite-dimensional Hilbert space. It is shown that the method gives a spectral triple associated to the classical Toeplitz \(C^*\)-algebra. Based on this spectral triple, one can, by a slight modification of the method, obtain a spectral triple for the Podleś sphere. The construction is systematic and clear.