Amenability constants for semilattice algebras (Q734971)

A Banach algebra \(A\) is called \textit{\(C\)-amenable} for some constant \(C \geq 1\), if there is a bounded net \(( d_\alpha )_\alpha\) in the projective tensor product \(A \hat{\otimes} A\) bounded by \(C\) such that \[ a \cdot d_\alpha - d_\alpha \cdot a \to 0 \qquad (a \in A) \] and \[ a \, m(d_\alpha) \to a \qquad (a \in A) \] where \(m \!: A \hat{\otimes} A \to A\) is the multiplication map. The smallest \(C \geq 1\) for which \(A\) is \(C\)-amenable is the \textit{amenability constant} of \(A\). In the paper under review, the authors compute and estimate the amenability constant for certain Banach algebras that arise in connections with semigroup. First, they show that, if \(S\) is a finite semilattice, then the amenability constant of the corresponding semigroup algebra \(\ell^1(S)\) is of the form \(4n+1\) for some non-negative integer \(n\); any such number can arise as an amenability constant. The authors then use this result to obtain and estimate from below the amenability constants of Banach algebras graded over a finite semilattice. Among other results, the authors show that there is no abelian semigroup \(S\) such that the amenability constant of \(\ell^1(S)\) lies strictly between \(5\) and \(9\).