Weakly almost periodic functionals on the measure algebra (Q971909)

Let \({\mathcal M}\) be a commutative Hopf von Neumann algebra, that is a commutative von Neumann algebra together with a normal \(*\)-homomorphism \(\Delta : {\mathcal M} \overline\otimes {\mathcal M} \to {\mathcal M}\) such that \(( \text{id} \otimes \Delta) \Delta= ( \Delta \otimes \text{id}) \Delta\) (coassociativity). Such \({\mathcal M}\) is always of the form \({\mathcal M}= L^\infty(X)\) for some measure space \(X\) and has \({\mathcal M}_* = L^1(X)\) as predual. \(\Delta\) gives rise to an associative product \(\Delta_* : {\mathcal M}_* \otimes{\mathcal M}_* \to{\mathcal M}_*\) turning \({\mathcal M}_*\) into a Banach algebra. The main example considered by the author is that of a locally compact group \(G\) with measure algebra \(M(G)=C_0(G)^*\). Here \(M(G)^*= C_0(G)^{**}\) is a commutative von Neumann algebra in an obvious way and it turns out that there is also a coproduct \(\Delta\) on \(M(G)^*\) which is dual to the usual convolution product, turning \(M(G)^*\) into a Hopf von Neumann algebra with predual \(M(G)\). Thus many interesting examples of also noncommutative Banach algebras \(A\) may arise as preduals of a commutative Hopf von Neumann algebra \({\mathcal M}\), where the product on \(A\) is dual to the coproduct on \({\mathcal M}\). For such \(A\) we may consider the almost periodic and weakly almost periodic functionals \(AP(A)\) and \(WAP(A)\) on \(A\), i.e., those functionals \(f \in A^*\) such that \(a \mapsto a \cdot f\) is compact respectively weakly compact for all \(a \in A\). The author shows that \(AP(A)\) and \(WAP(A)\) are actually C\(^*\)-subalgebras of \({\mathcal M}\). This shows in particular that the weakly almost periodic functionals on the measure algebra \(M(G)\) of a locally compact group \(G\) form a C\(^*\)-subalgebra of \(C_0(G)^{**}\).