Hereditary C*-Subalgebra Lattices

Abstract

We investigate the connections between order and algebra in the hereditary C*-subalgebra lattice $\mathcal{H}(A)$ and *-annihilator ortholattice $\mathscr{P}(A)^\perp$. In particular, we characterize $\vee$-distributive elements of $\mathcal{H}(A)$ as ideals, answering a 25 year old question, allowing the quantale structure of $\mathcal{H}(A)$ to be completely determined from its lattice structure. We also show that $\mathscr{P}(A)^\perp$ is separative, allowing for C*-algebra type decompositions which are completely consistent with the original von Neumann algebra type decompositions.