On relationship among three types of Birkhoff-James orthogonality

Abstract

In this paper, we study three types of Birkhoff-James orthogonality in Hilbert $C^*$-modules, that is, the strong, quasi-strong, and original Birkhoff-James orthogonality. In general, the strong Birkhoff-James orthogonality is stronger than the quasi-strong Birkhoff-James orthogonality, and the quasi-strong Birkhoff-James orthogonality is stronger than the original Birkhoff-James orthogonality. Meanwhile, each reverse implication in this chain requires additional conditions. As the main results, we show that the strong and quasi-strong Birkhoff-James orthogonality are equivalent in a full Hilbert $C^*$-module if and only if the underlying $C^*$-algebra is commutative, and that the equivalence of the quasi-strong and original Birkhoff-James orthogonality in a full Hilbert $C^*$-module implies the primeness of the underlying $C^*$-algebra. Moreover, two examples, explaining the complexity of conditions for full Hilbert $C^*$-modules in which the quasi-strong and original Birkhoff-James orthogonality are equivalent, are given in the $C^*$-algebra settings.