Finite von Neumann algebra factors with property Gamma

Abstract

Techniques introduced by G. Pisier in his proof that finite von Neumann factors with property gamma have length at most 5 are modified to prove that the length is 3. It is proved that if such a factor is a complemented subspace of some larger C*-algebra then there exists a projection of norm one from the larger onto the smaller algebra. A new proof of the fact that the second continuous Hochschild cohomology group of such an algebra with coefficients in the algebra vanishes, is also included.