Lie Ideals in Operator Algebras

Abstract

Let $\mathcal A$ be a Banach algebra for which the group of invertible elements is connected. A subspace $\mathcal L \subseteq \mathcal A$ is a Lie ideal in $\mathcal A$ if, and only if, it is invariant under inner automorphisms. This applies, in particular, to any canonical subalgebra of an AF \ensuremath{\text{C}^{*}}-algebra. The same theorem is also proven for strongly closed subspaces of a totally atomic nest algebra whose atoms are ordered as a subset of the integers and for CSL subalgebras of such nest algebras. We also give a detailed description of the structure of a Lie ideal in any canonical triangular subalgebra of an AF \ensuremath{\text{C}^{*}}-algebra.