On quaternionic functional analysis

Abstract

In this article, we will show that the category of quaternion vector spaces, the category of (both one-sided and two sided) quaternion Hilbert spaces and the category of quaternion $B^*$-algebras are equivalent to the category of real vector spaces, the category of real Hilbert spaces and the category of real $C^*$-algebras respectively. We will also give a Riesz representation theorem for quaternion Hilbert spaces and will extend two results of Kulkarni (namely, we will give the full versions of the Gelfand-Naimark theorem and the Gelfand theorem for quaternion $B^*$-algebras). On our way to these results, we compare, clarify and unify the term "quaternion Hilbert spaces" in the literatures.