A Banach algebra $A$ is said to be a zero Jordan product determined Banach algebra if, for every Banach space $X$, every bilinear map $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}:A\times A\rightarrow X$ satisfying $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}(a,b)=0$ whenever $a$, $b\in A$ are such that $ab+ba=0$, is of the form $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}(a,b)=\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E}(ab+ba)$ for some continuous linear map $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E}$. We show that all $C^{\ast }$-algebras and all group algebras $L^{1}(G)$ of amenable locally compact groups have this property and also discuss some applications.

We study the second dual algebra of a Banach algebra and related problems. We resolve some questions raised by Ülger, which are related to Arens products. We then discuss a question of Gulick on the radical of the second dual algebra of the group algebra of a discrete abelian group and give an application of Arens regularity to Fourier and Fourier–Stieltjes transforms.

We study compact group actions with finite Rokhlin dimension, particularly in relation to crossed products. For example, we characterize the duals of such actions, generalizing previous partial results for the Rokhlin property. As an application, we determine the ideal structure of their crossed products. Under the assumption of so-called commuting towers, we show that taking crossed products by such actions preserves a number of relevant classes of $C^{\ast }$-algebras, including: $D$-absorbing $C^{\ast }$-algebras, where $D$ is a strongly self-absorbing $C^{\ast }$-algebra; stable $C^{\ast }$-algebras; $C^{\ast }$-algebras with finite nuclear dimension (or decomposition rank); $C^{\ast }$-algebras with finite stable rank (or real rank); and $C^{\ast }$-algebras whose $K$-theory is either trivial, rational, or $n$-divisible for $n\in \mathbb{N}$. The combination of nuclearity and the universal coefficient theorem (UCT) is also shown to be preserved by these actions. Some of these results are new even in the well-studied case of the Rokhlin property. Additionally, and under some technical assumptions, we show that finite Rokhlin dimension with commuting towers implies the (weak) tracial Rokhlin property. At the core of our arguments is a certain local approximation of the crossed product by a continuous $C(X)$-algebra with fibers that are stably isomorphic to the underlying algebra. The space $X$ is computed in some cases of interest, and we use its description to construct a $\mathbb{Z}_{2}$-action on a unital AF-algebra and on a unital Kirchberg algebra satisfying the UCT, whose Rokhlin dimensions with and without commuting towers are finite but do not agree.

This note corrects an error in our paper “A Galois correspondence for reduced crossed products of unital simple $\text{C}^{\ast }$-algebras by discrete groups”, http://dx.doi.org/10.4153/CJM-2018-014-6. The main results of the original paper are unchanged.

Let $n$ be a positive integer. A $C^{\ast }$-algebra is said to be $n$-subhomogeneous if all its irreducible representations have dimension at most $n$. We give various approximation properties characterising $n$-subhomogeneous $C^{\ast }$-algebras.

Very recently, Karder and Petek completely described maps on density matrices (positive semidefinite matrices with unit trace) preserving certain entropy-like convex functionals of any convex combination. As a result, maps could be characterized that preserve von Neumann entropy or Schatten $p$-norm of any convex combination of quantum states (whose mathematical representatives are the density matrices). In this note we consider these latter two problems on the set of invertible density operators, in a much more general setting, on the set of positive invertible elements with unit trace in a $C^{\ast }$-algebra.

Let a discrete group $G$ act on a unital simple $\text{C}^{\ast }$-algebra $A$ by outer automorphisms. We establish a Galois correspondence $H\mapsto A\rtimes _{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC},r}H$ between subgroups of $G$ and $\text{C}^{\ast }$-algebras $B$ satisfying $A\subseteq B\subseteq A\rtimes _{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC},r}G$, where $A\rtimes _{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC},r}G$ denotes the reduced crossed product. For a twisted dynamical system $(A,G,\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC},\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E})$, we also prove the corresponding result for the reduced twisted crossed product $A\rtimes _{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC},r}^{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E}}G$.

In this paper, we study the boundary quotient $\text{C}^{\ast }$-algebras associated with products of odometers. One of our main results shows that the boundary quotient $\text{C}^{\ast }$-algebra of the standard product of $k$ odometers over $n_{i}$-letter alphabets $(1\leqslant i\leqslant k)$ is always nuclear, and that it is a UCT Kirchberg algebra if and only if $\{\ln n_{i}:1\leqslant i\leqslant k\}$ is rationally independent, if and only if the associated single-vertex $k$-graph $\text{C}^{\ast }$-algebra is simple. To achieve this, one of our main steps is to construct a topological $k$-graph such that its associated Cuntz–Pimsner $\text{C}^{\ast }$-algebra is isomorphic to the boundary quotient $\text{C}^{\ast }$-algebra. Some relations between the boundary quotient $\text{C}^{\ast }$-algebra and the $\text{C}^{\ast }$-algebra $\text{Q}_{\mathbb{N}}$ introduced by Cuntz are also investigated.

We show that, under special hypotheses, each 3-Jordan homomorphism ${\it\varphi}$ between Banach algebras ${\mathcal{A}}$ and ${\mathcal{B}}$ is a 3-homomorphism.

From the viewpoint of $C^{\ast }$-dynamical systems, we define a weak version of the Haagerup property for the group action on a $C^{\ast }$-algebra. We prove that this group action preserves the Haagerup property of $C^{\ast }$-algebras in the sense of Dong [‘Haagerup property for $C^{\ast }$-algebras’, J. Math. Anal. Appl.377 (2011), 631–644], that is, the reduced crossed product $C^{\ast }$-algebra $A\rtimes _{{\it\alpha},\text{r}}{\rm\Gamma}$ has the Haagerup property with respect to the induced faithful tracial state $\widetilde{{\it\tau}}$ if $A$ has the Haagerup property with respect to ${\it\tau}$.