H. Garth Dales

This work has arisen from lecture courses given by the authors on important topics within functional analysis. The authors, who are all leading researchers, give introductions to their subjects at a level ideal for beginning graduate students, and others interested in the subject. The collection has been carefully edited so as to form a coherent and accessible introduction to current research topics. The first chapter by Professor Dales introduces the general theory of Banach algebras, which serves as a background to the remaining material. Dr Willis then studies a centrally important Banach algebra, the group algebra of a locally compact group. The remaining chapters are devoted to Banach algebras of operators on Banach spaces: Professor Eschmeier gives all the background for the exciting topic of invariant subspaces of operators, and discusses some key open problems; Dr Laursen and Professor Aiena discuss local spectral theory for operators, leading into Fredholm theory.

This work has arisen from lecture courses given by the authors on important topics within functional analysis. The authors, who are all leading researchers, give introductions to their subjects at a level ideal for beginning graduate students, and others interested in the subject. The collection has been carefully edited so as to form a coherent and accessible introduction to current research topics. The first chapter by Professor Dales introduces the general theory of Banach algebras, which serves as a background to the remaining material. Dr Willis then studies a centrally important Banach algebra, the group algebra of a locally compact group. The remaining chapters are devoted to Banach algebras of operators on Banach spaces: Professor Eschmeier gives all the background for the exciting topic of invariant subspaces of operators, and discusses some key open problems; Dr Laursen and Professor Aiena discuss local spectral theory for operators, leading into Fredholm theory.

Banach algebras combine algebraic and analytical aspects: it is the interplay of these structures that gives the subject its fascination. This volume expounds the general theory of Banach algebras, and shows how their topology is often determined by their algebraic structure: the central questions ask when homomorphisms and derivations from Banach algebras are automatically continuous, and seek canonical forms for these maps. The book synthesizes work over the last 20 years, and gives a definitive account; there are many new and unpublished results. The book describes many specific classes of Banach algebras, including function algebras, group algebras, algebras of operators, C*-algebras, and radical Banach algebras; it is a compendium of results on these examples. The subject interweaves algebra, functional analysis, and complex analysis, and has a dash of set theory and logic; the background in all these areas is fully explained. This volume is essential reading for anyone interested in any aspect of this vast subject.

Super-real fields are a class of large totally ordered fields. These fields are larger than the real line. They arise from quotients of the algebra of continuous functions on a compact space by a prime ideal, and generalize the well-known class of ultrapowers, and indeed the continuous ultrapowers. These fields are of interest in their own right and have many surprising applications, both in analysis and logic. The authors introduce some exciting new fields, including a natural generalization of the real line R, and resolve a number of open problems. The book is intended to be accessible to analysts and logicians. After an exposition of the general theory of ordered fields and a careful proof of some classic theorems, including Kaplansky's embedding theorems , the authors establish important new results in Banach algebra theory, non-standard analysis, an model theory.