{"history":[],"article":{"id":"336ddf89-3e69-4dd2-83b2-478bb18424a3","title":"Von Neumann algebra","slug":"von-neumann-algebra","content":":::summary\n:::\n\n# \nIn [mathematics](https://bliptext.com/articles/mathematics), a **von Neumann algebra** or **W[*-algebra](https://bliptext.com/articles/algebra)** is a [*-algebra](https://bliptext.com/articles/algebra) of [bounded operators](https://bliptext.com/articles/bounded-linear-operator) on a [Hilbert space](https://bliptext.com/articles/hilbert-space) that is [closed](https://bliptext.com/articles/closed-set) in the [weak operator topology](https://bliptext.com/articles/weak-operator-topology) and contains the [identity operator](https://bliptext.com/articles/identity-operator).\nIt is a special type of [C*-algebra](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-algebra).\nVon Neumann algebras were originally introduced by [John von Neumann](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-von-neumann), motivated by his study of [single operators](https://bliptext.com/articles/operator-theory), [group representations](https://bliptext.com/articles/group-representation), [ergodic theory](https://bliptext.com/articles/ergodic-theory) and [quantum mechanics](https://bliptext.com/articles/quantum-mechanics).\nHis [double commutant theorem](https://bliptext.com/articles/von-neumann-double-commutant-theorem) shows that the [analytic](https://bliptext.com/articles/mathematical-analysis) definition is equivalent to a purely [algebraic](https://bliptext.com/articles/abstract-algebra) definition as an algebra of symmetries.\nTwo basic examples of von Neumann algebras are as follows:\nVon Neumann algebras were first studied by in 1929; he and [Francis Murray](https://bliptext.com/articles/francis-joseph-murray) developed the basic theory, under the original name of **rings of operators**, in a series of papers written in the 1930s and 1940s, reprinted in the collected works of.\nIntroductory accounts of von Neumann algebras are given in the online notes of and and the books by, , and.\nThe three volume work by gives an encyclopedic account of the theory.\nThe book by discusses more advanced topics.\n\n# Definitions\nThere are three common ways to define von Neumann algebras.\nThe first and most common way is to define them as [weakly closed](https://bliptext.com/articles/weak-operator-topology) [*-algebras](https://bliptext.com/articles/algebra) of bounded operators (on a Hilbert space) containing the identity.\nIn this definition the weak (operator) topology can be replaced by many other [common topologies](https://bliptext.com/articles/operator-topology) including the [strong](https://bliptext.com/articles/strong-operator-topology), ultra[strong](https://bliptext.com/articles/strong-operator-topology) or [ultraweak](https://bliptext.com/articles/ultraweak-topology) operator topologies.\nThe *-algebras of bounded operators that are closed in the [norm topology](https://bliptext.com/articles/norm-topology) are [C*-algebras](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-algebra), so in particular any von Neumann algebra is a C*-algebra.\nThe second definition is that a von Neumann algebra is a subalgebra of the bounded operators closed under [involution](https://bliptext.com/articles/semigroup-with-involution) (the *-operation) and equal to its double [commutant](https://bliptext.com/articles/[commutant](https://bliptext.com/articles/commutant)), or equivalently the [commutant](https://bliptext.com/articles/[commutant](https://bliptext.com/articles/commutant)) of some subalgebra closed under *.\nThe [von Neumann double commutant theorem](https://bliptext.com/articles/von-neumann-double-commutant-theorem) says that the first two definitions are equivalent.\nThe first two definitions describe a von Neumann algebra concretely as a set of operators acting on some given Hilbert space.\nshowed that von Neumann algebras can also be defined abstractly as C*-algebras that have a [predual](https://bliptext.com/articles/pre[dual](https://bliptext.com/articles/dual-space)); in other words the von Neumann algebra, considered as a [Banach space](https://bliptext.com/articles/banach-space), is the [dual](https://bliptext.com/articles/dual-space) of some other [Banach space](https://bliptext.com/articles/banach-space) called the [predual](https://bliptext.com/articles/pre[dual](https://bliptext.com/articles/dual-space)).\nThe predual of a von Neumann algebra is in fact unique up to isomorphism.\nSome authors use \"von Neumann algebra\" for the algebras together with a Hilbert space action, and \"W*-algebra\" for the abstract concept, so a von Neumann algebra is a W*-algebra together with a Hilbert space and a suitable faithful unital action on the Hilbert space.\nThe concrete and abstract definitions of a von Neumann algebra are similar to the concrete and abstract definitions of a C*-algebra, which can be defined either as norm-closed *-algebras of operators on a Hilbert space, or as [Banach *-algebras](https://bliptext.com/articles/banach-algebra) such that ||aa*||=||a|| ||a*||.\n\n# Terminology\nSome of the terminology in von Neumann algebra theory can be confusing, and the terms often have different meanings outside the subject.\nBy [forgetting](https://bliptext.com/articles/forgetting-mathematics) about the topology on a von Neumann algebra, we can consider it a (unital) [*-algebra](https://bliptext.com/articles/star-algebra), or just a ring.\nVon Neumann algebras are [semihereditary](https://bliptext.com/articles/semihereditary-ring): every finitely generated submodule of a [projective module](https://bliptext.com/articles/projective-module) is itself projective.\nThere have been several attempts to axiomatize the underlying rings of von Neumann algebras, including [Baer *-rings](https://bliptext.com/articles/baer-ring) and [AW*-algebras](https://bliptext.com/articles/aw-algebra).\nThe [*-algebra](https://bliptext.com/articles/algebra) of [affiliated operators](https://bliptext.com/articles/affiliated-operator) of a finite von Neumann algebra is a [von Neumann regular ring](https://bliptext.com/articles/von-neumann-regular-ring).\n(The von Neumann algebra itself is in general not von Neumann regular.)\n\n# Commutative von Neumann algebras\nThe relationship between [commutative](https://bliptext.com/articles/commutative) von Neumann algebras and [measure spaces](https://bliptext.com/articles/measure-space) is analogous to that between [commutative](https://bliptext.com/articles/commutative) [C*-algebras](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-algebra) and [locally compact](https://bliptext.com/articles/locally-compact) [Hausdorff spaces](https://bliptext.com/articles/hausdorff-space).\nEvery commutative von Neumann algebra is isomorphic to L∞(X) for some measure space (X, μ) and conversely, for every σ-finite measure space X, the *-algebra L∞(X) is a von Neumann algebra.\nDue to this analogy, the theory of von Neumann algebras has been called noncommutative measure theory, while the theory of [C*-algebras](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-algebra) is sometimes called [noncommutative topology](https://bliptext.com/articles/noncommutative-topology).\n\n# Projections\nOperators E in a von Neumann algebra for which E = EE = E* are called **projections**; they are exactly the operators which give an orthogonal projection of H onto some closed subspace.\nA subspace of the Hilbert space H is said to **belong to** the von Neumann algebra M if it is the image of some projection in M.\nThis establishes a 1:1 correspondence between projections of M and subspaces that belong to M.\nInformally these are the closed subspaces that can be described using elements of M, or that M \"knows\" about.\nIt can be shown that the closure of the image of any operator in M and the kernel of any operator in M belongs to M.\nAlso, the closure of the image under an operator of M of any subspace belonging to M also belongs to M.\n(These results are a consequence of the [polar decomposition](https://bliptext.com/articles/polar-decomposition)).\n\n## Comparison theory of projections\nThe basic theory of projections was worked out by.\nTwo subspaces belonging to M are called (**Murray–von Neumann**) **equivalent** if there is a partial isometry mapping the first isomorphically onto the other that is an element of the von Neumann algebra (informally, if M \"knows\" that the subspaces are isomorphic).\nThis induces a natural [equivalence relation](https://bliptext.com/articles/equivalence-relation) on projections by defining E to be equivalent to F if the corresponding subspaces are equivalent, or in other words if there is a [partial isometry](https://bliptext.com/articles/partial-isometry) of H that maps the image of E isometrically to the image of F and is an element of the von Neumann algebra.\nAnother way of stating this is that E is equivalent to F if E=uu* and F=u*u for some partial isometry u in M.\nThe equivalence relation ~ thus defined is additive in the following sense: Suppose E1 ~ F1 and E2 ~ F2.\nIf E1 ⊥ E2 and F1 ⊥ F2, then E1 + E2 ~ F1 + F2.\nAdditivity would not generally hold if one were to require unitary equivalence in the definition of ~, i.e. if we say E is equivalent to F if u*Eu = F for some unitary u.\nThe [Schröder–Bernstein theorems for operator algebras](https://bliptext.com/articles/schr-der-bernstein-theorems-for-operator-algebras) gives a sufficient condition for Murray-von Neumann equivalence.\nThe subspaces belonging to M are partially ordered by inclusion, and this induces a partial order ≤ of projections.\nThere is also a natural partial order on the set of equivalence classes of projections, induced by the partial order ≤ of projections.\nIf M is a factor, ≤ is a total order on equivalence classes of projections, described in the section on traces below.\nA projection (or subspace belonging to M) E is said to be a **finite projection** if there is no projection F < E (meaning F ≤ E and F ≠ E) that is equivalent to E.\nFor example, all finite-dimensional projections (or subspaces) are finite (since isometries between Hilbert spaces leave the dimension fixed), but the identity operator on an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space is not finite in the von Neumann algebra of all bounded operators on it, since it is isometrically isomorphic to a proper subset of itself.\nHowever it is possible for infinite dimensional subspaces to be finite.\nOrthogonal projections are noncommutative analogues of indicator functions in L∞(**R**).\nL∞(**R**) is the ||·||∞-closure of the subspace generated by the indicator functions.\nSimilarly, a von Neumann algebra is generated by its projections; this is a consequence of the [spectral theorem for self-adjoint operators](https://bliptext.com/articles/self-adjoint-operator).\nThe projections of a finite factor form a [continuous geometry](https://bliptext.com/articles/continuous-geometry).\n\n# Factors\nA von Neumann algebra N whose [center](https://bliptext.com/articles/center-algebra) consists only of multiples of the identity operator is called a **factor**.\nAs showed, every von Neumann algebra on a separable Hilbert space is isomorphic to a [direct integral](https://bliptext.com/articles/direct-integral) of factors.\nThis decomposition is essentially unique.\nThus, the problem of classifying isomorphism classes of von Neumann algebras on separable Hilbert spaces can be reduced to that of classifying isomorphism classes of factors.\nshowed that every factor has one of 3 types as described below.\nThe type classification can be extended to von Neumann algebras that are not factors, and a von Neumann algebra is of type X if it can be decomposed as a direct integral of type X factors; for example, every commutative von Neumann algebra has type I1.\nEvery von Neumann algebra can be written uniquely as a sum of von Neumann algebras of types I, II, and III.\nThere are several other ways to divide factors into classes that are sometimes used:\n\n## Type I factors\nA factor is said to be of **type I** if there is a minimal projection E ≠ 0, i.e. a projection E such that there is no other projection F with 0 < F < E.\nAny factor of type I is isomorphic to the von Neumann algebra of all bounded operators on some Hilbert space; since there is one Hilbert space for every [cardinal number](https://bliptext.com/articles/cardinal-number), isomorphism classes of factors of type I correspond exactly to the [cardinal number](https://bliptext.com/articles/cardinal-number)s.\nSince many authors consider von Neumann algebras only on separable Hilbert spaces, it is customary to call the bounded operators on a Hilbert space of finite dimension n a factor of type In, and the bounded operators on a separable infinite-dimensional Hilbert space, a factor of type I∞.\n\n## Type II factors\nA factor is said to be of **type II** if there are no minimal projections but there are non-zero [finite projections](https://bliptext.com/articles/von-neumann-algebra).\nThis implies that every projection E can be \"halved\" in the sense that there are two projections F and G that are [Murray–von Neumann equivalent](https://bliptext.com/articles/von-neumann-algebra) and satisfy E = F + G.\nIf the identity operator in a type II factor is finite, the factor is said to be of type II1; otherwise, it is said to be of type II∞.\nThe best understood factors of type II are the [hyperfinite type II1 factor](https://bliptext.com/articles/hyperfinite-type-ii-1-factor) and the [hyperfinite type II∞ factor](https://bliptext.com/articles/hyperfinite-type-ii-infinity-factor), found by.\nThese are the unique hyperfinite factors of types II1 and II∞; there are an uncountable number of other factors of these types that are the subject of intensive study.\nproved the fundamental result that a factor of type II1 has a unique finite tracial state, and the set of traces of projections is [0,1].\nA factor of type II∞ has a semifinite trace, unique up to rescaling, and the set of traces of projections is [0,∞].\nThe set of real numbers λ such that there is an automorphism rescaling the trace by a factor of λ is called the **fundamental group** of the type II∞ factor.\nThe tensor product of a factor of type II1 and an infinite type I factor has type II∞, and conversely any factor of type II∞ can be constructed like this.\nThe **fundamental group** of a type II1 factor is defined to be the **fundamental group** of its tensor product with the infinite (separable) factor of type I. For many years it was an open problem to find a type II factor whose **fundamental group** was not the group of [positive reals](https://bliptext.com/articles/positive-reals), but [Connes](https://bliptext.com/articles/alain-connes) then showed that the von Neumann group algebra of a countable discrete group with [Kazhdan's property (T)](https://bliptext.com/articles/kazhdan-s-property-t) (the trivial representation is isolated in the dual space), such as SL(3,**Z**), has a countable **fundamental group**.\nSubsequently, [Sorin Popa](https://bliptext.com/articles/sorin-popa) showed that the fundamental group can be trivial for certain groups, including the [semidirect product](https://bliptext.com/articles/semidirect-product) of ****Z****2 by SL(2,****Z****).\nAn example of a type II1 factor is the von Neumann group algebra of a countable infinite discrete group such that every non-trivial conjugacy class is infinite.\nfound an uncountable family of such groups with non-isomorphic von Neumann group algebras, thus showing the existence of uncountably many different separable type II1 factors.\n\n## Type III factors\nLastly, **type III** factors are factors that do not contain any nonzero finite projections at all.\nIn their first paper were unable to decide whether or not they existed; the first examples were later found by.\nSince the identity operator is always infinite in those factors, they were sometimes called type III∞ in the past, but recently that notation has been superseded by the notation IIIλ, where λ is a real number in the interval [0,1].\nMore precisely, if the Connes spectrum (of its modular group) is 1 then the factor is of type III0, if the Connes spectrum is all integral powers of λ for 0 < λ < 1, then the type is IIIλ, and if the Connes spectrum is all positive reals then the type is III1.\n(The Connes spectrum is a closed subgroup of the positive reals, so these are the only possibilities.) The only trace on type III factors takes value ∞ on all non-zero positive elements, and any two non-zero projections are equivalent.\nAt one time type III factors were considered to be intractable objects, but [Tomita–Takesaki theory](https://bliptext.com/articles/tomita-takesaki-theory) has led to a good structure theory.\nIn particular, any type III factor can be written in a canonical way as the [crossed product](https://bliptext.com/articles/crossed-product) of a type II∞ factor and the real numbers.\n\n# The predual\nAny von Neumann algebra M has a **predual** M∗, which is the Banach space of all ultraweakly continuous linear functionals on M.\nAs the name suggests, M is (as a Banach space) the dual of its predual.\nThe predual is unique in the sense that any other Banach space whose dual is M is canonically isomorphic to M∗.\nshowed that the existence of a predual characterizes von Neumann algebras among C* algebras.\nThe definition of the predual given above seems to depend on the choice of Hilbert space that M acts on, as this determines the ultraweak topology.\nHowever the predual can also be defined without using the Hilbert space that M acts on, by defining it to be the space generated by all positive **normal** linear functionals on M.\n(Here \"normal\" means that it preserves suprema when applied to increasing nets of self adjoint operators; or equivalently to increasing sequences of projections.)\nThe predual M∗ is a closed subspace of the dual M* (which consists of all norm-continuous linear functionals on M) but is generally smaller.\nThe proof that M∗ is (usually) not the same as M* is nonconstructive and uses the axiom of choice in an essential way; it is very hard to exhibit explicit elements of M* that are not in M∗.\nFor example, exotic positive linear forms on the von Neumann algebra l∞(Z) are given by [free ultrafilters](https://bliptext.com/articles/ultrafilter); they correspond to exotic *-homomorphisms into C and describe the [Stone–Čech compactification](https://bliptext.com/articles/stone-ech-compactification) of Z.\nExamples:\n\n# Weights, states, and traces\nWeights and their special cases states and traces are discussed in detail in.\nAny factor has a trace such that the trace of a non-zero projection is non-zero and the trace of a projection is infinite if and only if the projection is infinite.\nSuch a trace is unique up to rescaling.\nFor factors that are separable or finite, two projections are equivalent if and only if they have the same trace.\nThe type of a factor can be read off from the possible values of this trace over the projections of the factor, as follows:\nIf a von Neumann algebra acts on a Hilbert space containing a norm 1 vector v, then the functional a → (av,v) is a normal state.\nThis construction can be reversed to give an action on a Hilbert space from a normal state: this is the [GNS construction](https://bliptext.com/articles/gns-construction) for normal states.\n\n# Modules over a factor\nGiven an abstract separable factor, one can ask for a classification of its modules, meaning the separable Hilbert spaces that it acts on.\nThe answer is given as follows: every such module H can be given an M-dimension dimM(H) (not its dimension as a complex vector space) such that modules are isomorphic if and only if they have the same M-dimension.\nThe M-dimension is additive, and a module is isomorphic to a subspace of another module if and only if it has smaller or equal M-dimension.\nA module is called **standard** if it has a cyclic separating vector.\nEach factor has a standard representation, which is unique up to isomorphism.\nThe standard representation has an antilinear involution J such that JMJ = .\nFor finite factors the standard module is given by the [GNS construction](https://bliptext.com/articles/gns-construction) applied to the unique normal tracial state and the M-dimension is normalized so that the standard module has M-dimension 1, while for infinite factors the standard module is the module with M-dimension equal to ∞.\nThe possible M-dimensions of modules are given as follows:\n\n# Amenable von Neumann algebras\nand others proved that the following conditions on a von Neumann algebra M on a separable Hilbert space H are all **equivalent**:\nThere is no generally accepted term for the class of algebras above; Connes has suggested that **amenable** should be the standard term.\nThe amenable factors have been classified: there is a unique one of each of the types In, I∞, II1, II∞, IIIλ, for 0 < λ ≤ 1, and the ones of type III0 correspond to certain ergodic flows.\n(For type III0 calling this a classification is a little misleading, as it is known that there is no easy way to classify the corresponding ergodic flows.) The ones of type I and II1 were classified by, and the remaining ones were classified by , except for the type III1 case which was completed by Haagerup.\nAll amenable factors can be constructed using the **[group-measure space construction](https://bliptext.com/articles/crossed-product)** of [Murray](https://bliptext.com/articles/francis-joseph-murray) and [von Neumann](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-von-neumann) for a single [ergodic](https://bliptext.com/articles/ergodic) transformation.\nIn fact they are precisely the factors arising as [crossed products](https://bliptext.com/articles/crossed-product) by free ergodic actions of Z or Z/nZ on abelian von Neumann algebras L∞(X).\nType I factors occur when the [measure space](https://bliptext.com/articles/measure-space) X is [atomic](https://bliptext.com/articles/atom-measure-theory) and the action transitive.\nWhen X is diffuse or [non-atomic](https://bliptext.com/articles/atom-measure-theory), it is [equivalent](https://bliptext.com/articles/equivalence-measure-theory) to [0,1] as a [measure space](https://bliptext.com/articles/measure-space).\nType II factors occur when X admits an [equivalent](https://bliptext.com/articles/equivalence-measure-theory) finite (II1) or infinite (II∞) measure, invariant under an action of Z.\nType III factors occur in the remaining cases where there is no invariant measure, but only an [invariant measure class](https://bliptext.com/articles/quasi-invariant-measure): these factors are called **Krieger factors**.\n\n# Tensor products of von Neumann algebras\nThe Hilbert space tensor product of two Hilbert spaces is the completion of their algebraic tensor product.\nOne can define a tensor product of von Neumann algebras (a completion of the algebraic tensor product of the algebras considered as rings), which is again a von Neumann algebra, and act on the tensor product of the corresponding Hilbert spaces.\nThe tensor product of two finite algebras is finite, and the tensor product of an infinite algebra and a non-zero algebra is infinite.\nThe type of the tensor product of two von Neumann algebras (I, II, or III) is the maximum of their types.\nThe **commutation theorem for tensor products** states that\nwhere denotes the [commutant](https://bliptext.com/articles/commutant) of M.\nThe tensor product of an infinite number of von Neumann algebras, if done naively, is usually a ridiculously large non-separable algebra.\nInstead showed that one should choose a state on each of the von Neumann algebras, use this to define a state on the algebraic tensor product, which can be used to produce a Hilbert space and a (reasonably small) von Neumann algebra.\nstudied the case where all the factors are finite matrix algebras; these factors are called **Araki–Woods** factors or **ITPFI factors** (ITPFI stands for \"infinite tensor product of finite type I factors\").\nThe type of the infinite tensor product can vary dramatically as the states are changed; for example, the infinite tensor product of an infinite number of type I2 factors can have any type depending on the choice of states.\nIn particular found an uncountable family of non-isomorphic hyperfinite type IIIλ factors for 0 < λ < 1, called **Powers factors**, by taking an infinite tensor product of type I2 factors, each with the state given by:\nAll hyperfinite von Neumann algebras not of type III0 are isomorphic to Araki–Woods factors, but there are uncountably many of type III0 that are not.\n\n# Bimodules and subfactors\nA **bimodule** (or correspondence) is a Hilbert space H with module actions of two commuting von Neumann algebras.\nBimodules have a much richer structure than that of modules.\nAny bimodule over two factors always gives a [subfactor](https://bliptext.com/articles/subfactor) since one of the factors is always contained in the commutant of the other.\nThere is also a subtle relative tensor product operation due to [Connes](https://bliptext.com/articles/alain-connes) on bimodules.\nThe theory of subfactors, initiated by [Vaughan Jones](https://bliptext.com/articles/vaughan-jones), reconciles these two seemingly different points of view.\nBimodules are also important for the von Neumann group algebra M of a discrete group Γ.\nIndeed, if V is any [unitary representation](https://bliptext.com/articles/unitary-representation) of Γ, then, regarding Γ as the diagonal subgroup of Γ × Γ, the corresponding [induced representation](https://bliptext.com/articles/induced-representation) on l2(Γ, V) is naturally a bimodule for two commuting copies of M.\nImportant [representation theoretic](https://bliptext.com/articles/representation-theory) properties of Γ can be formulated entirely in terms of bimodules and therefore make sense for the von Neumann algebra itself.\nFor example, Connes and Jones gave a definition of an analogue of [Kazhdan's property (T)](https://bliptext.com/articles/kazhdan-s-property-t) for von Neumann algebras in this way.\n\n# Non-amenable factors\nVon Neumann algebras of type I are always amenable, but for the other types there are an uncountable number of different non-amenable factors, which seem very hard to classify, or even distinguish from each other.\nNevertheless, [Voiculescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/dan-virgil-voiculescu) has shown that the class of non-amenable factors coming from the group-measure space construction is **disjoint** from the class coming from group von Neumann algebras of free groups.\nLater [Narutaka Ozawa](https://bliptext.com/articles/narutaka-ozawa) proved that group von Neumann algebras of [hyperbolic groups](https://bliptext.com/articles/hyperbolic-group) yield [prime](https://bliptext.com/articles/prime-number) type II1 factors, i.e. ones that cannot be factored as tensor products of type II1 factors, a result first proved by Leeming Ge for free group factors using Voiculescu's [free entropy](https://bliptext.com/articles/free-probability-theory).\nPopa's work on fundamental groups of non-amenable factors represents another significant advance.\nThe theory of factors \"beyond the hyperfinite\" is rapidly expanding at present, with many new and surprising results; it has close links with [rigidity phenomena](https://bliptext.com/articles/grigory-margulis) in [geometric group theory](https://bliptext.com/articles/geometric-group-theory) and [ergodic theory](https://bliptext.com/articles/ergodic-theory).\n\n# Examples\n\n# Applications\nVon Neumann algebras have found applications in diverse areas of mathematics like [knot theory](https://bliptext.com/articles/knot-theory), [statistical mechanics](https://bliptext.com/articles/statistical-mechanics), [quantum field theory](https://bliptext.com/articles/quantum-field-theory), [local quantum physics](https://bliptext.com/articles/local-quantum-physics), [free probability](https://bliptext.com/articles/free-probability), [noncommutative geometry](https://bliptext.com/articles/noncommutative-geometry), [representation theory](https://bliptext.com/articles/representation-theory), [differential geometry](https://bliptext.com/articles/differential-geometry), and [dynamical systems](https://bliptext.com/articles/dynamical-system).\nFor instance, [C*-algebra](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-algebra) provides an alternative axiomatization to probability theory.\nIn this case the method goes by the name of [Gelfand–Naimark–Segal construction](https://bliptext.com/articles/gelfand-naimark-segal-construction).\nThis is analogous to the two approaches to measure and integration, where one has the choice to construct measures of sets first and define integrals later, or construct integrals first and define set measures as integrals of characteristic functions.","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-25T19:03:25.136Z","updated_at":"2025-01-25T19:03:25.136Z","search_vector":"'algebra':3 'neumann':2 'von':1","search_content":" \n \n\n# \nIn [mathematics](https://bliptext.com/articles/mathematics), a **von Neumann algebra** or **W[*-algebra](https://bliptext.com/articles/algebra)** is a [*-algebra](https://bliptext.com/articles/algebra) of [bounded operators](https://bliptext.com/articles/bounded-linear-operator) on a [Hilbert space](https://bliptext.com/articles/hilbert-space) that is [closed](https://bliptext.com/articles/closed-set) in the [weak operator topology](https://bliptext.com/articles/weak-operator-topology) and contains the [identity operator](https://bliptext.com/articles/identity-operator).\nIt is a special type of [C*-algebra](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-algebra).\nVon Neumann algebras were originally introduced by [John von Neumann](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-von-neumann), motivated by his study of [single operators](https://bliptext.com/articles/operator-theory), [group representations](https://bliptext.com/articles/group-representation), [ergodic theory](https://bliptext.com/articles/ergodic-theory) and [quantum mechanics](https://bliptext.com/articles/quantum-mechanics).\nHis [double commutant theorem](https://bliptext.com/articles/von-neumann-double-commutant-theorem) shows that the [analytic](https://bliptext.com/articles/mathematical-analysis) definition is equivalent to a purely [algebraic](https://bliptext.com/articles/abstract-algebra) definition as an algebra of symmetries.\nTwo basic examples of von Neumann algebras are as follows:\nVon Neumann algebras were first studied by in 1929; he and [Francis Murray](https://bliptext.com/articles/francis-joseph-murray) developed the basic theory, under the original name of **rings of operators**, in a series of papers written in the 1930s and 1940s, reprinted in the collected works of.\nIntroductory accounts of von Neumann algebras are given in the online notes of and and the books by, , and.\nThe three volume work by gives an encyclopedic account of the theory.\nThe book by discusses more advanced topics.\n\n# Definitions\nThere are three common ways to define von Neumann algebras.\nThe first and most common way is to define them as [weakly closed](https://bliptext.com/articles/weak-operator-topology) [*-algebras](https://bliptext.com/articles/algebra) of bounded operators (on a Hilbert space) containing the identity.\nIn this definition the weak (operator) topology can be replaced by many other [common topologies](https://bliptext.com/articles/operator-topology) including the [strong](https://bliptext.com/articles/strong-operator-topology), ultra[strong](https://bliptext.com/articles/strong-operator-topology) or [ultraweak](https://bliptext.com/articles/ultraweak-topology) operator topologies.\nThe *-algebras of bounded operators that are closed in the [norm topology](https://bliptext.com/articles/norm-topology) are [C*-algebras](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-algebra), so in particular any von Neumann algebra is a C*-algebra.\nThe second definition is that a von Neumann algebra is a subalgebra of the bounded operators closed under [involution](https://bliptext.com/articles/semigroup-with-involution) (the *-operation) and equal to its double [[commutant](https://bliptext.com/articles/commutant)](https://bliptext.com/articles/[commutant](https://bliptext.com/articles/commutant)), or equivalently the [[commutant](https://bliptext.com/articles/commutant)](https://bliptext.com/articles/[commutant](https://bliptext.com/articles/commutant)) of some subalgebra closed under *.\nThe [von Neumann double commutant theorem](https://bliptext.com/articles/von-neumann-double-commutant-theorem) says that the first two definitions are equivalent.\nThe first two definitions describe a von Neumann algebra concretely as a set of operators acting on some given Hilbert space.\nshowed that von Neumann algebras can also be defined abstractly as C*-algebras that have a [pre[dual](https://bliptext.com/articles/dual-space)](https://bliptext.com/articles/pre[dual](https://bliptext.com/articles/dual-space)); in other words the von Neumann algebra, considered as a [Banach space](https://bliptext.com/articles/banach-space), is the [dual](https://bliptext.com/articles/dual-space) of some other [Banach space](https://bliptext.com/articles/banach-space) called the [pre[dual](https://bliptext.com/articles/dual-space)](https://bliptext.com/articles/pre[dual](https://bliptext.com/articles/dual-space)).\nThe predual of a von Neumann algebra is in fact unique up to isomorphism.\nSome authors use \"von Neumann algebra\" for the algebras together with a Hilbert space action, and \"W*-algebra\" for the abstract concept, so a von Neumann algebra is a W*-algebra together with a Hilbert space and a suitable faithful unital action on the Hilbert space.\nThe concrete and abstract definitions of a von Neumann algebra are similar to the concrete and abstract definitions of a C*-algebra, which can be defined either as norm-closed *-algebras of operators on a Hilbert space, or as [Banach *-algebras](https://bliptext.com/articles/banach-algebra) such that ||aa*||=||a|| ||a*||.\n\n# Terminology\nSome of the terminology in von Neumann algebra theory can be confusing, and the terms often have different meanings outside the subject.\nBy [forgetting](https://bliptext.com/articles/forgetting-mathematics) about the topology on a von Neumann algebra, we can consider it a (unital) [*-algebra](https://bliptext.com/articles/star-algebra), or just a ring.\nVon Neumann algebras are [semihereditary](https://bliptext.com/articles/semihereditary-ring): every finitely generated submodule of a [projective module](https://bliptext.com/articles/projective-module) is itself projective.\nThere have been several attempts to axiomatize the underlying rings of von Neumann algebras, including [Baer *-rings](https://bliptext.com/articles/baer-ring) and [AW*-algebras](https://bliptext.com/articles/aw-algebra).\nThe [*-algebra](https://bliptext.com/articles/algebra) of [affiliated operators](https://bliptext.com/articles/affiliated-operator) of a finite von Neumann algebra is a [von Neumann regular ring](https://bliptext.com/articles/von-neumann-regular-ring).\n(The von Neumann algebra itself is in general not von Neumann regular.)\n\n# Commutative von Neumann algebras\nThe relationship between [commutative](https://bliptext.com/articles/commutative) von Neumann algebras and [measure spaces](https://bliptext.com/articles/measure-space) is analogous to that between [commutative](https://bliptext.com/articles/commutative) [C*-algebras](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-algebra) and [locally compact](https://bliptext.com/articles/locally-compact) [Hausdorff spaces](https://bliptext.com/articles/hausdorff-space).\nEvery commutative von Neumann algebra is isomorphic to L∞(X) for some measure space (X, μ) and conversely, for every σ-finite measure space X, the *-algebra L∞(X) is a von Neumann algebra.\nDue to this analogy, the theory of von Neumann algebras has been called noncommutative measure theory, while the theory of [C*-algebras](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-algebra) is sometimes called [noncommutative topology](https://bliptext.com/articles/noncommutative-topology).\n\n# Projections\nOperators E in a von Neumann algebra for which E = EE = E* are called **projections**; they are exactly the operators which give an orthogonal projection of H onto some closed subspace.\nA subspace of the Hilbert space H is said to **belong to** the von Neumann algebra M if it is the image of some projection in M.\nThis establishes a 1:1 correspondence between projections of M and subspaces that belong to M.\nInformally these are the closed subspaces that can be described using elements of M, or that M \"knows\" about.\nIt can be shown that the closure of the image of any operator in M and the kernel of any operator in M belongs to M.\nAlso, the closure of the image under an operator of M of any subspace belonging to M also belongs to M.\n(These results are a consequence of the [polar decomposition](https://bliptext.com/articles/polar-decomposition)).\n\n## Comparison theory of projections\nThe basic theory of projections was worked out by.\nTwo subspaces belonging to M are called (**Murray–von Neumann**) **equivalent** if there is a partial isometry mapping the first isomorphically onto the other that is an element of the von Neumann algebra (informally, if M \"knows\" that the subspaces are isomorphic).\nThis induces a natural [equivalence relation](https://bliptext.com/articles/equivalence-relation) on projections by defining E to be equivalent to F if the corresponding subspaces are equivalent, or in other words if there is a [partial isometry](https://bliptext.com/articles/partial-isometry) of H that maps the image of E isometrically to the image of F and is an element of the von Neumann algebra.\nAnother way of stating this is that E is equivalent to F if E=uu* and F=u*u for some partial isometry u in M.\nThe equivalence relation ~ thus defined is additive in the following sense: Suppose E1 ~ F1 and E2 ~ F2.\nIf E1 ⊥ E2 and F1 ⊥ F2, then E1 + E2 ~ F1 + F2.\nAdditivity would not generally hold if one were to require unitary equivalence in the definition of ~, i.e. if we say E is equivalent to F if u*Eu = F for some unitary u.\nThe [Schröder–Bernstein theorems for operator algebras](https://bliptext.com/articles/schr-der-bernstein-theorems-for-operator-algebras) gives a sufficient condition for Murray-von Neumann equivalence.\nThe subspaces belonging to M are partially ordered by inclusion, and this induces a partial order ≤ of projections.\nThere is also a natural partial order on the set of equivalence classes of projections, induced by the partial order ≤ of projections.\nIf M is a factor, ≤ is a total order on equivalence classes of projections, described in the section on traces below.\nA projection (or subspace belonging to M) E is said to be a **finite projection** if there is no projection F < E (meaning F ≤ E and F ≠ E) that is equivalent to E.\nFor example, all finite-dimensional projections (or subspaces) are finite (since isometries between Hilbert spaces leave the dimension fixed), but the identity operator on an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space is not finite in the von Neumann algebra of all bounded operators on it, since it is isometrically isomorphic to a proper subset of itself.\nHowever it is possible for infinite dimensional subspaces to be finite.\nOrthogonal projections are noncommutative analogues of indicator functions in L∞(**R**).\nL∞(**R**) is the ||·||∞-closure of the subspace generated by the indicator functions.\nSimilarly, a von Neumann algebra is generated by its projections; this is a consequence of the [spectral theorem for self-adjoint operators](https://bliptext.com/articles/self-adjoint-operator).\nThe projections of a finite factor form a [continuous geometry](https://bliptext.com/articles/continuous-geometry).\n\n# Factors\nA von Neumann algebra N whose [center](https://bliptext.com/articles/center-algebra) consists only of multiples of the identity operator is called a **factor**.\nAs showed, every von Neumann algebra on a separable Hilbert space is isomorphic to a [direct integral](https://bliptext.com/articles/direct-integral) of factors.\nThis decomposition is essentially unique.\nThus, the problem of classifying isomorphism classes of von Neumann algebras on separable Hilbert spaces can be reduced to that of classifying isomorphism classes of factors.\nshowed that every factor has one of 3 types as described below.\nThe type classification can be extended to von Neumann algebras that are not factors, and a von Neumann algebra is of type X if it can be decomposed as a direct integral of type X factors; for example, every commutative von Neumann algebra has type I1.\nEvery von Neumann algebra can be written uniquely as a sum of von Neumann algebras of types I, II, and III.\nThere are several other ways to divide factors into classes that are sometimes used:\n\n## Type I factors\nA factor is said to be of **type I** if there is a minimal projection E ≠ 0, i.e. a projection E such that there is no other projection F with 0 < F < E.\nAny factor of type I is isomorphic to the von Neumann algebra of all bounded operators on some Hilbert space; since there is one Hilbert space for every [cardinal number](https://bliptext.com/articles/cardinal-number), isomorphism classes of factors of type I correspond exactly to the [cardinal number](https://bliptext.com/articles/cardinal-number)s.\nSince many authors consider von Neumann algebras only on separable Hilbert spaces, it is customary to call the bounded operators on a Hilbert space of finite dimension n a factor of type In, and the bounded operators on a separable infinite-dimensional Hilbert space, a factor of type I∞.\n\n## Type II factors\nA factor is said to be of **type II** if there are no minimal projections but there are non-zero [finite projections](https://bliptext.com/articles/von-neumann-algebra).\nThis implies that every projection E can be \"halved\" in the sense that there are two projections F and G that are [Murray–von Neumann equivalent](https://bliptext.com/articles/von-neumann-algebra) and satisfy E = F + G.\nIf the identity operator in a type II factor is finite, the factor is said to be of type II1; otherwise, it is said to be of type II∞.\nThe best understood factors of type II are the [hyperfinite type II1 factor](https://bliptext.com/articles/hyperfinite-type-ii-1-factor) and the [hyperfinite type II∞ factor](https://bliptext.com/articles/hyperfinite-type-ii-infinity-factor), found by.\nThese are the unique hyperfinite factors of types II1 and II∞; there are an uncountable number of other factors of these types that are the subject of intensive study.\nproved the fundamental result that a factor of type II1 has a unique finite tracial state, and the set of traces of projections is [0,1].\nA factor of type II∞ has a semifinite trace, unique up to rescaling, and the set of traces of projections is [0,∞].\nThe set of real numbers λ such that there is an automorphism rescaling the trace by a factor of λ is called the **fundamental group** of the type II∞ factor.\nThe tensor product of a factor of type II1 and an infinite type I factor has type II∞, and conversely any factor of type II∞ can be constructed like this.\nThe **fundamental group** of a type II1 factor is defined to be the **fundamental group** of its tensor product with the infinite (separable) factor of type I. For many years it was an open problem to find a type II factor whose **fundamental group** was not the group of [positive reals](https://bliptext.com/articles/positive-reals), but [Connes](https://bliptext.com/articles/alain-connes) then showed that the von Neumann group algebra of a countable discrete group with [Kazhdan's property (T)](https://bliptext.com/articles/kazhdan-s-property-t) (the trivial representation is isolated in the dual space), such as SL(3,**Z**), has a countable **fundamental group**.\nSubsequently, [Sorin Popa](https://bliptext.com/articles/sorin-popa) showed that the fundamental group can be trivial for certain groups, including the [semidirect product](https://bliptext.com/articles/semidirect-product) of ****Z****2 by SL(2,****Z****).\nAn example of a type II1 factor is the von Neumann group algebra of a countable infinite discrete group such that every non-trivial conjugacy class is infinite.\nfound an uncountable family of such groups with non-isomorphic von Neumann group algebras, thus showing the existence of uncountably many different separable type II1 factors.\n\n## Type III factors\nLastly, **type III** factors are factors that do not contain any nonzero finite projections at all.\nIn their first paper were unable to decide whether or not they existed; the first examples were later found by.\nSince the identity operator is always infinite in those factors, they were sometimes called type III∞ in the past, but recently that notation has been superseded by the notation IIIλ, where λ is a real number in the interval [0,1].\nMore precisely, if the Connes spectrum (of its modular group) is 1 then the factor is of type III0, if the Connes spectrum is all integral powers of λ for 0 < λ < 1, then the type is IIIλ, and if the Connes spectrum is all positive reals then the type is III1.\n(The Connes spectrum is a closed subgroup of the positive reals, so these are the only possibilities.) The only trace on type III factors takes value ∞ on all non-zero positive elements, and any two non-zero projections are equivalent.\nAt one time type III factors were considered to be intractable objects, but [Tomita–Takesaki theory](https://bliptext.com/articles/tomita-takesaki-theory) has led to a good structure theory.\nIn particular, any type III factor can be written in a canonical way as the [crossed product](https://bliptext.com/articles/crossed-product) of a type II∞ factor and the real numbers.\n\n# The predual\nAny von Neumann algebra M has a **predual** M∗, which is the Banach space of all ultraweakly continuous linear functionals on M.\nAs the name suggests, M is (as a Banach space) the dual of its predual.\nThe predual is unique in the sense that any other Banach space whose dual is M is canonically isomorphic to M∗.\nshowed that the existence of a predual characterizes von Neumann algebras among C* algebras.\nThe definition of the predual given above seems to depend on the choice of Hilbert space that M acts on, as this determines the ultraweak topology.\nHowever the predual can also be defined without using the Hilbert space that M acts on, by defining it to be the space generated by all positive **normal** linear functionals on M.\n(Here \"normal\" means that it preserves suprema when applied to increasing nets of self adjoint operators; or equivalently to increasing sequences of projections.)\nThe predual M∗ is a closed subspace of the dual M* (which consists of all norm-continuous linear functionals on M) but is generally smaller.\nThe proof that M∗ is (usually) not the same as M* is nonconstructive and uses the axiom of choice in an essential way; it is very hard to exhibit explicit elements of M* that are not in M∗.\nFor example, exotic positive linear forms on the von Neumann algebra l∞(Z) are given by [free ultrafilters](https://bliptext.com/articles/ultrafilter); they correspond to exotic *-homomorphisms into C and describe the [Stone–Čech compactification](https://bliptext.com/articles/stone-ech-compactification) of Z.\nExamples:\n\n# Weights, states, and traces\nWeights and their special cases states and traces are discussed in detail in.\nAny factor has a trace such that the trace of a non-zero projection is non-zero and the trace of a projection is infinite if and only if the projection is infinite.\nSuch a trace is unique up to rescaling.\nFor factors that are separable or finite, two projections are equivalent if and only if they have the same trace.\nThe type of a factor can be read off from the possible values of this trace over the projections of the factor, as follows:\nIf a von Neumann algebra acts on a Hilbert space containing a norm 1 vector v, then the functional a → (av,v) is a normal state.\nThis construction can be reversed to give an action on a Hilbert space from a normal state: this is the [GNS construction](https://bliptext.com/articles/gns-construction) for normal states.\n\n# Modules over a factor\nGiven an abstract separable factor, one can ask for a classification of its modules, meaning the separable Hilbert spaces that it acts on.\nThe answer is given as follows: every such module H can be given an M-dimension dimM(H) (not its dimension as a complex vector space) such that modules are isomorphic if and only if they have the same M-dimension.\nThe M-dimension is additive, and a module is isomorphic to a subspace of another module if and only if it has smaller or equal M-dimension.\nA module is called **standard** if it has a cyclic separating vector.\nEach factor has a standard representation, which is unique up to isomorphism.\nThe standard representation has an antilinear involution J such that JMJ = .\nFor finite factors the standard module is given by the [GNS construction](https://bliptext.com/articles/gns-construction) applied to the unique normal tracial state and the M-dimension is normalized so that the standard module has M-dimension 1, while for infinite factors the standard module is the module with M-dimension equal to ∞.\nThe possible M-dimensions of modules are given as follows:\n\n# Amenable von Neumann algebras\nand others proved that the following conditions on a von Neumann algebra M on a separable Hilbert space H are all **equivalent**:\nThere is no generally accepted term for the class of algebras above; Connes has suggested that **amenable** should be the standard term.\nThe amenable factors have been classified: there is a unique one of each of the types In, I∞, II1, II∞, IIIλ, for 0 < λ ≤ 1, and the ones of type III0 correspond to certain ergodic flows.\n(For type III0 calling this a classification is a little misleading, as it is known that there is no easy way to classify the corresponding ergodic flows.) The ones of type I and II1 were classified by, and the remaining ones were classified by , except for the type III1 case which was completed by Haagerup.\nAll amenable factors can be constructed using the **[group-measure space construction](https://bliptext.com/articles/crossed-product)** of [Murray](https://bliptext.com/articles/francis-joseph-murray) and [von Neumann](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-von-neumann) for a single [ergodic](https://bliptext.com/articles/ergodic) transformation.\nIn fact they are precisely the factors arising as [crossed products](https://bliptext.com/articles/crossed-product) by free ergodic actions of Z or Z/nZ on abelian von Neumann algebras L∞(X).\nType I factors occur when the [measure space](https://bliptext.com/articles/measure-space) X is [atomic](https://bliptext.com/articles/atom-measure-theory) and the action transitive.\nWhen X is diffuse or [non-atomic](https://bliptext.com/articles/atom-measure-theory), it is [equivalent](https://bliptext.com/articles/equivalence-measure-theory) to [0,1] as a [measure space](https://bliptext.com/articles/measure-space).\nType II factors occur when X admits an [equivalent](https://bliptext.com/articles/equivalence-measure-theory) finite (II1) or infinite (II∞) measure, invariant under an action of Z.\nType III factors occur in the remaining cases where there is no invariant measure, but only an [invariant measure class](https://bliptext.com/articles/quasi-invariant-measure): these factors are called **Krieger factors**.\n\n# Tensor products of von Neumann algebras\nThe Hilbert space tensor product of two Hilbert spaces is the completion of their algebraic tensor product.\nOne can define a tensor product of von Neumann algebras (a completion of the algebraic tensor product of the algebras considered as rings), which is again a von Neumann algebra, and act on the tensor product of the corresponding Hilbert spaces.\nThe tensor product of two finite algebras is finite, and the tensor product of an infinite algebra and a non-zero algebra is infinite.\nThe type of the tensor product of two von Neumann algebras (I, II, or III) is the maximum of their types.\nThe **commutation theorem for tensor products** states that\nwhere denotes the [commutant](https://bliptext.com/articles/commutant) of M.\nThe tensor product of an infinite number of von Neumann algebras, if done naively, is usually a ridiculously large non-separable algebra.\nInstead showed that one should choose a state on each of the von Neumann algebras, use this to define a state on the algebraic tensor product, which can be used to produce a Hilbert space and a (reasonably small) von Neumann algebra.\nstudied the case where all the factors are finite matrix algebras; these factors are called **Araki–Woods** factors or **ITPFI factors** (ITPFI stands for \"infinite tensor product of finite type I factors\").\nThe type of the infinite tensor product can vary dramatically as the states are changed; for example, the infinite tensor product of an infinite number of type I2 factors can have any type depending on the choice of states.\nIn particular found an uncountable family of non-isomorphic hyperfinite type IIIλ factors for 0 < λ < 1, called **Powers factors**, by taking an infinite tensor product of type I2 factors, each with the state given by:\nAll hyperfinite von Neumann algebras not of type III0 are isomorphic to Araki–Woods factors, but there are uncountably many of type III0 that are not.\n\n# Bimodules and subfactors\nA **bimodule** (or correspondence) is a Hilbert space H with module actions of two commuting von Neumann algebras.\nBimodules have a much richer structure than that of modules.\nAny bimodule over two factors always gives a [subfactor](https://bliptext.com/articles/subfactor) since one of the factors is always contained in the commutant of the other.\nThere is also a subtle relative tensor product operation due to [Connes](https://bliptext.com/articles/alain-connes) on bimodules.\nThe theory of subfactors, initiated by [Vaughan Jones](https://bliptext.com/articles/vaughan-jones), reconciles these two seemingly different points of view.\nBimodules are also important for the von Neumann group algebra M of a discrete group Γ.\nIndeed, if V is any [unitary representation](https://bliptext.com/articles/unitary-representation) of Γ, then, regarding Γ as the diagonal subgroup of Γ × Γ, the corresponding [induced representation](https://bliptext.com/articles/induced-representation) on l2(Γ, V) is naturally a bimodule for two commuting copies of M.\nImportant [representation theoretic](https://bliptext.com/articles/representation-theory) properties of Γ can be formulated entirely in terms of bimodules and therefore make sense for the von Neumann algebra itself.\nFor example, Connes and Jones gave a definition of an analogue of [Kazhdan's property (T)](https://bliptext.com/articles/kazhdan-s-property-t) for von Neumann algebras in this way.\n\n# Non-amenable factors\nVon Neumann algebras of type I are always amenable, but for the other types there are an uncountable number of different non-amenable factors, which seem very hard to classify, or even distinguish from each other.\nNevertheless, [Voiculescu](https://bliptext.com/articles/dan-virgil-voiculescu) has shown that the class of non-amenable factors coming from the group-measure space construction is **disjoint** from the class coming from group von Neumann algebras of free groups.\nLater [Narutaka Ozawa](https://bliptext.com/articles/narutaka-ozawa) proved that group von Neumann algebras of [hyperbolic groups](https://bliptext.com/articles/hyperbolic-group) yield [prime](https://bliptext.com/articles/prime-number) type II1 factors, i.e. ones that cannot be factored as tensor products of type II1 factors, a result first proved by Leeming Ge for free group factors using Voiculescu's [free entropy](https://bliptext.com/articles/free-probability-theory).\nPopa's work on fundamental groups of non-amenable factors represents another significant advance.\nThe theory of factors \"beyond the hyperfinite\" is rapidly expanding at present, with many new and surprising results; it has close links with [rigidity phenomena](https://bliptext.com/articles/grigory-margulis) in [geometric group theory](https://bliptext.com/articles/geometric-group-theory) and [ergodic theory](https://bliptext.com/articles/ergodic-theory).\n\n# Examples\n\n# Applications\nVon Neumann algebras have found applications in diverse areas of mathematics like [knot theory](https://bliptext.com/articles/knot-theory), [statistical mechanics](https://bliptext.com/articles/statistical-mechanics), [quantum field theory](https://bliptext.com/articles/quantum-field-theory), [local quantum physics](https://bliptext.com/articles/local-quantum-physics), [free probability](https://bliptext.com/articles/free-probability), [noncommutative geometry](https://bliptext.com/articles/noncommutative-geometry), [representation theory](https://bliptext.com/articles/representation-theory), [differential geometry](https://bliptext.com/articles/differential-geometry), and [dynamical systems](https://bliptext.com/articles/dynamical-system).\nFor instance, [C*-algebra](https://bliptext.com/articles/c-algebra) provides an alternative axiomatization to probability theory.\nIn this case the method goes by the name of [Gelfand–Naimark–Segal construction](https://bliptext.com/articles/gelfand-naimark-segal-construction).\nThis is analogous to the two approaches to measure and integration, where one has the choice to construct measures of sets first and define integrals later, or construct integrals first and define set measures as integrals of characteristic functions.","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}

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