In functional analysis, a discipline within mathematics, given a C*-algebra A, the Gelfand–Naimark–Segal construction establishes a correspondence between cyclic *-representations of A and certain linear functionals on A. The correspondence is shown by an explicit construction of the *-representation from the state. It is named for Israel Gelfand, Mark Naimark, and Irving Segal.
States and representations
A *-representation of a C*-algebra A on a Hilbert spaceH is a mapping π from A into the algebra of bounded operators on H such that
π is a ring homomorphism which carries involution on A into involution on operators
π is nondegenerate, that is the space of vectors π ξ is dense as x ranges through A and ξ ranges through H. Note that if A has an identity, nondegeneracy means exactly π is unit-preserving, i.e. π maps the identity of A to the identity operator on H.
A state on a C*-algebra A is a positive linear functionalf of norm 1. If A has a multiplicative unit element this condition is equivalent to f = 1. For a representation π of a C*-algebra A on a Hilbert space H, an element ξ is called a cyclic vector if the set of vectors is norm dense in H, in which case π is called a cyclic representation. Any non-zero vector of an irreducible representation is cyclic. However, non-zero vectors in a cyclic representation may fail to be cyclic.
The GNS construction
Let π be a *-representation of a C*-algebra A on the Hilbert space H and ξ be a unit norm cyclic vector for π. Then is a state of A. Conversely, every state of A may be viewed as a vector state as above, under a suitable canonical representation. The method used to produce a *-representation from a state of A in the proof of the above theorem is called the GNS construction. For a state of a C*-algebra A, the corresponding GNS representation is essentially uniquely determined by the condition, as seen in the theorem below.
Significance of the GNS construction
The GNS construction is at the heart of the proof of the Gelfand–Naimark theorem characterizing C*-algebras as algebras of operators. A C*-algebra has sufficiently many pure states so that the direct sum of corresponding irreducible GNS representations is faithful. The direct sum of the corresponding GNS representations of all states is called the universal representation of A. The universal representation of A contains every cyclic representation. As every *-representation is a direct sum of cyclic representations, it follows that every *-representation of A is a direct summand of some sum of copies of the universal representation. If Φ is the universal representation of a C*-algebra A, the closure of Φ in the weak operator topology is called the enveloping von Neumann algebra of A. It can be identified with the double dualA**.
Irreducibility
Also of significance is the relation between irreducible *-representations and extreme points of the convex set of states. A representation π on H is irreducible if and only if there are no closed subspaces of H which are invariant under all the operators π other than H itself and the trivial subspace. Both of these results follow immediately from the Banach–Alaoglu theorem. In the unital commutative case, for the C*-algebra C of continuous functions on some compact X, Riesz–Markov–Kakutani representation theorem says that the positive functionals of norm ≤ 1 are precisely the Borel positive measures on X with total mass ≤ 1. It follows fromKrein–Milman theorem that the extremal states are the Dirac point-mass measures. On the other hand, a representation of C is irreducible if and only if it is one-dimensional. Therefore, the GNS representation of C corresponding to a measure μ is irreducible if and only if μ is an extremal state. This is in fact true for C*-algebras in general. To prove this result one notes first that a representation is irreducible if and only if the commutant of π, denoted by π', consists of scalar multiples of the identity. Any positive linear functionals g on A dominated by f is of the form for some positive operator Tg in π' with 0 ≤ T ≤ 1 in the operator order. This is a version of the Radon–Nikodym theorem. For such g, one can write f as a sum of positive linear functionals: f = g + g' . So π is unitarily equivalent to a subrepresentation of πg ⊕ πg' . This shows that π is irreducible if and only if any such πg is unitarily equivalent to π, i.e. g is a scalar multiple of f, which proves the theorem. Extremal states are usually called pure states. Note that a state is a pure state if and only if it is extremal in the convex set of states. The theorems above for C*-algebras are valid more generally in the context of B*-algebras with approximate identity.
Generalizations
The Stinespring factorization theorem characterizing completely positive maps is an important generalization of the GNS construction.
History
Gelfand and Naimark's paper on the Gelfand–Naimark theorem was published in 1943. Segal recognized the construction that was implicit in this work and presented it in sharpened form. In his paper of 1947 Segal showed that it is sufficient, for any physical system that can be described by an algebra of operators on a Hilbert space, to consider the irreducible representations of a C*-algebra. In quantum theory this means that the C*-algebra is generated by the observables. This, as Segal pointed out, had been shown earlier by John von Neumann only for the specific case of the non-relativistic Schrödinger-Heisenberg theory.
