Gelfand–Mazur theorem

In operator theory, the Gelfand–Mazur theorem is a theorem named after Israel Gelfand and Stanisław Mazur which states that a Banach algebra with unit over the complex numbers in which every nonzero element is invertible is isometrically isomorphic to the complex numbers, i. e., the only complex Banach algebra that is a division algebra is the complex numbers C.

The theorem follows from the fact that the spectrum of any element of a complex Banach algebra is nonempty: for every element a of a complex Banach algebra A there is some complex number λ such that λ1 − a is not invertible. This is a consequence of the complex-analyticity of the resolvent function. By assumption, λ1 − a = 0. So a = λ · 1. This gives an isomorphism from A to C.

The theorem can be strengthened to the claim that there are (up to isomorphism) exactly three real Banach division algebras: the field of reals R, the field of complex numbers C, and the division algebra of quaternions H. This result was proved first by Stanisław Mazur alone, but it was published in France without a proof, when the author refused the editor's request to shorten his proof. Gelfand (independently) published a proof of the complex case a few years later.

References

Bonsall, Frank F.; Duncan, John (1973). Complete Normed Algebras. Springer. pp. 71–4. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-65669-9. ISBN 978-3-642-65671-2.

Rudin, Walter (1991). Functional Analysis. International Series in Pure and Applied Mathematics. Vol. 8 (Second ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math. ISBN 978-0-07-054236-5. OCLC 21163277.

v t e Spectral theory and ^*-algebras
Basic concepts	Involution/-algebra Banach algebra B-algebra C-algebra Noncommutative topology Projection-valued measure Spectrum Spectrum of a C-algebra Spectral radius Operator space
Main results	Gelfand–Mazur theorem Gelfand–Naimark theorem Gelfand representation Polar decomposition Singular value decomposition Spectral theorem Spectral theory of normal C*-algebras
Special Elements/Operators	Isospectral Normal operator Hermitian/Self-adjoint operator Unitary operator Unit
Spectrum	Krein–Rutman theorem Normal eigenvalue Spectrum of a C*-algebra Spectral radius Spectral asymmetry Spectral gap
Decomposition	Decomposition of a spectrum Continuous Point Residual Approximate point Compression Direct integral Discrete Spectral abscissa
Spectral Theorem	Borel functional calculus Min-max theorem Positive operator-valued measure Projection-valued measure Riesz projector Rigged Hilbert space Spectral theorem Spectral theory of compact operators Spectral theory of normal C*-algebras
Special algebras	Amenable Banach algebra With an Approximate identity Banach function algebra Disk algebra Nuclear C*-algebra Uniform algebra Von Neumann algebra Tomita–Takesaki theory
Finite-Dimensional	Alon–Boppana bound Bauer–Fike theorem Numerical range Schur–Horn theorem
Generalizations	Dirac spectrum Essential spectrum Pseudospectrum Structure space (Shilov boundary)
Miscellaneous	Abstract index group Banach algebra cohomology Cohen–Hewitt factorization theorem Extensions of symmetric operators Fredholm theory Limiting absorption principle Schröder–Bernstein theorems for operator algebras Sherman–Takeda theorem Unbounded operator
Examples	Wiener algebra
Applications	Almost Mathieu operator Corona theorem Hearing the shape of a drum (Dirichlet eigenvalue) Heat kernel Kuznetsov trace formula Lax pair Proto-value function Ramanujan graph Rayleigh–Faber–Krahn inequality Spectral geometry Spectral method Spectral theory of ordinary differential equations Sturm–Liouville theory Superstrong approximation Transfer operator Transform theory Weyl law Wiener–Khinchin theorem