Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2002/iii/paper-7/1/i/solution

Use and for Banach algebra spectrum and algebra resolvent set. An inverse in the smaller unital algebra is also an inverse in the larger one, so .
If and , then for the Neumann series gives
Thus is open. To prove relative closedness, suppose and . Continuity of inversion in gives . Since is norm closed, the limiting inverse belongs to , so . Consequently is relatively clopen in .

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