Character space of an algebra (${\Phi }_A$)

The character space ${\Phi }_A$ is the set of all characters on $A$.

For a commutative complex unital Banach algebra, maximal ideals correspond bijectively to characters of an algebra by taking kernels. Give the maximal ideal space the Gelfand topology through this correspondence. It is a compact Hausdorff space, since the characters form a weak-star closed subset of the dual unit ball, which is compact by the Banach-Alaoglu theorem.

For a compact set $K\subset \mathbb{C}$, let $\mathcal{R}(K)$ be the uniform closure on $K$ of the rational functions with no poles on $K$. Every character of $\mathcal{R}(K)$ is evaluation at a unique point of $K$, so ${\Phi }_{\mathcal{R}(K)}$ is naturally homeomorphic to $K$.

If $X=Y\oplus Z$ and the Banach spaces $Y$ and $Z$ are isomorphic, then the operator algebra $\mathcal{B}(X)$ has no characters. The two complementary projections have unequal character values, while mutually inverse off-diagonal maps force those values to be equal.

The Gelfand topology on ${\Phi }_A$ is the weak-star topology inherited from $A^{\ast }$, equivalently the coarsest topology making every map $\phi \mapsto \phi (a)$ continuous.

This is the topology on the character space used in the Gelfand representation.

For an algebra of functions on a space, evaluation at $x$ is the character ${\delta }_x(f)=f(x)$.

For a unital commutative complex Banach algebra $A$, the Gelfand transform sends $a\in A$ to the continuous function $\hat{a}(\phi )=\phi (a)$ on its character space of an algebra. It is a contractive unital algebra homomorphism into $C({\Phi }_A)$.

The complex dual numbers $\mathbb{C}[\epsilon ]/({\epsilon }^2)$, with norm $\Vert a+b\epsilon \Vert =|a|+|b|$ and involution $a+b\epsilon \mapsto \bar{a}+\bar{b}\epsilon$, is a commutative unital Banach algebra with an isometric involution. Its sole character of an algebra kills $\epsilon$, so the Gelfand transform is neither injective nor isometric. The C-star identity excludes this example and gives the Commutative Gelfand--Naimark theorem. Even preservation of the involution on characters can fail without that identity: on ${\mathbb{C}}^2$, the involution $(a,b{)}^{\ast }=(\bar{b},\bar{a})$ exchanges the two evaluation characters.

For a commutative complex unital Banach algebra, a character of an algebra annihilates $a-\varphi (a)1$, so this element cannot be invertible. Conversely a noninvertible $a-\lambda 1$ generates a proper ideal, which lies in a maximal ideal. The corresponding character then has value $\lambda$ at $a$. Thus the Gelfand transform determines every element's spectrum even when the algebra is not semisimple.

For a commutative complex unital Banach algebra, its Gelfand transform is a continuous unital algebra homomorphism into the continuous functions on its compact character space. The values of the transform of $a$ are exactly ${\sigma }_A(a)$, so $\Vert \hat{a}{\Vert }_{\infty }=r(a)$. Its kernel is the intersection of the kernels of the algebra characters. For a commutative C-star algebra, spectral radius norm equality for normal elements and the Stone-Weierstrass theorem upgrade this to an isometric C-star homomorphism onto $C(\Delta (A))$.