diff --git a/src/op/c-star/order.tex b/src/op/c-star/order.tex index 1ee0286..5398e8c 100644 --- a/src/op/c-star/order.tex +++ b/src/op/c-star/order.tex @@ -58,8 +58,24 @@ \begin{definition}[Absolute Value] \label{definition:absolute-value-c-star} - Let $A$ be a $C^*$-algebra and $x \in A$, then $|x| = \sqrt{x^*x}$ is the \textbf{absolute value} of $x$. If $x$ is self-adjoint, then $|x| = + Let $A$ be a unital $C^*$-algebra and $x \in A$, then $|x| = \sqrt{x^*x}$ is the \textbf{absolute value} of $x$. \end{definition} +\begin{definition}[Positive and Negative Parts] +\label{definition:positive-negative-cstar-algebra} + Let $A$ be a unital $C^*$-algebra and $x \in A$ be self-adjoint, then there exists unique positive elements $x^+, x^- \in A$ such that + \begin{enumerate} + \item $x = x^+ - x^-$. + \item $x^+x^- = x^-x^+ = 0$. + \end{enumerate} + + The pair $(x^+, x^-)$ are the \textbf{positive and negative parts} of $x$. +\end{definition} +\begin{proof} + Since $x$ is self-adjoint, $\sigma_A(x) \subset \real$ by \autoref{proposition:self-adjoint-spectrum}. Using the continuous functional calculus, existence is given by the functions $f^+(\lambda) = \lambda \vee 0$ and $f^-(\lambda) = \lambda \wedge 0$ and \autoref{proposition:positive-norm-inequality}. + + On the other hand, for each $p \in \real[z]$ with $p(0) = 0$, (2) implies that $p(x) = p(x^+) + p(-x^-)$. By the \hyperref[Stone-Weierstrass Theorem]{theorem:stone-weierstrass}, $f(x) = f(x^+) + f(-x^-)$ for all $f \in C(\real; \real)$ with $f(0) = 0$. In particular, (1) then implies that $f^+(x) = f+(x^+) + f^+(-x^-) = f^+(x^+) = x^+$, and likewise $f^-(x) = x^-$. Therefore the decomposition is given uniquely by the continuous functional calculus. +\end{proof} +