Many classical ring-theoretic results state that an ideal that is maximal with respect to satisfying a special property must be prime. We present a “Prime Ideal Principle” that gives a uniform method of proving such facts, generalizing the Prime Ideal Principle for commutative rings due to T. Y. Lam and the author. Old and new “maximal implies prime” results are presented, with results touching on annihilator ideals, polynomial identity rings, the Artin–Rees property, Dedekind-finite rings, principal ideals generated by normal elements, strongly noetherian algebras, and just infinite algebras.

In pursuit of a noncommutative spectrum functor, we argue that the Heyneman-Sweedler finite dual coalgebra can be viewed as a quantization of the maximal spectrum of a commutative affine algebra, integrating prior perspectives of Takeuchi, Batchelor, Kontsevich-Soibelman, and Le Bruyn. We introduce fully residually finite-dimensional algebras A as those with enough finite-dimensional representations to let A∘ act as an appropriate depiction of the noncommutative maximal spectrum of A; importantly, this class includes affine noetherian PI algebras. In the case of prime affine algebras that are module-finite over their center, we describe how the Azumaya locus is represented in the finite dual. This is used to describe the finite dual of quantum planes at roots of unity as an endeavor to visualize the noncommutative space on which these algebras act as functions. Finally, we discuss how a similar analysis can be carried out for other maximal orders over surfaces.

This is a general study of twisted Calabi-Yau algebras that are -graded and locally finite-dimensional, with the following major results. We prove that a locally finite graded algebra is twisted Calabi-Yau if and only if it is separable modulo its graded radical and satisfies one of several suitable generalizations of the Artin-Schelter regularity property, adapted from the work of Martinez-Villa as well as Minamoto and Mori. We characterize twisted Calabi-Yau algebras of dimension 0 as separable k-algebras, and we similarly characterize graded twisted Calabi-Yau algebras of dimension 1 as tensor algebras of certain invertible bimodules over separable algebras. Finally, we prove that a graded twisted Calabi-Yau algebra of dimension 2 is noetherian if and only if it has finite GK dimension.

We initiate a study of the growth and matrix-valued Hilbert series of N-graded twisted Calabi-Yau algebras that are homomorphic images of path algebras of weighted quivers, generalizing techniques previously used to investigate Artin-Schelter regular algebras and graded Calabi-Yau algebras. Several results are proved without imposing any assumptions on the degrees of generators or relations of the algebras. We give particular attention to twisted Calabi-Yau algebras of dimension d≤3, giving precise descriptions of their matrix-valued Hilbert series and partial results describing which underlying quivers yield algebras of finite GK-dimension. For d=2, we show that these are algebras with mesh relations. For d=3, we show that the resulting algebras are a kind of derivation-quotient algebra arising from an element that is similar to a twisted superpotential.

We prove that operator algebras that have enough projections are completely determined by those projections, their symmetries, and the action of the latter on the former. This includes all von Neumann algebras and all AW*-algebras. We introduce active lattices, which are formed from these three ingredients. More generally, we prove that the category of AW*-algebras is equivalent to a full subcategory of active lattices. Crucial ingredients are an equivalence between the category of piecewise AW*-algebras and that of piecewise complete Boolean algebras, and a refinement of the piecewise algebra structure of an AW*-algebra that enables recovering its total structure. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.

We investigate how a C*-algebra could consist of functions on a noncommutative set: a discretization of a C*-algebra $A$ is a $*$-homomorphism $A \to M$ that factors through the canonical inclusion $C(X) \subseteq \ell^\infty(X)$ when restricted to a commutative C*-subalgebra. Any C*-algebra admits an injective but nonfunctorial discretization, as well as a possibly noninjective functorial discretization, where $M$ is a C*-algebra. Any subhomogenous C*-algebra admits an injective functorial discretization, where $M$ is a W*-algebra. However, any functorial discretization, where $M$ is an AW*-algebra, must trivialize $A = B(H)$ for any infinite-dimensional Hilbert space $H$.

We study the monoidal dagger category of Hilbert C*-modules over a commutative C*-algebra from the perspective of categorical quantum mechanics. The dual objects are the finitely presented projective Hilbert C*-modules. Special dagger Frobenius structures correspond to bundles of uniformly finite-dimensional C*-algebras. A monoid is dagger Frobenius over the base if and only if it is dagger Frobenius over its centre and the centre is dagger Frobenius over the base. We characterise the commutative dagger Frobenius structures as finite coverings, and give nontrivial examples of both commutative and central dagger Frobenius structures. Subobjects of the tensor unit correspond to clopen subsets of the Gelfand spectrum of the C*-algebra, and we discuss dagger kernels.

We investigate how a C*-algebra could consist of functions on a noncommutative set: a discretization of a C*-algebra A is a *-homomorphism A → M that factors through the canonical inclusion C(X) ⊆ ℓ∞;(X) when restricted to a commutative C*-subalgebra. Any C*-algebra admits an injective but nonfunctorial discretization, as well as a possibly noninjective functorial discretization, where M is a C*-algebra. Any subhomogenous C*-algebra admits an injective functorial discretization, where M is a W*-algebra. However, any functorial discretization, where M is an AW*-algebra, must trivialize A = B(H) for any infinite-dimensional Hilbert space H.

In this paper we study right S-Noetherian rings and modules, extending notions introduced by Anderson and Dumitrescu in commutative algebra to noncommutative rings. Two characterizations of right S-Noetherian rings are given in terms of completely prime right ideals and point annihilator sets. We also prove an existence result for completely prime point annihilators of certain S-Noetherian modules with the following consequence in commutative algebra: If a module M over a commutative ring is S-Noetherian with respect to a multiplicative set S that contains no zero-divisors for M, then M has an associated prime.

Joint measurability of sharp quantum observables is determined pairwise, and so can be captured in a graph. We prove the converse: any graph whose vertices represent sharp observables and whose edges represent joint measurability is realized by quantum theory. This leads us to show that it is not always possible to use Neumark dilation to turn unsharp observables into sharp ones with the same joint measurability relations. © 2014 American Physical Society.