Linear Maps Which are Anti-derivable at Zero
Abstract Let $$T:A\rightarrow X$$ T : A → X be a bounded linear operator, where A is a $$\hbox {C}^*$$ C ∗ -algebra, and X denotes an essential Banach A-bimodule. We prove that the following statements are equivalent: (a) T is anti-derivable at zero (i.e., $$ab =0$$ a b = 0 in A implies $$T(b) a + b T(a)=0$$ T ( b ) a + b T ( a ) = 0 ); (b) There exist an anti-derivation $$d:A\rightarrow X^{**}$$ d : A → X ∗ ∗ and an element $$\xi \in X^{**}$$ ξ ∈ X ∗ ∗ satisfying $$\xi a = a \xi ,$$ ξ a = a ξ , $$\xi [a,b]=0,$$ ξ [ a , b ] = 0 , $$T(a b) = b T(a) + T(b) a - b \xi a,$$ T ( a b ) = b T ( a ) + T ( b ) a - b ξ a , and $$T(a) = d(a) + \xi a,$$ T ( a ) = d ( a ) + ξ a , for all $$a,b\in A$$ a , b ∈ A . We also prove a similar equivalence when X is replaced with $$A^{**}$$ A ∗ ∗ . This provides a complete characterization of those bounded linear maps from A into X or into $$A^{**}$$ A ∗ ∗ which are anti-derivable at zero. We also present a complete characterization of those continuous linear operators which are $$^*$$ ∗ -anti-derivable at zero.