Extension of normal functionals on W*-tensor products
A deep result in the theory of W*-tensor products, the Commutation theorem, states that if M and N are W*-algebras faithfully represented as von Neumann algebras on the Hilbert spaces H and K, respectively, then the commutant in L(H ⊗ K) of the W*-tensor product of M and N coincides with the W*-tensor product of M′ and N′. Although special cases of this theorem were established successively by Misonou (2) and Sakai (3), the validity of the general result remained conjectural until the advent of the Tomita-Takesaki theory of Modular Hilbert algebras (6). As formulated, the Commutation theorem is a spatial result; that is, the W*-algebras in its statement are taken to act on specific Hilbert spaces. Not surprisingly, therefore, known proofs rely heavily on techniques of representation theory.