This self-contained reference/text presents a thorough account of the theory of real function algebras. Employing the intrinsic approach, avoiding the complexification technique, and generalizing the theory of complex function algebras, this single-source volume includes: an introduction to real Banach algebras; various generalizations of the Stone-Weierstrass theorem; Gleason parts; Choquet and Shilov boundaries; isometries of real function algebras; extensive references; and a detailed bibliography.;Real Function Algebras offers results of independent interest such as: topological conditions for the commutativity of a real or complex Banach algebra; Ransford's short elementary proof of the Bishop-Stone-Weierstrass theorem; the implication of the analyticity or antianalyticity of f from the harmonicity of Re f, Re f(2), Re f(3), and Re f(4); and the positivity of the real part of a linear functional on a subspace of C(X).;With over 600 display equations, this reference is for mathematical analysts; pure, applied, and industrial mathematicians; and theoretical physicists; and a text for courses in Banach algebras and function algebras.

Let $A$ be a Banach algebra, with second dual space $A""$. We propose to study the space $A""$ as a Banach algebra. There are two Banach algebra products on $A""$, denoted by $\,\Box\,$ and $\,\Diamond\,$. The Banach algebra $A$ is Arens regular if the two products $\Box$ and $\Diamond$ coincide on $A""$.

Banach algebras combine algebraic and analytical aspects: it is the interplay of these structures that gives the subject its fascination. This volume expounds the general theory of Banach algebras, and shows how their topology is often determined by their algebraic structure: the central questions ask when homomorphisms and derivations from Banach algebras are automatically continuous, and seek canonical forms for these maps. The book synthesizes work over the last 20 years, and givesa definitive account; there are many new and unpublished results. The book describes many specific classes of Banach algebras, including function algebras, group algebras, algebras of operators, C*-algebras, and radical Banach algebras; it is a compendium of results on these examples. The subject interweaves algebra, functional analysis, and complex analysis, and has a dash of set theory and logic; the background in all these areas is fully explained. This volume is essential reading for anyone interested in any aspect of this vast subject.

This book is intended to be used with graduate courses in Banach space theory.

The axioms of a complex Banach algebra were very happily chosen. They are simple enough to allow wide ranging fields of application, notably in harmonic analysis, operator theory and function algebras. At the same time they are tight enough to allow the development of a rich collection of results, mainly through the interplay of the elementary parts of the theories of analytic functions, rings, and Banach spaces. Many of the theorems are things of great beauty, simple in statement, surprising in content, and elegant in proof. We believe that some of them deserve to be known by every mathematician. The aim of this book is to give an account of the principal methods and results in the theory of Banach algebras, both commutative and non commutative. It has been necessary to apply certain exclusion principles in order to keep our task within bounds. Certain classes of concrete Banach algebras have a very rich literature, namely C*-algebras, function algebras, and group algebras. We have regarded these highly developed theories as falling outside our scope. We have not entirely avoided them, but have been concerned with their place in the general theory, and have stopped short of developing their special properties. For reasons of space and time we have omitted certain other topics which would quite naturally have been included, in particular the theories of multipliers and of extensions of Banach algebras, and the implications for Banach algebras of some of the standard algebraic conditions on rings.