ALMOST MULTIPLICATIVE FUNCTIONS ON A

CERTAIN CLASS OF BANACH ALGEBRAS

S. H. KULKARNI AND D. SUKUMAR

Abstract. Let A be a complex Banach algebra with unit 1 and

δ > 0. A linear map φ : A → C is said to be δ-almost multiplicative
if
|φ(ab) − φ(a)φ(b)| ≤ δ kak kbk for all a, b ∈ A.
Let 0 < ² < 1. The ²-condition spectrum of an element a in A is
defined by
½ ¾
° ° 1
σ² (a) := λ ∈ C : kλ − ak °(λ − a)−1 ° ≥ .
²
In this note, we prove following results connecting these two no-
tions for a certain class of Banach algebras that includes the class
of function algebras.
(1) If φ is δ-almost multiplicative, then φ(a) ∈ σδ (a) for all a in
A.
(2) If λ ∈ σ² (a), for some a ∈ A, then λ = φ(a) for some δ-almost
multiplicative φ.
(3) If φ is linear and φ(a) ∈ σ² (a) for all a in A, then φ is δ-almost
multiplicative for some δ.
The first two results are analogous to the Gelfand theory and the
last result is analogous to the classical Gleason-Kahane-Zelazko
theorem.

1. Introduction
Let A be a complex commutative Banach algebra with unit 1. The
classical Gelfand theory implies that the usual spectrum of an element
a in A, denoted by σ(a), consists of the values φ(a) where φ is a non-
zero multiplicative linear functional (a character) on A. The set of all
characters of A, denoted by Car(A), is called the carrier space of A.
In this note, we study a possible similar relation between the condition
spectrum σ² (a) and almost multiplicative linear functionals, when A is
a Banach algebra with certain property. The property is:
(∗) For every invertible element a ∈ A, there exists a singular
1
element b ∈ A such that ka − bk = ka−1 k
.

The second author thanks ISI-Bangalore, MathStat Unit, for the support, during
the preparation of a part of this paper.
1
2 S. H. KULKARNI AND D. SUKUMAR

Let Inv(A) and Sing(A) denote respectively the set of all invertible
and singular elements of A. Note that, every function algebra has the
(∗) property. (See [3] for a proof and also for some other examples of
Banach algebras satisfying this property.)
Definition 1 (Almost multiplicative function). Let δ > 0. A linear
map φ : A → C is said to be δ-almost multiplicative, if
|φ(ab) − φ(a)φ(b)| ≤ δ kak kbk for all a, b ∈ A.
The study of almost multiplicative linear functions originated with
the study of deformation theory of Banach algebras. The multiplica-
tive functions and almost multiplicative functions on certain algebras
have interesting properties and applications. There is an almost mul-
tiplicative functional near to every multiplicative functional. The in-
vestigation of the converse part leads to the study of a class of Banach
algebras, known as AMNM algebras (See [1, 2, 5, 4]).
One of the other notion used to prove the main theorem of this
article is condition spectrum. Condition spectrum is a generalization
of the spectrum (similar to pseudospectrum), recently studied by the
authors in [3]. Though it can be defined in a wider context, we define
it here for Banach algebras.
Definition 2 (Condition spectrum). Let A be a Banach algebra. For
0 < ² < 1, the ²-condition spectrum of an element a in A is defined by,
½ ¾
° ° 1
σ² (a) := λ ∈ C : kλ − ak °(λ − a) ° ≥
−1
²
with the convention that kλ − ak k(λ − a)−1 k = ∞ when λ − a is not
invertible.
Since the condition spectrum is a special case of the spectrum defined
by Ransford [6] it shares some of the properties of the usual spectrum
like, non-emptiness, compactness etc. On the other hand, it has some
properties that are different from those of the usual spectrum, such as it
has no isolated points, it has a finite number of connected components.
The following two simple properties, mentioned without proof, are
necessary to establish the results that follow. The proofs are given in
[3].
(1) For every a ∈ A and for every ² > 0, σ(a) ⊆ σ² (a). The two
sets coincide if and only if a is a scalar multiple of the identity.
Hence, to avoid trivial situations, from now on, in all following
results, by a we mean an element which is not a scalar multiple
of the identity.
 ALMOST MULTIPLICATIVE FUNCTIONS ON BANACH ALGEBRAS 3

1+²
(2) If λ ∈ σ² (a) then |λ| ≤ kak.
1−²
2. Main Results
It is known that, for every multiplicative functional φ, the value of
φ, at any element of A, belongs to the spectrum of the corresponding
element. Similarly, the value of an almost multiplicative functional
at a element belongs to the condition spectrum of the corresponding
element. Unlike other theorems of this section, this result holds good
in wider context, namely in a Banach algebra. Theorem 5 establishes
the converse of this result under an additional hypothesis.
Theorem 3. Let A be complex commutative Banach algebra with unit
1 and let φ be a δ-almost multiplicative linear functional on A and
φ(1) = 1. Then φ(a) ∈ σδ (a) for every element a in A.
Proof. Let a ∈ A and φ(a) = λ. If λ − a is not invertible, then λ ∈
σ(a) ⊆ σδ (a). Thus the conclusion follows from property (1).
Next assume that λ − a is invertible. Then
¯ ³ ´¯ ° °
¯ −1 ¯
1 = |φ(1)| = ¯φ(1) − φ(λ − a)φ (λ − a) ¯ ≤ δ kλ − ak °(λ − a)−1 ° .
That is,
° ° 1
kλ − ak °(λ − a)−1 ° ≥ ,
¡ ¢ δ
which implies λ = φ(a) ∈ σδ (a). ¤
It is immediate from the definition that the usual spectrum is con-
tained in the condition spectrum. The following lemma gives an esti-
mation of how far an element in the condition spectrum can stay away
from the usual spectrum.
Lemma 4. Let A be a Banach algebra with the property given in (∗)
and let λ ∈ σ² (a). Then, there exists an element b ∈ Sing(A) such that
kbk ≤ ² kλ − ak , λ ∈ σ(a + b)
and ³ ´ 2²
d λ, σ(a) ≤ kak .
1−²
Proof. Let λ ∈ σ² (a). If λ ∈ σ(a), then the conclusion follows trivially
by taking b = 0. Hence assume λ−a is invertible. Now, by the property
(∗), there exists an element c ∈ Sing(A) such that
1
kλ − a − bk = ≤ ² kλ − ak .
k(λ − a)−1 k
4 S. H. KULKARNI AND D. SUKUMAR

Let b := λ − a − c. Since c = λ − a − b is not invertible, λ ∈ σ(a + b).

Hence there exists a φ ∈ Car(A) such that φ(a + b) = λ. Note that
φ(a) ∈ σ(a). Hence
1
d(λ, σ(a)) ≤ |λ − φ(a)| = |φ(b)| ≤ kbk = ≤ ² kλ − ak .
k(λ − a)−1 k
Now the required bound follows by using the property (2). ¤

An immediate consequence of this lemma is: just as every element

in the σ(a) is a value of the multiplicative functional, likewise, every
element in σ² (a) is a value of an almost multiplicative functional.
Theorem 5. Let A be a complex commutative unital Banach algebra
with the property given in (∗). Let a ∈ A and λ ∈ σ² (a). Then, there
exists an almost δ-multiplicative linear functional ψ such that ψ(1) = 1
and λ = ψ(a), where
2²2 kak
δ = α(3 + α), α= , m = inf{kz − ak : z ∈ C}.
(1 − ²)m
Proof. If a is a scalar multiple of 1, then σ² (a) = σ(a) = {λ}, a = λ · 1
and we can take ψ to be any element of Car(A).
Next, if a is not a scalar multiple of 1, then from Lemma 4 , there
exists b ∈ Sing(A) such that kbk ≤ ² kλ − ak and λ ∈ σ(a + b). Then
there exists a φ ∈ Car(A) such that λ = φ(a) + φ(b). Let

m := inf{kz − ak : z ∈ C} = d(a, span{1}) > 0.

By the Hahn-Banach theorem, there exists θ ∈ A0 such that θ(1) = 0

and θ(a) = m and kθk = 1. Define
φ(b)
ψ =φ+ θ.
m
Then ψ(a) = λ and ψ(1) = 1. Also it follows by [2, Corollary 2.2] that
ψ is δ-almost multiplicative. However we include the calculations for
the sake of completeness. Let c, d ∈ A. Then

ψ(cd) − ψ(c)ψ(d)
· ¸· ¸
φ(b)θ(cd) φ(b)θ(c) φ(b)θ(d)
= φ(cd) + − φ(c) + φ(d) +
m m m
· ¸
φ(b) φ(b)θ(c)θ(d)
= θ(cd) − φ(c)θ(d) − φ(d)θ(c) − .
m m
 ALMOST MULTIPLICATIVE FUNCTIONS ON BANACH ALGEBRAS 5

Since kθk = 1 = kφk, we obtain

· ¸
kbk kbk
|ψ(cd) − ψ(c)ψ(d)| ≤ 3+ kck kdk
m m
· ¸
² kλ − ak ² kλ − ak
≤ 3+ kck kdk
m m
· ¸
2²2 kak 2²2 kak
≤ 3+ kck kdk ¤
(1 − ²)m (1 − ²)m
The following theorem that connects condition spectrum and almost
multiplicative linear functionals can be considered as an approximate
version of the Gleason-Kahane-Zelazko Theorem. Combining Lemma
4 with the following result, we get Theorem 7.
Proposition 6. [2, proposition 8.7] There is a monotonic function δ
from (0,0.1) into (0,∞) with δ(η) → 0 as η → 0+ such that if A is a
Banach algebra and φ is linear with d(φ(a), σ(a)) ≤ η kak (a ∈ A) then
−1
φ is δ(η) multiplicative, where δ(η) = 2 log (η −1 ) (2e + 1).
Theorem 7. Let A be a complex commutative unital Banach algebra
with the property given in (∗) and φ : A → C be a linear function. If
φ(a) ∈ σ² (a) for every a in A. Then φ is δ-almost multiplicative, where
¡ ¢−1 2²
δ = 2(log η −1 ) (2η + 1) with η = .
1−²
Proof. Let φ(a) ∈ σ² (a) for every a in A. By Lemma 4, for all a ∈ A,
³ ´ 2²
d φ(a), σ(a) ≤ kak .
1−²
Hence it satisfies the hypothesis of the Proposition 6, with
2²
η= .
1−²
Now the conclusion follows from the same proposition. ¤
Using Theorem 7, we can deduce the the classical Gleason-Kahane-
Zelazko Theorem for the Banach algebras satisfying the (∗) property.
Corollary 8 (GKZ Theorem). Let A be a complex commutative unital
Banach algebra satisfying the (∗) property and φ : A → C be a linear
function. If φ(a) ∈ σ(a) for every a in A, then φ is multiplicative.
Proof. Since σ(a) ⊆ σ² (a) for every 0 < ² < 1,
φ(a) ∈ σ² (a), ∀ a ∈ A, 0 < ² < 1.
6 S. H. KULKARNI AND D. SUKUMAR

Applying Theorem 7, we get that φ is δ(η)-almost multiplicative. Note

that η → 0+ as ² → 0+ . By the choice of δ(η) (See Proposition 6), δ
also tends to zero. Hence φ is multiplicative. ¤
We believe that it may be possible to drop the the assumption of the
(∗) property and to extend these results to general Banach algebras as
well.
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Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai

E-mail address: shk@iitm.ac.in

National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal

E-mail address: dsuku123@yahoo.com