Spring Semester 2003, Functional Analysis B
(Math 362B)



Instructor: Dietmar Bisch
Lecture: TuTh, 9:35am-10:50am, SC 1403
Discussion section: Mo, 3:00pm-4:00pm, SC 1404
Office: SC 1405, (615) 322-1999
Office hours: TuTh, 10:50am-11:30am and by appointment
Mailbox: SC 1326


Prerequisites: Functional Analysis A (Math 362A) or equivalent. If you plan to take this course without having taken Math 362A in fall, please get the notes from one of the students in Math 362A and work through them before taking Math 362B.

Recommended Books: There will be no textbook. The following books contain part of what I plan to cover in the course:
1) John B. Conway, A Course in Functional Analysis, Springer GTM 96, 2nd edition (January 1997).
2) Gert Pedersen, Analysis Now, Springer Verlag, GTM 118, 1988 (revised edition).
3) Kehe Zhu, An Introduction to Operator Algebras, CRC Press, 1993.
Additional references will be provided during the course.

Syllabus: This course is a continuation of Math 362A (Functional Analysis A), which I taught in the fall semester 2003. In the first part of the course I will present trace class and Hilbert Schmidt operators and then I will discuss abstract spectral theory in Banach algebras, the Gelfand transform, the spectral theorem, continuous and Borel functional calculus and all that. Some applications to quantum physics will be presented. In the second part of the course I will discuss a special topic from functional analysis. This could be a topic from operator theory (e.g. unbounded operators), operator algebras (e.g. von Neumann factors), ergodic theory (e.g. invariants for measurable equivalence relations), harmonic analysis on groups or representation theory (e.g. amenability, Haagerup's property, property T, operator algebras associated to groups etc.). The choice of the topic will depend on time and interest of the audience.

Grading: There will be no exams. The course grade will be based on attendance, a presentation and homework problems.

Presentations:
1) Topological groups, existence and uniqueness of Haar measure (Casey, Max).
2) Sobolev spaces, Sobolev embedding theorem, Rellich's theorem, Elliptic Regularity theorem (David, Hannah, Yuliya).
3) The Dixmier trace: existence, properties, applications (Connes' trace theorem) (Fumiko, Lin).

The presentations will be held on Mondays, 3-4pm, in SC 1404.