<p> Let G be a locally compact group (= locally compact Hausdorff topological group). By the measure algebra of G we mean the Banach *-algebra M(G) of bounded regular Borel measures on G. The major results of this work are a structure theorem for norm decreasing isomorphisms of measure algebras, and a characterization of those Banach algebras which are isometric and isomorphic to the measure algebra of some locally compact group. We also obtain some results on subalgebras of M(G) and on representations of G.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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Let G be a locally compact group, w be a continuous weight function on G, and L^1(G,w) be the corresponding Beurling algebra. In this thesis, we study weak amenability of L^1(G,w) and of its centre ZL^1(G,w) for non-commutative locally compact groups G. We first give examples to show that the condition that characterizes weak amenability of L^1(G,w) for commutative groups G is no longer sufficient for the non-commutative case. However, we prove that this condition remains necessary for all [IN] groups G. We also provide a necessary condition for weak amenability of L^1(G,w) of a different nature, which, among other things, allows us to obtain a number of significant results on weak amenability of l^1(F_2,w) and l^1((ax+b),w). We then study the relation between weak amenability of the algebra L^1(G,w) on a locally compact group G and the algebra L^1(G/H,^w) on the quotient group G/H of G over a closed normal subgroup H with an appropriate weight ^w induced from w. We give an example showing that L^1(G,w) may not be weakly amenable even if both L^1(G/H,^w) and L^1(H,w|_H) are weakly amenable. On the other hand, by means of constructing a generalized Bruhat function on G, we establish a sufficient condition under which weak amenability of L^1(G,w) implies that of L^1(G/H,^w). In particular, with this approach, we prove that weak amenability of the tensor product of L^1(G_1,w_1) and L^1(G_2,w_2) implies weak amenability of both Beurling algebras L^1(G_1,w_1) and L^1(G_2,w_2), provided the weights w_1, w_2 are bounded away from zero. However, given a general weight on the direct product G of G_1 and G_2, weak amenability of L^1(G,w) usually does not imply that of L^1(G_1,w|_{G_1}), even if both G_1, G_2 are commutative. We provide an example to illustrate this. While studying the centres ZL^1(G,w) of L^1(G,w), we characterize weak amenability of ZL^1(G,w) for connected [SIN] groups G, establish a necessary condition for weak amenability of ZL^1(G,w) in the case when G is an [FC] group, and give a sufficient condition for the case when G is an [FD] group. In particular, we obtain some positive results on weak amenability of ZL^1(G,w) for a compactly generated [FC] group G with a polynomial weight w. Finally, we briefly discuss the derivation problem for weighted group algebras and present a partial solution to it.

The main theme of this thesis is to study the isometric algebra isomorphisms and the bipositive algebra isomorphisms between various Banach algebras associated with locally compact groups. Let $LUC(G)$ denote the $C^*$-algebra of left uniformly continuous functions with the uniform norm and let $C_0(G)^{\perp}$ denote the annihilator of $C_0(G)$ in $LUC(G)^*$. In Chapter 2 of this thesis, among other results, we show that if $G$ is a locally compact group and $H$ is a discrete group then whenever there exists a weak-star continuous isometric isomorphism between $C_0(G)^{\perp}$ and $C_0(H)^{\perp}$, $G$ is isomorphic to $H$ as a topological group. In particular, when $H$ is discrete $C_0(H)^{\perp}$ determines $H$ within the class of locally compact topological groups. In Chapter 3 of this thesis, we show that if $M(G,\omega_1)$ (the weighted measure algebra on $G$) is isometrically algebra isomorphic to $M(H,\omega_2)$, then the underlying weighted groups are isomorphic, i.e. there exists an isomorphism of topological groups $\phi:G\to H$ such that $\small{\displaystyle{\frac{\omega_1}{\omega_2\circ\phi}}}$ is multiplicative. Similarly, we show that any weighted locally compact group $(G,\omega)$ is completely determined by its Beurling group algebra $L^1(G,\omega)$, $LUC(G,\omega^{-1})^*$ and $L^1(G,\omega)^{**}$, when the two last algebras are equipped with an Arens product. Here, $LUC(G,\omega^{-1})$ is the weighted analogue of $LUC(G)$, for weighted locally compact groups. In Chapter 4 of this thesis, we show that the order structure combined with the algebra structure of each of the Banach algebras $L^1(G,\omega)$, $M(G,\omega)$, $LUC(G,\omega^{-1})^*$ and $L^1(G,\omega)^{**}$ completely determines the underlying topological group structure together with a constraint on the weight. In particular, we obtain new proofs for a previously known result of Kawada and results of Farhadi as special cases of our results. Finally, we provide an example of a bipositive algebra isomorphism between Beurling measure algebras that is not an isometry. We conclude this thesis with a selective list of open problems. / February 2016