Noncommutative Lp structure encodes exactly Jordan structure

We prove that for all 1 \le p \le \infty, p not 2, the Lp spaces associated to two von Neumann algebras M,N are isometrically isomorphic if and only if M and N are Jordan *-isomorphic. This follows from a noncommutative Lp Banach-Stone theorem: a specific decomposition for surjective isometries of noncommutative Lp spaces.Comment: 14 pages, to appear in J. Funct. Anal. A step in the earlier proof was invalid for finite type I algebra

Relative tensor products for modules over von Neumann algebras

We give an overview of relative tensor products (RTPs) for von Neumann algebra modules. For background, we start with the categorical definition and go on to examine its algebraic formulation, which is applied to Morita equivalence and index. Then we consider the analytic construction, with particular emphasis on explaining why the RTP is not generally defined for every pair of vectors. We also look at recent work justifying a representation of RTPs as composition of unbounded operators, noting that these ideas work equally well for L^p modules. Finally, we prove some new results characterizing preclosedness of the map (\xi, \eta) \mapsto \xi \otimes_\phi \eta.Comment: 17 pages; to appear in Contemporary Mathematic