On one-sided primitivity of Banach algebras

Abstract

Let $S$ be the semigroup with identity, generated by $x$ and $y$, subject to $y$ being invertible and $yx=xy^2$. We study two Banach algebra completions of the semigroup algebra $\mathbb{C}S$. Both completions are shown to be left-primitive and have separating families of irreducible infinite-dimensional right modules. As an appendix, we offer an alternative proof that $\mathbb{C}S$ is left-primitive but not right-primitive. We show further that, in contrast to the completions, every irreducible right module for $\mathbb{C}S$ is finite dimensional and hence that $\mathbb{C}S$ has a separating family of such modules.Comment: 14 pages. To appear, with minor changes, in the Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Societ