A not necessarily continuous, linear or multiplicative function from an algebra A into itself is called a 2-local automorphism if agrees with an automorphism of A at each pair of points in A. In this paper, we study when a 2-local automorphism of a C-algebra, or a standard operator algebra on a locally convex space, is an automorphism.

Recently, the invertibility of linear combinations of two idempotents has been studied by several authors. Let P and Q be idempotents in a Banach algebra. It was shown that the invertibility of P+ Q is equivalent to that of aP+ bQ for nonzero a, b with a+ b= 0. In this note, we obtain a similar result for square zero operators and those operators satisfying x2= dx for some scalar d. More generally, we show that if P, Q satisfy a quadratic polynomial (x c)(x d) then the linear combination aP+ bQ c (a+ b) being invertible or Fredholm (and the index) is independent of the choice of the nonzero scalars a, b. However, this is not the case when P and Q are involutions, unitaries, partial isometries, k-potents (k 3) and other nilpotents, as counterexamples are provided.

Degree theory has been developed as a tool for checking the solution existence of nonlinear equations. In his classic paper published in 1983, Browder developed a degree theory for mappings of monotone type f+ T, where f is a mapping of class (S)+ from a bounded open set in a reflexive Banach space X into its dual X, and T is a maximal monotone mapping from X into X. This breakthrough paved the way for many applications of degree theoretic techniques to several large classes of nonlinear partial differential equations. In this paper we continue to develop the results of Browder on the degree theory for mappings of monotone type f+ T. By enlarging the class of maximal monotone mappings and pseudo-monotone homotopies we obtain some new results of the degree theory for such mappings.

It is well known that a vector variational inequality can be a very efficient model for use in studying vector optimization problems. By using the Ky Fan fixed point theorem and the scalarization method we will prove some existence theorems for strong solutions for generalized vector variational inequalities where discontinuous and star-pseudomonotone operators are involved. Our results can be applied to the study of the existence of solutions of vector optimal problems. Some examples are given and analyzed.

In this note, we will discuss what kind of operators between C*-algebras preserves Jordan triple products