Traces on symmetrically normed operator ideals

Abstract: For every symmetrically normed ideal $\mathcal{E}$ of compact operators, we give a criterion for the existence of a continuous singular trace on $\mathcal{E}$. We also give a criterion for the existence of a continuous singular trace on $\mathcal{E}$ which respects Hardy-Littlewood majorization. We prove that the class of all continuous singular traces on $\mathcal{E}$ is strictly wider than the class of continuous singular traces which respect Hardy-Littlewood majorization. We establish a canonical bijection between the set of all traces on $\mathcal{E}$ and the set of all symmetric functionals on the corresponding sequence ideal. Similar results are also proved in the setting of semifinite von Neumann algebras.