Gelfand-Naimark theorem
Let be the category of locally compact Hausdorff spaces
with continuous proper maps as morphisms.And, let be the category of commutative
-algebras
with proper *-homomorphisms
(send approximate units
into approximate units)as morphisms.There is a contravariant functor
which sends each locally compact Hausdorff space to the commutative -algebra ( if is compact
).Conversely, there is a contravariant functor which sends each commutative -algebra to the space of characters
on (with the Gelfand topology
).
The functors and are an equivalence of categories.