Endomorphisms, Automorphisms and Subfactors of von Neumann Algebras

The theory of von Neumann algebras is one of the most active areas of modern functional analysis, motivated in part by spectacular classification and structure theorems (see e.g. [2] and [2l]), and in part by deep connections with other fields of mathematics and with mathematical physics (see e.g. [15] and recent works by the Fields medal winners A. Connes and V. Jones). In the classification and structural results for von Neumann algebras, automorphism theory plays a central role, while endomorphisms and subfactors are crucial for many of the applications to other fields and to physics.