Positivstellensätze for algebras of matrices

AbstractNoncommutative Positivstellensätze express positive elements of ∗-algebras in terms of sums of squares. Here positive elements can be defined by means of ∗-representations, point evaluations or abstract ∗-orderings. Squares are elements of the form a∗a. We prove various types of noncommutative Positivstellensätze for matrix algebras Mn(A), where A is an algebra with involution, and ∗-subalgebras of Mn(A) such as path algebras, crossed product algebras and cyclic algebras. The notion of a noncommutative sum of squares is proposed and new versions of Positivstellensätze are proved