Von Neumann Algebras

The purpose of these notes is to provide a rapid introduction to von Neumann algebras which gets to the examples and active topics with a minimum of technical baggage. In this sense it is opposite in spirit from the treatises of Dixmier [], Takesaki[], Pedersen[], Kadison-Ringrose[], Stratila-Zsido[]. The philosophy is to lavish attention on a few key results and examples, and we prefer to make simplifying assumptions rather than go for the most general case. Thus we do not hesitate to give several proofs of a single result, or repeat an argument with different hypotheses. The notes are built around semester- long courses given at UC Berkeley though they contain more material than could be taught in a single semester. The notes are informal and the exercises are an integral part of the ex- position. These exercises are vital and mostly intended to be easy.