Partition C*-algebras II - Links to Compact Matrix Quantum Groups

Abstract: In a recent article, we gave a definition of partition C*-algebras. These are universal C*-algebras based on algebraic relations which are induced from partitions of sets. In this follow up article, we show that often we can associate a Hopf algebra structure to partition C*-algebras, and also a compact matrix quantum group structure. This follows the lines of Banica and Speicher's approach to quantum groups; however, we access them in a more algebraic way circumventing Tannaka-Krein duality. We give criteria when these quantum groups are quantum subgroups of Wang's free orthogonal quantum group. As a consequence, we see that even if we start with (generalized) categories of partitions which do not contain the pair partitions, in many cases we do not go beyond the class of Banica-Speicher quantum groups (aka easy quantum groups). However, we also discuss possible non-unitary Banica-Speicher quantum groups.