Sufficient conditions for a C* algebra to be separable

Question

Do you know of any (necessary and) sufficient conditions for a C* algebra to be separable? Reference to bibliography is welcome.

Answer 1

I don't think there is a condition that is interesting. But it is easy to show that $A$ is separable if and only if it is generated by a finite or a countable set.

So as long as you have finite or countably many generators, your algebra will be separable. The vast majority of the commonly used C$^*$-algebras are like that. Exceptions would be the infinite-dimensional von Neumann algebras (and AW$^*$-algebras, but these are not as sexy).

The proof is extremely simple: if $A$ is separable, take $X\subset A$ countable and dense; then $A=C^*(X)$. Conversely, if $X$ is finite or countable and $A=C^*(X)$, then $$Y=\left\{\sum_{j=1}^m (a_j+ib_j)x_{1,j}\cdots x_{n,j}:\ n,m\in\mathbb N,\ a_j,b_j\in\mathbb Q,\ x_{k,j}\in X\cup X^*\right\}$$ is countable and dense.