What's the difference between a Banach Algebra and a C*-algebra?

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I'm currently looking at going into a PhD program in mathematics and need to decide on a specialization. In meeting with my advisor he pushed me into looking at C*-algebras based on my interests. However specialists in the field seem to be rather rare and in expanding my search it seems that Banach Algebra's are closely related but I'm not entirely sure on the distinction (other than C*-algebras seem to be a specific form of Banach's). Can someone tell me the difference?

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It is true: $C^*$-algebras are a special class of Banach algebras. But they have a very rich structure as they appear as selfadjoint algebras of operators on a complex Hilbert space. The theory of $C^*$-algebras is very developt. On the other hand, general Banach algebras are a much wider class of algebras and working on them one has to assume some additional conditions. Actually any Banach space can be made in a Banach algebra by a trivial multiplication, or by a multiplication given by $x.y=\xi(x)y$, where $\xi$ is a fixed bounded linear functional on the space... In any case, for working on $C^*$-algebras, one has to know the general theory of Banach algebras and, on the other hand, working in general Banach algebras, one has to be familiar with $C^*$-algebras as they are a very important class of Banach algebras.