A reduction method for noncommutative L_p-spaces and applications

We consider the reduction of problems on general noncommutative $L_p$-spaces to the corresponding ones on those associated with finite von Neumann algebras. The main tool is a unpublished result of the first named author which approximates any noncommutative $L_p$-space by tracial ones. We show that under some natural conditions a map between two von Neumann algebras extends to their crossed products by a locally compact abelian group or to their noncommutative $L_p$-spaces. We present applications of these results to the theory of noncommutative martingale inequalities by reducing most recent general noncommutative martingale/ergodic inequalities to those in the tracial case.