Hilbert space methods in the theory of Jordan algebras. I

In this paper, we study the structure of certain infinite-dimensional Jordan algebras admitting an inner product. These algebras, called J*-algebras in the sequel, have already been considered in (4) in connexion with the norm uniqueness problem for non-associative algebras. We deal here with the structure and classification of these algebras. Existence of self-adjoint idempotents plays a central role in the classification problem.