Derivations of Noncommutative Arens Algebras

The present paper deals with derivations of noncommutative Arens algebras. We prove that every derivation of an Arens algebra associated with a von Neumann algebra and a faithful normal finite trace is inner. In particular, each derivation on such algebras is automatically continuous in the natural topology, and in the commutative case, even for semi-finite traces, all derivations are identically zero. At the same time, the existence of noninner derivations is proved for noncommutative Arens algebras with a semi-finite but nonfinite trace.