ON ITERATED POWERS OF POSITIVE DEFINITE FUNCTIONS.

We prove that if ${\it\rho}$ is an irreducible positive definite function in the Fourier–Stieltjes algebra $B(G)$ of a locally compact group $G$ with $\Vert {\it\rho}\Vert _{B(G)}=1$, then the iterated powers $({\it\rho}^{n})$ as a sequence of unital completely positive maps on the group $C^{\ast }$-algebra converge to zero in the strong operator topology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]