Given a complex Hilbert space 
with associated space 
of continuous linear operators from 
to itself, the commutant 
of an arbitrary subset 
is the collection of all elements in 
which commute with all elements of 
: 
.
Across the literature on the subject, the set 
is sometimes denoted 
, a reference to the fact that a linear operator between normed vector spaces is continuous if and only if it is bounded (Royden and Fitzpatrick 2010).
The notions of commutant and bicommutant are fundamental to the study of von Neumann algebras (Dixmier 1981).
