Commutative L-algebras and measure theory

Measure and integration theory for finitely additive measures, including vector-valued measures, is shown to be essentially covered by a class of commutative L-algebras, called measurable algebras. The domain and range of any measure is a commutative L-algebra. Each measurable algebra embeds into its structure group, an abelian group with a compatible lattice order, and each (general) measure extends uniquely to a monotone group homomorphism between the structure groups. On the other hand, any measurable algebra X is shown to be the range of an essentially unique measure on a measurable space, which plays the role of a universal covering. Accordingly, we exhibit a fundamental group of X, with stably closed subgroups corresponding to a special class of measures with X as target. All structure groups of measurable algebras arising in a classical context are archimedean. Therefore, they admit a natural embedding into a group of extended real-valued continuous functions on an extremally disconnected compact space, the Stone space of the measurable algebra. Extending Loomis' integration theory for finitely additive measures, it is proved that, modulo null functions, each integrable function can be represented by a unique continuous function on the Stone space.