Polynomial Identities and Combinatorial Methods

Polynomial Identities and Combinatorial Methods
edited by
Antonio Giambruno
University of Palermo Palermo, Italy
Amitai Regev
The Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel
Mikhail Zaicev
Moscow State University Moscow, Russia
> >
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PURE AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS

A Program of Monographs, Textbooks, and Lecture Notes
EXECUTIVE EDITORS Earl J. Taft Rutgers University New Brunswick, New Jersey Zuhair Nashed University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida
EDITORIAL BOARD M. S. Baouendi University of California, San Diego Jane Cronin Rutgers University Jack K. Hale Georgia Institute of Technology S. Kobayashi University of California, Berkeley Marvin Marcus University of California, Santa Barbara W. S. Massey Yale University Anil Nerode Cornell University Donald Passman University of Wisconsin, Madison Fred S. Roberts Rutgers University David L. Russell Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Walter Schempp Universitat Siegen Mark Teply University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59.
N. Jacobson, Exceptional Lie Algebras L.-A. Lindahl and F. Poulsen, Thin Sets in Harmonic Analysis /. Satake, Classification Theory of Semi-Simple Algebraic Groups F. Hirzebruch et a/., Different/able Manifolds and Quadratic Forms I. Chavel, Riemannian Symmetric Spaces of Rank One R. B. Burckel, Characterization of C(X) Among Its Subalgebras B. R. McDonald et a/., Ring Theory Y.-T. Siu, Techniques of Extension on Analytic Objects S. R. Caradus et a/., Calkin Algebras and Algebras of Operators on Banach Spaces E. O. Roxin et a/., Differential Games and Control Theory M. Orzech and C. Small, The Brauer Group of Commutative Rings S. Thornier, Topology and Its Applications J. M. Lopez and K. A. Ross, Sidon Sets W. W. Comfort and S. Negrepontis, Continuous Pseudometrics K. McKennon and J. M. Robertson, Locally Convex Spaces M. Carmeli and S. Matin, Representations of the Rotation and Lorentz Groups G. B. Seligman, Rational Methods in Lie Algebras D. G. de Figueiredo, Functional Analysis L. Cesari et a/., Nonlinear Functional Analysis and Differential Equations J. J. Schaffer, Geometry of Spheres in Normed Spaces K. YanoandM. Kon, Anti-Invariant Submanifolds W. V. Vasconcelos, The Rings of Dimension Two R E. Chandler, Hausdorff Compactifications S. P. Franklin and B. V. S. Thomas, Topology S. K. Jain, Ring Theory B. R. McDonald and R. A. Morris, Ring Theory II R. B. Mura and A. Rhemtulla, Orderable Groups J. R. Graef, Stability of Dynamical Systems H.-C. Wang, Homogeneous Branch Algebras E. O. Roxin et a/., Differential Games and Control Theory II R D. Porter, Introduction to Fibre Bundles M. Altman, Contractors and Contractor Directions Theory and Applications J. S. Golan, Decomposition and Dimension in Module Categories G. Fairweather, Finite Element Galerkin Methods for Differential Equations J. D. Sally, Numbers of Generators of Ideals in Local Rings S. S. Miller, Complex Analysis R Gordon, Representation Theory of Algebras M. Goto and F. D. Grosshans, Semisimple Lie Algebras A. I. Arruda eta/., Mathematical Logic F. Van Oystaeyen, Ring Theory F. Van Oystaeyen and A. Verschoren, Reflectors and Localization M. Satyanarayana, Positively Ordered Semigroups D. L Russell, Mathematics of Finite-Dimensional Control Systems P.-T. Liu and E. Roxin, Differential Games and Control Theory III A. Geramita and J. Seberry, Orthogonal Designs J. Cigler, V. Losert, and P. Michor, Banach Modules and Functors on Categories of Banach Spaces P.-T. Liu and J. G. Sutinen, Control Theory in Mathematical Economics C. Byrnes, Partial Differential Equations and Geometry G. Klambauer, Problems and Propositions in Analysis J. Knopfmacher, Analytic Arithmetic of Algebraic Function Fields F. Van Oystaeyen, Ring Theory B. Kadem, Binary Time Series J. Barros-Neto and R. A. Artino, Hypoelliptic Boundary-Value Problems R. L Stemberg et a/., Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations in Engineering and Applied Science B. R. McDonald, Ring Theory and Algebra III J. S. Golan, Structure Sheaves Over a Noncommutative Ring T. V. Narayana et a/.. Combinatorics, Representation Theory and Statistical Methods in Groups T. A. Burton, Modeling and Differential Equations in Biology K. H. Kim and F. W. Roush, Introduction to Mathematical Consensus Theory
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J. Banas and K. Goebel, Measures of Noncompactness in Banach Spaces O. A. Nielson, Direct Integral Theory J. E. Smith et a/., Ordered Groups J. Cronin, Mathematics of Cell Electrophysiology J. W. Brewer, Power Series Over Commutative Rings P. K. Kamthan and M. Gupta, Sequence Spaces and Series T. G. McLaughlin, Regressive Sets and the Theory of Isols T. L Herdman et a/., Integral and Functional Differential Equations R. Draper, Commutative Algebra W. G. McKay and J. Patera, Tables of Dimensions, Indices, and Branching Rules sentations of Simple Lie Algebras R. L. Devaney and 2. H. Nitecki, Classical Mechanics and Dynamical Systems J. Van Gee/, Places and Valuations in Noncommutative Ring Theory C. Faith, Injective Modules and Injective Quotient Rings A. Fiacco, Mathematical Programming with Data Perturbations I P. Schultz et a/., Algebraic Structures and Applications L Bican et a/., Rings, Modules, and Preradicals D. C. Kay and M. Breen, Convexity and Related Combinatorial Geometry P. Fletcher and W. F. Lindgren, Quasi-Uniform Spaces C.-C. Yang, Factorization Theory of Meromorphic Functions O. Taussky, Ternary Quadratic Forms and Norms S. P. Singh and J. H. Burry, Nonlinear Analysis and Applications K. B. Hannsgen et a/., Volterra and Functional Differential Equations N. L. Johnson et a/., Finite Geometries G. /. Zapata, Functional Analysis, Holomorphy, and Approximation Theory S. Greco and G. Valla, Commutative Algebra A. V. Fiacco, Mathematical Programming with Data Perturbations II J.-B. Hiriart-Urrutyetal., Optimization A. Figa Talamanca and M. A. Picarde/lo, Harmonic Analysis on Free Groups M. Harada, Factor Categories with Applications to Direct Decomposition of Modules V. I. Istratescu, Strict Convexity and Complex Strict Convexity V. Lakshmikantham, Trends in Theory and Practice of Nonlinear Differential Equations H. L. Manocha and J. B. Srivastava, Algebra and Its Applications D. V. Chudnovsky and G. V. Chudnovsky, Classical and Quantum Models and Problems J. W. Longley, Least Squares Computations Using Orthogonalization Methods L. P. de Alcantara, Mathematical Logic and Formal Systems C. E. Au/l, Rings of Continuous Functions R. Chuaqui, Analysis, Geometry, and Probability L. Fuchs and L. Salce, Modules Overvaluation Domains P. Fischer and W. R. Smith, Chaos, Fractals, and Dynamics W. B. Powell and C. Tsinakis, Ordered Algebraic Structures G. M. Rassias and T. M. Rassias, Differential Geometry, Calculus of Variations, Applications R.-E. Hoffmann and K. H. Hofmann, Continuous Lattices and Their Applications J. H. Lightbourne III and S. M. Rankin III, Physical Mathematics and Nonlinear Partial Equations C. A. Baker and L. M. Batten, Finite Geometries J. W. Brewer et a/., Linear Systems Over Commutative Rings C. McCrory and T. Shifrin, Geometry and Topology D. W. Kueke et a/.. Mathematical Logic and Theoretical Computer Science B.-L Lin and S. Simons, Nonlinear and Convex Analysis S. J. Lee, Operator Methods for Optimal Control Problems V. Lakshmikantham, Nonlinear Analysis and Applications S. F. McCormick, Multigrid Methods M. C. Tangora, Computers in Algebra D. V. Chudnovsky and G. V. Chudnovsky, Search Theory D, V. Chudnovsky and R. D. Jenks, Computer Algebra M. C. Tangora, Computers in Geometry and Topology P. Nelson et a/., Transport Theory, Invariant Imbedding, and Integral Equations P. Clement et a/., Semigroup Theory and Applications J. Vinuesa, Orthogonal Polynomials and Their Applications C. M. Dafermos et a/., Differential Equations . O. Roxin, Modern Optimal Control J. C. Diaz, Mathematics for Large Scale Computing
for Repre-
Arithmetic
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Differential
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P. S. Milojevft Nonlinear Functional Analysis C. Sadosky, Analysis and Partial Differential Equations R. M. Shortt, General Topology and Applications R. Wong, Asymptotic and Computational Analysis D. V. Chudnovsky and R. D. Jenks, Computers in Mathematics W. D. Wallis et al., Combinatorial Designs and Applications S. Elaydi, Differential Equations G. Chen etal.. Distributed Parameter Control Systems W. N. Everitt, Inequalities H. G. Kaper and M. Garbey, Asymptotic Analysis and the Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations O. Anno etal., Mathematical Population Dynamics S. Coen, Geometry and Complex Variables J. A. Goldstein et al., Differential Equations with Applications in Biology, Physics, and Engineering S. J. Andima et al., General Topology and Applications P Clement et al., Semigroup Theory and Evolution Equations K. Jarosz, Function Spaces J. M. Bayod et al., p-adic Functional Analysis G. A. Anastassiou, Approximation Theory R. S. Rees, Graphs, Matrices, and Designs G. Abrams et al., Methods in Module Theory G. L. Mullen and P. J.-S. Shiue, Finite Fields, Coding Theory, and Advances in Communications and Computing M. C. JoshiandA. V. Balakrishnan, Mathematical Theory of Control G. Komatsu and Y. Sakane, Complex Geometry /. J. Bakelman, Geometric Analysis and Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations T. Mabuchiand S. Mukai, Einstein Metrics and Yang-Mills Connections L Fuchs and R. Gobel, Abelian Groups A. D. Pollington and W. Moran, Number Theory with an Emphasis on the Markoff Spectrum G. Dore et a/., Differential Equations in Banach Spaces T. West, Continuum Theory and Dynamical Systems K. D. Bierstedt et a/., Functional Analysis K. G. Fischer etal., Computational Algebra K. D. Elworthyetal., Differential Equations, Dynamical Systems, and Control Science P.-J. Cahen, et a/., Commutative Ring Theory S. C. Cooper and W. J. Thron, Continued Fractions and Orthogonal Functions P. Clement and G. Lumer, Evolution Equations, Control Theory, and Biomathematics M. Gyllenberg and L. Persson, Analysis, Algebra, and Computers in Mathematical Research W. O. Bray et a/., Fourier Analysis J. Bergen and S. Montgomery, Advances in Hopf Algebras A. R. Magid, Rings, Extensions, and Cohomology N. H. Pavel, Optimal Control of Differential Equations M. Ikawa, Spectral and Scattering Theory X. Liu and D. Siegel, Comparison Methods and Stability Theory J.-P. Zolesio, Boundary Control and Variation M. Kfizeketal., Finite Element Methods G. Da Prato and L Tubaro, Control of Partial Differential Equations E. Ballico, Projective Geometry with Applications M. Costabeletal., Boundary Value Problems and Integral Equations in Nonsmooth Domains G. Ferreyra, G. R. Goldstein, and F. Neubrander, Evolution Equations S. Huggett, Twistor Theory H. Cooket a/., Continua D. F. Anderson and D. E. Dobbs, Zero-Dimensional Commutative Rings K. Jarosz, Function Spaces V. Ancona et al., Complex Analysis and Geometry E. Casas, Control of Partial Differential Equations and Applications N. Kalton et al.. Interaction Between Functional Analysis, Harmonic Analysis, and Probability Z. Deng et al., Differential Equations and Control Theory P. Marcelliniet al. Partial Differential Equations and Applications A. Kartsatos, Theory and Applications of Nonlinear Operators of Accretive and Monotone Type M. Maruyama, Moduli of Vector Bundles A. Ursini and P. Agliano, Logic and Algebra X. H. Cao et al., Rings, Groups, and Algebras D. Arnold and R. M. Rangaswamy, Abelian Groups and Modules S. R. Chakravarthy and A. S. Alfa, Matrix-Analytic Methods in Stochastic Models
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J. E. Andersen et at., Geometry and Physics P.-J. Cahen et al., Commutative Ring Theory J. A. Goldstein et al.. Stochastic Processes and Functional Analysis A. Sorbi, Complexity, Logic, and Recursion Theory G. Da Prato and J.-P. Zolesio, Partial Differential Equation Methods in Control and Shape Analysis D. D. Anderson, Factorization in Integral Domains N. L. Johnson, Mostly Finite Geometries D. Hinton and P. W. Schaefer, Spectral Theory and Computational Methods of Sturm-Liouville Problems W. H. Schikhofet a/., p-adic Functional Analysis S. Sertdz, Algebraic Geometry G. Can'sti and E. Mitidieri, Reaction Diffusion Systems A. V. Fiacco, Mathematical Programming with Data Perturbations M. Krizek et al., Finite Element Methods: Superconvergence, Post-Processing, and A Posteriori Estimates S. Caenepeel and A. Verschoren, Rings, Hopf Algebras, and Brauer Groups V. Drensky et a/., Methods in Ring Theory W. B. Jones and A. Sri Ranga, Orthogonal Functions, Moment Theory, and Continued Fractions P. E. Newstead, Algebraic Geometry D. Dikranjan and L Salce, Abelian Groups, Module Theory, and Topology Z. Chen et a/., Advances in Computational Mathematics X. Caicedo and C. H. Montenegro, Models, Algebras, and Proofs C. Y. Yildirim and S. A. Stepanov, Number Theory and Its Applications D. E. Dobbs et a/., Advances in Commutative Ring Theory F. Van Oystaeyen, Commutative Algebra and Algebraic Geometry J. Kakol et a/., p-adic Functional Analysis M. Boulagouaz and J.-P. Tignol, Algebra and Number Theory S. Caenepeel and F. Van Oystaeyen, Hopf Algebras and Quantum Groups F. Van Oystaeyen and M. Saorin, Interactions Between Ring Theory and Representations of Algebras R. Costa et al., Nonassociative Algebra and Its Applications T.-X. He, Wavelet Analysis and Multiresolution Methods H. Hudzik and L Skrzypczak, Function Spaces: The Fifth Conference J. Kajiwara et al., Finite or Infinite Dimensional Complex Analysis G. Lumerand L. Weis, Evolution Equations and Their Applications in Physical and Life Sciences J. Cagnol et al.. Shape Optimization and Optimal Design J. Herzog and G. Restuccia, Geometric and Combinatorial Aspects of Commutative Algebra G. Chen et al., Control of Nonlinear Distributed Parameter Systems F. AH Mehmeti et al.. Partial Differential Equations on Multistructures D. D. Anderson and I. J. Papick, Ideal Theoretic Methods in Commutative Algebra A. Granja et al., Ring Theory and Algebraic Geometry A. K. Katsaras et al., p-adic Functional Analysis R. Salvi, The Navier-Stokes Equations F. U. Coe/ho and H. A. Merk/en, Representations of Algebras S. Aizicovici and N. H. Pavel, Differential Equations and Control Theory G. Lyubeznik, Local Cohomology and Its Applications G. Da Prato and L. Tubaro, Stochastic Partial Differential Equations and Applications W. A. Camiellietal., Paraconsistency A. Benkirane and A. Touzani, Partial Differential Equations A. Illanes et al., Continuum Theory M. Fontana et al., Commutative Ring Theory and Applications D. Mond and M. J. Saia, Real and Complex Singularities V. Ancona and J. Vail/ant, Hyperbolic Differential Operators A. Giambruno et al., Polynomial Identities and Combinatorial Methods G. R. Goldstein etal., Evolution Equations
Additional Volumes in Preparation
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Preface
This volume contains the proceedings of the conference on Polynomial Identities and Combinatorial Methods, held on the island of Pantelleria, Italy. It was the fourth in a series of meetings in the last decade concerning the theory of associative and nonassociative algebras satisfying polynomial identities (Pi-algebras). The first of these meetings was a small workshop in Palermo, Italy, in 1992. The second was the conference entitled Methods in Ring Theory, held in 1997 in Trento, Italy. The proceedings of that conference were published in the Marcel Dekker series Lecture Notes in Pure and Applied Mathematics, Volume 198, and it is now a standard reference for specialists working in the area of polynomial identities. Considerable progress could be observed in the theory of algebras with polynomial identities during the years following the Trento conference. Some of the most important achievements in this area were due to a combination of algebraic techniques with analytical and combinatorial methods in the study of various numerical characteristics of Pi-algebras and their identities. Leading specialists in this area met in Rehovot, Israel, in May 2000, in the Workshop on Growth Phenomena in Associative and Lie Pi-algebras. Unfortunately, the results presented in Rehovot were not collected in one volume. To make up for this deficiency we hereby offer the proceedings of the Pantelleria conference, presenting the up-to-date status and tendencies in this area. The conference featured the latest results in the theory of polynomial identities and a presentation of different methods and techniques pertaining to different areas, such as algebraic combinatorics, invariant theory, and representation theory, both of the symmetric and the classical groups, and of Lie algebras and superalgebras. During the conference one-hour invited lectures were given by Y. Bahturin, A. Belov, O. Di Vincenzo, M. Domokos, V. Drensky, E. Formanek, A. Giambruno, A. Guterman, P. Koshlukov, S. Mishchenko, V. Petrogradsky, C. Procesi, A. Regev, L. H. Rowen, I. Shestakov, and M. Zaicev. In addition, several other invited talks of shorter lengths were presented. This volume includes the papers of most of the principal speakers and some other invited contributions related to the conference. Even though the contents of this volume cover a broad range of themes, from ring theory to combinatorics to invariant theory, they still have a common thread in the theory of polynomial identities. The book will be useful to all researchers working with polynomial identities, varieties of associative algebras, Lie and Liebnitz algebras, and their generalizations. It will also be of interest to specialists in free algebras, growth functions of algebras, and, more generally, to mathematicians who apply numerical and analytical methods in algebra.
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The editors wish to express their appreciation to the following agencies and institutions that have contributed financial support: the Gruppo Nazionale per le Strutture Algebriche Geometriche ed Applicazioni of the Istituto Nazionale di Alta Matematica, the national research project Algebre con Identita Polinomiali of the MURST, and the University of Palermo. Antonio Giambruno Amitai Regev Mikhail Zaicev
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Contents
Preface Contributors 1. Linearization Method of Computing Z2-Codimensions of Identities of the Grassmann Algebra N. Anisimov Cocommutative Hopf Algebras Acting on Quantum Polynomials and Their Invariants Vyacheslav A. Artamonov Combinatorial Properties of Free Algebras of Schreier Varieties Vyacheslav A. Artamonov, Alexander A. Mikhalev, and Alexander V. Mikhalev Graded Algebras and Graded Identities Yu. A. Bahturin and M. V. Zaicev Computational Approach to Polynomial Identities of Matrices: A Survey Francesco Benanti, James Demmel, Vesselin Drensky, and Plamen Koev Poincare Series of Generic Matrices Allan Berele Combinatorial Methods for the Computation of Trace Cocharacters Luisa Carini Polynomial Identities for Graded Algebras Onofrio Mario Di Vincenzo Matrix Invariants and the Failure of Weyl's Theorem M. Domokos Free Nilpotent-by-Abelian Leibniz Algebras Vesselin Drensky and Giulia Maria Piacentini Cattaneo
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Pebbles and Expansions in the Polynomial Ring Adriano M. Garsia Group Actions, Codimensions, and Exponential Behaviour A. Giambnmo Monotone Matrix Maps Preserve Non-maximal Rank A. Guterman Explicit Decompositions of the Group Algebras FSn and FAn A. Henke and A. Regev Graded and Ordinary Polynomial Identities in Matrix and Related Algebras Plamen Koshlukov Varieties of Linear Algebras with Almost Polynomial Growth S. P. Mishchenko Algebras with Involution, Superalgebras, and Proper Subvarieties Vincenzo Nardozza Gradings and Graded Identities of the Algebra of n x n Upper Triangular Matrices Angela Valenti
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Contributors
N. Anisimov, Chair of Higher Algebra, Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, Moscow State University, 119899, Moscow, Russia E-mail: nikanis@mail.ru Vyacheslav A. Artamonov, Department of Algebra, Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, Moscow State University, Leninsky Gory, 119992, GSP-2, Moscow, Russia E-mail: artamon@mech.math.msu.su Yu. A. Bahturin, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NF, A1A 5K9, Canada, and Department of Algebra, Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119992, Russia E-mail: yuri@math.mun ca Francesca Benanti, Dipartimento di Matematica ed Applicazioni, Universita di Palermo, via Archirafi 34, 90123 Palermo, Italy E-mail: fbenanti@math.unipa.it Allan Berele, Department of Mathematics, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614 USA E-mail: aberele@condor.depaul.edu Luisa Carini, Dipartimento di Matematica ed Applicazioni, University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 34, 90123 Palermo, Italy E-mail: lcarini@dipmat.unime.it James Demmel, Department of Mathematics, Computer Science Division, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA E-mail: demmel@cs.berkeley.edu Onofrio Mario Di Vincenzo, Dipartimento Interuniversitario di Matematica, Universita degli Studi di Bari, via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy E-mail: divincenzo@dm.uniba.it
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Matyas Domokos. Renyi Institute of Mathematics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 127, 1364 Budapest, Hungary E-mail: domokos@renyi.hu Temporary address (until February 2004): Department of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, James Clerk Maxwell Building, King's Buildings, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, Scotland E-mail: domokos@maths.ed.ac.uk Vesselin Drensky, Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Akad. G. Bonchev Str., Block 8,1113 Sofia, Bulgaria E-mail: drensky@math.bas.bg Adriano M. Garsia, Department of Mathematics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0112 USA E-mail: agarsia@ucsd.edu Antonio Giambruno, Dipartimento di Matematica ed Applicazioni, Palermo, Via Archirafi 34, 90123 Palermo, Italy E-mail: agiambr@unipa.it Universita di
A. Guterman, Department of Higher Algebra, Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119899, Russia E-mail: guterman@mmascience.ru A. Henke, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, England E-mail: aehlO@mcs.le.ac.uk Plamen Koev, Department of Mathematics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA E-mail: plamen@math.berkeley.edu Plamen Koshlukov, IMECC, UNICAMP, Cx.P. 6065, 13083-970 Campinas, SP, Brazil E-mail: plamen@ime.unicamp.br Alexander A. Mikhalev, Department of Mechanics and Mathematics, Moscow State University, 119899, Moscow, Russia E-mail: aamikh@cnit.math.msu.su Sergey P. Mishchenko, Department of Algebra and Geometric Computations, Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics, Ul'yanovsk State University, Ul'yanovsk, 432700, Russia E-mail: msp@mishch.ulsu.ru Vincenzo Nardozza, Dipartimento di Matematica, Universita della Basilicata, C.da Macchia Romana, 85100 Potenza, Italy E-mail: vickkk@tiscalinet.it
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Ciulia Maria Piacentini Cattaneo, Department of Mathematics, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Rome, Italy E-mail: piacentini@mat.uniroma2.it Amitai Regev, Department of Mathematics, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel E-mail: regev@wisdom.weizmann.ac.il Angela Valenti, Dipartimento di Matematica ed Applicazioni, Universita di Palermo, Via Archirafi 34, 90123 Palermo, Italy E-mail: avalenti@math.unipa.it M. V. Zaicev, Department of Algebra, Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics, Moscow State University, 119992, Russia E-mail: zaicev@mech.math.msu.su
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Linearization method of computing Z2 codimensions of identities of the Grassmann algebra

N. ANISIMOV Chair of Higher Algebra, Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, Moscow State University, 119899, Moscow, Russia. E-mail: nikanis@mail.ru
INTRODUCTION
Let A be an associative algebra over a field F of characteristic 0, and let G be a finite group of automorphisms and anti-automorphisms of A. Also let X = {.TI, x,2, } be a countable set of indeterminates. The free algebra with the set of free generators < X\G >= {xf\i N,# G G} is called the algebra of G-polynomials. The space
is called the space of multilinear G-polynomials in the variables xi,...,xn. The polynomial f(xi,...,xn,G) E Vn(x,G) is called an n-linear Gidentity if for arbitrary elements 0,1,.... an of A, /(GI, . . . , an, G) = 0; here we use the notation a9 g(a) for all a G A, g G. All n-linear G-identities form the ideal Idn(A, G) of n-linear G-identities. The sequence Cn(A, G) = dirnp is called the sequence of G-codimensions of the ideal of the G-identities of the algebra A. If the group G is generated by an element </? one uses the notation of "(^-identities" instead of "G-identities". We remind that the
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basic notions of PI theory were introduced by A. Regev in [1] and then generalized by A. Giambruno and A. Regev in [2]. Properties of such sequences were widely investigated only in the traditional case G = {id}: the general case is very incomplete. Moreover, there are only a few algebras whose sequence of codimensions of identities have been computed exactly. One of these algebras is the infinite-dimensional Grassmann algebra A. c n (A) = 2""~1 (see [3]). Note that the Grassmann algebra is of fundamental importance in PI theory, for example, it generates a minimal variety of exponential growth. Questions that arise naturally are: to compute the involutivc and the Z2-codimensions of the identities of the Grassmann algebra, and to describe the ideals of Z2-identities of A. These questions were partially answered in [4]. For example, the sequence of involutive codimensions of the Grassmann algebra was computed for an arbitrary involution. But the general case of Z2-action on A was investigated in [4] only for automorphisms of order two with linear action on generators. In this article we point out the deep connection between arbitrary Z2-cdimensions of identities and Z2-cdimensions of identities for linear automorphisms which were computed in [4]. The statements of the theorems of Section 2 contain an additional assumption on the automorphism. By computing the structure of some automorphisms of the Grassmann algebra we show in Section 3 that the additional assumption is natural for such automorphisms. We now list some definitions and properties used later. Let A be the infinite-dimensional Grassmann algebra with generators ei, 62, - . and defining relations e,ej + Cj-e, = 0. Then the set of all ordered monomials {ejj .. . e,;jA; > 1.1 < i\ < .. . < i^} form a basis D\ of A. There is a natural Z2-grading on A, A = AO AI, where AO and AI are spanned by the basic monomials of even and of odd length correspondingly. The Z2~ graded elements of A commute by the following rule: if g A,; and h Aj, then gh = ( l)ljhg. The length a of the monomial a 6 D\ is the number of generators in a: je,;, ... Ci k = A;. Let (p be an automorphism of order two on the algebra A. If it's action on the generators is defined bv the formula
then the mapping defined on the generators by the formula
and homomorphically continued on A is also an automorphism of order two on the Grassmann algebra. The automorphism tpi is a linear operator in
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the space L span^{ei, 2, . . .}. In further considerations we will assume without loss of generality that the generators of the Grassmann algebra form the eigenbasis for the operator (pi in the space L. The subspaces corresponding to the eigenvalues 1 and 1 are denoted by L\ and L-\.
Zs-IDENTITIES OF THE GRASSMANN ALGEBRA
First we note that for an arbitrary automorphism (p of the Grassmann algebra A with dim LI = dimL_i = oo the c^-codimensions of the identities of A were computed in [4]. But cn(A, <pi} are known precisely only if one of the eigenspaces LI or L-\ is finite-dimensional. In this section the coincidence of Id n (A, <p) and Id n (A, (p{) (and of corresponding codimensions) is proved, provided there are some additional assumption on ip.
LEMMA 2.1 Let (p : A A be a graded automorphism of the Grassmann algebra and let k be a natural number. If for any k generators e^, . . . , &ik
then for any basic monomials a^. . . . , a,;fc 6

fc
Proof. Consider arbitrary basic monomials a ^ , . . . , Otfe 6 DA. We argue by induction on the total length X!j=i \ a i j \ f the chosen monomials. The base of induction follows from the condition of the lemma for k arbitrary generators. Next assume X)i=i aij \ = rn > k and that the statement of the lemma is true for all sets of basic monomials with total length less than m. Since m > k, at least one of the chosen monomials a^,..., a,ik is of a non-unit length. Since (p is a graded automorphism we may assume, without loss of generality, that a^ = eâj- is of non-unit length. Then
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Since aJ:J + X1 1=2 av I = "? 1 < "? therefore by induction
Since </? is a graded automorphism, the element (/?( e n) e,^ is also graded and hence commutes (or anticommutes) with the monomial o.':] . So finally we obtain
fe =0
since 1 + ^J-=2 o.,^. | < m and so we may apply the inductive assumption to the set of monomials e^ , G.j 2 , . . . , a,ik .
D
THEOREM 2.1 Lei </? : A > A 6e a graded automorphism, of order two of the Grassmann algebra A, let dimL_i = I < oo and assume that for any I 4- 1 generators e,a , . . . , e,;J+1 ,
K . ) - % ) = 0.
j=i
(1)
T/ien Id n (A,vj) ^ I d n ( A , ^ ) > Â ^) N = c (A, / A ^)x = < /4 n -3, c n (A, !' n

z
Z; j n<-
Proof. For n, < / the statement of the theorem follows from the chain of inequalities 4n-5 I1 2"c n (A) > c n (A, vs) > c n (A, w) [l 4 n ~i (2)
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Now suppose n > I. In this case we prove the equality c n (A, </?) = cn(A., (pi) by proving the isomorphism of ideals Id n (A, </?) = Idn(A, (pi). Let / 6 V n ( x , ( p ) , then:
a a
,9Xff(l)
9 (n) V7 ' X xa(n) " '
(3) W
= < J?' '' _ ' We define the isomorphism r : Vn(x,<f>) * [ ^z > 9i " V^(j;, ^) by the equality r(a;^) = xfl and prove that if (r/) Id n (A, ^) then / 6 Id n (A,</?). The inverse inclusion of these ideals of identities was proved in [4]. Choose a set a\ , . . . , an of n arbitrary basic monomials of the Grassmann algebra A and recall some characteristics introduced in [4] for every such set of monomials: / = I(a\, . . . , an) ( i i , . . . , in] 6 Z^ is called "the set of evens" for 0, Icfc is even; | ' . ,, 1, \ak\ is odd; J = J ( a i , . . . , a n ) = (ji,-..,jn) Z2 is called "the set of signs" for ai, . . . ,an if jffc is defined by the formula (f>i(a^ = ( l) Jfc a^, k = //" (CT) is defined by the equation
(4)
1
where xf
C X1
Q =
0'
(gi, ,gn) is defined by the equation

(T(xa(l)
/ / 9a(l)
xa(n)))(al'--->an)
9at-n)\\/
(n
= 9j
and may be computed by the formula
In [4] it was proved that (r/) Id n (A, (^) if and only if
E
ffSSn S = (91,-..,9n.)ez2
(//("V)<?!/nV .,gn))<*ff,s = o
(5)
such that
for all (cr,p) 6 5n x Zg, all I Z and all J = (ji,...,jn)
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Transform the value of the basic monomial xj,^-} . .. xj^\ f tne space Vn(x,<f>), computed on the monomials a\,... .an. Introduce the notation
hi = 0:
Let ^(jj) = ... = 9a(i,,) = I? and the other 3,; are equal to 0. We also use a natural lexicographic partial order on binary sequences: h = (hi, . . . , hn) < (51, . . . , gn) = g if /?.,; < 5,; for all i = 1, . . . , n. Now we transform
~
V-
From condition (1) of the theorem and from Lemma 2.1 we obtain that for any natural number m. > I,
7= 1
Since </? is a graded automorphism, one may continue Equation (6) as follows:
k=Q
h<g
E;=! h .= f r
We substitute the above expression in the valuation of the polynomial / computed on the monomials a\. . . . . a n :
l
Ml) a(l) ' ' '
9a(n} a(n)
a,g
(hv(i)} CM))
k =0
a,g
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Since (p is a graded automorphism, for any i, I < i < n, a\ graded element and one may apply Equation (4) to a^,^ transforms the last equality as follows: , . . /l
n)
is a
, which
. . .
k=0
( 7 )
Prove that for any k, 0 < k < I, and for any binary sequence h =
j'VKô,
(8)
using the system of Equations (5) on the coefficients aa^ of the polynomial /. Consider the following linear combination of some equations of this system: <">(<,) V . . . , pn)a^ , (9)
where / = /(GI, . . . ,a,n). Since XÎLi î k < I, therefore / < /i holds SiLi / '' anc^ hence every term of the sum (9) (maybe multiplied by 1) is contained in the system of Equations (5). Hence the linear combination (9) is equal to 0. On the other hand this linear combination may be transformed as follows:
f<h
Fix g and a and compute the coefficient of fj(<j)aa^. Without loss of generality we may assume that h\ = ... = h^ = 1, hn = 0. Also we assume that g contains exactly r units on the first k entries and without loss of generality g\ = . . . = gr = 1. Also note that ,---,n . Thus
5>l)''$>tel, . . - ,9n)
f<h
E (-1)^=1 A^1).
m=0
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(ID
For m fixed the number of sequences / with exactly j (j < m) units on the first r entries is equal to C3TC~^ (all the units of / may appear only in the first k. entries since / < /?,!), where CQ = ( ^) is the binomial coefficient, C = 1 and Cf = 0 for a < (3; and also
i= l
7=1
?'=r+l
Hence we may continue Equation (11) as follows:

k m k
kj
= m-0 E j=0 Y,(-V

j=0
s =0
m+ic
i<%-J =j=0 Y. rs=0 (

r< ;
-
(12)
v
'
j=0
So the coefficient /_]( l)^^ l <7 - (<?i, ,gn) of Equation (10) is nonzero f<h if and only if gi = h\ = gi = h% = .. . gk = h^ = 1 or, in other words, if g > h. Hence Equation (10) may be written as follows:
(g) _ V^ ofc f(n)t
As we pointed out earlier, the linear combination (9) is trivial, hence we proved Equation (8) for arbitrary k < I and h, 5T"=1 hi = k. Now Equation (7). by means of (8), implies f(a\, . , . , an) 0. So the system of Equations (5) is equivalent to the property that rf G Idn.(A. (/?;) and also it implies that the polynomial / 6 Vn(x,<f>) vanishes on arbitrary basic monomials 0,1, ... ,an of algebra A. From the multilinearity of / we immediately obtain that / Id n (A, </?). Hence Id n (A, <p) = Idn(A.,(f>i) and cn(A.,if>) = c n (A,^/). Now the equality
i=0
for ? ? , > / , proved in [4], completes the proof.
n
Similar arguments may be applied for a graded automorphism ip of ordertwo, dim LI = / < co. But in this case the system of Equations (5) is
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considered for the set of pairs (/, J) which differ in an essential way from those used in the proof of Theorem 2.1; condition (1) for the automorphism (p also changes. We list the corresponding statements with the necessary changes in the proofs. LEMMA 2.2 Let if : A > A be a graded automorphism of the Grassmann algebra and let k be a natural number. If for any k generators e^,... ,eik
then for any basic monomials a^,..., a,;fc 6

k
6 D\ . We prove by Proof. Consider arbitrary basic monomials a a induction on the total length î'=i ij I f the chosen monomials. The base of induction is the condition of the lemma. Suppose Z)i=i aij = rn > k and that the statement is true for all sets of basic monomials of total length less than m. At least one of the monomials a^, . . . , a,^ is of nonunit length. Since <p is a graded automorphism, we may assume without loss of generality that a^ = eâ^ . Then
(% - (-1) %-la,,
a,,) =
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Since a^ + ^,;_2
ij\ = m, I < m therefore by induction

k
The element '^{e^} + e^ is graded and hence commutes or anticommut.es with the monomial / . Finally we obtain
) - (-1) a ' J W
since we may apply the inductive assumption to the set of monomials e ?:i .a 7 ; 2 , . . . .a,- t . D THEOREM 2.2 Let </? : A > A 6e a graded automorphism of order two on the Grassmann algebra A, dim LI = I < oo and assume that for any I + 1 generators e^ , . . . , e,;i+1 ,
I+i
JTien
l
J=0
-C_! + 2" J] C^_! < c n (A ; ^) = c n (A, W) < 2" J] C^,

j=0
n > /.
Proof. For n < / the statement of the theorem may be proved by the chain of inequalities (2). Let n > 1. We prove that in this case the equality c n (A, </?) = c n (A. tf>i) holds, by proving (as in Theorem 2.1) the isomorphism
Define the isomorphism r : Vn(x,ip) > Vn(x,(p{) by r(x'f) = xf and prove that if (rf) 6 Id n ,(A. ^/) then / Id n (A, yj). The inverse inclusion was proved in [41. Let / 6 V n ( x , ( p ) be an arbitrary polynomial (see (3)).
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Choose n arbitrary basic monomials ai, . . . ,an. In further considerations we use the definitions of the sequences / = /(ai, . . . , a n ), J = J(ai, . . . , an) and the elements /} (cr) and gj1 (gi, . . . ,gn) listed before Equation (5). The proof of Theorem 3.1 of [4] contains the statement that (rf) E Idn(A, (pi) if and only if E (fin\)9(J?(9i, ,gn))<*ff,g = 0 (13)
for (cr,g) Sn x Z and all pairs (I, J/) defined by all possible binary sequences / = ( ! , . . . , in) and all binary sequences J/ = (ji, , Jn) such that X^=i 7'k Jfc < ^ where is an addition modulo 2 (i.e. the binary sequence Jj differs from / in / or less entries). Transform the value of the basic monomial xjff xj(n\ computed on monomials ai, . . . , an by using the notation
i, hi = 0;
Let pCT(Sl) = . . . = 5(7(Sj.} = I, other gs are zeroes. Recall that we denote h - (hi, . . . , hn] < ( g i , . . . , gn) = g if hi < 5, for all i = 1, . . . , n. Then
+...+
From the condition of the theorem and by Lemma 2.2 we obtain that for any natural number m, > I holds
Since <^ is a graded automorphism we may consider the equality (14) in the following form:
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Substitute this expression in / ( o - i , . . . . an):
E Q <^
<7,g
Z^
= 0
Z^
V-^
'V(l)
"<r(n)
h<g
Since for any natural number ? , ! < ? ' < ra, the element o,J is graded, we may apply Equation (4) to the element a,^ {l} . . . &a^\} and transform the last equality as follows:
E (?>=1 <>,; = = 9>^ (^-1)
o-i
...o4';.
f/), T T )
(15)
/1 r \
Now we prove that for any k, 0 < k h
We use the system (13) where aa^ are the coefficients of the polynomial /. Consider following linear combination of some equations of this system:
1
* (E /^ W<
where / I(a\. . . . , a ra ) = (7774. . . . . mn) and is the elementwise addition of binary sequences modulo 2. Since YA=I hi = k < I then for the pair (/,//) with / < h holds
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and hence each element of the sum (16) is contained in the system of Equations (13). Hence the linear combination (16) is equal to 0. On the other hand this linear combination may be rewritten as follows:
We note that if / = /(GI, . . . , an) = (î, , rn-n) then 9f-(9i,...,gn) = (-l)?=1(mi+/0* = (-l)Er=ikl^(_i)Er =1 /^. By formulas (11) and (12) we obtain
B-l) E/ '(-l) EA * = {,
f<h
(is)
r = k.
Comparing equalities (17), (18) and (19) we have

0 = (16) =
9>h
that by (15) this implies that f(a\,... ,a n ) = 0. As in the proof of the Theorem 2.1 we have obtained that rf Id n (A, (p{) implies / Id n (A, <p). Hence Id n (A, <p) = Idn(A., (pi) and therefore c n (A, </?) = cn(A, tp{). Now the statement of the theorem for c n (A, (p) follows from the upper and the lower bounds for cn(A, (p{), proved in Theorem 3.1 of [4].
D
THE STRUCTURE OF GRADED AUTOMORPHISM OF ORDER TWO WITH dimL_i = 1
In this section we prove that condition (1) holds for graded automorphism of order two with dimL_i = 1. This fact follows from a direct connection between images <p(ei) of generators of A such that ipi(&i) = e,;, and (p(e\) where <pi(e\) = e\. THEOREM 3.1 Lei tp : A * A be a graded automorphism of order two on the Grassmann algebra A, such that diml/_i = 1. In the general case the action of the automorphism tp on the generators of A is defined by the elements t, Ui AQ and c, Vi AI (i = 2 , 3 , . . . ) by the formulas = - e i + e i t + c, (20)
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^(e,;) = e,: + eim + vl: i = 2 , 3 , . . . , where the elements ?/,; and Vj do not depend on e\. Then
1
Vi = --CUi-C\
(21)
^_
(22)
where N = N ( t ) is the m.inim.al natural number such that t^ +1 = 0. Proof. First we note that there does exist a natural number N such that t,N+l 0. Suppose the element t depend on N\ basic elements of A, t = E^jajbj, bj DA- Then f j V l + 1 = (Ef=i a^j) = 0 because after opening of the brackets every item of the sum will contain at least one square of some monomial 6^, but in the Grassmann algebra every squared monomial is equal to zero. We note that besides the natural Z2-grading, the Grassmann algebra may be provided with the natural Z-grading, A = 5^1 A^\ where A^' is spanned by all basic elements of algebra A of length j (for positive j) and A( J ) = {0} for negative j. Write an arbitrary element g e A as a sum of Z-graded elements of A:
(23)
Later on we shall always assume that g-j = 0 for j > Ng. The mapping [ ]J' : A > A^^ denned by the rule [g}] = QJ (g3 is denned by formula (23)) has two properties which we use later: for any g. h A and any natural number j, [g + /i]J = [g]J + [/i]J; let g, h e A, g = Y = \ _ 9 j - , number, / > 2,
h
= Ei^/t-
Then for an
y natural
< Ng + Nh,
and [gh]1 = 0 for / > Ng + Nh.
(24)
Without loss of generality we consider the action of the automorphism on the generator e-2. Denote y = 11,2 AQ, a = v% A], then by (21) (p(e2) = e-2 + e.\y + a. (25)
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Write the elements t, c, y and o. as a sum of Z-graded elements of A.

Nt Nc
y=
where the sum in ^+ is considered only for even j's and sum in ^,~k is considered only for odd fc's. Since the automorphism </? is of order 2, the element <p(e\) + e\ is stable under the (^-action, and applying (20) we have
= e\t + c = (f>(e-[t + c) =
y>(c). (26)
Introduce one more notation. Let g 6 A in formula (23) be independent of e\ (in particular, such are elements t,c,y,a). Then for any natural number m
m 1
]m,
(27)
because gm do not depend on e\ and [</3(gm)]m = fl(9m) 9m- Denote S? = Yî^d}}}- Then formaula (27) may be written as follows [v(9)]m = 9m + S?. (28)
Note that the elements S?1, S, S and S are graded since the elements t, c, y, a and the automorphism (p are graded; S, S AQ, S, S AI. Applying the mapping [ ]m+l, for an arbitrary even m, to both parts of Equation (26) and applying Equations (28) and (24) we have eitm + cm+l = -ei(tm Once more applying Equation (24), finally we obtain
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Nt
tJ(tm_J+SrJ)-
(29)
Now we apply anologous reasoning concerning Equation (25). The element (p(e-2) 62 changes its sign under the </?-action, hence V?(e 2 ) - e2 = e\y + a, = -(f(e\y = ~(p(ei}(p(y} + a) =
- ^ (a,) = e^p(y) - eittp(y) - ap(y) - </?(a).
Once again apply the mapping [ ]m+1 for an arbitrary even m: eiym + am+i = ei(y m + S) - ei[^(j/)] m that, by means of (24), implies that
Nt
-2a m+1 = S+1 -
+ C1S- +ei J]
3=2
k
).
(30)
To prove the theorem we prove by induction that equalities (31) and (38) are true for all even numbers m:
Nc
ckym+l_k - ^
cktsi...tsiyj. (31)
Equation (38) is listed in Lemma 3.2 below. Prove the base of induction. For m, = 2, Equation (31) is 0.3 = 0 and follows from Equation (30) which is 20,3 = 0 for m = 2. The proof of the base of induction for Equation (38) is given in the proof of Lemma 3.2. Now suppose that Equations (31) and (38) hold for all even m < n. Prove them for m = n. Applying (29) we obtain
eiE + ^^+ 5 r j ) =
J=2 Nt
Nt
^' + E" <*

h=3
Nt
i=2
+1
7VC_
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LEMMA 3.1 If Equation (31) holds for all even m, < n then
where
Si = -
k (ck + Sc s c)(t
. . . (t8l + Sst')(yj + S$-
-cktsi ...tsiyjj.
(33)
Proof. Let
n-l
Si = r=3
Then by definition, 5^+1 = E"r=3 [^(Gr-)]n+1 and from the set of equalities (31) it immediately follows that ^+1 = 50 + Si + ... + SN. For shortness we prove (33) only in the case I = 0, the general case is similar. First of all note that for any Z-graded element g^ E A\ ' which does not depend on e\ holds:
0,
m < k;
[<P(9k)] = { 9k,
S,
m = k;
m>k.
(34)
Then
n-l
r-2 n+1 n-l r-2
-2S0 =
r=5
n-l
(24),(
E"
k=3
r=5 fc=3
r-2
yn+l-r+ka
i ore+l-t I _
r=5 fc=3
n-l
J=3
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77-1
((Si +
that completes the proof of the equality (33) for I = 0. D Substituting Equation (32) in (30) and using Lemma 3.1 we obtain for m, = ?7,: -2a n+ i =
i + E S> Nt
e
^+
i=2
?:=2
j>2
-j +E 5< /=!
E
Introduce the following notation
T; = i
^
fc+sj + . ^ + s j + T n+1
With these notations
-2nn+i =
-ei^ + \ E+ cJ+i^"J' - leiE+ si("

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Compute TI + Si for an arbitrary natural number l,Q 2
x (tsi + 5tai ) . . . (tai + Sst'}(yT + Sry) =

(fc,S1,...,Sj,r) fc + s 1 +...+s,+t-=ij.+ l
(c*(*-i +5t81) (tSl+S?)(yr + Sry)-cktSl . . . tsiyr] -
5*- a (t fll + Stsi) . . . (ts, + S?)(yr + Sry) + Tl+l. We note here that TN+\ = 0. In fact, from formula (24) we have for an arbitrary fixed natural number M that
= b(^)] M - (36)
The element TJV+I may be represented as a sum of elements, each of which is a sum of type (36), for / = N + 1 as a factor. This implies that TN+l = 0 since tN+1 = 0.
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Now substitute the expressions obtained for T} + Si in formula (35). We have

N ,
(*, S 1 ,...,s,
-2on+i = -elS
1=0
. . . (*s, + Sfl)(yr
+ S;) - cktsi . . . t s , y r .
(37)
LEMMA 3.2 For any even natural number m holds
... (tsi + Sf')(yr + Sry) - cktsi ... t8lyr
(38)
Proof. Recall that we prove the theorem by simultaneous induction on the two Equations (31) and (38). Check the base of induction for Equation (38). In fact for m = 2, Equation (38) is 0 = 0. Let Equation (38) hold for all even m < n. We prove it for m = n. First we prove that the sum of elements of the right hand side of (38) which do not, depend on the generator ei, is zero. Multiply both parts of (38) by e\ and compute
(=0
(tsi + Sf')(yr + Sry) - cktsi . . . ts,yr).
(39)
Step 1. The item in the sum (39) which corresponds to / = 0 is equal to

,
(40)
and we may use induction to represent the elements eiS" Note that for any g A represented in form (23) and for any fixed natural number M holds E
C
fci c fc 2 <?.; = E(
E
(ki,k2) k1<k,2 kl+k-2=M-j
Ck Ck
i *
+c c
^ ki)9j = 0,
(41)
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because c = ^k ck AI. Hence we may continue Equation (40) as follows
E" ^sy+ l~k - - E" c* E î (

1=0
(k1,s1,...,sl,r)
(tai + Sstl}(yr + Sry) - ckltsi
E^r(
1=0
E
(fcl,*!.....s;,r)
-,
S?) . . . (tsi + S?)(yr + Sry)

(fc,n,...,s,,r) fc + s 1 + . . . + s i + r = n + l
Substituting this in (39) we have

S?) . . .
. . . (tai + S*')(yr + Sry) - cktSltS2 . . . tSl where

fij
=
N+l+i
e c
l fc*si tsj-^t3 X
Sst>+1) . . . (tSN+i + SstN+')(yr + Sry), l<i,j<N + l. (42) Step 2. Prove by induction on <?, q < N + I that
i
=
l=q
(43)
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The base of induction was proved in step 1. Suppose the equality (43) is true for all q < q. Prove it for q q + 1. Note that for q q the item corresponding to I = q in the right hand side of (43) is equal to
and to compute it we may once again use inductive representation for e\Sy and property (41):
^ ^
cktsi ...tsx
(=0
2/+T
( fc .-'i
/. r )
9+1
A- + s 1 +... + s / + r = T 7 + l
5^ + 2 )... (ts, + S*')(yr + Sry) -^fi,q+i. 1=1 Substituting this in (43) we immediately obtain that Equation (43) also holds for q = q + 1. Step 3. For q = N + 1 Equation (43) is
N+l N+l
-E
Prove that for any ?;, 1 I holds

AT+1
^-s
-1
') = E **-
N+l
N+l
j=i
N
j-i-l
)- E
j=i N+l
N+l
then by linearity of [ ]m we obtain

N+l
E / = ETO+TE
-1 n+1fcr
(fc,r)
Hence j J] /,;j = 0 and by (44) the element (39) is zero. Step 4. The equality (39) = 0 means that Equation (38) holds (for m = n) in the part which do not depend on e\. Comparing (37) and (38) we see that all the elements of (38) which depend on e\ are also contained in (37), with same coefficients, and (37) do not contain other elements which depend on e\. Hence for m = n (37) implies (38) for elements depending on e\. D Applying Lemma 3.2 to equality (37) we obtain
N
-2an+i =
1=0
I ^"
that implies (31) for m, = n. Hence equality (31) is proved by induction for an arbitrary even m. Now the equality
1
completes the proof of the theorem.
TM
COROLLARY 3.1 Let (p : A > A be a graded automorphism of order two on the Grassm.ann algebra A, such that dimL_i = 1- Then for an arbitrary natural number i.j > 1 holds
-e
= 0.
Proof. Let ip(ei) = -e\ + erf + c where t A0, c AI, t,N+l = 0. First let i.j > 2. By Theorem 3.1 we have if (erf = &i + e\Ui f(c,t)ui, tf>(erf = e-j + eiUj-f^tfuj where /(c,t) = ^c + c^î ^M^, Ui,Uj A0. Then Uj - f ( c , t ) u r f = , i f ( c , t ) u j = 0, since the elements n,; and Uj are central, /(c. t) 6 AI and / 2 (c, t) = 0. The only case left is i or j is equal to 1. Since tf is a graded automorphism we may assume, without loss of generality, that i I. Then
AT
rf - erf = (-lei + erf + c}(elUj - -cuj - c(^ k=i

N
^^-tk}urf
fc=l
N
k=i
JV+1
k=i
1 -^tk)u, = 0.
n
Corollary 3.1 and Theorem 2.1 immediately imply COROLLARY 3.2 Let A be a graded automorphism of order two of the Grassmann algebra A, such that dimL_i = 1. Then
for all n > 2. The following theorem is one more corollary of Theorem 2.1.
TM
THEOREM 3.2 Let (p : A * A be a graded automorphism of order two of the Grassmann algebra A, such that dim LI = 1. In the general case the action of the automorphism (f> on the generators of A is defined by the elements t, u\ AQ and c, Vi . AI (i = 2, 3, . . .) by the formulas e i + e i * + c, (f(ei) - -e,; + eiUi + vit i - 2, 3, . . . , where the elements Ui and Vi do not depend on e\ . Then (45) (46)
=l
where N = N(t) is the minimal natural number such that tN+l = 0. Proof. Let 7 be an automorphism of order two of A defined by <>(e?;) = &i for all natural numbers i. Then 7 commutes with (p. In fact, since (p is a graded automorphism, </?(e,;) is a linear combination of the basic monomials of odd length, hence for an arbitrary i holds
Therefore 7^) is an automorphism of order two and from Equations (45) and (46) we have (7</?)(ei) = -ei -eit-c, ) = ei - eiUj - Vi, i = 2, 3, ---Applying Theorem 3.1 to the automorphism 7^ we obtain ~Vi = - ( - c ) ( - i ) - (-c) which completes the proof. D
COROLLARY 3.3 Let if : A > A 6e a graded automorphism of order two of the Grassmann algebra A, suc/i that dim LI = 1. Then for arbitrary natural numbers i,j > 1 holds
TM
Proof. Let 7 be the automorphism, defined by its action on the generators: 7(e,;) = &i. As it was shown in the proof of Theorem 3.2, 7 commutes with <p, and for the automorphism 7^ of order two, dim L__i = 1. Let e,;, Cj be arbitrary generators of A, then
where the last, equality was obtained by applying corollary 3.1 to the automorphism 7</?. n Corollary 3.3 and Theorem 2.2 imply COROLLARY 3.4 Let (p : A > A be a graded automorphism of order two of the Grassmann algebra A, such that dim LI = 1. Then nT -n+l< c n (A, y>) < (n + l)2 n for all n> 2. REFERENCES [1] Regev A. Existence of identities in A <g> B. Isr. J. Math. 1972, ^1, 131-152. [2] Giambruno A.; Regev A. Wreath products and P.I. algebras. J.Pure Appl. Algebra 1985, 35, 133-149. [3] Krakowski D.; Regev A. The polynomial identities of the Grassmann algebra. Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 1973, 181, 429-438. [4] Anisimov N. Y. Zp-codimensions of ZP-identities of Grassmann algebra. Comm, Algebra 2001, 29(9), 4211-4230.
D
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Cocommutative Hopf algebras acting on quantum polynomials and their invariants

VYACHESLAV A. ARTAMONOV Department of Algebra, Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, Moscow State University, Leninsky Gory, 119992, GSP-2, Moscow, Russia. E-mail: artamon@mech.math.msu.su
INTRODUCTION
Let k be a field with a fixed matrix Q = (qij) Mat(?7,, k) whose entries qij k* satisfy the relations qa = qij^ji = 1 for all i,j. Fix an integer r such that 0 < r < n. Denote by A = k,Q[X\... ,X\Xr+l,...,Xn]
the associative fc-algebra with a unit element generated by elements

<M > i Xn, A j , . . . , Xr
subject to defining relations XiXj = qijXjXi, X,X~l = X^Xi = 1, 1 < i,j < n, 1 < i < r.
The algebra A is an algebra of quantum polynomials. The elements q^ are multiparameters. The algebra A can be viewed as a coordinate algebra of a quantum affine space AQ if r = 0 [D] and a coordinate algebras of a quantum torus TQ if r = n [B]. We shall unify both cases and consider arbitrary r, 0 < r < n. Then A can be considered as a coordinate algebra
TM
The aim of the present paper is to study actions of cocommutative Hopf algebras on A. Throughout the paper we shall assume that the algebra A is a general algebra of quantum, polynomials that is all multiparameters Qijt 1 < ?' < j: 5; 7'-, ai'e independent in the multiplicative group k* of the field k. Particular cases of this situation have been considered in [AC], [AW], [Al], [ACo]. In [AC] the authors study some automorphism groups and Lie algebras of derivation Der A under the assumption that r = 0. Derivation and automorphisms of A in the case r = n were considered in [OP]. A systematic study of automorphism group and their invariants was carried out in [AW] . An investigation of group of automorphisms of division rings of fractions of A was made in [ACo], [Al]. Wre shall quote some of these results. THEOREM 1 ([OP], [AW]). Suppose that 7 e Aut A and n > 3. Then there exist elements 7 1 , . . . ,7 k and an integer e = 1, such that j(Xw) = "fwX^,, w = 1, . . . , n. In particular, if r < n, then e = 1 and
Aut A ~ k* x x fc* .
r?. tim.es
Let G be a finite subgroup o/AutA. Then the subalgebra of invariants A is left and right Noetherian and A is a finitely generated left and right AGmodule. Suppose that I is a nonzero left ideal in A. Then I n A ^ 0. In particular if F is the division ring of fractions of A.. Then FG is the division ring of fractions o/A . In the paper [ACo] we study automorphisms of the division ring F = k,q(X, Y) of a general quantum polynomial algebra A = k q [ X , Y ] , n = 2. If h is a rational function in one variable, not identically zero, then X i h(Y}X, Y H-* Y; and X .-+ X, Y ^ h(X}Y define automorphisms of F and of k ( Y } ( ( X ; a ) ) . We shall also consider automorphisms {X, Y} i> {aX, i3X}, where a, ,3 k*, e = 1. We shall call these automorphisms elementary. THEOREM 2 ([ACo]). Let v> : kq[X,Y] -> F be a homomorphism of kalgebras. Then there exists a sequence of elementary automorphisms and a conjugation by a power series z is of the form,
;a)),
z 3 k(Y).
such that the pair ij>(X). ijj(Y} m = 1.
can be replaced by a pair Xm, Ym
with
TM
THEOREM 3 ([ACo]). Let f e kq(X,Y) \ k. Then the centralizer C(f) is a maximal sub field in kg (X, Y). THEOREM 4 ([Z]). Let F be a division ring of fractions of algebras of quantum polynomials with n > 3 variables. If f G F\k, then the centralizer of f in F is a maximal sub field in F. In noncommutative geometry [D] a quantum polynomial algebra A is a coordinate algebras of a quantum affine space AQ . It is considered together with quantum Grassman algebra F. The algebra of functions on matrices of size n was introduced in the book [D] as a universal bialgebra coacting on the pair of algebras A, F. According to these ideas in the present paper we consider actions of cocommutative Hopf algebras H on the algebra A, n > 3. From geometrical point of view these questions are related to a study of commutative quantum groups acting on the affine space AQ. It is necessary to mention that cocommutative Hopf algebras considered in this paper are related to algebras of quantized differential operators on AQ (quantized Weyl algebras) that were introduced by J. Alev, F. Dumas [ADI] and by E. Demidov [D]. In the present paper we also study automorphisms of the division ring F of skew quantum Laurent power series, generalized derivations of A and of T actions of cocommutative Hopf algebras on A. The main results of the paper are Corollary 4 Theorem 9, Corollary 6, Theorem 11, Theorem 13. NOTATION 1. Let Zr x (N U 0) n ~ r be the set of all multi-indices u = (ui,... , un}, ?/!,... , un e Z, ur+i,... , un > 0. (1)
For a multi-index u from (1) we put
xu = xil x^ e A.
A product Xu from (2) will be called a monomial.
2 DERIVATIONS AND AUTOMORPHISMS
(2)
The algebra A is a left and right Noetherian domain satisfying the Ore condition. Therefore it has a skew field of fractions F. As it is shown in [Al] that there exists an embedding of F into the skew ring
F=kQ((Xl,...,Xn)}
of quantum Laurent power series in the sense of Malcev-Neumann. Elements of f are maps / : Zn > k and such that supp / = {m 6 Z n |/(m) ^
TM
0} is Artinian with respect to the lexicographic order on Zn. An element / T can be identified with a power series / = X^meZ" f(m}Xm- We say that a monomial Xu from (2) occurs in an element / e JF if /(?/) ^ 0. For any nonzero element / e JF denote by ||/|| the least element of supp/ in Z" with the lexicographic order. An automorphism g (a derivation d) of F is continuous if g (respectively, 9) is completely determined by the images g(Xj], 1 < i < n. In this section we shall consider Lie algebras of (continuous) derivation and groups of (continuous) automorphisms of A (respectively, of .F). NOTATION 2. For an associative algebra A denote by Auk A the group of automorphisms of A. If A J- , then AutJF stands the group of continuous automorphisms of T . DEFINITION 1. Let A be an associative algebra and g E AutA A linear operator d on A is a g-derivation (or a skew g-derivation) if d(xy) = d(x)y + g(x)d(y) for all x, y e A. If u e A, then the linear operator &dg u defined as (a.dgu)(x} = ux g(x)u is called an inner g-derivation. It is not hard to check that, every inner g-derivation is a g-derivation, and adg(aui + du?) = aa.dgui + {3a,dgU2 for all a,/3 k. If g is the identical automorphism then any g-derivation is a derivation of A and an inner g-derivation is an ordinary inner derivation ad u. NOTATION 3. Throughout the rest of the section we fix a continuous automorphism g AutjF which has a finite order d> I such that
So j = I for any j 1, . . . , n, and ,; ^ 1 for some index i if d > 1. By Theorem, 1 this is always the case if g G AutA and n > 3, n > r. The following affirmation will be used throughout the paper. PROPOSITION 1 ([MP]). Letp = ( p i , . . . ,pn), t = (ti, . . . ,tn) be multiindices from Zr x (N U 0) n ~ r . Then
x xt YPY
TM
Proof. We have XpXt = X^1 X

A
yPl
"An-lAl
yPn-1 yt
tn-1
ypn+tn
It follows that (adgXm)Xv

A
= XmXv - g(Xv}Xm =
m yv ym yv ~ fV\ X ~
".
(3)
COROLLARY 1. Let v,m Z". Then the following are equivalent: 1) elements v , m 6 Zn are independent; 2) (a,dgXm)Xv = eXmXv, where 0 fc*. = 0 if and only if
Proo/ By (3) (adgXm}Xv
Recall that 1, . . . ,n are roots of 1 of degree d. Raising the last equality to the d-th power we conclude that
SI ' Sn
Since q^ j > i, are independent in fc*, we conclude that Vjmi Virrij = 0 for all j > i and therefore for all j,i. It means that 1) holds. Conversely, 1) implies 2). D The next Theorem generalizes the corresponding result from [AC].
TM
THEOREM 5. Let HI,. . . , un <E F and e = 1. Suppose that mXI + XfUj = qÛjXl + qXfa) (4)
for each pair of indices 1 < i,j < n. Then there exists an element w Jand scalars Aj, . . . , Ar; E k such that 114 = ^jXj + (adff w)Xj for any i = 1, ... , n. //MI . . . . , u n G A, /ien w A. Proof. We need some useful lemmas. LEMMA 1. ie and elements MI, ... . Mn 6 J?7 satisfy (4) and w; e A /lave a zero constant term. Then the elements Uj ( & d g w ) X f . 1 < i < n, also satisfy (4). Proof. It is necessary to apply the fact that ad9 w is a (^-derivation. The equation (4) can be written in the equivalent form D
j.
LEMMA 2. Let u be a monomial which is not a power of Xi. exists an element 0 E k* such that [audg(0u)] Xf = u X f .
(5)
Then there
Proof. By the assumption u Xm. where, m (mi, . . . . mn) and rrij ^ 0 for some j ^ i. Suppose that w = 9Xm, 0 e k. By Proposition 1 [&dg(Ou)]Xf = wXf-
If
then we can raise as above (7) to de-th power and obtain
But this is impossible because m.j / 0 for some j / i. Hence the equation (6) determines 0 completely. D COROLLARY 2. Let u e T and supp u n Ze,: = 0, where e, = (0, ... , 0 , 1 , 0 , . . . ,0). (8)
There exists an element w 6 f such that (ad3 w)Xf = uXf and supp w = supp7j,. In particular if u A then w A.
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LEMMA 3. Let m =
Uj
= XjXj + 6XjX^~
for some M e Z in (5) and for some i. Then
in (5) where Aj, 5 e k.
Proof. Without loss of generality we can assume that A,; = 1. The left hand side in (5) is a monomial
y-M A, : 1-eM
Hence for any monomial ^X7" occurring in MJ where T = (t\, . . . , tn] 6 Z and 6 e A;*, we have
s=l
_ f 1 - ql~Me,ej, 1 0,
T + eei = sej + Me,:, otherwise.
In the first case we have T = ee.j + (M e)e,;. In the second one
s=l
Then as in the proof of Lemma 2 we can conclude that
0,
otherwise.
D
COROLLARY 3. Let m = we have
f1 in (5). Then for any index j
X,6M
k.
We shall now prove Theorem 5 using the argument of [AC]. Suppose that Ui = Vi + v'^Xi), 1 < i < n, where suppf,; n Zej = 0. By Lemma 2 and Corollary 2 we can replace each Uj by Uj (ad9 w)Xj and assume that Ui = v[, that is supp?/j C Ze^. By Corollary 3 there exists w' f such that supp w' C supp Uj and
(adgW^X] = u : i - X j X E j ,
where Aj is from Corollary 3. Hence we can replace each ut by ut (adgw')Xt and assume that Uj = XjXj. Applying again Corollary 3 we deduce that ut XtXf for any index t = I, . . . , n. D
TM
COROLLARY 4. Let d be either a continuous g-derivation of J- or a derivation of A, where g is an automorphism of a finite order from, Notation 3. Then there exists an element a F (respectively, a, 6 A.) and scalars AI, .. . , Xn 6 k such that d(Xi) \Xi + (ads w)(Xt) for all i I, ... , n. Proof. Put ?/.,; = d ( X i ) , I <i < n. Then (4) is satisfied with e = 1. Apply Theorem 5. D We shall apply the previous results to the study of the Lie algebra of derivations of A and of lie algebra of continuous derivations of T. NOTATION 4. For an associative algebra A denote by Der .4 the Lie algebra of derivations of A and by Derint A the Lie ideal of all inner derivations of A. Let DerJ 7 stand for the Lie algebra of continuous derivations of ?'. There exist standard derivations di,... ,dn in Der A and in Der.77 such that dj(Xi] = 8ijXi. Observe that [di,dj}(Xt) = didj(Xt) - d j d i t f t ) = d(6jtXt) - d j ( 8 i t X t ) = (SuSjt - 6jt6it}Xt = 0. Thus [di, dj] 0. Moreover if char k = p > 0 then d% = dj_. Thus the span of di, . , dn is an Abelian Lie algebra L of dimension n. THEOREM 6. There is a direct decomposition of vector spaces Der A = Derint A 0 L, Der F = Derint F 0 L.
Proof. Let d be either a derivation of A or a continuous derivation of f'. Put Ui = d ( X i ) , i = 1, ... , n. Then MI, ... , un G f satisfy (4) for all i,j = I, ... ,n, where g is the identical automorphism and 1 = ... = n = 1- By Theorem 5 with e 1 we can conclude that ?/,, = \iXi + (ad.w}(Xi), where w 6 F and w A if ?/i, . .. , ; / , A. Hence d = \idi + - + \ndn+&dw. D In order to prove the next theorem we need some auxiliary statements. PROPOSITION 2. Let 9Xm be the leading (the smallest) term, of w and v a multi-index from. Z". If w. v are independent in Zn then the leading (the smallest) term, of (adfl w)Xv is equal to 0(adgXm)Xv ^ 0. Proof. If Xm' < X"\ then (adgXm')Xv and Corollary 1. < (adgXm}Xv by Proposition 1 d
PROPOSITION 3. Let d be either a continuous g-derivation of F or a gderivation of A and d(Xi) = A,;AA,; + (ads w)Xi by Corollary 4- Suppose that 9Xm is the leading (the smallest) term, of w and v is a multi-index such that v, w are independent in Zn. Then the leading (the smallest) term, of d s ( X v ] is equal to 9s[adgXm]sXv ^ 0.
TM
Proof. The case s = I follows from Proposition 1, Corollary 1 and Proposition 2. Suppose that we have already proved that
ds(xv) =
where v ^ 0 and V, v* k,
ds+l(Xv) = vd(Xsm+v]
v* Z, v* < sm + v. Proposition 1 entails
v [(adg w)Xsm+v Apply Proposition 2. D
THEOREM 7. Let d be a g-derivation of A where g is the automorphism from. Notation 3. Suppose that there exists a nonzero polynomial f ( T ) e k[T] such that f(d] = 0. Then d(Xi) = \iXi, for any i = 1, . . . , n, where AI, ... ,A n 6 k. Proof. Let cs^0 (9)
and Ui = d(Xi), i = 1, . . . , n. By Theorem 5 we get ut = \iXi+(adg w)Xi for some w e A. If w j= 0 then we get a contradiction with Proposition 3 since f(u)Xv ^ 0 for some monomial Xv. D THEOREM 8. Let char k = 0 andd a continuous derivation of J-. Assume that there exists a that there exists a nonzero polynomial f ( T ) k[T] such that f ( d ) = 0. Then d = 0. Proof. By Corollary 4 we have d(Xi) = XiXi + (adw)Xi for some w T and for all i = 1, . . . , n. Without loss of generality we can assume that the constant term does not occur in w. Put v = d ad w. Then
v(xm} =Xmxm, xmek*.

0 = f(d)Xm = cs(ad w + v)sXm + + c0Xm.
(10)
(11)
Let f ( T ) be from (9). Then for any monomial Xm, m Z", we have
Suppose that w ^ 0. Take m 6 Z" such that ||u>||,m are independent in the additive Abelian group Zn. By Proposition 2 we have ||(adui) J X m || = j||;|| + m, for any j > 0. If \\w\\ < 0, then from (11) we can deduce that
0<j<s
TM
and therefore s\\w\\ + m, > min (j'||^|| + m) > (s 1)||HI + fn. 0<j<s Thus \\w\\ > 0, a contradiction. Now \\w\\ > 0. Since the constant term does not occur in w we can assume that ||u;|| > 0. It follows immediately from (11) and (10) that f(Xm) 0 fr anY multi-index m Zn. It, means that there are only finitely many values of Xm "?, 6 Zn . If / Zn, then for any integer t by (10) we have
tl
and hence txi is a root of /(T) for any integer t. There exist positive integers t\ < ti such that (^2 t \ ) X l = 0- Since char k = 0 it follows that Xi = 0 for any I Z". It follows that the constant term CQ = 0 and also v(h] = 0 for all h e T . So d = ad w and 0 = f(d)Xm = cs(adw)sXm + + ct(adw)tXm,
in (11), where 0 < t < s and ct / 0. If we take m, 6 Zn such that ||io||, m are independent, then ct(iuiwy-Xm = -ct+l(adw)t+lXm ----cs(adw)sXm.
From Proposition 2 it follows that t < s. Then t\\w\\+rn>

t+l<j<s
min (;/|H| + m) > ( + 1)|H| + m D
since \w\\ > 0. Now 0 > \\w\\, a contradiction. 3 ACTIONS OF COCOMMUTATIVE HOPF ALGEBRAS
Suppose that a Hopf algebra H acts on an associative algebra A or A is a /e/it H -module algebra. This means that ^4 is a left ^-module and for any h & H and a, b G ^4
provided
TM
Suppose that the basic field k is algebraically closed, char A; = 0 and H is a cocommutative Hopf algebra. Then by [M, p. 76] the Hopf algebra H is pointed and therefore by [M, Corollary 5.6.4] the algebra H is a smashproduct H = Hi^kG, where H\ is an irreducible connected constituent of 1 and G is a group acting in H\ by conjugations. Then G acts on A as an automorphism group. If char A; = 0, then by [M, Theorem 5.6.5] HI is the universal envelope U(P(H}} of the Lie algebra P(H). Thus we obtain a Lie algebra homomorphism P(H) DerA which is compatible with the action of G in P(H). Let U be the universal enveloping algebra of DerA Then the group G = Aut A acts on U by conjugations. So we can form a smash product HA = U$kG. There is the natural action of HA in A So we have proved THEOREM 9. Let k be an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero and H a cocommutative Hopf algebra acting on A. Then there exists a homomorphism, of Hopf algebra H > HA compatible with actions of HA on A. We shall now study in details the action of H\ on A. The center Z(A) = k. This means in particular that the base of Derint A consists of elements adXu, where u 1r x (N U 0)n~r, u ^ 0. We shall consider the following order on the set of multi-indices Zr x (N U 0)"~r. By Theorem 6 and PBW-theorem the base of the universal enveloping algebra U = 7(Der A) consists of monomials
Ul
)---(&dXUm)dl
(12)
where HI, . . . ,um, I Zr x (N U 0) n ~ r and ni > ... > um ^ 0. Here Ol = d[l dl as in Notation 1. PROPOSITION 4. Let n > 3, m > 1, and
where u^ = (un, . . . Uin), 1 1 ?//, = 0. Proof. By Theorem 6 for any index j = 1, . . . , n we have
X?
VjX
Hence dlXv = (v\l v'^)Xv. If t = (*i, . . . ,t n ) G Zr x (NUO) n ~ r , then by Proposition 1 t v v t
(ad A"')*" = x x - x x =
9/i )-( 11 fy
i
Ov^\
TT
*il
(13)
D
THEOREM 10. Let k be a field of characteristic zero and n > 3. Then the following classes coincide: 1) the class of all left ideals in A generated by some set of monomials; 2) the class of all two-sided ideals in A generated by some set of m,onomials; 3) the class of H1\-subm,odules in A. Proof. According to Proposition 1 the conditions (1) and (2) are equivalent. By Proposition 4 any .//v-submodule is a left ideal in A. This means that we have only to prove that any nonzero //A-submodule M in A is generated by some set of monomials. Let / G M\0. Then there exists an automorphism a G Aut A such that Q(A--) = {2Xl' \Xi, ' = 1; i > 1.
Let / = /o + + fm, where ft = X\gt where gt belongs to the subalgebra in A generated by X?, ... , Xn. Then for any d = 0, 1,... , m- we have ad(f) = /o + 2 rf /i + ' '' + 2md/m G M. (14)
The system (14) can be viewed as a system of linear equations with unknowns /o, /i,. .. , fm. The matrix of the system (14) is precisely the matrix of the Vandermonde determinant, which is nonzero. Multiplying the system (14) by the inverse matrix we obtain /j G M for any i = 0. 1, ... , m. Similar argument can be applied to each of the variables X%, ... , Xn showing that each monomial occurring in / belongs in fact to M. Conversely by Theorem 1 and Theorem 6 any right ideal generated by monomials is an .H"A-submodule in A. D
TM
INVARIANTS
In this section we shall deal with subalgebras A^ of invariants of cocommutative Hopf algebras H over an algebraically closed field k of characteristic zero acting on A under the assumption that r = 0 and n > 3. It follows from Theorem 9 that without loss of generality we can always assume that H is a Hopf subalgebra in H\. Moreover by [M, Corollary 5.6.4] H = U(L)$kG, where L = P(H] is a Lie subalgebra in Der A and G = G(H) is a subgroup in Aut A. Throughout this section as above we shall consider the lexicographic order on the set of monomials and in (N U 0)". DEFINITION 2 ([M], p. 45). An extension of algebras A/ AH is called Schelter-integral if for any element / A there exists a positive integer m such that
0
where q is a sum of elements of the form aifni---adfndad+l, for some a\, . . . , ad+i G A^ such that n\ + + nd < m.
(15)
(16)
PROPOSITION 5. Let the extension A/AH be Schelter-integral and s G (N U 0) n , s 7^ 0. Then there exist a positive integer t and elements
such that ts = u\ + + ud+i and monomials
occur in some polynomials from Proof. Take / = Xs. Then fm = aXms for any integer m > 0, where a = a(m) e k*. Hence by (15) and (16) the monomial aXms occurs in some product of the form
where is an automorphism of A induced by the defining relations of A. It follows that /*, t m (n\ + + nd) occurs in some product of the form
TM
Hence the questionable monomials occur in
Finally we have to observe that * and C*(a*) contain the same monomials.
D
COROLLARY 5. Let the extension A/A^ be Schelter-integral. For any index i = 1, . . . , n there exists an integer W{ > 0 and an element gir G A.H such that a monomial bX' ,b G k* , occurs in g,;. Proof. Put t = m,;e?; G (N U 0)", where e, is from (8). By Proposition 5 there exist elements u\, . . . Ud+i . (N U 0)n such that monomials
occur in some elements hi,... Jid+\ A.H . One can easily deduce that Uj = Uji&i G (N U 0) n , j = 1, ... ,77., and mn = uu + + Ud+i,i- Since mi > 0 there exists Uji > 0 for some j and we can take g,; = hj. D Fix an element v G L where L is a given Lie subalgebra in Der A. By Theorem 6
(17)
where /3j G k and the constant term of u G A is zero. The following statement follows directly from Proposition 4. PROPOSITION 6. Let f = Xl, where I = (k, . . . , /) G (N U 0) n . Then
j=l
3=1
PROPOSITION 7. Let the extension A/A H be Schelter-integral. Then L C Derint A. Proof. Let /3j ^ 0 in (17). By Proposition 6 there exists an element g G AH \ 0 which contains a monomial a.X*,t > 0. a G k*. Without loss of generality we can assume that t is minimal with respect to this property. Then 0 - v(g) = ("=i fadfig + ad( 5 ), or
(18)
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By Proposition 6 a monomial fcatXt occurs at the left hand side of (18). Suppose that
(19)
-u=
Then by (13)
/e(Nuo) n
> 9=
ze(Nuo) n
(20)
It follows from (19) and (20) that there exists l,z (N U 0)n such that l + z = t&i where &i is from (8). Hence I = liSi, z = ZiCi, where /,,z,; NUO and t = li + Zi. Since t is minimal we conclude z,; = t and li = 0. This means that the constant term of u is nonzero, a contradiction. Hence /?! = ... = (3n = 0 and v = ad u. D COROLLARY 6. Let the extension A./AH be Schelter-integral and L ^ 0. Then A.H and L are commutative. Proof. By Proposition 7 we have L C Derint A and A^ is contained in the centralizer of each element u A such that adn e L. By the assumption A^ ^ k. From [Al] we know that A^ is commutative. D THEOREM 11. Let H be a Hopf subalgebra in H\ such that the extension A/A is Schelter-integral. Suppose that A is a finite left (right) A. -module and some multiparameter g^, 1 < i < j < n, is algebraically independent over the sub field of rationals Q in k. Then L = 0 and H = kG, where G is a subgroup o/AutA. Proof. If L 7^ 0 then A.H is commutative by Corollary 6. Hence by [P, Theorem 3.20] the algebra A is a Pi-algebra, satisfying some standard identity
Sm(yi, ,ym}=
(-1) Vi yam = 0.
(21)
In order to prove the theorem we need to show that A does not satisfy (21). For any integerTO,> 0 we put yt = XiXJ1 , t = 1, . . . , m. Then
_ 2/crl ' ' ' yam,
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Therefore
Sm(yii- -.yrn) =
The monomials in qij have different powers because of the uniqueness of ra-adic decomposition of any integer. Now the independence of QJJ over the subfield of rationals Q in k entails 5 m ( y i > . . . , ym) ^ 0. D Each derivation d of A can be expanded to F, namely
Similarly if n > 3, then each automorphism of A from Theorem 1 can be expanded to F. So the action of H\ = U(Dei A)[jA:(Aut A) can be also expanded to F. PROPOSITION 8. The action of H^, n > 3, can be expanded to T'. Proof. Let d = Y^Pjdj + at ^ n ^ Dor A. Since A C T the derivation adu is expanded to J='. Now if / = \iXUl + 6 F, then supp/ C (N U 0)n is Artinian with respect to the lexicographic order. Then by Proposition 4, djf = XiUijX""1 + is an element of F, since it has the same support. Similar argument works for any automorphism because of Theorem 1. D Let as above A: be an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. Fix a Hopf subalgebra H in Ht\. Then H [/(L)jJfcG where L is a Lie subalgebra in DerA and G is a subgroup in Aut A. PROPOSITION 9. Let FH be the set of all invariants for each element of H. Then FH is-a skew subfield in F. Proof. If u. v FH and d <E L, then d(u] = d(v) = 0 and therefore d(uv] = d(u + v] = 0. Moreover d(u~l) = -u~ld(u)u~l = 0. Similarly one can consider invariants of the group G. D THEOREM 12. Let L ^ 0 be, a Lie subalgebra in DerA such that F has a finite left (right) finite dimension over FL, If char k = 0 then L and FL are commutative. Proof. If i = 1 , . . . , n. then there exists an integer m > 0 and elements a . Q , . . . . a m _i F L such that X + om-lXrn-1 + + aiXi + OQ = 0.
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Then there exists an element aj,j < m, with the smallest monomial rXd (viewed as an element of .F) such that rXdX^ cancels either with X or with some C,Xd' ' X{ ', where j ^ f < m. In the first case rXd = X~j and in the second (C,Xd'}-l(rXd} = xf~j. But (CiXd'}-l(rXd} is the smallest term of a~,la,j FL viewed as an element of f . So in any case there exists a nonzero element a e FL with the smallest term X*, t > 0. Suppose that L ^ 0 and d = ^"==1 f3jdj + ad u L. As we have shown above for any index i = 1, . . . ,n there exists an element a 6 FL with the smallest term X\,t> 1. By Proposition 4
n
0 = d(a] = (J^ Pjdj)Xt + (ad u)X\ + = /M* + ,
(22)
where is a series with || ||, ||(adu)X*|| > ||X*||. Here ||/|| is the multiindex corresponding to the smallest monomial in /. So (22) implies /% = 0 for any i. Now d = a,du and FL is contained in the centralizer of u. Apply results from [Al], [ACo], [Z] ' D THEOREM 13. Let H be a Hopf subalgebra in H^ such that F has a finite left (right) finite dimension over FH . Suppose k has characteristic zero and some multiparameter qij,l < i < j < n, is algebraically independent over the subfield of rationals Q in k. Then L = 0 and H = kG, where G is a subgroup o/AutA. Proof. Observe that FH C FL . So if L ^ 0 then FH is commutative. Then we can apply the argument of Theorem 11. D Finally we have to mention that subalgebras of invariants of kG in A and in F were studied in details in [AW] (the case of at least three variables) and in [AD2] (the case of two variables). REFERENCES [Al] Artamonov V.A., Automorphisms of division ring of quantum rational functions, Math. Sbornik - 191(2000), N 12, 3-26. [A2] Artamonov V. A. Valuations on quantum fields, Commun. Algebra, 29(2001), N 9, 3889-3904. [A5] Artamonov V. A. Actions of Hopf algebras on quantum polynomials. In the book: Representation of algebras. Coelho/Merklen Ed. Marcel Dekker Inc., NY., 2001, 11-20.
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[ACo] Artamonov V.A., Cohn P.M., The skew field of rational functions on the quantum plane, J. Math. Sci, 93(1999), N 6, 824-829. [AC] Alev J., Chamarie M., Derivations et automorphismes de quelques algebres quantiques, Comm. Algebra, 20(2992), N 6, 1787-1802. [ADI] Alev J., Dumas F., Sur le corps des fractions de certaines alg'ebres quantiques, J. Algebra, 170(1994), N 1, 229-265. [AD2] Alev J., Dumas F.. Invariants du corps de Weyl sous Faction de groupes finis, Comm. Algebra 25(1997), N 5, 1655-16723. [AW] Artamonov V.A., Wisbauer R. Homological properties of quantum polynomials, Algebras and representation theory, 4(2001), N 3, 219247. [B] Brookes C. J. B. Crossed products and finitely presented groups., J. Group Theory, 3(2000), 433-444. [D] Demidov E. E., Quantum group, Moscow: Factorial, 1998, 127P. [GL1] Goodearl K.R., Letzter E.S., Prime factor of the coordinate ring of quantum matrices, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 121(1994, N 4, 1017- 1025. [GL2] Goodearl K.R., Letzter E.S., Prime and primitive spectra of multiparameter quantum affine spaces, "Trends in ring theory" (Miskolc), 1996, 39-58. CMS Conf. Proc. 22, AMS Providence RI, 1998. [GL3] Goodearl K.R.. Letzter E.S., Quantum n-space as a quotient of classical n-space, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 352(2000), N 12, 5855-5876. [H] Herstein I. N. On the Lie and Jordan rings of a simple associative ring, Amer. J. Math., 77(1955), 279-285. [M] Montgomery S., Hopf algebras and their actions on rings, Regional Conf. Ser. Math. Amer. Math. Soc., Providence RI, 1993. [MP] McConnell J.C., Pettit J.J., Crossed products and multiplicative analogues of Weyl algebras, J. London Math. Soc. 38 (1988), N 1, 47-55 [Pj Procesi C., Rings with polynomial identities. Marcel Dekker, New York, 1973. [O] Freddy van Oystaeyen. Algebraic geometry for associative algebras. Marcel Dekker Inc. NY, 2000, 302 pp. [OP] Osborn J. P., Passman D.. Derivations of skew polynomial rings, J. Algebra, 176(1995), N 2, 417-448.
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[Z] Zelenova S., Commutative subalgebras in a ring of quantum polynomials and a skew field of quantum Laurent series, Math. Sb., 192(2001), N 3, 53-64.
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Combinatorial properties of free algebras of Schreier varieties1

VYACHESLAV A. ARTAMONOV Department of Mechanics and Mathematics, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia. E-mail: artamon@mech.math.msu.su ALEXANDER A. MIKHALEV Department of Mechanics and Mathematics, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia. E-mail: aamikh@cnit.math.msu.su ALEXANDER V. MIKHALEV Department of Mechanics and Mathematics, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia. E-mail: mikhalev@cnit.math.msu.su
ABSTRACT In this survey article we consider combinatorial properties of free algebras of Schreier varieties. Our main goal is to observe results concerning automorphic orbits of elements of free algebras of main types of Schreier varieties, on Schreier technique, on applications of free differential calculus, on primitive, test, and generalized primitive elements of free algebras. In this text we do not touch standard bases of ideals of free algebras, elementary theories of free algebras, actions of the symmetric group and dimensions of homogeneous components, since these topics deserve some special fascicles.
This work was partially supported by RFBR, grants 00-15-96128, 02-01-00218, 0201-00219, and by INTAS, grant 00-566.
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MAIN TYPES OF SCHREIER VARIETIES
Let, K be a field. A variety fTJt of algebras over K is defined as a class of algebras closed under taking subalgebras, homomorphic images and direct products. Let X be a set. An algebra Fgn(X) in OT is called the free algebra with the set X of free generators if Fyn(X) is generated by X, and if / is an arbitrary map from X to any algebra A of SOT then / can be extended to a homomorphisiii Fyn(X) > A (it is clear that such extension is unique). The algebra F^(X) is determined by X and fU? uniquely up to an isomorphism. For any nontrivial variety $Jl and any set X there exists the free algebra F$n(X). If A G fOT. then there exists a set X (for example, X = A) such that A is a homomorphic image of Fy^(X). In particular, A is isornorphic to a factor algebra of F OT (X). The cardinality of X is called the rank of F<%i(X). Let, X be a finite set. X = {x\,...,xn}. A pair (u,v] of elements f Fyn(X) is called an identity in an algebra A of 9Jt if w ( a i , . .. ,an) = v(a.i,..., a.n] for all elements a\,.. ., an of A The following result is due to G. Birkhoff. Let OT be a variety of algebras. A subclass VI in 9Jt is a (sub)variety if and only if there exists a set of identities (',;,!>,;), i e /, such that *JJ consists of all algebras of 9JI satisfying these identities. Here ?/,:, v, (i G /) are elements of Fgjj with a countable set X of free generators. A variety of algebras is called homogeneous if it is defined by a set of homogeneous (by the A'-degree) identities. For more details about varieties of algebras we refer to [9, 32, 55, 66]. A variety of algebras is said to be Schreier if any subalgebra of a free algebra of this variety is free in the same variety of algebras, this notion came from group theory, in the 1920th J. Nielsen [132] and O. Schreier [150] proved that any subgroup of a free group is free. A. G. Kurosh proved in [77] that subalgebras of free non-associative algebras are free. A. I. Shirshov [155] showed that the variety of Lie algebras is Schreier (this result, was also obtained by E. Witt in [187], where it was also proved that the variety of all Lie jj-algebras is Schreier). A. G. Kurosh in [79] extended this result to the variety of all il-algebras. An fi-algebra is a vector space with a family 7 of basic multilinear multiplications of arities at least 2. In this paper he also classified subalgebras of free products of Q-algebras. Earlier for the case of all non-associative algebras it was clone in [78] and for the case of all commutative and all anticommutative algebras it was done in [53]. Yu. A. Bahturin [11], [12] arid M. V. Zaicev [190] proved that Schreier varieties of Lie algebras are only the variety of all Lie algebras, and the variety of Abelian Lie algebras. A. I. Shirshov showed in [156] that subalgebras of free non-associative commutative and anti-commutative algebras are free, that is the varieties of commutative and anti-commutative
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algebras are Schreier. A. A. Mikhalev in [94] and A. S. Shtern in [169] showed that the variety of Lie superalgebras is Schreier. A. A. Mikhalev proved this result for the variety of color Lie psuperalgebras in [96]. It is quite natural now to formulate the following PROBLEM 1.1 To give the complete classification of Schreier varieties of algebras. U. U. Umirbaev [180, 182] obtained new examples of Schreier varieties of algebras and gave necessary and sufficient conditions for a variety of algebras to be Schreier. As for subalgebras of free algebras of varieties of fi-linear algebras, see articles [10, 16]. Let K be a field, X a set, and let F = F(X] be the free algebra of a homogeneous variety of algebras with the set X of free generators over the field K. For u . F ( X ) , by f.(u) = f - x ( u ) we denote the degree of u. Consider now an arbitrary mapping yu: X > N (a generalized degree function), where N is the set of positive integers. Let T ( X ) be the free groupoid of non-associative monomials in the alphabet X, S(X) the free semigroup of associative words in X, and ~: T(X) > S(X) the bracket removing homomorphism. We set [JL(X\ xn) = Yî=i l^(xi) fr xi G X- If /j,(x) 1 for all x 6 X , then fi is just the usual degree , JJL = i. If a -F, a = âja,;, 0 7^ a,; K, o,,; are basic monomials, dj ^ as with j ^ s, then we set /i(a) max,;{ft(a'?;)}. By a we denote the leading part of a: A subset M of F is called independent if M is a set of free generators of the subalgebra of F generated by M. A subset M = {aj} of nonzero elements of F is called reduced if for any i the leading part a of the element a,; does not belong to the subalgebra of F generated by the set {a \ j ^ i}. Let S = {sa | a e /} be a subset of F. A mapping u: S + S' C A is an elementary transformation of 5" if either ui is a non-singular linear transformation of S1, or W(S Q ) = sa for all a /, a ^ /3, and ^(s^) sp + f({sa \ a ^ /?}), where / is an element of a free algebra of the same variety of algebras. It is clear that elementary transformations of free generating sets induce automorphisms of the algebra f; such automorphisms are called elementary. Let A be a free algebra of a homogeneous Schreier variety of algebras. One can transform any finite set of elements of the algebra A to a reduced set by using a finite number of elementary transformations and possibly cancelling zero elements. Every reduced subset of the algebra A is an independent subset (this is what is called the Nielsen property). Moreover, by using Kurosh's method, one can construct a reduced set of generators for any subalgebra of the free algebra A. Indeed, let B be a subalgebra of
= j>(a J -)=M(a) a J a J-
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A, M = Ujlo ^J' where Mj consists of G- homogeneous elements of degree j, if nonempty. We set MO = 0. Then, by induction, we suppose that MO, . . . , M j have been defined. Let B, be the subalgebra of B, generated by U}=o Mj an<l Si = {b Bi C(b] i be a maximal such subset. It is clear that M generates the subalgebra B. Moreover, M is a reduced set. Hence any subalgebra of A is free in the same variety of algebras (this is what is called the Schreier property). In [85], J. Lewin proved that for a homogeneous variety of algebras, the Nielsen and Schreier properties are equivalent. By using this equivalence, it is easy to see that the automorphism groups of the corresponding free algebras (of finite rank) are generated by elementary automorphisms (for free Lie algebras, this result was obtained by P. M. Cohn in [31], and for free non-associative algebras by J. Lewin in [85]). A similar result for any homogeneous Schreier variety of Jl-algebras was proved in [10]. Let 97? be a homogeneous variety of linear algebras over a field K. Let C be an algebra of the variety 97?, (y) the free algebra of rank one of the variety 97? . We consider the free product B = (y) * C 97?. By B\ we denote the subspace of elements of B with the degree one with respect to y. Then BI is a free one-generated C-bimodule in 97?. Consider C ffi BI with the multiplication given by
(ai + mi) (02 + 7T?,2) O-lfl.2 + a\m2 + 777-10,2,
where a 1,0,2 <E C, m 1,777,2 <E BI. We have C BI 97?. For a e C by la and ra we denote the universal operators of left and right multiplication, respectively, b la = fib, b ra = ba. b E B\.
Let U(C) = Uyn(C) be the subalgebra of the algebra Endp(Bi) of endomorphisms of the module B\ generated by the set {l,la,ra a 6 C}. If the algebra C has the unit element, then we set, r\ l.\ 1 in U(C). The algebra U(C) is the universal multiplicative enveloping algebra of C. The notion of a C-bimodule in the variety 97? is equivalent to the notion of a right {7(C)-module, see [61]. Let 97?o be the variety of all algebras, T(X) the free groupoid of nonassociative monomials (free Magma) without unity element, on the alphabet X, i.e. X C T(X); if u, v e F(X), then u-v T(X), where u-v is the formal multiplication on non-associative monomials. We consider the linear space F(X) over K with the basis consisting of 1 and the elements of T(X) with the multiplication given by
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for all a, J3 K, a, b e F(A"). The algebra F(X) is the free non-associative algebra (i.e. the free algebra of the variety OTo). Let WQ = r(X), A = F(X). Then the algebra U(A) is the free associative algebra with the set S0 = {rw, lw | w 6 WQ] of free generators (for the details see [54, 180]). Let OTI be the variety of all commutative algebras, I the two-sided ideal of the free non-associative algebra F(X) generated by the set {ab ba a, b G F ( X ) } . Then the factor algebra A = F(X}/I is the free algebra of the variety SUti with the set X of free generators (i.e. the free commutative non-associative algebra). Suppose that the set T(X) is totally ordered in such a way that for a, b 6 T(X) if(a) > l(b), then a > b (f.(u) denotes the degree of a monomial u T(X)). We construct the set W\ of all commutative regular monomials inductively in the following way. First of all, X C W\. Furthermore, w 6 W\ if w = uv, u and v are commutative regular monomials, and u < v. Then W\ is a linear basis of A = F ( X ) / I ([156]). The universal multiplicative enveloping algebra U(A) is the free associative algebra with the set Si = {rw w e Wi} of free generators, [54, 180]. Let OT2 be the variety of all anti-commutative algebras, J the two-sided ideal of the free non-associative algebra F+(X) without unit element generated by the set {aa \ a 6 F(X)}. Then the factor algebra A = F+(X)/J is the free algebra of the variety OT2 with the set X of free generators (i.e. the free anti-commutative non-associative algebra). We construct the set W2 of all anti-commutative regular monomials inductively: X C W2\ w 6 W% if w uv, u and v are anti-commutative regular monomials, and u < v. Then W2 is a linear basis of A = F(X}/J ([156]). The universal multiplicative enveloping algebra U(A) is the free associative algebra with the set 52 = {rw \ w 6 W?} of free generators, [54, 180]. Let G be an Abelian semigroup, K a field of characteristic different from two; :GxG > K* a skew symmetric bilinear form (so-called a commutation factor, or a bicharacter), that is, e(g,h)(h,g) = 1, e(9i +92,h) = ( g i , h ) e ( g 2 , h ) , e(g,hi + h 2 ) = ( g , h i ) ( g , h 2 ) for all g, gi,g2, h, /M, h,2 e G; G^ = {g<=G\ e(g,g) - -1}, G+ = {g e G \ (g,g) = +1}.
For instance, if G = Z 2 Z 2 , K = C, f = (fiJ2),g = (91,92) & G, then the following form is a commutation factor on G: (f,g) (l)(^ 1+ ^ 2 )î+2). G+ = {(0,0), (1,1)}, G- = {(0,1), (1,0)}. Suppose that n = 2 fc , k > 1. Let n be a primitive root of 1, en = e27ri/n, G = (/) n (g}n the direct sum
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of cyclic groups of order n generated by a and b, respectively, e(f, /) = 1, (/)<?) n-< z(g,g) = 1- Then e is a commutation factor on G. M. Scheunert [147] classified all commutation factors on groups Zp@- -@ Zp, where p is a prime number. A commutation factor s on an Abelian group G is said to be nondegenerated if {g 6 G \ e(g, h) = l V/i e G} {0}. A commutation factor e' on a group G' is equivalent to a commutation factor e" on a group G" if there is an isomorphism ip: G' > G" such that e'(g,h) = "((p(g),<p(h)) for all g,h G'. A. A. Zolotykh [194] obtained a classification (up to an equivalence) of all nondegenerate commutation factors on finite Abelian groups. A G-graded jRT-algebra R = (JBogc Rg is called a color Lie superalgebra if [x,y] = -(d(x},d(y))[y,x], [v, [v,v\] = 0, [x,[y,z]} = [(x,y},z]+(d(x),d(y))[y,(x,z}] with d(v) E G- for G-homogeneous elements x, y, z, v G -R, where d(a) = g if a e jRfl. The homogeneous elements of the components Rg, g G+, are said to be even, and the homogeneous elements of the components Rg, g e G_, are said to be odd. We consider only G-homogeneous elements, homomorphisms preserving the G-graded structure, etc. If G = Z2 and e(f,g) = ( l)-^ 5 , then a color Lie superalgebra is a Lie superalgebra. If e = 1, then we have a G-graded Lie algebra (if G = {e}, then we have a Lie algebra). We denote (ad a)(b) = [a, b] = (a) Ad b for all a, b e R. Let char K = p > 2. A color Lie superalgebra R over K is called a color Lie p-superalgebra if on G-homogeneous components Rg, g e G+, we have a mapping x * x^, d(x^) = pd(x), such that for all a G K and all G-homogeneous elements x,y,z e .R with d(x) d(y) G G+, the following conditions are satisfied:
where j s j ( x , y) is the coefficient on tJ~l in (ad (t.T + y)) p ~ 1 (x). If Q is a G-graded associative algebra over K then [Q] denotes the color Lie superalgebra with the operation [ , ] where [a, b] = ab e(d(a),d(b)) ba for G-homogeneous elements a, b G Q. If char/f = p > 2, and x^ = xp for all G-homogeneous elements x of Q with <i(x) 6 G+ , then [Q] with the operation [p] is a color Lie p-super algebra denoted by [Q]p. Let X - {xi, . . . , xn} = (Jg^c X9 be a G-graded set, that is XgC\Xf = 0 for g / /, ci(x) = gr for x Xg, and let, K(X) be the free G-graded associative K-algebra. L(X) the subalgebra of [K(X)] generated by X.
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Then L(X) is the free color Lie superalgebra with the set X of free generators. In the case where char .ft' = p > 2, let LP(X] be the subalgebra of [K(X)]P generated by X. Then LP(X) is the free color Lie p-superalgebra on X. For more information on free Lie superalgebras we refer to the monographs [14, 124]. THEOREM 1.2 ([31],[77],[85],[94]-[96],[155, 156, 169, 187]) Let X be a finite set, X = { X I , . . . , X H } , K a field, char K 7^ 2, F = F(X) the free algebra without the unity element on the set X of free generators of one of the following varieties of algebras over a field K: the variety of all algebras; the variety of Lie algebras; varieties of color Lie superalgebras; the variety of Lie p-algebras; varieties of color Lie p-superalgebras; varieties of commutative and anticomm.utative algebras. 1. Any finite subset of F can be transformed into a reduced subset by a finite sequence of elementary transformations (with cancellation of possible zeros); 2. Any reduced subset of the algebra F is an independent subset; 3. The leading part of a polynomial on a reduced subset is a polynomial on leading parts of elements of this subset; 4- Any subalgebra of F is free; 5. A subset M of F is independent if and only if it is linearly independent modulo the square of the subalgebra of F generated by M (for free color Lie p-superalgebras we add to the square the ideal all p-powers of elements of M); 6. If \X\ < oo, then the automorphism group of the algebra F is generated by elementary automorphisms. PROBLEM 1.3 (P. M. Cohn, [31]) Is it true that the automorphism, group of a free associative algebra of finite rank is generated by elementary automorphisms? The sam,e question for a polynomial algebra. Note that, this problem has a positive solution for the polynomial algebra in two variables (H. W. E. Jung [63], W. van der Kulk [76]), and also for the free associative algebra of rank 2 (A. J. Czerniakiewicz [36], L. G. MakarLimanov [92]). PROBLEM 1.4 (M. Nagata, [130]) Let (p be an automorphism of the polynomial algebra K[x,y,z] given by
</>(y) = y + 2x(%2 - yz) + z(x2 - yz}2,

(p(z)
(f>(x)
= x + z(x2-yz),
z.
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7s it true that this automorphism, is not a composition of elementary automorphisms of K[x,y,z ? Recently I. P. Shestakov and U. U. Umirbaev [153, 154] have proved that if char if 0, then the Nagata automorphism is wild (it means that it is not a composition of elementary automorphisms of K[x, y, z\). Let X = {x1; . . . ,xn}. It follows from Theorem 1.2 that the free algebras F ( X ) are Hopfian (it means that if the algebra F(X) is generated by elements HI ..... ?/, then these elements form a free generating set of An algebra A over a field K with an anticommutative bilinear operation [x.y] and a trilinear operation A(x,y,z] is called an Akivis algebra if [[x,y],z] = A(x,y,z) - A(y,x,z) + [[y,z],x] + A(y,z,x) - A(x,z,y) + + [[z,x],y] A(z,x,y) A(z,y,x).
These algebras were introduced by M. A. Akivis as tangent algebras of local analytic groups. I. P. Shestakov and U. U. Umirbaev [152] proved that the variety of Akivis algebras is Schreier, automorphisms of finitely generated free Akivis algebras are tame, the occurrence problem for free Akivis algebras is decidable, finitely generated subalgebras of free Akivis algebras are residually finite, the word problem is decidable for the variety of Akivis algebras. 2 SCHREIER TECHNIQUE
O. Schreier [150] introduced very useful technique to obtain free generators for a subgroup of a free group from special set of cosets representatives. Later this technique was extended by many authors for different types of free algebras. Subalgebras of the free associative algebra are not necessary free. For example, if we consider elements x2 and x3 in the free associative algebra K(x) = K[x], then x 2 x 3 = x 3 x 2 . Hence the subalgebra generated by x2 and x3 is not free. At the same time, we have P. M. Conh's result that over a free associative algebra submodules of free left modules are free. P. M. Conh obtained this result using a generalization of the Euclidean algorithm in the free associative algebra. Let K be a field. The family {,; | i /} of elements of the free associative algebra K(X) is called left /'-dependent if there exist elements bj. (E K(X), almost all zero, such that
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or if some G,J is equal to zero. Otherwise the family {a,} is called left ^-independent. An element o K(X) is said to be left ^-dependent on a family {a,;} if either a,; = 0, or there exist &,; e K(X), almost all zero, such that
for all i. Otherwise a is said to be left ^-independent on a family {a,}. In the free associative algebra over a field K the following analog of the Euclidean algorithm takes place: THEOREM 2.1 (Weak algorithm [28, 29]) Let QI, . . . ,an e K{X) and (a'l) < < f-(a>n)- Then if the family {ai, . . . ,an} is left ^-dependent, then there exists i, 1 < i < n, such, that the element 04 is left dependent on the family {a\, . . . , a,;_i}, Note that the right side version of this algorithm also takes place in K(X). Since the weak algorithm takes place in K(X), the algebra K(X) is a free ideal ring (a fir), i.e. K(X] is left fir and right fir, that is left (right) ideals of K(X] are free left (right, respectively) K(X) -modules, and moreover, of unique rank. Therefore, over a left fir every submodule of a free left module is free, [30, 33]. Note that a very elegant proof of this fact can be given using P. M. Cohn's theorem that the free product of fir's is again fir. In [86] J. Lewin with the use of Schreier technique gave a direct proof of the fact, that K(X) is a fir. Applying the weak algorithm P. M. Cohn [31] obtained the following sufficient condition for a subalgebra of a free associative algebra to be free. Let B be a subalgebra of K(X}. We consider K(X) as a left B-module relative to the usual multiplication. A system of elements S {s,; i e /} of K(X) is said to be S-independent if for almost all zero elements a,
THEOREM 2.2 ([31]) If B is any subalgebra of K(X) such that K(X] is free as a left B-module, with a B-independent basis, then B is a free associative algebra over K. In particular, if B is a subalgebra o f K ( X } such that K(X) satisfies the weak algorithm as a B-module, then B is a free subalgebra of K(X).
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For more information on free ideal rings we refer to P. M. Conn's monograph [33]. Suppose that, F is a free group of rank n. and let H C F be a subgroup of a finite index \F : H\. Then H is a free group of the rank m, where m is determined by well known Schreier formula [150]: m 1 = (n 1) \F : H\. J. Lewin [86] obtained the following analog of Schreier formula for free associative algebras. For a left ideal M of K(X) we denote by rank (M) the rank of the free left K(.X"}-module M. THEOREM 2.3 ([86]) Let \X\ = n and let I be a left ideal of the free associative algebra K(X] such that dimff(K(X} //) = k < oo. Then I is a free left K(X]-module and rank (/) = k(n 1) + 1. For free Lie p-algebras G. P. Kukin [74] obtained the following analog of Schreier formula. THEOREM 2.4 ([74]) Let K be a field, p = charK > 2, \X\ = N < oo. Suppose that H is a subalgebra of the free Lie p-algebra LP(X], dim LP(X)/H = t < oo. Then rank (H} = pt(N-l) + l. A. A. Mikhalev [94j-[96] obtained Schreier type formulas for free Lie super algebras and p-superalgebras. THEOREM 2.5 ([94]) Let char AT ^ 2,3, and let L = L(X) = L+L- be the free color Lie superalgebra, rank (L) = \X\ = N < oo, and let H be a Ghomogeneous subalgebra of L. H = H+Q)H_, H+ = L+. dim(L_//f-) = s < oc. Then rank (H) = 2s(N - 1) + 1. THEOREM 2.6 ([96]) Let K be a field, p = char AT > 3, \X\ = N < oo. Suppose that H H+ H- is a G-homogeneous subalgebra of the free color Lie p-superalgebra L P ( X ) , <\\m.(Lp+/H+) = t < oo and dim(Lp_/H-) = s < oo. Then rank (H} = 2spl(N - 1) + 1. A. A. Mikhalev showed that any subalgebra of finite rank of L(X) is completely defined by its (nontrivial) even component. THEOREM 2.7 ([14, 124]) Let K be afield, char K ^ 2, 3, \X- > 1, and let A, B be G-homogeneous subalgebras of finite rank in the free color Lie superalgebra L ( X ) , A = A+ A_, B = B + 0B_. If A- = B- ^ {0}, then A = B. In the study of subalgebras of free algebras the elimination of variables play a very important role. W. Magnus [90] obtained elimination theorems for free associative rings. Elimination of variables in free color Lie superalgebras and p-superalgebras was considered by A. A. Mikhalev.
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Let x 6 X, v X+, and z X-. We denote Z(x) ZP(v] W(z] = {y,y(Adx)n y e X \ {x}, n & N} C L(X); = {y, vP,y(Adv)n\yX\{x}, n= 1,.. .,p-l} C U>(X); = {y,\y,z],[z,z]\yeX\{x}}cL(X).
For free Lie algebras the elimination theorem was obtained by M. Lazard [82]. THEOREM 2.8 ([82]) Let L(X) be the free Lie algebra, x e X. Then Z(x) is an independent subset of L(X] and L(X] = KxL(Z(x}}. THEOREM 2.9 ([94]-[96], [14], [124]) 1. Let L(X] be the free color Lie superalgebra, x X, z e X-. Then Z = Z(x] and W = W(z) are independent subsets of L(X). The ideal of L(X) generated by {y X \ y ^ x} is equal to L(Z(x)}. Moreover, L(X) L(x) L(Z(x)} is a semidirect product of the free algebras L(x] and L(Z(x}} with the adjoint action of L(x] on L(Z(x)). We also have L(X) = Kz L(W(z)) as vector spaces. 2. Let LP(X) be the free color Lie p-superalgebra, x E X, v X+, z e X-. Then Z ( x ] , ZP(v) and W(z] are independent subsets of LP(X). Moreover, LP(X) = If'(x) Lf\Z '(a;)) is a semidirect product with the adjoint action, and IJP(X} = Kv Lp(ZP(v)}, U>(X} = Kz Lp(W(z)) as vector spaces. Elimination theorem for free Lie superalgebras was obtained also by J. Desarmenien, G. Duchamp, D. Krob, and G. Melangon [37]. Recently N. Dobrynin [42, 43] obtained some generalizations of the elimination theorem for free Lie superalgebras. Note that a straightforward analog of Schreier formula for the free Lie algebras does not exist. It is well known that the rank of a subalgebra of finite codimension of a free Lie algebra is infinite, see for example [13]. But recently V. M. Petrogradsky found a form of Schreier type formula for free Lie algebras and superalgebras in terms of formal power series [135, 137, 43]. He also establish versions of Schreier formula for these algebras using exponential generating functions (complexity functions) [134]. Recently he obtained Schreier formulas for free non-associative algebras, free commutative and anticommutative non-associative algebras, [138]. We illustrate here his idea for free Lie algebras.
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Let X be at most countable set with a weight function wt : X > N such that
X = U X,, i=l
oo
Xi = {x G X | wt x = i}]
\Xi\ < oo, i G N.
We call such a set finitely graded. For any monomial y x^ . . . Xin, x^ G X , we set wt y = wt x,;, + . . . + wt .T,^ . Suppose that Y is a set of monomials in X, then we denote Yi = {y Y \ wt y = i}, ?' G N. Also we define the Hilbert-Poincare series of Y as Hx(Y,t) = ~i |^|^Let ^4 = A ( X ) be an algebra generated by a finitely graded set X and suppose that A inherits the gradation from X . Let V C A be a homogeneous subspace, that is V = ^ Vi with Vj; = {v G V wti> i}. We define the Hilbert-Poincare series of V as 7ix(V, *) = Ei dim(V;;) t\ We sometimes omit t, X and write H(Y), H(V). Now let Y C A be not necessarily homogeneous subset. For v & A consider its decomposition into homogeneous components v = v\ + . . . + vn, wt(nj) = 2 , 7 ' = ! , . . . . 77,, vn ^ 0, in this case we write deg(f ) = n, gr (v) = vn. We define HX(Y., t] = ~=1 \Yn\ tn, where Yn = {y G Y | deg(y) = n}. Given a subspace V" C ^4 one has a filtration Q V C. V1 C . . . with V" = {v e V deg(u) < i}, v; = 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . . Let gr (V) = e~ =1 gr n (y), where gr n (TO = {gr (v) v V, deg(v) = n} U 0 = Vn/Vn~\ denote the associated graded space. In the nonhomogeneous case the Hilbert-Poincare series is defined as follows:
We consider all series as elements of the ring of the formal power series M1 = (E^Lo bntn\bn G Z}. By Z 0 [W] we denote set of series with b0 = 0. We consider the operator : 10[[t]] -> Z[[t]l
n=l
71=0
7),=1
Let L be a Lie algebra generated by X and U(L) its universal enveloping algebra and suppose that
Hx(L,t) =
n=l
6nt",
7?,=0
It is well known that Tix(U(L}} = (HX(L)} (see for instance [176]).
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THEOREM 2.10 ([135]) Let L be a free Lie algebra freely generated by a finitely graded set X. Suppose that H is a subalgebra and Y is the set of free generators for H. Then H(Y} - 1 = (H(X) - 1) (H(L/H}). For more information on Schreier technique we refer to the following list of articles and monographs: [13, 14, 15, 21, 37, 43, 71, 72, 74, 77, 80, 82, 85, 86, 88, 90, 91], [94]-[96], [98, 102, 124] [134]-[138], [140, 146, 150, 155, 156, 169, 180, 182, 187, 190]. 3 FREE DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS
R. H. Fox [51] introduced free differential calculus in free group rings. Let F = F ( X ) be the free group on a set X, ZF the integral group ring of F, A_p the augmentation ideal of ZF, i.e., the kernel of the natural homomorphism ff:ZF ^Z where n,; e Z, /,; 6 F. The Fox partial derivation with respect to Xi is the mapping di\ ZF > ZF which is denned by the following conditions:
j / \ di(uv)
j/ \ + , a(v) / \ di(u); ;/ \ = udj(v)
di(ku + Iv) = kdi(u) + ldi(v), u, v 6 ZF, k, I Z, dij is the symbol of Kronecker. There is another interpretation of d as follows. The ideal Ap is a free left ZF-module with a free basis {(xi 1) | 1 < i < n}, and the mappings di are projections to the corresponding free cyclic direct summands. Every element u AF can be uniquely written in the form
n
4=1
As before, by A = Fr$i(X} we denote the free algebra of the variety 9ft with the set X = {xi,... ,xn} of free generators. Let I^ be a free right U(A)-module with a basis yi,..., yn,
IA = yiU(A)@...ynU(A).
The linear mapping T>: A > IA given by V(x,} = ?/,;, 1 
The partial derivatives -^L- of an element f of A are uniquely determined

by
We set
where T is the operator of transposition. j] = <5,j. the Kronecker symbol,
From the definition we get
d , . du dv -z-(uv) = rl; + /u, u, u e A.

OXj OX, OXi
(2
For a subalgebra /f of the algebra A by Jf/ we denote the [7(j4)-submodule of the module I A generated by the elements D(h], h 6 H . A variety VJl has the property of differential separability for subalgebras if for any subalgebra H of A and a A, D(a) 6 JH if and only if a J/. THEOREM 3.1 The following varieties have the property of separability for subalgebras: 1. the variety of all algebras; 2. the variety of all commutative algebras (char K ^ 2); 3. the variety of all anticommutative algebras; 4- the varieties of Lie (super) algebras and p- (super) algebras; 5. the variety of algebras with zero multiplication. At the first time the property of differential separability of subalgebras for Lie algebras was mentioned in [177] (for Lie superalgebras see [99]). In general form this theorem was proved by U. U. Umirbaev in [180]. For Lie algebras and superalgebras the property of differential separability for subalgebras follows from Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt type theorems. Let, L be a color Lie superalgebra, U a G-graded associative X-algebra with 1. 6: L > [U] a homomorphism of color Lie superalgebras. We say that the algebra U (with 6) is the universal enveloping algebra of L (we denote it U(L}} if for any homomorphism a of the color Lie superalgebra L into a color Lie superalgebra [R] (with the same e and G) for some
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differential
G-graded associative algebra R with 1 there exists a unique homomorphism d : U + R o f G-graded associative algebras with 1 such that a = 98. Let K be a field, p = char K > 2, L a color Lie p-superalgebra, U a G-graded associative /^-algebra with 1, 8: L > [U]p a homomorphism of color Lie jo-superalgebras. We say that U (with 6) is the restricted universal enveloping algebra of L (notation u(L)) if for any homomorphism a: L > [R]p of color Lie p-superalgebras, where R is a G-graded associative _K"-algebra with 1 (with the same e and G), there exists a unique homomorphism 0: U > R of G-graded associative A'-algebras with 1 such that a = 96. Suppose now that L is a color Lie superalgebra with a G-homogeneous basis X = X+ U X-, K(X) is the free G-graded associative algebra, / is the two-sided ideal in K(X] generated by the elements of the form ab e(d(a.), d(b)) bo, [a, b] for all homogeneous a,b L. Consider the canonical mapping 6: L > K(X}/I = U(L). It is clear that U(L) is the universal enveloping algebra of L. Let < be a total ordering of X. THEOREM 3.2 (PBW type theorem) The universal enveloping algebra U(L) has a G-homogeneous basis consisting of 1 and all monomials 6(x\) 8(xn] where n N, Xi E X, x, < a^+i, Xi / a^+i with x,; 6 X_ for all i = 1 , . . . , n 1 (in particular, 8 is an embedding). Let K be a field, char^f = p > 2, L a color Lie p-superalgebra with a G-homogeneous linear basis X, J the two-sided ideal of K(X] generated by elements ab e(d(a)a, d(b}) ba [a, b] (where a, b are homogeneous, a, b 6 L) and ap 0$ (a e Lg, g G + ). Let 8: L > K{X)/J be the canonical mapping. It is clear that K(X)/J = u(L) is the restricted universal enveloping algebra for L. THEOREM 3.3 (PBW type theorem) The monomials <5(zi) Al 6(xn)xn, where x\, e X, x\ < < xn, 0 < A7; < p I for xi 6 X+, Aj = 0,1 for Xi X_ give us a linear basis ofu(L). The universal enveloping algebra of the free color Lie superalgebra L(X) is the free associative algebra K(X), this algebra is also the universal multiplicative enveloping algebra of L(X). For the restricted universal enveloping algebra of the free color Lie p-superalgebra LP(X) we have u(Lp(X)) K(X), this algebra is also the universal multiplicative enveloping algebra of LP(X}. For more results concerning PBW-theorems for Lie superalgebras we refer to the monographs [14, 124, 148]. THEOREM 3.4 Let K be afield, L a color Lie superalgebra, B a subalgebra of L. Then B is differential separable, i.e. if J is the left ideal of U(L) generated by B, then L n J = B.
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In the case where char K p > 2 let M be a color Lie p-superalgebra, D a subalgebra of M. Then D is differential separable (relative to u(M}}. Using the property of differential separability of subalgebras it is possible to prove that free Lie algebras and superalgebras are finitely separable. THEOREM 3.5 ([99, 177]) Let L(X) be a free color Lie superalgebra over a field K (in the case chaxK = p > 2 we consider also a free color Lie p-superalgebra LP(X)). Then the algebra L = L(X) (L = LP(X), respectively) is finitely separable, i.e. if a is a G-homogeneous element of L, B is a G-homogeneous finitely generated subalgebra of L, a B, then there exists a finite dimensional color Lie (p-) superalgebra H and an epimorphism (p:L+H such that <p(a) if>(B}. In the group theory a well known theorem by M. Hall shows that, free groups are finitely separable. This result for free Lie algebras over fields of positive characteristic and for free restricted Lie algebras was obtained by G. P. Kukin [75], G. V. Kryazhovskikh [70] showed that free non-associative algebras, free commutative and anticommutative non-associative algebras are finitely separable. A similar statement does not hold for free rings. In the review article [47] there is the following example which is due to K. Mandelberg. If F is a free ring on one generator x, then in any homomorphism of F onto a finite ring, the subring B generated by 2x and 2x2 + x maps onto the image of F. At the same time x < B. The following result, by U. U. Umirbaev gives a necessary condition for a variety of algebras to be Schreier. THEOREM 3.6 ([180]) 7/9Jt is a homogeneous Schreier variety of algebras, then 1. for any free algebra A of QJt the universal multiplicative enveloping algebra U(A) is a free associative algebra; 2. for any homogeneous subalgebra H of a free algebra A of the variety OT the algebra U(A) is a free right U(H)-rnodule. If chai K = 0, then a variety satisfying conditions 1) and 2) is Schreier. Point, 1) of Theorem 3.6 for free non-associative algebras and for free commutative and anticommutative non-associative algebras was proved by A. T. Gainov [54]. A method to test that a variety of algebras is Schreier is given by the following theorem.
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THEOREM 3.7 ([180]) Let SOT be a homogeneous variety of algebras such that 1. for any free algebra A of fUI the universal multiplicative enveloping algebra U(A) is a free associative algebra; 2. the variety OT has the property of differential separability for subalgebras. Then 271 is Schreier variety. As a corollary we get THEOREM 3.8 ([180]) The variety of algebras defined by the identity x x2 = 0 is Schreier. For more information on Schreier varieties of algebras we refer to the articles [180, 182] (for the varieties of linear 7-algebras see [10, 16]). For any element a of the free associative algebra K(X] we have the unique presentation in the form a = a 1 + x\ a\ + x% a^ + , where only finite number of elements G,J K ( X ) are nonzero, a 6 K. We call the element a,; the right Fox partial derivative of the element a by Xi, and we use the notation o,j = -S^- = -rra. Thus we have the operators These operators are exactly linear mappings -: K(X) > K{X) such that OXi ^T(ZJ) = Sij and
d , , d , . (uv) = (u)v
, , d , , (n)(v),
where a: K(X] > K(X} is the homomorphism denned by a(xi) 0 for all Xi X. For all a L(X] and b 6 K(X] we set / b = e(a, b) ba and a r^ = a b. Then K(X] is an L(X)-bimodule. It is clear that the universal multiplicative enveloping algebra of L(X) is exactly the free G-graded associative algebra K(X] with the above denned actions la and ra (at the same time K(X] is the universal enveloping algebra of the color Lie superalgebra L(X}}. The derivation
1=1
given by
i=i
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for all a L(X) (only finite number of summands are nonzero) is the universal derivation of L(X). Using free differential calculus (universal derivations) A. A. Mikhalev, V. Shpilrain, and A. A. Zolotykh [106] obtained matrix algorithms to find ranks of subalgebras of free Lie algebras. A. A. Mikhalev and A. A. Zolotykh [127] constructed such algorithms for subalgebras of free Lie superalgebras and free Lie p-superalgebras. Recently K. Champagnier [24] obtained similar results for ranks of subalgebras of free non-associative algebras and free (anti) commutative non-associative algebras. Let K be a field, char K ^ 2. L(X) the free color Lie superalgebra (if char .ft" = p > 2 let, also LP(X) be the free color Lie p-superalgebra) . For the algebra A = L(X] (A = LP(X}} the universal multiplicative enveloping algebra U(A) of A is the free associative algebra K ( X ) . Let H {hi, . . . , hm} be a subset of G-homogeneous elements of A. Consider p., \ -TJ-^ 1' , 1 < ?' < n, 1 < j < m. Here the ^partial deriva '
J
O 7
tives -7T-2- are components of the (right) universal derivation. Consider the columns d(hj), I < j < rn, of the matrix J(H) = ( d ( h i ) , . . . . d(hm)). THEOREM 3.9 ([127]) A subset H = {hi,...,hm} of A is independent if and only if the columns of the matrix J(H) are right independent over
U(A).
THEOREM 3.10 ([127]) Let H = {hi,...,hm} C A. Then the rank of the subalgebra of A generated by H is equal to the rank of the free right U (A) - submodule ofU(A)n generated by the columns of the matrix J ( H ) . Theorem 3.9 gives an effective algorithm to decide whether given subset of A is independent, or not. Note that U. U. Umirbaev [178] showed that this problem for free associative algebras is algorithmically undecidable. Theorem 3.10 gives an effective algorithm to find the rank of a finitely generated subalgebra of A. These algorithms are based on the right weak algorithm. Another algorithm could be derived from Theorem 1.2. Indeed, using combinatorics on words by elementary transformation we could transform the set H to a reduced set. The cardinality of this set is the rank of the subalgebra of A generated by H . Let K be a field, L a K-algebra with the bracket multiplication [, ]. Then L is a Leibniz algebra if
for all x, y. z e L.
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The variety of Leibniz algebras is not a Schreier variety of algebras. Nevertheless many of combinatorial properties of this variety are similar to the properties of Schreier varieties of algebras. A. A. Mikhalev and U. U. Umirbaev [107] showed that the variety of all Leibniz algebras has the property of differential separability for subalgebras, the Jacobian conjecture has a positive solution for free Leibniz algebras, free Leibniz algebras are finitely separable. It follows that the occurrence problem for free Leibniz algebras is decidable. In order to clarify difference between the variety of Leibniz algebras and Schreier varieties of algebras A. T. Abdykhalykov, A. A. Mikhalev, and U. U. Umirbaev considered in [1] automorphisms of free Leibniz algebras, they constructed an example of a wild automorphism of the free Leibniz algebra in two generators. Free differential calculus can be applied to a study of free Abelian extensions in a variety >2T. Let A be an algebra in 'IT with a fixed set of generators X. We say that an algebra B in V is a free Abelian extension of A in V if 1. B is generated by the same set X; 2. there exists a surjective homomorphism 7 : B > A which is identical onX; 3. if C is an algebra in 93 generated by the set X having a surjective homomorphism r\ ; C * A which is identical on X then there exists a homomorphism : B > C such that r? = 7. Take a free 27-algebra A with the set X of free generators. Since A is generated by the set X there exists a surjective homomorphism of algebras p : F > A which is identical on X. Denote by / the kernel ker/o. It is not difficult to show that the free Abelian extension B is precisely F/I2, where I2 is the ideal in F generated by all products ab, a, b /. Thus, free Abelian extensions are analogs of wreath products in group theory. An extension of a study of free Abelian extensions to any congruencemodular variety in universal algebra and a development of generalized free differential calculus is exposed in [7]. 4 STABLE EQUIVALENCE AND THE RANK OF AN ENDOMORPHISM
An element u of a free algebra F is said to be primitive if it is an element of some set of free generators of the algebra F. A set of nonzero pairwise distinct elements of F is said to be a primitive system of elements if it is a subset of some set of free generators of F. The rank of u F is the smallest number of generators from X on which an element tf>(u) depends on, where
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(f runs through the automorphism group of F (in other words, rank (u) is the smallest rank of a free factor of F containing u). In the same way the rank of a system of elements is denned. Let K be a field, char AT ^ 2, X = {xl,...,xn}, F = F(X) the free algebra without the unity element on the set X of free generators of one of the following varieties of algebras over a field K: the variety of all algebras; the variety of Lie algebras; varieties of color Lie superalgebras; the variety of Lie p- algebras; varieties of color Lie p-superalgebras; varieties of commutative and anticommutative algebras. PROPOSITION 4.1 ([114]) Let A = {ai, . . . ,c/} be a primitive system of elements of F , B a finitely generated subalgebra of F such that A C B. Then A is a primitive system in B. THEOREM 4.2 ([116]) Let X andY be nonempty sets, Xr\Y = 0, m,Vi F(X), Ui 0, v-i ^ 0, i 1, . . . , m. Suppose that there is an automorphism, ip of the algebra F(X LI Y) such that ip(ui} = Vi, i = 1, . . . , m. Then there is an automorphism. i/> of F ( X ) with V('*i) = v i, ? < = l , . . . , m . In other words, if two finite systems of elements of the free algebra F(X) are stably equivalent, then they are equivalent. THEOREM 4.3 ([116]) Let X and Y be nonempty sets, X n Y = 0, U a finite set of nonzero elem.ents of F(X). Then rank F(A -)(L7) = r In other words, the rank of the system. U is equal to its stable rank. Now we formulate the following problem. PROBLEM 4.4 Let (p be an. injective endomorphism of a free algebra F and 0 / u F. Is true that rank (<>(i/.)) > rank (u) ? Let if> be an endomorphism of F(X), where X = {x\, . . . , xn}. We define the rank rank ((p) of (p as the rank of the system of elements ip(X) = ( i p ( x i ) , . . . , <p(xn}}. This notion does not depend on the choice of free generators of the free algebra F(X). Indeed, let Y = {y\, . . . , yn} be another set of free generators of F(X). By Theorem 1.2, there is a sequence of elementary automorphisms '</>: X + Y. This sequence induces the sequence of elementary transformations ?// of the set <p(X), t/;/: Y = ^(X} <p(Y) = { p ( y i } , ..., <p(yn)}. Therefore rank (<p(Y}) = rank (<f(X}}. Let (p be an endomorphism of F(X), 0 7^ u F(X). If u or (p is not of maximal rank, or (p is not injective. then in general there is no relation between rank (ip (u)} and rank(n). We illustrate this for free Lie algebras.
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Let L(X} be the free Lie algebra, where X {x, y}, (f the endomorphism of L(X) given by <p(x) x, ip(y) = 0, and u = x + [x, y}. Then (p(u) x and rank (</?(tt)) = 1 < 2 = rank (u) = \X\. If ip is the endomorphism of L(X) given by t/j(x) = u, V ; (j/) 0, then i/i(u) u, and rank('0(^)) = 2 = rank (u}. If v = x, then ^(v) = M, and rank (V ; (^)) = 2 > rank (u) = 1. If (f is an injective endomorphism of maximal rank, but rank (u) < n = \X\, then we consider the following examples. Let X = {x,y,z,w}, and let </? be the endomorphism of the free Lie algebra >L(X) given by (p(x) = x, p(y} = [x,y], <f(z) = [[x,y],y], (p(w) = [z,w]. Since the set {(f>(x),tp(y},<f>(z),ip(w)} is reduced relative to the ordinary degree, <p is injective. Let HI = [[x,y],z], U2 = [x,y], 1x3 = [x,w\. Then <P(UI) = [[x,[x,y]],[[x,y],y]], </?(tt 2 ) = [x,[x,y]}, </?(u 3 ) = [x,[z,w]}, and we get rank (</P(WI)) = rank (^(t^)) = rank (</?(ii3)) = 2 < 2 = 3 > 3 = 2 = 2 = rank (1/4) rank (77,2) rank (7/3).
In the case where <p is an injective endomorphism of F ( X ) , 0 7^ u , both it and </? have maximal rank we get THEOREM 4.5 ([116]) Let X = {xi,...,xn}, Oûe F(X), and rank (7;,) = n. Let also (f be an injective endomorphism of F(X), rank (y?) = n. Then rank (</?()) = rank (n) = n. The idea of the proof of Theorem 4.5 works also for systems of elements. THEOREM 4.6 ([116]) Let X = {.TI, . . .,xn}. Let also U = {HI, . . .,um} be a system, of nonzero elements of the free algebra F(X), rank (U) = n, <p an injective endom,orphism of F(X), rank (U) = rank(yj) = n. Then rank({</?(wi), . . . ,p(um)}) = rank (7) = n. 5 RANK THEOREMS
Let A be the free algebra with the set X = {x\, . . . ,xn} of free generators of one of the following varieties: OTo (the variety of all algebras), 9Jti (the variety of all commutative algebras, char^f ^ 2), or SQt2 (the variety of all anti-commutative algebras). Following [161], [162] we define the rank rank (a) of an element a of a free algebra A as the minimal number of generators from X on which an automorphic image of a can depend. The rank of a system of elements GI, . . . , a-k of A is defined similarly (notation: rank (01, . . . , a^)). For an element a, of A by Ma we denote the left {/(yl)-submodule of U(A) generated by the elements 77-^-, ox\ - . . 75^-. ox The universal multiplicative
n
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enveloping algebra U(A) is a free associative algebra. The algebra U(A) as a left L r (A)-module is a free one-generated module. Any left ideal of a free associative algebra is a free module of unique rank. By rank (Ma) we denote the rank of the U(A)-module Ma. THEOREM 5.1 ([108]) For any element a of A the rank of a is equal to the rank of the left ideal. Ma ofU(A) generated by the elements -8^-, 1 < i < n.
r\
Let Bi (i = 1, . . . . r) be the row with i-th coordinate equal to 1 and other coordinates equal to zero. THEOREM 5.2 ([108]) The rank of a system, of elements o,1; . . . , a.T of A is equal to the rank of the left, U (A) -module M Miai a\ generated by the elements ^'=1 Y^ , jê,. ' l< < n. Jj Now we consider rank theorems for free Lie algebras and superalgebras. In all what follows we denote LX = L(X) (the free color Lie superalgebra) in the case where char/iT = 0, and LX = LP(X) (the free color Lie p-superalgebra) in the case where char.fi' = p > 2. THEOREM 5.3 ([119, 120]) Let h be a G -homogeneous element of the algebra LX- Then rank (h) is equal to the rank of the left ideal of K ( X ) OT 1 T-p x e X > (as a free left K (X} -module) . THEOREM 5.4 ([119, 120]) Let, hi, . . . , hk be G'-homogeneous elements of the algebra LX- Then the rank of the system, {hi, . . . ,/i^} is equal to the rank of the left K(X)-subm.odule of the K(X) -module K(X)k generated by the elements
ox
= K(X)ei 0 K(X)ek
. ?'=!
As it was proved by U. U. Umirbaev in [183], the statements of Theorems 5.3 and 5.4 take place for the free group F (instead of K(X) it is necessary to consider the group algebra of F over a field K, this algebra is also a fir). Theorems 5.1-5.4 (together with the weak algorithm) give us an effective algorithm to find the rank of a system of elements of a free algebra of a Schreier variety of algebras. For a homogeneous element of a free Lie algebra an algorithm to find the rank was constructed by V. Shpilrain [162].
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A. A. Mikhalev and A. A. Zolotykh [120, 124, 129] obtained algorithms to realize the rank of a system of elements in free Lie (p-)(super)algebras (i.e. algorithms to construct a concrete automorphism such that the images of elements depend on minimal possible number of free generators). For free ((anti)commutative) non-associative algebras such algorithms were constructed by K. Champagnier [23]. 6 PRIMITIVE ELEMENTS
We recall that a system of elements of a free algebra F is primitive if it is a subset of some set of free generators of F. Let X = {xi, . . . , xn}. Let also A be the free algebra with the set X of free generators of one of the following varieties: 97lo (the variety of all algebras), DJli (the variety of all commutative algebras, char K ^ 2), or Wl? (the variety of all anti-commutative algebras). THEOREM 6.1 ([108]) A system a\,...,ar of elements of A is primitive if and only if the matrix (d(a\), . . . , d(ar}) is left invertible over U(A). In particular, an element a of A is primitive if and only if there are elements m mi,..., m n e U(A] such that YJi=i ~ THEOREM 6.2 ([108]) For a system of elements ai, ...,ar of A there is an algorithm to decide whether this system is primitive, or not. Now we consider primitive systems of elements of free color Lie (p-)superalgebras. Let L be the free color Lie superalgebra L(X), or the free color Lie j>-superalgebra LP(X). For a 6 L we denote by d(a) = dx(i) the column
/ r\ r\ \ \
(\ -S^-, -S^- /1 . For an endomorphism tp of L and k < n we consider ux\ , ox n the (k x fc)-matrix
d(p(xi)
and we say that Jk(<p) is the fc-th Jacobian matrix of </?. If k = n then J(tf) = Jn(f) is called the Jacobian matrix of <p. Note that for the composition of endomorphisms (p and -0 of L ( X ) (of LP(X}) the Jacobian matrix J(tj-i o (p) is equal to J(^}i/}(J((p)). The following theorem gives a positive solution of the Jacobian problem for free color Lie (p-)superalgebras.
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THEOREM 6.3 ([99]) Let K be a field, X = {xi,.. .,xn}. An endomorphism, (p of the free color Lie (p-)superalgebra L is an automorphism if and only if the Jacobian matrix J((p) is invertible over A(X). Moreover,
Note that a square matrix over a free associative algebra is left invertible if and only if it is right invertible. It follows from the fact that a free associative algebra can be embedded into a skew field (see, for example, [33, 34, 149]). The Jacobian conjecture for free Lie algebras was proved by U. U. Umirbaev [179], C. Reutenauer [139], and V. Shpilrain [160]. More general situation for Lie algebras was considered by U. U. Umirbaev [179] and V. Shpilrain [160]. The Jacobian conjecture for free Lie (p-)superalgebras was proved by A. A. Mikhalev [99]. The Jacobian conjecture for free Lie algebras over rings was proved by A. A. Mikhalev and A. A. Zolotykh [126]. The Jacobian conjecture for free non-associative algebras, free (anti)commutative (non-associative) algebras was proved by A. V. Yagzhev in [188]. and for other types of free algebras with the NielsenSchreier property by U. U. Umirbaev [180]. Note that the Jacobian conjecture for free groups was proved by J. Birman [20]. Theorem 6.3 gives an effective procedure to recognize automorphisms of free Lie algebras and superalgebras among endomorphisms. Another algorithm follows from Theorem 1.2. Let X = {.TI, . .. j X n } . For the free associative algebra K(X) denote by K(X}e the tensor product K ( X } f < K ( X ) with the multiplication given by (a(g)6)(c(i) = acd,b. It is clear that K(X)e is the universal multiplicative enveloping algebra for K(X). Let
n n
IA = ^(K(X)e),
= ff)(K(X) dxi K(X)i
be the direct, sum of n copies of K(X}e, ( K ( X ) e ) i = K(X)-dxi-K(X), b}i = a dxt b. The universal derivation of K(X) is the /^-linear mapping D: K(X) -> IA given by D(xl) = 1 dx,, 1, D(ab] = D(a) -b + a- D(b), D(l) = 0. For any a e K(X] the element D(a) has the unique presentation in the form D(a} = a\-\ \-an, o,: < (K(X)e)i. The component a,; = -jj^ is the partial derivative of a on x,;. If we consider the natural homomorphism of associative algebras with the identity elements (p:K(X}e * K[X] (where K[X] is the polynomial algebra), (p(a 6) = ab, then the images of partial derivatives of elements of K(X) are usual partial derivatives of elements of K"[-X"]. If X = {xi,... .xn} and </? is an endomorphism of K(X} then (p is an
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automorphism if and only if the Jacobian matrix
is invertible over K(X}e. This result for n = 2 was obtained by W. Dicks and J. Lewin [41], and for arbitrary n by A. H. Schofield [149]. A. A. Mikhalev and A. A. Zolotykh proved this result for free associative algebras over an associative commutative ring, [125]. W. Dicks [38] established the following "commutator test" for a free associative algebra K(x, y) of rank two: an endomorphism defined by x > u, y > v of the algebra K(x, y) is an automorphism if and only if [u, v] = uv vu = a [x, y] for some 0 ^ a 6 K. The following results give matrix criteria for a systems of elements of free Lie (p-)superalgebras to be primitive. THEOREM 6.4 ([119, 120]) Let h be a G -homogeneous dement of Then the following conditions are equivalent: (i) the element h is primitive; (ii) there exist elements mi, . . . , mn 6 K(X) such that
dh
Lx.
Note that the statement of Theorem 6.4 does not take place for free Lie algebras over fields of positive characteristic. A. A. Mikhalev, U. U. Umirbaev, and A. A. Zolotykh constructed a series of such examples in [110, 111]. For instance, let K be a field, char K p > 2, X = {x, y, z}, L(X] the free Lie algebra, h = x + [y,z] + (ad.r) p (z) L(X). Then h is not a primitive element of L(X), but at the same time the rank of the left ideal of K(X) generated by the elements $p, 4-p, ffi is equal to 1 (h is a primitive element of LP(X), but not of L ( X } } . Let / be the ideal of L(X) generated by h, L = L(X)/I. Since h is hot a primitive element of L(X), L is not a free Lie algebra ([73]). But the universal enveloping algebra of L is a free associative algebra of rank two. In particular, the cohomological dimension of the Lie algebra L is equal to one, [110, 111, 124]. It shows that there is no analog of Stallings-Swan theorem (that groups of cohomological dimension one are free, [170, 174]) for free Lie algebras over fields of prime characteristic. PROBLEM 6.5 Let char K = 0. Is it true that a Lie K -algebra L is free if and only if its universal enveloping algebra U(Li) is a free associative K -algebra?
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PROBLEM 6.6 Let char K" = 0. Is it true that a Lie K-algebra L is free if and only if its cohom.ological, dimension is equal to one? This problem was solved in the affirmative for two-generated Lie algebras by G. L. Feldman [48]. Some necessary and sufficient conditions for Lie algebras with one defining relation to have cohomological dimension one were obtained by A. V. Sereguine [151]. THEOREM 6.7 ([119, 120]) Let hi,..., hk be G-homogeneous elements of the algebra LX Then, the following conditions are equivalent: (i) the system, [hi,... , h^} is primitive; (ii) there exist elements m,ij E A(X), i = l , . . . , f c , j' = l,...,n, such that for all r, s = 1 , . . . , / , :
ViTT- = 6rs,
dhs
i.e. the (n x k)-matrix I -^- \ is left invertible. Theorems 6.4 and 6.7 give us an effective algorithm to decide whether a system of elements of a free color Lie (p-superalgebra) is primitive, or not. Moreover, A. A. Mikhalev and A. A. Zolotykh [120, 124, 128, 129] constructed an algorithm to construct a complement of a primitive system of elements with respect to a free generating set of the free Lie (p-} super algebra. Based on Theorem 6.1, K. Champagnier [23] constructed a similar algorithm for free ((anti)commutative) non-associative algebras. PROBLEM 6.8 Do the assertions of Theorems 6.4 and 6.7 are valid for free Lie rings? PROBLEM 6.9 To find criteria for an element of a polynomial algebra or a free associative algebra to be primitive and an algorithm to determine primitive elements. V. Shpilrain and J.-T. Yu [166], [167] constructed algorithms to recognize coordinate polynomials of a polynomial algebra of rank 2 (primitive elements of a free associative algebra of rank 2, respectively) over a field of characteristic zero. PROBLEM 6.10 Is it true that an element a of the free associative algebra K(x,y) is primitive if and only if there are elements b\,b2 of the algebra e K(x, such, that 61 ^ +^ b^Qp 1 <S) 1 ? i \ ' # y} / r)-r ri'ii
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Theorem 6.1 for a primitive element of a free group was proved by W. Dicks and M. J. Dunwoody [40, Corollary IV.5.3], and for a system of elements of a free group the result similar to Theorem 6.7 was obtained by U. Umirbaev [181]. An algorithm to recognize primitive elements of free groups was constructed by J. H. C. Whitehead in [185, 186] (in fact, he solved more general so called automorphic conjugacy problem, see [88]). An algebra S defined by n generators and m relations with n > m, in a fixed variety is said to satisfy Lyndon condition if among the given generators there are n m elements generating a free subalgebra in this variety. O. G. Kharlampovich [65] proved that free algebras of the variety of all Lie algebras and of the variety of all /-step solvable Lie algebras satisfy the Lyndon condition. THEOREM 6.11 (Freiheitssatz, [157, 191]) Suppose that an element a of A depends on a free generator x e X. Let (a) be the ideal of A generated by a. Then the set X \x generates a free algebra of the variety 9Jt in the factor algebra A/(a). In other words, F(X \ x) n (a) = 0. The Freiheitssatz in group theory is due to W. Magnus [89]. For free non-associative algebras the Freiheitssatz was proved by A. I. Zhukov [191], and for free commutative and anticommutative non-associative algebras by A. I. Shirshov [157]. For Lie algebras the Freiheitssatz was obtained by A. I. Shirshov [158]. In associative algebras these problems were solved in the case of the field of zero characteristic by L. G. Makar-Limanov [93] and in the case of homogeneous relation by M. Hedges in [57]. For more facts on applications of the Freiheitssatz we refer to the review article [66]. PROBLEM 6.12 Does the Freiheitssatz take place for Lie p-algebras and color Lie p-superalgebras? One can find some particular examples of positive answers to the Freiheitssatz for free Lie (p-)superalgebras in [14, 97, 101, 124]. THEOREM 6.13 ([108]) Let a be an nonzero element of A, (a) the ideal of A generated by (a). Then a is a primitive element if and only if the factor algebra A/(a) is a free algebra of the same variety. The result similar to Theorem 6.13 was proved for free Lie algebras by G. P. Kukin in [73], and for two-variable polynomial algebras over a field of zero characteristic by S. S. Abhyankar and T.-T. Moh in [2]. This statement is also true for free groups, we refer to [88]. PROBLEM 6.14 Does the statement of Theorem 6.13 take place for Lie p-algebras and color Lie p-superalgebras?
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Now we consider automorphic orbits of primitive elements of A under the action of endomorphisms. THEOREM 6.15 ([108]) Let if be an endomorphism of A such that for any primitive element a of A the element (p(a.) is primitive. Then (f is an automorphism of A. Now we describe the situation in free Lie algebras and superalgebras. THEOREM 6.16 ([118, 121]) Let X = {xi, . . .,xn], and let y be an endom.orphism. of LX such that for any primitive element u of LX the element (p(u) is also primitive. .Then f is an automorphism, of LXPROBLEM 6.17 Let (p be an endomorphism of the free Lie algebra L(X) over a field of positive characteristic such that for any primitive elem.ent h the image <p(h) is a primitive elem.ent. Is it true that ip is an automorphism, ? Some of these results give a possibility to obtain more general results on images of orbits of elements under the action of endomorphisms. THEOREM 6.18 ([113]) Let K be a field, char K + 2, X = {xl5 . . .,xn}, and let u be a nonzero element of the algebra L = LX, Orb (u) the automorphic orbit of the elem.ent u, <p an endomorphism of L such that (?/)) C Orb(u). Then tp is an automorphism of L. A similar statement takes place for free non-associative algebras. THEOREM 6.19 ([108]) Let u be a nonzero element of A, Orb (u) the automorphic orbit of the element u. (> an endomorphism of A such that </?(Orb (u}) C Orb (n). Then </? is an automorphism of A. PROBLEM 6.20 Let y? be either an endomorphism of the free algebra K[X] (of K ( X ) , respectively), or of the free group F ( X ) , such that for any primitive element h the image <p(h) is a primitive element. Is it true that </? is an automorphism? This problem has close connection with Jacobian conjecture for free algebras and free groups and was discussed for free groups by V. Shpilrain in [161]. He pointed out that this problem is open (only in the case n = 2 it was solved in the positive way by V. Shpilrain [165] and S. V. Ivanov [60]). Under some additional assumptions Problem 6.20 for free groups was solved by S. V. Ivanov in [60]. Recently D. Lee [84] extended this result to arbitrary n. Moreover, in [83] she proved an analog of Theorems 6.18, 6.19
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for free groups. A. van den Essen and V. Shpilrain in [46] obtained an analogous result for a primitive element h of the polynomial algebra in two variables (of the free associative algebra of rank two, respectively). Z. Jelonek [62] proved the statement of Theorem 6.15 for polynomial algebras over the field of complex numbers. Now we consider the images of linear combinations of free generators under an endomorphism and formulate some open problems. In Theorem 6.16 it is impossible to consider only images of such nonzero G-homogeneous linear combinations as the following example shows. Let X = {x, y, z}, G Z2, d(x) = 0, d(y) = d(z) = I, L = L(X) the free Lie superalgebra, <p the endomorphism of L given by (p(x) = x + [y,z] + [ x , z , z ] , <p(y) = y, (p(z) = z.
Then it is clear that the image under (p of any Z2-homogeneous nonzero linear combinations of x, y and z is a primitive element, and at the same time (f is not an automorphism of L. Moreover, even in the case of free Lie algebras it is impossible in Theorem 6.16 to consider only images of linear combinations of elements of the free generating set. Indeed, the following theorem takes place. THEOREM 6.21 ([121]) Suppose that n > 3, X = {xi,.. .,xn}, the field K is not algebraically closed, L = L(X) (L LP(X)) is the free Lie (p-) algebra. Then there exists an endomorphism (p of L such that if is not an automorphism of L and at the same time for any nonzero linear combination a of elements of X the image <f(a) is a primitive element. The situations in free associative algebras and in polynomial algebras are the same, as the following theorems show. THEOREM 6.22 ([117]) Suppose that a field K is not algebraically closed, n > 3, X = {xi,... ,xn}, K[X] is the polynomial algebra over K. Then there exists an endomorphism (p of K[X\ such that (p is not an automorphism of K[X] and at the same time for any nonzero linear combination a of elements of X the image <p(a] is a coordinate polynomial. THEOREM 6.23 ([117]) Suppose that a field K is not algebraically closed, n > 3, X = {xi,...,xn}, K(X) is the free associative algebra over K. Then there exists an endomorphism (p of K(X) such that (p is not an automorphism of K(X) and at the same time for any nonzero linear combination a of elements of X the im.age if>(a) is a primitive element. But for algebras of rank two over a field of zero characteristic the situation is different. For two-variable polynomial algebras [25] (for free associative algebras of rank two [104]) it is true that every endomorphism which
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takes nonzero linear combinations of generators to primitive elements is an aut omor phism. PROBLEM 6.24 Let K be an algebraically closed field, (p an endomorphism of a free Lie algebra L of finite rank such that for any nonzero linear combination a of elements of X the image (p(a,) is a primitive elem,ent. Is it true that (p is an automorphism of L? Let, K be & field. X = {xi,,..,xn} a nonempty finite set. Now we consider combinatorial properties of endomorphisms of free algebras F ( X ) by considering inverse images of primitive elements. Let F = F ( X ) be a free K-algebra (without a unit element) on a finite set X of free generators in one of the following varieties of algebras over a field K: the variety of all algebras; the variety of Lie algebras; the variety of Lie p-algebras: varieties of color Lie super algebras; varieties of colorLie p-superalgebras: varieties of all non-associative commutative and anticommutative algebras. We start with inverse images of primitive elements under injective endomorphisms. THEOREM 6.25 ([104]) Let u be an element of a free algebra F = F ( X ] , v a primitive element of F, and (p an injective endomorphism, of F such that tp(u) = v. Then u itself is a primitive elem.ent of F. Now we consider a more general situation. THEOREM 6.26 ([104]) Let HI, .. .,uk be elements of a free algebra F = F ( X ) of rank n; { z i , . . . , z^} a primitive system, of F, 1 < k < n, and let (p be an injective endomorphism of the algebra F such that (p(ui) = Zi, 1 < i < k. Then {ui,...,Uk} is a primitive system of the algebra F. Furthermore, if k = n, then ip is an automorphism, of the algebra F. Now we consider inverse images of primitive systems under arbitrary endomorphisms. A subalgebra H of F is called a retract of F if there exists an ideal / of F such that F ~ H 0 I. THEOREM 6.27 ([104]) Let U = {ui,..., u,} be a subset of a free algebra F F ( X ) of rank, n > /; {z\,....zt} a primitive system, of F; H the subalgebra of F generated by U, and. (p an endom.orphism, of the algebra F such that (p(uj) = z,;, I < i < I. Then H is a retract of the algebra F. In particular, if I = n, then (p is an automorphism, and U is a set of free generators of the algebra F.
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TEST ELEMENTS AND RETRACTS
Let K be a field, char K ^ 2, and let X be a finite set, X = {x\,..., xn}. In what follows F = F(X) denotes the free /('-algebra without the unity element on the set X of free generators of one of the following varieties of algebras over a field K: the variety of all algebras; the variety of Lie algebras; the varieties of color Lie superalgebras; the variety of Lie p-algebras; the varieties of color Lie p-superalgebras; the varieties of commutative and anti-commutative algebras. The fixed points of endomorphisms and automorphisms of algebraic systems are under intensive consideration by many algebraists. An element u is called a test element if for any endomorphism <p from <p(u) = u it follows that (p is an automorphism. This definition was explicitly given by V. Shpilrain in [161]. But the history of test elements goes back to J. Nielsen and W. Dicks. The classical result of Nielsen [131] states that an endomorphism given by x > /, y > g of the free group F<2 with two generators x, y is an automorphism if and only if [/, g] is conjugate to [x,y]. Hence the commutator [x, y] = xyx~ly~l is a test element of FI- W. Dicks [38, 39] proved a similar result for the free associative algebra K(x,y) of rank two. Test elements of free groups are of interest for many years. Examples of such elements were given in [35, 44, 49, 50, 56, 58, 64, 131], [141]-[145], [161, 164, 175, 192, 193]. In [175] E. C. Turner proved that the test elements for monomorphisms of free groups of finite rank are exactly the elements of maximal rank (an element, of the free group has maximal rank if it does not belong to any free factor of the group), and that test elements for endomorphisms of free groups are elements which are not contained in proper retracts. The analogs of these results for free Lie algebras and free color Lie superalgebras and ^-superalgebras were proved by A. A. Mikhalev and A. A. Zolotykh in [123], and by A. A. Mikhalev and J.-T. Yu in [112], respectively. For free ((anti)commutative) non-associative algebras these results were obtained by A. A. Mikhalev and J.-T. Yu in [113]. A subalgebra H of F is a retract if there exists a homomorphism p: F > H such that p is the identity mapping on H (p is called a retraction homomorphism) . Obviously a subalgebra H of F is a retract if and only if there exists an ideal I of F such that F H /. THEOREM 7.1 ([113]) LetK be afield, X = {Xl,.. .,xn}, ueF = F(X), rank (?/) = n, <p a m,onom,orphism, of F such that (p(u) u. Then if is an automorphism of F. As a corollary, we have
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THEOREM 7.2 ([113]) Let X = {xi,...,xn}, u e F ( X ) , rank (u) = n, and /et tp be a monomorphism of the free algebra F = F ( X ) . Then <p is an automorphism, of F if and only if the element ip(u) belongs to the orbit of u under the action of the automorphism, group of F (i.e. (p(u) 6 Orb (u),). The statement of Theorem 7.1 is not true for elements u with rank (u) < n. Indeed, if u does not depend on x\, then one can consider the endomorphism (p given by <p(x\) = x\ x% and </?(x,;) = xr for any i > 1. At the same time it is impossible to omit the condition that (p is a monomorphism. Indeed, let X {xi, ^2}, u x\ + x\ x%, <f>(xi) = u and (p(x^) 0. Then rank (u) = 2 = |AT|, <>(w) = u, but 93 is not an automorphism of F ( X ) . The reason of this fact is that if U is the subalgebra of F ( X ) generated by the element u, J the ideal of F(X) generated by x2, then F(X] = U J, that is the element u belongs to the proper retract, U of F ( X ) . THEOREM 7.3 ([112, 113]) Let X = {x},..., xn}. The test elements of the free algebra F=F(X) are precisely those elements which are not contained in any proper retract of F. PROBLEM 7.4 To construct an algorithm, to recognize test elements of free algebras of Schreier varieties of algebras. L. P. Comerford [35] has proved that there is an algorithm to recognize test elements of free groups. THEOREM 7.5 ([21, 113]) Let K be a field, X = {xi,...,xn}, H be a nonzero subalgebra of the free algebra F=F(X). Then H is a proper retract of F if and only if there exist a set Y = { y i , . . . ,yn} of free generators of the algebra F. an integer r, 1 < r < n. and a set U = {iii,... ,ur} of free generators of the algebra H such that
ui = yi+u*i, l<i<r, (3)
where the elements u* belongs to the ideal of the algebra F generated by the free generators yr+i, , y n PROBLEM 7.6 Is it true that the intersection of two retracts of the free algebra F=F(X) is a retract of this algebra? For free groups Problem 7.6 was solved in the affirmative by G. Bergman in [17]. A study of retracts of free algebras in a variety of algebra is equivalent to a study of projectives in the variety. Recall that an algebra P in a variety *U is protective if for any surjective homomorphism of QJ-algebras A : A -^ B and a homomorphism (3 : P > B there exists a homomorphism a : P > A such that Aa = B. Since any free algebra is projective it is naturally to put
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PROBLEM 7.7 Let P be a projective in a homogeneous variety QJ of (non)associative algebra. Is it true that P is free in 21? It was shown in [3] that any projective in a nilpotent variety is free. The next step was to study projectives in metabelian (solvable of degree 2) Lie algebras. Using free Fox's differential calculus and a solution of Serre's conjecture it was proved in [4] that any finitely generated projective metabelian Lie algebra is free and any finitely generated projective metabelian group is free. A similar result for metabelian restricted Lie p-algebras, metabelian Lie superalgebras, metabelian .D-groups was obtained in [6]. It seems that these results are not extendable for solvable Lie algebras and groups of degree 3 for some reasons explained in [8]. 8 GENERALIZED PRIMITIVE ELEMENTS
Let H be a variety of groups defined by the set of laws 'If, F the free group, and let %3(F) be the verbal subgroup defined by 57. An element g of F is said to be il-generic if g G %J(F) but g ( QJ(G) for every proper subgroup Gof F. In the articles [35, 44, 49, 50, 87, 143, 161, 171, 172, 192] generic elements of free groups were under consideration. In particular, series of generic elements of free groups were constructed. In [35] it was shown that for a variety with solvable word problem there is an algorithm to recognize generic elements. An almost primitive element (APE) is defined as an element of a free group F which is not primitive in F but which is primitive in any propersubgroup of F containing it. APE of a finitely generated free group are test elements, [35]. But there are test elements of free groups which are not generic: the element x 2 [y 2 , z] is a test word but is not generic, [35]. An element x2yx"^-y~^ is an APE of the free group F(x, y), but it is not a test element. In general, generic does not imply APE, [50]. At the same time, in [50] it was proved that if il is a nontrivial variety defined by the set of laws yj and w V(F), and w is APE of F, then w is H-generic and hence test element in F. A series of interesting results were obtained for almost primitive elements of free groups in [22, 49, 50], [69, 68], [142]-[145]. An almost primitive element (APE) of a free algebra F is an element which is not primitive in F, but which is primitive in any proper subalgebra of F containing it. We consider almost primitive elements of finitely generated free algebras of the main types of Schreier varieties of algebras. PROPOSITION 8.1 ([114]) Almost primitive elements of a free algebra F are elements of the maximal rank (that is they do not belong to any proper free multiplier of F). The reverse statement is not true.
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Since elements of the maximal rank are test elements for injective endomorphisms of F, it is interesting to realize the difference between almost primitive elements and test elements. LEMMA 8.2 Let K be a field, char K ^ 2, and let u be an APE of F(X) whose component of degree one is equal to zero. Then u is a test element ofF(X). PROPOSITION 8.3 ([114]) Let K be a field, char K + 2. 1. xy is an APE of F ( x , y ) , it is also a test element; 2. x + xy is an APE o f F ( x , y ) , at the same time it is not a test element; (xy)z is not an APE of F ( x , y , z ] , at the sam,e it is an element of maximal rank; 3. xx is an APE of the free non-associative algebra F(x), it is also a test elem.ent, if y is an odd variable, then [y,y] is an APE of the free Lie superalgebra L(y] of rank one, it is also a test element; 4- xp is an APE of the free Lie p-algebra Lp(x), it is also a test element; x,p is a test elem.ent, but not an APE; 5. the element x [[x, y], y] is not an APE of the free Lie algebra L(x, y), also it is not a test elem.ent, but it has the maxim.al rank two: the elem.ent [[x,y],y] is not an APE, but it is a test element of L(x,y); 6. [x, y} + [[.T, z], z] is an APE of the free Lie algebra L(x, y. z), it is also a test elem.ent: 7. if x and y are even, and. z is odd, then [z,y] + [[Z,X],.T;] is an APE of the free Lie superalgebra L(x,y;z), it is also a test element; if y and z are even, and x is odd, then this elem.ent is neither APE, nor test element of L ( y , z; x.]; 8. if char K p > 2, then the elem.ent x + [y, z] + (ad x ) p ( z ) is an APE and it is not a test element of the free Lie algebra L(x,y,z], and it is not an APE of the free Lie p-superalgebra L p ( x ^ y , z ) . PROPOSITION 8.4 ([114]) Let F(X} be a free product of two its proper subalgebras A and B, F = A* B. Let also a and b be homogeneous APE of A and B relative to som.e generalized degree functions /xi and ^ of A and B, respectively (n\ and /j,? could be different). Then a + b is an APE of F. Note that if a free group F of finite rank is a free product of two its proper subgroups A and B, F = A * B, and a and b are APE of A and B, respectively, then ab is an APE of F, see [22, 49, 50, 143].
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THEOREM 8.5 ([114]) Let K be a field, char K ^ 2. 1. If n = 2m, then the element
XiX2 + .X3.X4 + . . .
is
anAPEofF(X);
2. if n 1m, + 1 , then the element
is an APE of the free non-associative algebra F(X); the element

[xi,X2] + [X3, 0:4] + ... + [x2m-l,X2m] + X\m+l
is an APE of the free Lie p-algebra LP(X}; 3. the element x^ + . . . + x%, is an APE of the free Lie p-algebra LP(X}; 4- if n = 2m + 1, X = {xi, . . . ,X2m+l}, then the element
[\X2, Xi], Xi\ + [X2, X3} + ... + [X2m, X2m+l]
is an APE elem,ent of the free Lie algebra L(X}; 5. Let X = {xi, . . . ,xn} be even variables, and Y = {yi, . . . , ym} odd variables. (a) if n = 2k, m = 21, then the element
is an APE of the free Lie superalgebra L(X] Y] and of the free Lie p superalgebra LP(X; Y); (b) if n = 2k + 1, m, = 21, then the element
is an APE of the free Lie superalgebra L(X; Y); (c) if n = 2k, m = 21 + 1, then the element
is an APE of the free Lie superalgebra L(X; Y);
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(d) x\ + . . . + xpn + [yi, yi] + . . . + [ym, ym] is an APE of the free Lie p-superalgebra LP(X;Y); (e) if n = 2k + 1, m = 21, then the element
[2/i> 2/2] +
is an APE of the free Lie p-superalgebra LP(X;Y); (I) tf

n =
2&, rn, = 21, + I, then the element
[.TI, x2] + . . . + [x 2 fc-i, 2 fc] + [yi> y2] + . - + [2/2Z-l, 2/2/]
is an APE of the free Lie superalgebra L(X;Y) Lie p superalgebra LP(X\Y); (g) if n = 2k + 1, m = 21, + I, then the element [x 2 fc_i, x 2fc is an APE of the free Lie p superalgebra Lf(X;
and of the free
Y);
All elements pointed out above are test elements of the corresponding free algebras. PROBLEM 8.6 Find an algorithm, to recognize APE of free algebras of Schreier varieties. PROBLEM 8.7 Let X = {xi, . . . , x2n},
U = [xi, X2\ + [-T3, .774] + . . . + [X2 n _l, X 2n ].
7s u a test element of the free associative algebra K ( X ) ? V. Drensky and J.-T. Yu [45] showed that
( X i , X 2 ] ' [X3, X 4 ] - . . . [X 2 n _l, X 2n ]
is a test element of the free associative algebra K(X}. A vector of Laurent polynomials is called A-unimodular if its components generate the augmentation ideal of the whole algebra. V. A. Artamonov [4] has proved that the general linear group acts transitively on the set of all A-primitive vectors (for unimodular vectors this result was proved by A. A. Suslin [173]). V. Shpilrain [165] considered A-primitive elements of the free group. He proved that in a free group Fim any A-primitive element is an automorphic image of [.Ti,.T2i[x 3 ,.T4] - [x 2m _i,.r 2m ], there are no primitive elements of
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left ideal of K(X).
the group Fn if n is odd, in a free group F of finite rank, the group Aut(F) acts transitively on the set of all A-primitive elements. By A we denote the left ideal of the free associative algebra K(X) generated by the set X . Following [165] we say that an element u of L(X) is a A-primitive element if the elements -jfû, . . . , -rpu generate A as the ox i oxn
THEOREM 8.8 ([114]) Let K be a field, char K ^ 2, X = {xi, . . .,xn}, and let L(X) be the free Lie algebra on X over K. Then 1. Ifn = 2m, then any A-primitive element is an automorphic image of
[xi,X2] + [.T3, X4\ + ...+ [x2m-l,X2m};
2. There are no A-primitive elements of L(X) if n is odd; 3. The group of automorphisms of the algebra L(X) acts transitively on the set of all A-prim,itive elements. COROLLARY 8.9 Let K be a field, char K ^ 2, X = {xi, . . .,x2m}, and let L(X) be the free Lie algebra on X over K . Suppose that ip is an endomorphism of L ( X ) such that for any A-primitive element u of L(X) the element tp(u) is also A-primitive. Then if is an automorphism of L(X). Let il be a variety of Lie algebras over a field K defined by the set of identities S2T, L = L(X) the free Lie algebra with the set X of free generators, and let 9J(L) be the verbal ideal of L defined by 9?. An element / of L is said to be il-generic if / e 2J(L) but / ^ %3(H) for every proper subalgebra H of L. Let 21 be the variety of Abelian Lie algebras. An element u of the free Lie algebra L is 21-generic if u 6 [L, L], and if u [H, H] for some subalgebra H of L, then H = L. As in the situation with free groups (see [35]), since free Lie algebras of finite rank are Hopfian, generic elements are test elements. For a L(X) by ado, and Ada we denote the operators of left and right, multiplication, respectively, (ad a) (6) = [a, b] and (b) Ad (a) = [6, a] torbeL(X). PROPOSITION 8.10 ([109]) Let K be a field, char K ^ 2, X = {x,y,z}. Then the element u = [x, y] + (a;) (Ad z)k (k > 2) is an APE of the free Lie algebra L(X) over K. It is also a test element of L(X). PROPOSITION 8.11 ([109]) The element u = (x)(Ady)k + (x)(Adz)1, where k and I are positive integers,
is an APE of L(x, y, z] if and only if min{A;, /} = 1 and max{fc, /} > 2.
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Now we consider elements
of the free Lie algebra L(x, y). If k = I = 2, then u-z^x, y) = [[x, j/]> x y], and this element is not, an APE of L(x, y}. If char K = p > 2, then up.p(x, y} = [x + y, (ad^x + y))(y - .x)], and Upp(x,y) is not an APE of L(x,y). PROPOSITION 8.12 ([109]) Let k,l>2, k^l. Then the element Uk,i(x,y) = (adx) f c (y) + (x)(Ady)1 is an APE of L(x,y). THEOREM 8.13 ([109]) Let K be a field, char JT ^ 2, X = {XL . . . ,xn}, L(X) the free Lie algebra over K . 1) Ifn = 1m, then
[xi,X 2 ] + ... + [x2 T O _l,Z2m]
is an 01 -generic element of L(X); 2) If n = 2m, /c,;, /,;, i 1, . . . , m, are integers, kj,, l > 2, kj_ / /,;, then
is an 21- generic element of L ( X ) ; 3) If n = 2m, + 1 and l>1, then [xi,.r2] + (x\) (Ad x3)' + [3:4,0:5] + . . . is an 21 -generic element of L(X); J) If n = 3?77,, /i, . . . . lm > 2, t/?,en [xi,x 2 ] + (x 1 )(Ad.x 3 ) 11 + . . . [x 3m _2,x 3m _ 1 ] + zs an, 21 -generic element of L(X). Note that if n is even, then [xi, x%] [x3, x4] . . . [x n _i, xn] is an 21-generic element of the free group on X], ... .x n , [44, 142, 171]. THEOREM 8.14 ([109]) The element
n = [x, y] + [[x, y], x] + [[[x, y], x], [x, y}}

is an 21-generic element of the free Lie algebra L = L(x, y], but at the same time it is not an APE of this algebra.
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Let 97m be the variety of nilpotent Lie algebras of degree not less than m. This variety is given by the identity [xi, x%, . . . , xm] = 0, where [xi, x%, 2:3] =
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Graded algebras and graded identities

YU. A. BAHTURIN1 Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NF, A1A 5K9, Canada, and Department of Algebra, Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119992, Russia E-mail: yuri@math.mun.ca M. V. ZAICEV2 Department of Algebra, Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119992, Russia E-mail: zaicev@mech.math.msu.su
INTRODUCTION
In various branches of algebras people are interested in graded algebras and the ways gradings can be given to algebras. Of special interest are gradings of simple algebras. In the case of simple Lie algebras it is sufficient to mention the whole number of gradings by groups and semigroups arising from the root decomposition with respect to a Cartan subalgebra. But there are other ways of grading simple Lie algebras and in the whole number of papers authored by J. Patera (see e.g. [19]) he and his co-authors produce, study and apply some gradings, whose nature is rather different. One of the well-known and actively used results in Lie Theory is the description of Z-gradings on finite-dimensional complex Lie algebras [23]. In the paper [31] it was shown that all finite Z-gradings on a simple associative algebra can be obtained from the Pierce decomposition of this algebra. In [16] the author classifies all gradings of the Cayley-Dickson algebra. Finite
1 2
Work is partially supported by MUN Dean of Science Research Grant #38647 Work is partially supported by RFBPL grants 02-01-00219 and 00-15-96128
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Z-gradirigs of infinite-dimensional simple Lie algebras have been classified in [32]. Note that, in the case of rings or infinite-dimensional algebras the finiteness conditions for the gradings play an exceptional role. In some cases (see, for instance. [21]) the most attention is paid to gradings by torsion free groups. In the paper [15] the gradings on full matrix algebras were studied. In particular, all gradings by a torsion free group were described. In the same paper the authors classify the gradings on a matrix algebra over a field by a cyclic group. Finite gradings by a torsion free group on simple Artiniari rings were described in [35]. Finite-dimensional G-graded simple algebras over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero were described in [6], provided that, G is an abelian group. In this paper we give a survey of previous results concerning gradings on algebras and present some new results in this area. We are mostly interested with gradings on simple and semisimple algebras and rings, graded simple algebras and graded division algebras and also with graded identities. In Section 2 we consider gradings on simple rings and algebras. We also deal with various types of non-matrix algebras and their gradings. In Section 3 we describe graded simple algebras and graded division algebras under some restrictions on the group G and the base field F. We also discuss Lietype solvability of graded simple algebras. In Section 4 we are interested in identities of graded algebras. Let F be a field and R be an associative algebra over F. Let also G be a group. A G-grading on R is a decomposition of R, as a vector space, into the direct sum of subspaces R ^Q Rg such that RgRh C Rg^ for any g, h G G. The grading is called finite if the number of elements g G such that Rg ^ 0 is finite. Any element, x from the component Rg is called homogeneous of degree g, deg.T g. A subspace V C R is said to be graded or homogeneous if V = qgo V O Rg. In particular, one can consider graded subalgebras, graded ideals, etc. If e is the identity element, of G then Re is called the identity or neutral component. The grading is called trivial if Rg = 0 for any e~i G. The support of a graded algebra is defined as SuppG R = Supp R = {ge G\Rg + 0}. Similarly, one can define the support, of any homogeneous subspace in R. For an arbitrary G-graded algebra R = g^cRg its support S = Supp R is a subset of G. In particular, S ^ G for any infinite group G and any finite-dimensional G-graded algebra. If, for example, R2 = 0 then, clearly, any subset of G can be realized as a support of some G-grading on F. Recall that a G-grading/? = (Sg^cRg is called strong if RgRh = Rgh for any g,h G G. It is not difficult to see that Supp R = G for any strongly G-sraded algebra R.
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A map (f> : A = @g^Q Ag > B = Bg is called a homomorphism (isomorphism) of graded algebras if if is an ordinary homomorphism (isomorphism) and (p(Ag) C Bg,g G. It is easy to observe that Ker</? is a graded ideal of A. Recall that a G-graded algebra R = (BgôRg ig called graded simple (or G-graded simple) if R2 j^ 0 and it has no non-trivial graded ideals. A unitary graded algebra R = 5e<7 Rg is called a graded division algebra if all non-zero homogeneous elements of R are invertible. Clearly, any graded division algebra is graded simple.
2 2.1
GRADINGS ON SIMPLE ALGEBRAS Torsion free gradings on Artinian rings
We start this Section with finite gradings on simple and semisimple Artinian rings. We recall the definition of a so-called elementary grading on the matrix ring. Let G be an arbitrary group and R = Mn(F) be an n x n matrix algebra over a field F. Consider the n-th direct power Gn = G x ... x G of G and associate with any element x = ( < ? i , . . . , gn) Gn a grading on R. First, we define a grading on a subring RQ generated by the matrix units Eij, I < i, j < n. Fix x = (9l,...,gn] e Gn and let
EijeRg <=> g = g~1gj.
(i)
Since EijEki = 0 for k ^ j, and g~lgjg^lgr = ,rV> tne condition (ref2.1), in fact, defines a grading on RQ. If in addition we require that all scalar matrices are in the component Re where e is the unit of group G (this condition holds automatically if we consider Mn(F) not just as a graded ring but also as a graded /"-algebra), that is
F C Re,
(2)
then we get a finite G-grading on Mn(F). and only if g\ = ... = gn.
This grading will be trivial if
DEFINITION 1 A grading on the matrix ring Mn(F) is called elementary if it satisfies conditions (1) and (2) for some set (gi,. . , gn) Gn. It is obvious that the tuple (gi,... ,gn] for a given elementary grading is not unique. For example the n-tuple (gg\,... ,ggn) defines the same grading. In particular, one may always assume that gi = e is the identity ofG.
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There is a strong relationship between elementary gradings and gradings induced from vector spaces. Namely, any G-grading on a finite-dimensional vector space V determines a G-grading on the algebra End V of all linear transformations of V. Specifically, let V = ^g^cVg- We call a transformation (p G End V homogeneous of degree h, deg(</?) = h, if <f(Vg) C Vhg for all g G G. We denote by ng the canonical projection V > Vg. Then for any / G End G and any g, h G G the operator TI^/VT^ is homogeneous, with deg(7T(7/7r^) = gh~'i, and the decomposition
defines a G-grading on End V. PROPOSITION 1 ([7]) The matrix algebra Mn(F) = R = g<=GRg with an elementary grading is isomorphic as a G-graded algebra to the endomorphism algebra End V of some G-graded vector space V. REMARK. The same statement was actually proved in [15], Proposition 1.2. In the paper [15] the authors define a good grading on the full matrix algebra as a grading where all matrix units EJ,J are homogeneous. Applying Lemma 1 (see below) one can see that the notions of elementary and good gradings are equivalent. It is well-known that a simple (left) Artinian ring is isomorphic to the matrix ring Mn(D) over some division ring D. For such a ring one can obtain a grading from Condition (1) if one additionally requires that
D C Re.
(3)
DEFINITION 2 A grading on a simple Artinian ring Mn(D) is called an elementary if it satisfies Conditions (1),(3) for some set (g\. . . . ,gn) G Gn. The following statement is an easy observation. LEMMA 1 ([35], Lemma 1) Let R = Mn(D) be a matrix ring over a division rind D with som.e G-grading. R = g^G^9- tf a^ scalar matrices from, R lie in the identity component Re and all m,atrix units Ea,i = 1, . . . , n, are homogeneous then the grading is elementary. We record a useful remark about the relationship between the structure of a graded ring and the structure of its identity component. In the next statement G can be an arbitrary group and all ideals can be either two-sided or one-sided.
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LEMMA 2 ([35], Lemma 3) Let R = ffeG # ff be a ring with a finite Ggrading, e the identity of G and Re the identity component of this grading. If R has no nilpotent ideals then also Re has no nil-potent ideals. If R is a ring with the unit E then E 6 Re. If R is an Artinian ring then Re is also Artinian. The main result of the paper [35] is THEOREM 1 Let R = ffG<Rg be an Artinian simple ring with a finite G -grading. IfG is a torsion free group then R as a graded ring is isomorphic to a matrix ring Mn(D] with an elementary G- grading. As a consequence of this Theorem we obtain COROLLARY 1 // Mn(D) = R = geGRg is a finite G -grading on the m,atrix ring over a division ring D and G is torsion free then D Re. In particular, if F is any subfield in the center of D then any ring-grading of R is automatically a G-grading of R as a F-algebra. For finite-dimensional algebras the finiteness condition holds automatically. Therefore for matrix algebras over an arbitrary field one can formulate a Theorem as follows (cf.[15], Corollary 1.5). COROLLARY 2 Let G be a torsion free group. Then any G-grading on a matrix algebra over a field F can be made elementary if we compose it with some inner automorphism. From Corollary 2 one can derive some restrictions on the dimension of the neutral component. COROLLARY 3 Let G be a torsion free group and Mn(F) = A = seG Ag be a G-grading on a matrix algebra. Then there exists a partition n\ + . . . + r?,fc = n of n such that
= nf + . . . + T?|.
In particular, dimAe > n. Now let R = (Qg^cRg be a G-graded ring. If R has no non-trivial two-sided ideals, as a non-graded ring, then R is also graded simple. But in general graded simplicity is a weaker condition than simplicity. For example, the group ring R FG of an arbitrary non-trivial group G is graded simple but not simple. A wide class of torsion free groups is comprised by all ordered groups. For this class of groups the simplicity and the graded simplicity of graded algebras are closely connected.
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THEOREM 2 ([6], Theorem 3) Let R = S6G-R9 be a graded ring with a finite G-grading. where G is an ordered group. If R is graded simple then R is simple. If a graded ring is Artinian and G is torsion free we can drop the condition that G is an ordered group and obtain a description of graded simple rings. THEOREM 3 ([6], Theorem 4) Let R = g&GRg be an Artinian ring graded by a torsion free group G. If R is graded simple and the grading is finite then R is isomorphic as a G-graded ring to a m.atrix ring Mn(D) over som.e division ring D with an elem.entary grading. In particular, if R is 'a finite-dimensional algebra over a field F then any grading of R is finite and we can classify graded simple algebras, provided that G is torsion free. COROLLARY 4 Let R = (Bg^c^-g be a finite-dimensional algebra over a field F graded by a torsion free group G. Then R is graded simple, if and only if it is isomorphic to Mn(D) with an elementary G-grading where D is a finite-dimensional division algebra over F. In order to complete the description of all torsion free gradings on a semisimple Artinian ring R it is sufficient to show that any simple summand of R is graded. THEOREM 4 ([6], Theorem 2) Let R = ^g&GRg be a sem.isim.ple Artinian ring with a finite G-grading by a torsion free group G. Then any simple summand of R is G-graded. We finish this subsection with a characterization of finite integral gradings on simple algebras. Integral gradings on simple algebras of arbitrary dimension were studied in [31]. The main result of this paper can be formulated as follows. THEOREM 5 Let R be a simple associative algebra and R = ^zninRi be a finite 1,-grading on R. Then R can be decomposed into the sum. R = pq=0Rptq with Rp^qRSf = 6qsRpj where 6qs is Kronecker's delta and the grading on R is induced by this decomposition, that is Ri = ^
p-q=i
Rp:q,
i = -n,..., n.
If. in addition, R has the unit e then there exists a system of orthogonal idem-patents CQ, . . . , en such that e = CQ + + en and RP!/J = epReq, 0 < p,q < n.
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As a corollary of the previous result one can find necessary and sufficient condition for a finite set M of integers to be the support of a finite grading on a simple algebra. COROLLARY 5 ([31], Proposition 4.7) A finite subset M C Z is a support of a finite Z-grading on a simple algebra if and only if M = (N)U{0}(JN for a finite set N of positive integers. Using Theorem 1 we can extend this result in case of Artinian simple algebras to all torsion free groups. COROLLARY 6 Let G be a torsion free group. A finite subset M C G is a support of a finite G-grading on a simple Artinian algebra if and only if M = T'1T U TT~l for some finite subset T C G. Proof. By the definition of elementary grading the support consists of all products g~lgj, 1 < i,j < n for some re-tuple (gi,... ,gn) Gn. Taking all pairwise distinct elements from #1,.. ., gn we obtain the required subset T.
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2.2
Non-commutative gradings on matrix algebras
In this subsection we consider gradings on matrix algebras by arbitrary groups. First we give a definition of gradings of a special type. DEFINITION 3 A grading R = g&GRg is called "fine", ifdimRg < I for any g G G. The following Lemma and Corollary were proved in [7]. We need it in the proof of the main result of this subsection. LEMMA 3 Let Mn(F) A = gecAg be a matrix algebra over a field F with a "fine" G-grading. Then H = Supp A is a subgroup in G and all non-zero homogeneous elem,e?its in A are invertible. COROLLARY 7 Let A = Mn(F) = Q)geGAg be a matrix algebra over an algebraically closed field F with som,e G-grading. Then A is a graded division algebra if and only if the grading is "fine". Note that the previous statement cannot be generalized to any arbitrary field F. For example, if F = R is a field of real numbers and R = M is a 2 x 2-matrix algebra then the decomposition R = RQ 0 R\ where
a
b
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b -a
is a Z2-grading and R is a graded division algebra. On the other hand dimf?o = dim RI 2. The proof of the next statement for the rings R and A can be found in [28] (Lemma 3.11) or in [22] (Cli. 4, Sect. 4). The same argument can be applied also for algebras. LEMMA 4 Let R be an algebra over F with the identity element E and A a subalgebra of R isomorphic to Mn(F). If Eij, i,j = 1, . . . . n, are the matrix units from. A and E = En -\ ---- + Em then R = AC~AC~ Mn(C] where C is the centralizer of A in R. Now let A = gecAg and B = h^nBh be two graded algebras and R = A B. Then R can be equipped with a T-grading, where T G x H . if we set
Rt = Ag Bh
where t = (g, h) G x H. Generalizing this construction, we consider two subsets G, H C T of a group T such that gh = hg for any g G. h E H. If A = s6G-4fl arid B g&cBh are two G-graded algebras and Supp A = G, Supp B = H then their tensor product R can be naturally graded by the same group T if we set,
g
Bh.
gh=t
In particular, if G is an abelian group then the tensor product of any two G-graded algebras can be graded in this way. For non-commuting supports we generalize this approach only in case where one of the factors is a matrix algebra. Let A = gcAg be any G-graded algebra, B Mn(F] = qôBg be a matrix algebra over F with an elementary grading given by an n-tuple ( g i , . - . , g n ) G G'\ that is, E^ B -\ . Then the direct computations show that R = A B will be a G-graded algebra if one sets Rg = Span{a Eij\ a Ah,g~lhgj = g}. DEFINITION 4 The grading just defined will be called the induced Ggrading on A Mn(F}. It is obvious that A = A E is embedded in R as a G-graded algebra. Similarly, if A is an algebra with identity 1 then also B = I B is a graded subalgebra of R. We notice that if 5 = Supp A and T = Supp B are two commuting subsets in G, for example, if S and T are arbitrary groups and G = S x T, then the induced grading coincides with the previous
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construction. Thus the induced grading is a natural generalization of the tensor product of graded algebras to the case of non-commuting supports, but under the restriction that B is a matrix algebra with an elementary grading. The following result was first proved in [6] for abelian gradings if char F = 0. Then it was generalized to non-commutative gradings in [7]. We actually did not use the condition char F 0 in both papers. Nevertheless we record here a slightly modified proof since it was not claimed in the above-mentioned papers that the supports have trivial intersection. THEOREM 6 Let Mn(F) = R = Qg^cRg be a matrix algebra over an algebraically closed field F graded by a group G. Then there exists a decomposition n = pq, a subgroup H C G of order p2 and a q-tuple g = (gi,...,gq) Gq such that Mn(F) is isomorphic as a G-graded algebra to the tensor product Mp(F) Mq(F) with an induced G-grading where Mp(F) is an H-graded algebra with "fine" H-grading and Mq(F) is endowed with an elementary G-grading, determined by g. Moreover, if G is an abelian group then H n Supp Mq(F] = e. Proof. Set A = Re where e is the identity element of G. By Lemma 2, A is semisimple and contains the identity of R. Consider the decomposition of A into the sum of simple components, A = A^ 0 A^. Since F is algebraically closed, all A^ = Mqi(F) are matrix algebras, i = 1 , . . . , k. Denote by e\,..., ek the identity elements of the algebras A^l\ ..., A^k\ respectively. Clearly, R^ = ejjRe,; is a simple subalgebra in R and it is homogeneous in the G-grading. By Lemma 4, R^ = A^C^ = A^ <8> C^ where (?W js the centralize! of A^ in R^. Since the centralizer of any element from Re is a homogeneous subalgebra, C^ is simple and homogeneous in the G-grading. The intersection C^C\A^> consists of scalar matrices, hence the neutral component Ce is of dimension one. Then by Lemma 4 from [6], G^ is an algebra with a "fine" grading and Supp C^ = #W is a subgroup in G by Lemma 3. We will show that all G ( 1 ) ,..., G(fc> are isomorphic as non-graded algebras, all subgroups H^l\...,H^ are conjugate in G and R is isomorphic to G D where C = C^ is a (nongraded) subalgebra of R and D is the centralizer of G in R. Moreover, D is graded in the G-grading and the grading of D is elementary. To construct C and D we decompose the identity elements of A^\ . . . , A* ' as the sums of minimal idempotents, that is, the diagonal matrix units. For this we denote by e*g, 1 < a,/3 < qi, the matrix units of A^',i = l , . . . , f c . Then ei = e l n + ..- + ej.,.. (4) Since Re^ e^Re^ ^ 0,
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in R one can find homogeneous elements .ri2, .7:23, . , x\.-\^ Xk,k-i, , ^32, Z2i such that xtj e e^Rej and ekxk^__}ek_i - e 2 .T 21 ei.ri 2 e2X23 Xk-i,k^k ^ 0. Since R = C(i)A^ and A^ C Re, we have that Supp R^ = Supp C = H(l\i = l,...,k. We set deg(.ri 2 ) - a2, . . . , deg(.x fc _i )fc ) = a fc , deg(x 2 i) = & 2 , - .. , deg^fc^-i) = bk. Since x 2 i.Ti 2 G e2-Re2 = R^ then <2 = M>2 7f( 2 ). Let 0 ^ z2 C ( 2 ) ,deg(2 2 ) = ^l Then z2 is invertible by Lemma 3 and commutes with e2. We replace now xî by x21 = -22X21 and X32 by X 32 = X32Z2 Then again
and x 21 Xi2 /v2' where deg(.x21) = deg(xi2)~ 1 in G. Similarly we may replace x'^ by x'^ z?>x'yi and .7^43 by x^3 = .7:4323" (where 23 G C^ ') in such a way that deg(.r3'2) = deg(.T 2 3)~ 1 . As a final result of the procedure described we obtain .f^fc-i , . . . , .T2i . for which
ek ^ 0
(5)
arid S,-+i,,;3;j.,-+1 Rer\R^+l^. Then, obviously, x^j+iXi+i^ e ReC\R^,i = 1, . . . , /c 1. By (4) arid (5) there exist ai, . . . , ak, A, , &k such that
(6) We set
then the elements yi 2 , . . . , yh-i,k, yii, - , yk,k~i
are
homogeneous,
and by (6)
yfc-i,/t ^ 0.
It follows from (8) that
(8)
1.1+2 yj-\,j + o, yji = yjj-i 2/,;+

for all 1 < i < j < k and it easily follows from (7) that y,;j are linearly independent. We notice now. that 1/22 y:i\y\i ^ 0, y22 A^1 and (?\\yi'i<?{\ y-22- This means that 3/22 coincides with e2^ up to a scalarfactor. If we divide 3/21 by this factor we may assume that 3/22 = e 2 ^, while
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the relations (7), (8) remain valid. Similarly, y\\ = y\iyi\ = cee^. But since 3/22 is an idempotent we have y^ = y\iyi\y\iyi\y\iyi\ = yiiyiiyiiyii = 2/n hence a3 = a2, that is y\\ = ejj. After we multiply the remaining by respective scalars, if necessary, we obtain
We obtain linearly independent elements yij,l < i,j < k, with multiplication table yijyrs = ^jrVis, such that y^ e ejRej and &\\yij\\ = yijThe subspace Span{yij,l < i,j < k} is a graded subalgebra in R, isomorphic to Mk(F), such that the matrix units yij are homogeneous in the (7-grading. Therefore by Lemma 2 there exist <?i = e,g2,...,gk G such that deg(yy) = g~lgj. We recall that R^ = A^C^, the simple subalgebras A^ and C^ are pairwise commutative, A^ = Mqi(F) is in the identity component Re, C^ = Mpi(F) algebra with a "fine" grading and ei + + efc is the identity matrix of R = Mn(F). It follows that Pill + + pkQk = n and the rank of e'n = eln 1 e yl'^ as the matrix rank in R is PJ, i = 1, . . . , k. Therefore dime'11,Rej1 =pipj. In particular, the dimension of the (Cw - C^-bimodule C^y^C^ is at most p7;pj, since y{j e^R^ and Cê^Re^C^ = e^C^RCê^. On the other hand, by Lemma 3, all homogeneous elements in C^ and are invertible and we have
Hence pi = PJ = p for any i,j and all C^l\ . . . , C^ sion. Besides,
have the same dimen-
that is, C^yijC^ is irreducible as a left graded C^^-module and as a right graded C^'-module. Hence
C^yij = yijC^.
(9)
If a is a homogeneous element of C^' then ayij yijb by (9) for some homogeneous b e C^. If deg(o,) = /i, deg(6) = t and deg(yjj) = 5 then t g~lhg that is /fW and /7^^ are conjugated in G. Note that b is uniquely defined since all homogeneous components of C^ are one-dimensional. Therefore one can construct a well-defined mapping C*W > (7^, which is an isomorphism of non-graded algebras. Let us denote now for j = i+l each
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such isomorphism by v^M+l anc^ we set Vl = 1>V2 = ^12, V3 = V23V12 = , ; > * = Pk-i^Pk-i- Then for any a? C^1) for ?' < j one has
)-
(10)
We can construct similar isomorphisms </>,;+i,?; : 1, . . . , k 1, and consider an arbitrary a 6 G^. Then
Since a and ^ ? + M (^ M + 1 (a)) are in C(j\yu A and A^C ^ it, follows from (11) that >,+!,,((/?,,,;+! (a)) = a. In its turn this implies that
,
so that (10) holds for all i,j 1,. . . ,k. Let us consider in R a non-graded subalgebra C = Mp(F) consisting of elements x = x + (pi(x] H ----- h fk(^-, where x runs through the whole of C^. Since yij eiRej, <{>i(x) &i and the idempotents ei, . . . , e^ are orthogonal, it follows from(10) that
for any 1 <i,j < k.,x C. It is easy to observe that the elements of the form are linearly independent, in R and homogeneous in the G-grading. Besides, their linear span D is an algebra isomorphic to Mq(F) where q q\ + +qk, the isomorphism will be denned if we map â\yij^Q to matrix unit Ep.u Mq(F) where fj, qi H ---- + q,:_i + Q, v = QI + + ^-_i + /?. Since xe?al = (f>i(x)elal,e3ll3x = ejl3ifj(x) and e'Ql is in the centralizer of C^ it follows from (10) that,
that is, D is in the centralizer of C in .R. Since dimD = g 2 ,dimC = p2, both C and D are simple and C commutes with D it follows that dimCT> = p2q2 = dimR. Hence R = CD is isomorphic to C(1) D. Let Z? > fi be the isomorphism, </j(:r -E^^) = .T-E^t/ where e^j/jje /i = qi -\ ---- + <7,;_i + a, iv = qj H ---- + ^_! + (3, (13)
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a matrix unit in D. Since all E^ are homogeneous, the grading on D is elementary, deg(E^) = g~^lgv for the element (13). Besides one may assume that g^ gi,gv = gj, since elal A^, &\Q A^ and
Let us set H = H^ = Supp C^ and compute the degree of the element Epv = (f>(x ), if x C(1\deg(.T) = h H: ) = deg(xe'alyije:[/3) = Let us set deg(y>i(x)) = h'. Then xyu = </?i(a;)?/ii = yiWi(x) by(10), whence hg^lgi = g^lgjh', that, is, h' = g~lhgi since gi = e. Thus deg((f>i(x)yij} = g~lhgig~lgj = g^hg-j = g~lhgv. We remark now that, if we consider on C^ D the induced grading (see Definition 4) then
for x e C^ . This means that, (f is an isomorphism of graded algebras. Now let G be Abelian. We shall check now that Supp C = H has trivial intersection with Supp D = {g^lgj 1 < ?-> j < k}- In this case Supp C^ = H^ = H since H^ and H are conjugated. Suppose g~ gj = h G H. Since H is a subgroup, /i"1 6 Supp C(i) and there exists an invertible a G C^ with deg(a) = /i""1. Then ay,.,- e,;/2ej is a non-zero element of degree h~^h = e. On the other hand, eiRej D -Re 0 for any i 7^ j. Hence ?! = j, g^lgj = h = e, and we complete the proof of Theorem 6. D Generalizing Corollaries 5 and 6, we obtain the following criterion for a finite subset of a group G to be a support, of a grading on full matrix algebra over an arbitrary field F. COROLLARY 8 Let G be a group. A finite subset M C G is a support of a G-grading on a matrix algebra over some field F if and only if there exist a finite subgroup H and elements g\ . . . . , gn e G such that
Proof. We note first that if A = (Bg^cAg is a G-graded algebra over a field F and K D F is an extension of F then the -ff-algebra A = A ^? K is also G-graded with Ag = Ag p K. Hence, if R is n x n-matrix algebra over F graded by G and Supp R = M C G then M is also the support of some Ggrading on Mn(K] where K is algebraically closed. In the proof of Theorem 6 we have shown that, Mn(K) as a graded algebra is isomorphic to the tensor
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product CD of two matrix algebras with a"fine" and elementary gradings, respectively. Moreover, if H = Supp C and an m-tuple (gi, . . . . gm) defines an elementary grading on D then
Since H is & finite subgroup of G by Lemma 3, the proof is complete. D In particular, if G is Abelian then M is a support of matrix algebra grading if and only if M T~1T for some finite subset T C G (cf. Corollaries 5, 6). By Theorem 6 any graded matrix algebra A = Mn(F} is a tensor product of a matrix algebra B = Mq(F) with an elementary gradings and a matrix algebra D = Mp(F] with a "fine" grading. On the other hand, by Corollary 7, D is a graded division algebra and B D = Mq(D] can be considered as the algebra of all .F-linear transformations of the free left D-module of rank q. We can generalize the notion of elementary grading in the following way. DEFINITION 5 Let R = fl6G Rg be a G-graded algebra over F, g = (gi, . . . , g q ) e Gq . The grading on the matrix algebra A = Mq(R) is called elementary defined by the tuple g if At = Span{rEij r e Rh,g~~lhgj = t}
where EJJ are the matrix units, 1 < i.j < q. Using this generalization. Theorem 6 and Definition 4 of induced grading we can say that any grading on a matrix algebra is ''elementary". COROLLARY 9 Let A = Mn(F) = 36G Ag be a G-graded matrix algebra over an algebraically closed field F. Then A = Mq(D) with an elementary G- grading in the sense of Definition 5, where n = pq and D is the p x pmatrix algebra equipped with a structure of G-graded division algebra. COROLLARY 10 Let Mn(F) be graded by a finite group G whose order is not divisible by a square. The any grading of Mn(F) by G is elem.entary in the sense of Definition 1, that is, induced by a G- grading of Fn.
Theorem 6 shows that the problem of describing all gradings on a matrix algebra can be reduced to describing the gradings of two special kinds: elementary and "fine". In the next subsection we will describe all "fine" abelian gradings. Here we show that the classification of all "fine" gradings in the non-abelian case is equivalent to a well-known group-theoretical problem.
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DEFINITION 6 Let G be a finite group and V a vector space over F . Recall (see, for example, [13]) that a mapping f : G > GL(V) is called a projective representation of G on V if f ( e ) = E, where e is the identity of G and E is the identity transformation on V and f ( g ) f ( h ) = a(g, h)f(gh) for any g,h G G where a(g,h) is some non-zero scalar. A projective representation is called irreducible if V has no non-trivial subspaces invariant under all f ( g ) , g 6 G. It is easy to show that for a group of order n the dimensions of irreducible projective representations are bounded by i/ra. Any Abelian group of the type Zn x Zn has an irreducible n-dimensional representation. It is a hard problem to classify all groups of order n2, which have irreducible n-dimensional projective representations and to list these representations. By Lemma 3 from Section 2 the support of any "fine" grading of a matrix algebra is a finite subgroup H in G. The next Theorem 7 shows that the classification of all "fine" gradings on matrix algebras is in some sense equivalent to describing all finite groups with irreducible projective representations of maximal degree. The following Theorem was proved in [7]. THEOREM 7 Let R = Mn(F] = h^HRh be a matrix algebra over an arbitrary field F with a "fine" H -grading and Supp R = H. For any h H fix 0 ^ Th R. Then the mapping y : H -> R, <p(h) = Th determines an irreducible projective n-dimensional representation of H . If F is algebraically closed and G is a group of order n2 then any irreducible ndimensional projective representation tp : G > R of G determines a "fine" grading on the matrix algebra Mn(F] = R if we set Rg = Span{ip(g}}.
2.3
Abelian gradings on matrix algebras
In this subsection we describe all G-gradings on finite-dimensional simple algebras over an algebraically closed field F provided that G is an Abelian group. First, we define some non-elementary grading on a matrix algebra Mn(F] over a field F containing a primitive nth root of unity. Let R = Mn(F] be a matrix algebra over F and G = (a,)n x (b)n the direct product of two cyclic groups of order n. Assume that F contains a primitive nth root e of 1. We set
n l
0 \ 0 1 )
/ 0 1 0 ... 0 \ 0 0 1 ... 0
V i o o ... o /
0 0 0 ... 1
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Then XaYbX-1 = Yb , Xna = Yhn = E. (14) It is easy to show that all X^Y^l < i.j < n, are linearly independent. Hence, the elements X^Y^ , i. j = 1 , . . . , ??,, form a basis of R and all products of these basic elements are uniquely denned by (14). Now for any g G G, g = a'fc', wre denote by Rg a one- dimensional subspace
(15)
Then from (14) it follows that R = s6c-R5 is a (7-grading on Mn(F). DEFINITION 7 The grading on Mn(F] given by(14),(15) is called an grading. REMARK. All homogeneous components of the grading defined above are one-dimensional. Hence it cannot be elementary because the identity component of any elementary grading has dimension at least n. Now let G be arbitrary abelian group. We will show how to construct any grading on a matrix algebra with one-dimensional components. This result was proved in [6] for abelian gradings over algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. THEOREM 8 Let F be an algebraically closed field and Mn(F) = R = gcRg o- grading on a matrix algebra over F by an abelian group G such that dimRg < 1 for any g 6 G. Then either char F = 0, or char F = p > 0. in which case (n,p) = 1. Also. H = Supp R is a subgroup of G, H = HI x x Hk, Hi ~ Zn? x Zn,. , i = ! , . . . , & , and R is isomorphic to Mni(F) Mnk(F) as an H -graded algebra, where MHi(F) is an Hi-graded, algebra with some Ej-grading. Proof. First we note that Re consists of all scalar matrices where e is the identity element of G. By Lemma 3, H = Supp R is a subgroup of G of order n2 and any homogeneous non-zero element in R is invertible. Suppose H can be decomposed as the direct product H S x T, \S\ = p,\T = q where p and q are coprime. We set A = sesRs, B = teTRtTake arbitrary homogeneous non-zero x A,y G B. Since any homogeneous component is one-dimensional, one has xyx~l = \y and Ap = 1 since xp is a scalar matrix. Similarly, yx~ly~~l p,x~l with p,q 1. It follows that xyx~ly~l = E since p and q are coprime, so that A and B commute in R. On the other hand, A^B ~ (E) and R = AB. Hence, R ~ A B as an /f-graded algebra where A and B are simple algebras graded by S and T, respectively, with one-dimensional homogeneous components.
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We reduce our proof to the case where n = pm, with p prime. Consider a decomposition H = Hi x x H^ of H into the direct product of cyclic groups, \Hi\ pmi,mi > ... > m^. First assume mi > m^ and choose some non-zero x G Rg where g is a generator of H\. Clearly, x commutes with al\(Rg)i = Rg}. Therefore xq also commutes with (Kg)-* for q = pmi~l. On the other hand, if y 6 Rh, h 6 H<2 x x Hk, then xyx~ly~l = \E where A9 = 1 since hq = e in G. Then we have xqyx~q = y. In other words, xq commutes with all R^, h G H, that is xq is a scalar matrix. But xq Rgi and gq ^ e. This contradiction means that TOI = m^ = ... mi for some i > 2 and we have at least two factors in HI x H<2 x x Hk of maximal order n\ = p mi . Applying the same arguments we see that x 6 Rg does not commute with some y & Rh where HI = (g} and h generates some of H2,..., Hi, say,./2- Moreover, xyx~ly~l = sE (16)
where e is a primitive with root of 1 in F. Note that if char F = p then F does not contain primitive pmth root of 1 for any m > 1 and hence Mn(F) does not admit "fine" gradings as follows from (16). Denote A = gHixHiRg- Then A is a subalgebra of .R of dimension n\ with the basis xlyi,i,j = 1 , . . . ,ni. Comparing (14) and (16) we see that A is isomorphic as an HI x .f^-g^ded algebra to Mni(F), with e-grading. Now we consider the centralizer C of A in .ft. Since G is an abelian group, C is a graded subalgebra in R, C = g&cCg. It follows from Lemma 4 that R = AC ~ AC. Besides, C is a simple algebra, dimCg < 1 and T n 5 = {e} where T = Supp C, 5 = Supp A. Hence, Supp R = H = SxT and R as an 5XT-graded algebra is isomorphic to the tensor product of an 5-graded simple algebra A with another Tgraded simple algebra C. Since dim C < dim R we complete our proof by induction over the dimension of a simple algebra. D Theorem 8 together with Theorem 6 from previous subsection give a complete description of all abelian gradings on full matrix algebras over an arbitrary algebraically closed field. We present here only one immediate consequence of Theorems 8 and6. COROLLARY 11 Let F be an algebraically closed field and G be a cyclic group. Then any G-grading on a matrix algebra Mn(F) is an elementary grading. If the base field is not algebraically closed then the problem of describing of all gradings on a matrix algebra looks much more complicated. Sometimes for solving this problem it is enough consequence sufficiently many
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scalars in the field F. For instance, if G is a cyclic group of order m and F contains mth primitive roots of unity then one can describe all G-gradings on Mn(F] by the following way. Denote by Cm the cyclic group of order m. THEOREM 9 ([15], Theorem 3.1) Let R = Mn(F), where F is a field containing a primitive mth root of unity . Then any Cm-grading on R CmRg is of the form
Rgl = {A
-2i-
(17)
where X E GL n (F) such that is a scalar matrix.
Further development of the approach of [15] was presented in [11]. Denote by R(X) the matrix algebra R = Mn(F) with Cm-grading defined by (17). " THEOREM 10 ([11], Theorem 2.1) Let
X =
ai 0 0 a-2 \ 0 0
O-n J
where a = ... = a = 1. Then R(X) is a Cm-graded matrix algebra with an elementary grading. Any elementary Cm-grading on Mn(F) can be obtained, in this way. PROPOSITION 2 ([11], Proposition 2.3) Let
i ai 0
... ...
0 \ 0
y,
X =
a2
/A 0 .. ' 1 0 A .. .
1 f\
f~\
0
n
\ o o
with af = ... = a = /?f = . .. = $% = 1. Then R(X) and R(Y] are isom,orphic as Crn-graded algebras if and only if there exist an mth root of unity X and a permutation a G Sn such that the n-tuple (ai,...,an] is equal to the n-tuple (A/3 c r ( 1 ),.... A/3 CT ( ra )). The case m, = 0(mod char F} was considered in a recent paper [10]. Denote by c the generator of the cyclic group Cm = {e,c.... , c"1"1}.
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THEOREM 11 ([10], Theorem 3) Let F be afield of characteristic 2. AC2grading of A = M2(F) is either a trivial grading, Ae = A,AC = 0, or isomorphic to the grading A(a) given by x x + y \ , \ a(x + y) y ) ' *'y ' / ' Ac=((aX + y (\ y
X }\x,yF ax + y )
for some a 6 F. Moreover, two nontrivial Cz-gradings A(a) and A(a') are isomorphic if and only if there exists z E F such that a a' = z2 + z. Thus, there is a bijective correspondence between the isomorphism types of nontrivial C^-gradings and the factor-group F/S(F) where S(F) = {z2 + A useful remark about prime gradings on matrix algebras was made in [5]. PROPOSITION 3 ([5], Proposition 3.2) Let F be a field of characteristic p > 0 and A = Mn(F}, a matrix algebra of order n over F where p divides n. If A is graded by an Abelian group G with the unit e, then we must have > 1. 2.4 Gradings on non-matrix algebras
An important class of non-matrix algebras consists of group rings. Let G be a group and R = F[G] its group algebra over F. Clearly, R can be canonically graded by G and R is G-graded simple. Moreover, R is a G-graded division algebra. As it was mentioned above, R can be also graded by any factor-group G/H. On the other hand, R = F[G] admits a lot of quite different gradings. For example, if F is algebraically closed, char F = 0 and G is finite then R is the direct sum of matrix algebras and can be graded by any group H as it was shown in the subsection 2.1. Note that in majority of these gradings the group elements are not homogeneous. Let us consider T-gradings on R = F [G] satisfying the restriction that all g 6 G are homogeneous. Let R = g^QRg be a G-graded algebra that admits another grading R = (BsesRs by a group S. We say that th is 5-grading incompatible with the G-grading if any Rg,g 6 G, is an Shomogeneous subspace and there exists s e S such that Rg C Rs. Clearly, any induced G//f-grading is compatible with the initial G-grading. THEOREM 12 ([30], Corollary 1) Let R = F[G] be the group algebra of a group G and
R = S(,SRS
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(18)
is an S-grading compatible with the canonical G-grading. Then there exists a normal subgroup H of G such that T = SuppsR ~ G/H and (18) is the induced G/H-grading. At the end of this Section we describe all gradings on upper triangular matrices. We denote by UTn = UTn(F] the upper triangular n x n matrix algebra over F. Consider the canonical embedding of UTn into R = Mn(F) and some grading on R. It is a not quite clear if UTn is a graded subalgebra of R or not. The answer is easy in the case of elementary gradings. So, following the matrix case we say that aG-grading A (>g^c^g on A = UTn(F) is elementary if there is a n-tuple g = ( g i , . . . ,gn) e Gn such that all matrix units EJ.J are homogeneous and deg_E,j = g^~lgj, 1 < i,j < n. THEOREM 13 ([34]) Let F be an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero and A = UTn the algebra of upper triangular matrices over F graded by a finite abelian group G. Then A, as a G-graded algebra, is isomorphic to UTn with some elementary G-grading. 3 GRADED SIMPLE ALGEBRAS AND GRADED DIVISION ALGEBRAS Graded simple algebras
3.1
The description of all abelian gradings on matrix algebras over an algebraically closed field is the first step toward the classification of graded simple finite-dimensional algebras. We start with an easy remark. Let R = gtcRg be aG-graded algebra, dim R < oo. It is natural to assume that G is generated by Supp R. Then G is finitely generated and is the direct product of a finite abelian group T and a free abelian group S of finite rank, G = T x S. The problem of describing all graded simple algebras can be reduced to the case of a finite group. Recall that any G-graded algebra R = 9cRg aas a canonical G//f-grading where H is a subgroup of G and Rt = @getRg for any coset t = aG e G/H. PROPOSITION 4 ([6;, Proposition 1) Let R = geGRg be a finite-dimensional algebra graded by an abelian group G = T x S, \T\ < oo, S is torsion free. If R is G-graded simple then R is also graded simple in the canonical T = G/S-grading. Now we recall the duality between G-actions and G-gradings on an associative algebra R in case G is a finite abelian group of automorphisms of R.
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Let G be an arbitrary finite abelian group, R be an algebra over an algebraically closed field F of characteristic zero. Suppose that G C AutR and we write g(a) = a9 for a R, g 6 G. This action can be uniquely extended to the action of the group algebra FG by setting a0151"1 â^9k ctia91 + + akO,9k where gi, . . . , g^ e G and c*i, . . . ,otk F. Let \G\ = k, /i, . . . , fk be the minimal idempotents of the group algebra F[G] and G = { x i > - - - i X k } the dual group for G (consisting of all irreducible characters of G) . It is known that
where <5,;j is the Kronecker's delta. For i = 1, . . . , k, let
R^
= {a&R\a9 = Xi(g}a}.
(20)
Then R^^ is the subspace of R generated by all elements a/% a R. Since 1 = fi + + fk then, for every a e R, we can write a = a?1 + + oJh that is
(21)
Let a RM, b R^'} . Then a* = x(0)a, ^ = 4>(g)b and, so, (a&) = a9b9 = (xip)(g)ab. Hence
R(X)RW c RW)
(22)
and (21) gives a G-grading on /? since G = G. In other words, any algebra R with G-action can be considered as a G-graded algebra. Let now R = g^cRg be an algebra graded by a finite abelian group G of order k. One can define an action of G on R by setting x(a) = S9eG x(9)ag where x is an irreducible G-character and a = ^ 9 eG a 9 w i tn as ^ f?5. Hence any G-grading on R gives rise to a G-action on R. For instance, if G = Z/t is the cyclic group of order k then the map GO + ai + . . . + o.fc-i H-S- a0 + eai + . . . + e ~la,k-i where QQ RQ, . . . , flfc_i G -Rfc-i and e is a primitive fc-th root of 1, defines an automorphism of R of order k. So, we can relate G-actions and Ggradings on R in the following way. PROPOSITION 5 Any G-grading R = g6GR on the algebra R defines a G = G-action on R by automorphisms and vice versa. A subspace VCR is a graded subspace of R if and only ifV is stable under the G-action. An element a E R is homogeneous in the G-grading if and only if a is an eigenvector for any x G.
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We can use this duality as a technique and also as the language for giving the description of graded simple algebras. THEOREM 14 ([6], Theorem 7) Let G be a finite abelian group and R = (Sg^cRg a finite- dimensional G-graded algebra over an algebraically dosed field of characteristic zero. If R is G-graded simple then: 1) R is semisirnple with isomorphic simple components; 2) there exists a subgroup H C G and a simple ideal B C R such that B is G/H -homogeneous; 3) as a G-graded algebra, R is isomorphic to the left F[G]-module A = F[G] <8>,p[A] B with the multiplication
(X W <0 =
g, t(A , c)
,th A e
(23)
where A is a subgroup ofG of all automorphisms p, E G such that n(B) C B, moreover, H = {g G\\(g) = 1 for allX 6 A}. Note that any algebra R satisfying 1),2),3) is graded simple. The structure of graded simple algebras in the previous Theorem looks much nicer if G is a split extension of H. COROLLARY 12 ([6], Corollary 2) Let R = geGRg be a finite- dimensional graded simple algebra and G,H as in Theorem, 14- If G = T X H for som,e subgroup T then R ~ B F[H] as a G-graded, algebra where B is a simple algebra with T -grading and F[H] is a group algebra of H with the canonical H -grading. REMARK. The subgroup H C G in the previous Theorem can be also denned as a minimal subgroup of G such that some minimal two-sided (non-graded) ideal of R is G/-T-homogeneous. This remark gives us some characterization of the simplest G-graded algebras, that is, the algebras of the type B <g> F[G] where B is a simple algebra with the trivial G-grading. COROLLARY 13 ([6], Corollary 3) Let F be an algebraically closed field, char F = 0, G a finite abelian group and R g&oRg a finite-dimensional G-graded simple algebra over F. Then R ~ B <8> F[G] for some simple algebra. B with the trivial G-grading if and only if for any minimal ideal D C R and for any non-zero d 6 D one has d = ICogG1 ^g with 0 ^ dg e Rg for all g G. In this case B = D. Another characterization can be given in the following form.
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COROLLARY 14 ([6], Corollary 4) Let F be an algebraically dosed field, char F = 0, G a finite abelian group and R = g^cRg a finite- dimensional G-graded simple algebra over F . Then R ~ B <8> F[G] for some simple algebra B with the trivial G-grading if and only if any minimal non-graded ideal of R is isom,orphic to the neutral component Re. 3.2 Graded division algebras
Now we describe all graded division algebras of finite dimension with an abelian grading. We start with a remark about graded division algebras over a field of an arbitrary characteristic and without any restrictions on a group G. PROPOSITION 6 ([6], Proposition 2) Let R be a finite- dimensional semisimple algebra over an algebraically closed field F graded by a group G, R = (Sg^cRg- Then R is a graded division algebra if and only if N = Supp R is a subgroup of G and dim Rg = I for any g N. The description of graded division algebras can be given in the same terms as in the case of graded simple algebras. THEOREM 15 ([6], Theorem 8) Let R = g&GRg be a finite- dimensional G-graded algebra over an algebraically closed field F, char F = 0, where G is a finite abelian group and Supp R generates G. Then R is a graded division algebra if and only if the following conditions hold: 1) G = Supp R; 2) R is semisimple with isomorphic simple components; 3) there exist a subgroup H C G and a simple ideal B C R such that B is G / H -homogeneous and is a G/H-graded division ring; 4) R as a G-graded algebra is isomorphic to the left F[G]-module A = F[G] p[M B with the multiplication
8 6{At c) ;; ^;'J *ih A e A
(24)
where A is a subgroup ofG of all automorphisms JJL e G such that fJ,(B) C B, moreover, H = {g e G\X(g) = 1 VA A}. If R is simple then it is a graded division algebra if and only if R is a matrix algebra with a "fine" grading. As in the case of graded simple algebras, the structure of graded division algebras looks much nicer if G is a split extension of H . In this case there exists a subgroup T of G such that G = H x T and R is isomorphic to B <g F[H] as a G-graded algebra where B = Mfc(F) is a T-graded division algebra and F[H] is a group algebra of H with the canonical Jf-grading.
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3.3
Lie-type structure on graded simple algebras
Consider an associative algebra over a field F graded by a finite abelian group G with the identity element e, A = gcAg, AgAh C Aghfoi-aiiyg, h <E G. A function f3 : G x G > F* is called a bicharacter on G if we have
,l e G. (26)
(25)
It is easy to see that (3(g,e) = fl(e,g) I for any g G G. We say that 8 is skew- symmetric if, in addition to (26), we have (3(g,h) = j3(h,g)~l. If (3 is a skew-symmetric bicharacter on G then we can give A a /3-bracket(= (3- commutator) by the formula
[a, % = ob - 0(g, h)ba
(27)
for any homogeneous a Ag, b . Ah- The following identities then hold
>]0 = Q,
(28)
(3(1, g)[[a, %, c}p + ,%, h)[[b, c}0, a]ft + (3(h, J)[[c, a}^ % = 0 (29) where a Ag, b E Ah, c e A{. Any G-graded algebra L with operation [,] satisfying
]=0, (30)
0(l,g)[[a, b],c}+ ,%, h)[[b, c], a] + 0(h, l)[[c, a],b] = 0.
(31)
where a G Ag, b A^, c AI is called a (3-Lie algebra (synonyms: color Lie superalgebra, /3-Lie superalgebra, etc.). If /3 is trivial, that is, /3(g,h) = 1 for all g,h e G, then we obtain ordinary G-graded Lie algebras. If (3 is &sign bicharacter. that is, /?(<?,/?.) = 1 for all g,h e G then we obtain ordinary G-graded Lie superalgebras. In case G = {e} we have ordinary Lie algebras. If G = Z2 and /3(i,j) = ( l)u then we have ordinary Lie superalgebras. If A is a G-graded associative algebra and f3 is a skew-symmetric bicharacter on G then the /3-Lie algebra arising on A using the /3-bracket (27) is denoted by [A}@. To abbreviate, we will write (3(a,b) instead of j3(g, h) if a e Ag,b 6 Ah. Given a (3-Lie algebra L, we can define the n-th derived subalgebra L^n' recursively by L^ = L and L< n ) = [L^-1),!,^-1)] if n > 0. As usual, for any two vector subspaces M , N of L we denote by [M, N] the vector space span of all commutators [x,y] where x G M and y e N. Now L is
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called solvable if, for some natural n, we have L^ zero. If already the first derived subalgebra Z/1' is zero then we say that L is abelian. If a solvable L is obtained from an associative algebra A by /3-commutator (27) then we say that A is /3-Lie solvable or simply ^-solvable. If [A]p is abelian then A is called /3- commutative. In this case for any homogeneous a 6 Ag, b A^ we have ab = /3(g, h)ba. If A is /3-solvable but not necessarily abelian then the minimal / with ([.A]/?)^ = {0} is called the /3-derived length of A. Now using recursion, we can also define the lower central series of a /3-Lie algebra L by setting L1 = L and Lc+l = [L,L]. A /3-Lie algebra is called nilpotent if Lc+1 = {0} for some non-negative integer c. We will often use the left-normed notation for the terms of the lower central series: L2 = [L,L], L3 = [L,L,L], etc. We say that L is nilpotent of class c if c is minimal with Lc+l = {0}. Again, we say that A is 0 -nilpotent of class c if such is [A\p. Given a /3-Lie algebra L, we say that z L is central if [z,L] = {0}. The collection of all central elements of L is an ideal Z(L) called the center of L. If we start with an associative A as above we arrive at an important notion of the fi-centerZp(A) of a G-graded associative algebra A, (5 a skew-symmetric bicharacter on G. This is defined as Zp(A) = Z([A\p} = {z A | (z, Alp = {0}}. To further simplify our notation we will replace ([A]^^ by Ap, ([A]p)n by Ag or \A, A, . . . , A]@. A G-graded associative algebra A is called /3ntimes
center-by-metabelian if Ag2) C ^(/l). Equivalent!^ U^,^ = {0}. Any such algebra is /3-solvable of derived length at most 3. In contrast with the case of ordinary Lie structures on associative algebras, where a matrix algebra can be Lie solvable only if it is commutative, any matrix algebra over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero can be made /3-commutative for an appropriate skew-symmetric bicharacter (3 on a suitable finite abelian group G. So the class of /3-solvable associative algebras is much wider than that of ordinary Lie solvable algebras. In this subsection we consider /3-solvable and /3-commutative graded simple algebras. The question of /3-commutativity comes back to ordinary Lie structures on associative rings. There is extensive literature devoted to this question (see e.g. [12]). We recall only a fundamental result of I.N.Herstein on Lie ideals of associative rings [20]. THEOREM 16 Let A be a simple associative algebra. Then the Lie algebra [A,A}/[A,A}nZ(A) is either simple or commutative.
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This result was generalized also to the case of /3-Lie structures in [25]. The case completely proved there is that of so-called color Lie algebras. We recall (see [2]) that given a skew-symmetric bicharacter j3 on a group G we always have 8(g,g) = 1 for any g G. The set of g G for which B(g, g) = I is a subgroup G+, the set of g e G with 3(g,g) 1 is a coset G- oG+ so that G = G+ U G_. If a /3-Lie algebra L is defined using a skew-symmetric bicharacter j3 on G such that G = G+ then L is sometimes called a co/or Lie algebra, rather than a superalgebra. So the result in [25] is as follows. THEOREM 17 ei A be a G -graded simple associative ring, B a skewsymmetric bicharacter on G with G = G+. Then the (3-Lie algebra [A,A}l3/[A,A}8nZ3(A) is either G-graded simple or j3 -commutative. Generalizing the approach of [25] the following result was obtained in [4] THEOREM 18 Let G be a finite abelian group of order n, and A a Ggraded algebra over a field. F such that n is invertible in F . Suppose A is G-sem.iprim.e and B- solvable for a skew- symmetric bicharacter 3 on G. Then, A+ is Q- commutative and A is 8-center-by-metabelian.
In order to describe /3-solvable graded simple algebras we need to examine the group algebra F[G] with all possible bicharacters. We start with an easy but useful remark. PROPOSITION 7 ([4], Proposition 3.2) Let H be a finite abelian group with a skew-symmetric bicharacter j3 : H x H * F* and R = F[H], the group algebra of H. Then 1. R is /3-commutative if arid only if (3 is trivial; 2. R is B-nilpotent but not B-comm.utat.ive if and only ?/Ker 3 = H+ 7^ H. In this case [R, R, R]p = 0; 3. R is 3-solvable but not 3-n.ilpotent if and only if 3(H+,H+) = 1 and C2\ Ker B ^ H+. In. this case R is B-center-by-m.etabelian, [RQ , R]p 0. In the following statements we slightly extend the notion of an elementary abelian group to include those finite abelian groups whose primary components are elementary abelian groups. The main property we need is
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that for any subgroup H of such a group G there is a subgroup K such that G = H x K. An important notion we will often use is that of the (3 -twisted tensor product A p B of G-graded associative algebras A and B. This is the usual tensor product of vector spaces with modified product: (x fj b)(a (3 y) = /3(g, h)(xb) p (ay)
for a 6 Ah and b e Bg. The following remark is useful for describing /3-solvable graded simple algebras.
LEMMA 5 ([4], Lemmas 3.2, 3.3) Let R be a finite- dimensional G-graded simple algebra over F and F is algebraically closed. Let G be an elementary abelian group. If R is (3-solvable then dim^ R is equal to one of 1,2 or 4Also R = Zp p A where A is a graded subalgebra of R, A is (3-solvable, G-graded simple and dimZp(A) = 1. Now we are going to describe G-graded simple /3-solvable algebras with trivial /3-center. But first we present few examples. If A = _F[ZJ2 is the group ring and j3 : Z2 x Z2 > F* is a non-trivial skew-symmetric bicharacter on Z2 then 0(0,0) = 0(0, 1) = /?(1,0) = 1 and 0(1, 1) = -1. Clearly, the /3-center of A is of dimension one. In the next example G is also Z2 with the same non-trivial skew-symmetric bicharacter and A = Afi,i is the (2 x 2)-matrix algebra with a non-trivial Z2-grading, i.e.
In this case Zp(A) coincides with the ordinary center of A and consists of all scalar matrices. Now we consider the ( 2 x 2 ) - matrix algebra A with a "fine" grading by the elementary abelian 2-group G of order 4. We set G = (0)2 x (6)2 and if
l 0 W w V= ( \ W -l)' (l Qj'
=uv UV= (
l (-l 0
then degE = e,degU = a, degF = b and degW = ab. Any skew-symmetric bicharacter j3 on G is uniquely defined by its values /3(a,a),/3(b,b) and /3(a,b), which are equal to 1. On the other hand, for any values /3(a,a), j3(b,b), /3(a,b) 1 one can construct a skew-symmetric bicharacter on G [36]. So, we have 8 distinct bicharacters on G, listed in the table just below. The last two columns give the properties of the respective /3-brackets on F[G] naturally graded by G, and M%(F} graded by G as indicated above.
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3(a, a)
/?!
02
(33
fa 05 fa fa
8&
1 1 1 1 -1 -1 -1 -1
,8(b, b) 1 1 -1 _1 1 1 -1 -1
/?(, 6)
1 -1 1 -1 1 -1 1 -1
FG comm. non-solv. nilp. cent. -met. nilp. cent. -met. cent. -met. nilp.
M 2 (F) non-solv. comm. cent. -met. nilp. cent. -met. nilp. nilp. cent. -met.
Here "comm." stands for /^-commutative, "non-solv." - /3,-non-solvable, "nilp." - /3,;-nilpotent, "cent.-met" - /3,;-center-by-metabelian. We will denote by (Af 2 (F),/3j) the above matrix algebra with the Ggrading and given skew-symmetric bicharacter 8j on G. j = 1 , . . . , 8. Similarly, by (F[G},8j) we denote the group algebra of G equipped with the skew-symmetric bicharacter flj. The examples presented play an important role in the description of graded simple /3-solvable algebras thanks to the following Theorem. THEOREM 19 ([4], Theorem 3.1) Let G be a finite elementary abelian group. Let also R = g^QRg be a finite-dimensional G-graded simple algebra over an algebraically closed field F of characteristic zero. If R is 8solvable for a given skew-symmetric bicharacter {3 on G then the (3-center Zp Zff(R) of R is a G-graded division algebra and one of the following conditions hold,: 1. dimz d R = 1, R is 3-commutative;
= 0, G = T x Z2; ZQ = , \R,R] , a + 0,, = 2, [R,R]g 2. dimzofl ,R R Zpj3F\Z-i\, /3|z 2 xZ 2 7's th'e non-trivial sk":ew-symmetric bicharacter;
3. dimz/3 R - 4, [R,R,R}0 ^ 0, R is /3-center-by-metabelian, G - T x H, Z0 = QgtHRg, R = A<S>f) Zp where A = g&TRg, \T\ = 2 or 4, if T = Z2 then A = Ml}i as T-graded algebras, ij T = (a) 2 x (6}2 then A is isomorphic to (F[T],/3 4 ), (F[T],/36), (F[T},87), (M 2 (F),/3 3 ), 5 ) 0 r(M 2 (F),/9 8 ). Theorem 19 shows that the problem of describing of /3-solvable graded simple algebras can be reduced to the same question about /3-commutative algebras. As before, we start with a list of examples and later prove that this is a complete list of /^-commutative graded simple algebras.
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SI. First, let R be the full matrix algebra of order n over FG and H = (a)n x (b}n the direct product of two cyclic group of order n. Let also be a primitive nth root of 1 in F and
0
0 0 0 0
0 0 \ 0 0 e 1
/ 0 1 0 ... 0 \ 0 0 1 ... 0
(32)
o i /
\ i o o ... o/
(33)
0 0 0
... 1
Recall that (cf. 14, subsection 2.3)
and R = g^cRg where Rg is a one-dimensional subspace of R spanned by X^Yl for g = akb'', 0<k,l<n-l. This is the so-called e-grading on Mn(k] by H = (a)n x (b)n. If we define /3 : H x H -> F* by /3(akbl, aPlfl) = ekq~lp then R becomes a /3-commutative algebra. Clearly, R is G-graded simple since it is simple in the non-graded sense. S2. Now let RI and R% be H\- and ^-graded simple algebras respectively of the type SI. Consider H = H\ x ^-grading on R = RI <8> R-z given by H\,h-2 #2- Then /? is also Rhy for all an .//-graded simple algebra. If in addition Ri is /^-commutative, i = 1, 2, then .R is /3-commutative where fl\Hl = /3i,/3\jf2 = 02 and @(Hi,H-2) = 1. Following [36] we say that (3 is the direct sum of f3\ and fa , (3 = /3\ /% Generalizing this approach, we can define H = HI x x .Ht-grading on an (n x n) - matrix algebra R = Mn(k) = Mni Mnt, with n = HI . . . nt, where each Mni is an ffj-graded /3j-commutative algebra. Clearly, /2 is an H -graded simple /3-commutative algebra. Note that all homogeneous components R^, h & H, are of dimension one. S3. Now let B - t&rBt be a T-graded algebra with dimBt = 1 for alH 6 T as in S2. Suppose that /3 : T x T > F* is a skew-symmetric bicharacter on T constructed in S2 such that B is /3-commutative. Consider any finite abelian group G with a subgroup # such that G/H = T. Let G be the dual group for G (see subsection 3.1) and A = {A 6 G\X(H) = 1}. Now choose a transversal xii- iX fr G modulo A with xi = 1. Denote by B^ = Xi * B an isomorphic copy of B,i = I, . . . ,m, and set R = #(!) 0 ... B(\ Since G/H = T, we can identify the subgroup f of irreducible T-characters with A. Using the duality between G-gradings and G-actions described in subsection 3.1 we obtain a A-action on B = B^' = xi * B and extend it to an action on B,; Xi * B in a natural way: \(Xi * b] = Xi * (^(^)) for any A A, 6 6E B. We can also define a x?:-action on R by setting
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Xi(Xj *b) = Xi* AO) where XiXj = AX/, A A. Since G = x i A U . . . we obtain a G- action on R by automorphisms. This action induces a Ggrading on R such that B = xi * -B is a graded subalgebra in the quotient G/.?f -grading. Recall that each (^-homogeneous component in the G/Hgrading is equal to ^h^f{ Rgh- Finally we define induced skew symmetric bicharacter ,8 on G as j3(a, b) Q(aH, bH) for any a, b G. It is not hard to show that R is a /3-commutative G-graded simple algebra. DEFINITION 8 The form j3 defined in SI, S2, S3 for the graded division algebra R is called canonical. In the statement of the following we assume that G is generated by Supp R. THEOREM 20 Let F be an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero, G a finite abelian group with a skew- symmetric bicharacter (3 : G x G > F* and R = &gecRg a finite- dimensional G-graded simple algebra. Then R is j3 -commutative if and only if R is a G-graded division algebra and (3 is the canonical form, for R. At the end of this Section we discuss /3-commutativity of group algebras. PROPOSITION 8 ([5], Corollary 4.1) Let G be a finite group and F an algebraically closed field of characteristic 0 or p > 0 with (G\,p) = 1. Then F[G] is 8 -commutative for an appropriate bicharacter /3 over a finite Abelian group P. THEOREM 21 ([5],Theorern 4.2) If F is afield of characteristic p > 0 and G is a finite p- group, then F[G] is j3- commutative for some bicharacter B if and only if G is Abelian. 4 IDENTITIES OF GRADED ALGEBRAS
In this Section we consider identities of graded algebras. "Graded" Pitheory has been developed intensively since about two decades ago. In our paper we are mostly interested with two aspects of this theory. Namely, we discuss the finite basis property for graded identities and relations between graded and ordinary identities.
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4.1
Graded identities and Specht problem
Let F be a field, G a group and X Ug^X a disjoint union of subsets X^9\ g 6 G. Then the free associative algebra F(X) can be naturally endowed with a G-grading if one set degx = g for any x G X^9' and deg(xil xin = (deg .T,:I ) (deg xin ) for x^ , . . . , xin 6 X. We write It is easy to observe that FG(X) is a free G-graded algebra, i.e. for any G-graded algebra A = 9eG^4g an(i fr anv set-theoretical map (f> : X -+ A with (^(JiT^) C j4g there exists a homomorphism of G-graded algebras (^ : F(X) > A such that (p\x = y>- For studying graded identities it is convenient to assume that each X(g) is a countable subset, for any g G. A polynomial / = /(rr?1, . . . , zn) FG(X) with degxf = # is called a graded identity of a G-graded algebra yl = g&cAg if /(GI, . . . , an) = 0 for any ai Agi , . . . an 6 A9n . Obviously, existence of a graded identity on a graded algebra is much weaker condition than ordinary PI. For example, if A is an arbitrary algebra with the trivial G-grading, that is Ag 0 for all non-unitary e ^ g e G then A satisfies graded identities x9 = 0 with degx9 g for all g ^ e. Given G-graded algebra A = Qg^cAg we denote by Id9T(A) the subset of all graded identities of A. Then, clearly, Id?r(A} is a graded ideal of FG(X) stable under all graded endomorphisms FG(X) > FG(X}, i.e.Id9r(A) is a One of the fundamental problem of Pi-theory is a well known Specht problem. In case of graded polynomial identities this can be formulated as follows: is it true that any T9r-ideal of FG(X) is generated by its finite subset as a T9r-ideal? Given a finitely generated T5r-ideal, it is interesting to find a finite generating subset. In the previous sections we have considered gradings on the full matrix algebras over -F and showed that Mn(F) admits many non-trivial gradings. So,a natural question is this: does Mn(F] have a finite basis of graded identities in any G-grading. If a basis of graded identities turns out to be finite, then it is important to find a minimal generating set for Id9r(Mn(F}). One of the first results in this direction was proved in [14] where the author found the basis of graded identities for the superalgebra R = M\,\(F) over a field of characteristic zero. Recall that Miti(F) is a Z2-graded algebra of 2 x 2 matrices with
T>
l =
((d
JY
c
0
We do not reproduce the result of [14] here since it is a particular case of a recent result of [33]. Let R = Mn(F) be an n x n matrix algebra over F
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and G = Zn be a cyclic group of order n. The diagonal grading on R is the decomposition
R = RORI-- Rn-i
with Rk = Span{Eij\j i = k(mod n)}. In particular, M\f\ is 2 x 2 matrix algebra with the diagonal Zj-grading. Note that diagonal grading is an elementary G-grading defined by n-tuple g = (n- l . n - 2 , . . . , l , 0 ) . THEOREM 22 ([33] Let F be a field of characteristic zero. Then all graded polynomial identities on the m.atrix algebra Mn(F) with the diagonal Zngrading follow from - xix\ = 0, degxi = degrr2 = 0, and x,ixx2 x-2xx\ = 0, degxi = degX2 = degx In the paper [1] another elementary gradings on R = Mn(F) where studied. Let G be an arbitrary group with the unit e G. We fix the elementary G-grading on Mn(F) defined by g = (gi, . . . , gn) e Gn with the pairwise different .91, ... ,gn- Then Mn(F) satisfies the following graded identities xeye - yexe = 0, (34) xgyg-izg - zgyg-ixg = 0, if e / g G a,nd(Mp(K)) x g = 0. \ f ( M n ( K ) ) g =Q
g
^ 0,
(35) (36)
(see [1], Lemma 4.1). Here we assume that degxg = g G G. THEOREM 23 ([1], Theorem 4.5) Let G be any group and let g = ( < 7 l , . . . , 3 n ) Gp induce an elementary G-grading of Mn(K) where the elements g\ , . . . , gn are pairwise different. Then a basis of the graded polynomial identities of Mn(K) consists of (34) - (36) and a finite number of identities of the form, xî 'f'hmm. = 0, m, > 2, where, the degree m, is bounded by a function of n. As it was shown in the previous Sections, any G-graded matrix algebra Mn(F) can be decomposed into the tensor product Mn(F) = Mp(F) Mq(F) where Mp(F) has an elementary grading and Mq(F} has a "fine11 grading. In the paper [1] the cases p = 1 and p 2 with the trivial Ggrading on Mp(F) where considered. To formulate the main results of [1] about the bases of graded identities we heed an additional construction.
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Let H be an additive abelian group and let C be the free color commutative superalgebra graded by H , the color being given by a fixed skewsymmetric bicharacter /3 on H . It is a relatively free algebra in the variety of ^-graded algebras defined by the graded identity [xh, yg}/3 = 0, g, h e H . We denote the free generators of C by yî, h G H,i = 1,2, ... . For any grading group G we consider the spaces P~ and P^xH of multilinear polynomials of degree ra, respectively in the free G- and (Gx/fj-graded algebras, generated respectively by ugi and v^/î, g G, (g, h) G x H , i = 1, 2, . . . For each h = (hi, . . . , /?,) e //"" we define a mapping ^h : -P^7 * Pn*H by the following rule. If r 5n and if in the free color commutative superalgebra we have
then we define
0hK T ( 1 ) r(l) % T ( n ) r(n)) = ^hrU^D^DMl)
V
(9r(n),hT(n))r(n)
and extend </>h by multi-linearity. In the next Theorem we shall use the above notation. THEOREM 24 ([1], Theorem 3.4) Let Mq(F] have an H-fine grading with all homogeneous components one-dimensional. Let the grading of M2(F} be trivial, (i) The H -graded polynomial identities [xhlt, xh2}/3 = xhlxh2 - /3(hi, h2)xh2xhl = 0, /il,/i2 G H ,form a basis of the graded polynomial identities of Mq(F}. (ii) The graded polynomial identities of the H- graded algebra M2q(F) = M-2(F] Mq(F] have a basis consisting of all graded identities
(j)\l(si(ui,U<2,U3,Ul}} = <t>h([[ui,U2} O [u 3 ,U 4 ],ti 5 ]) =0,
where u\, ... ,115 are free generators of the free trivially graded associative algebra F(U), </>h is the mapping defined at the beginning of the section and depending on the grading of the supercommuting variables yî, , yhkk> k = 4, 5,54 is the standard polynomial of degree 4 and r\or<2 = r\r% -\-r?r\. 4.2 Relations between graded and non-graded identities
Let A = (Bg^G-Ag be a G-graded algebra over a field F. If A satisfies an ordinary polynomial identity then A is also a graded Pi-algebra. But in general a graded identity on A does not imply an ordinary identity. The easiest counterexamples are the algebras A without identities equipped
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with the trivial G-grading. Even if grading is non-trivial, the graded Picondition does not imply an ordinary polynomial identity. For example, let R = F ( X ) be the free associative algebra over F without unity and \X\ > 1. If we associate with each monomial m, its degree in X then we get an integral grading on R, R = R\R-2 ., such that RQ = /?_i = . .. = 0. Obviously, R satisfies a lot of graded identities but it is not PI since \X\ > 1. We give also another couterexample. Let G be a group and R = F[G] be its group algebra over F. The classification of groups whose group algebras are PI is well known (see. for example, [26]). In particular, F[G] is not PI for a non-commutative free group G. On the other hand, R has the natural G-grading with one-dimensional components Rg spanned by g. Hence xy yx = 0, x, y Rg, is a graded identity of R for any g G. Note that in case JGJ < oo the group algebra R, = F[G] is PI since dim R < oo. Now let H be a normal subrgoup of G and T = G/H. Then as it was mentioned above, R = F[G] has a natural T-grading, R = teT-Rt where Rt = g&Rg for any coset t G/H. Recall that an 5-grading A = se sA s on an algebra A by a group 5" is called finite if Supp A is a finite subset of 5. In particular, the canonical G//f-grading of F[G] is finite if H is a subgroup of a finite index. In this case any graded polynomial identity on R implies an ordinary PI. THEOREM 25 ([29], Theorem 2) Let H be a normal subgroup of finite index m in a group G. Consider the natural G/H-grading on the group algebra FG: F\G] Â = tsG/HAt. If F[G] satisfies a graded identity of degree d, then it also satisfies an ordinary polynomial identity of degree n restricted by some function of d and m. REMARK. The canonical T = G/#-grading on the group algebra F[G] is a strong T-grading, i.e. RaRb = Ro.b for all a, b T. Recently K.Beidar and M.Chebotar have announced in the private communication that for an arbitrary strongly G-graded algebra A = @gcAg any non-trivial graded identity on A implies a non-trivial polynomial identity on the whole of A provided that the G-grading is finite. As it was shown in the counterexample with the free group G and R = F[G], the finiteness of the grading is a necessary condition for deriving ordinary identities from the graded ones. Another interesting question can be formulated as follows. Does any graded identity of a G-graded algebra A = g&cAg (under some natural restrictions) imply that the identity component Ae is a Pi-algebra? Below we present one positive result in this direction.
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THEOREM 26 ([30], Theorem 2) Let H be a finitely generated normal subgroup of G. Consider the induced G/H-grading on the group algebra FG: FG = R= 0 Rt. KG/H Then R satisfies a G/H-graded identity if and only if FH is a Pi-algebra. Given a G-graded algebra A = g^cAg, with a finite grading, the Piproperties of the neutral component Ae to a large extent predetermine the Pi-properties of A. It is well known that if Ae is Pi-algebra and G is finite then A satisfies a non-trivial polynomial identity [9]. Recently this result was reproved in a quite different way, based on the numerical characterization of identities. We will discuss this approach with more details at the end of this subsection. THEOREM 27 ([3], Theorem 5. 3) Let G be a finite group with the unit e. Consider a G-graded algebra A = Q}s^cAg. Suppose that Ae satisfies a polynomial identity of degree d. Then A satisfies a polynomial identity of degree n where n is any integer satisfying the inequality (\G\d-l)\ -
In particular, if n is the least integer such that e\G\(\G\d I)2 < n then A satisfies a polynomial identity of degree n where e is the base of the natural logarithm. The relations between the identities of Ae and A = g^cAg have been studied in a number of papers. For example, it is easy to show that if |G| < oo and Ae is nilpotent then A is also nilpotent. If Ae satisfies a standard identity of degree m then A satisfies some power of the standard identity of degree dm whered = |G| [9]. Another approach to the comparison of polynomial identities of A and Ae is based on the notion of the codimension growth. Let F(X) be a free associative algebra over a field F with a countable set of generators X {0:1,0:2, - . . } We denote by Pn the subspace in F(X) consisting of all multilinear polynomials in the variables x, . . . ,xn. Then for a Pi-algebra A the intersection Pn Pi Id(A) consists of all multilinear identities of A of degree n. It is known that a subspace
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uniquely defines T-ideal Id(A) if char F = 0. An important characteristic of A is the sequence of codimensions cn(A] where
cn(A) = dim
Pn n Id(A) '
It was proved in [27] that for any Pi-algebra A the sequence cn(A) is exponentially bounded. The idea of proving in [3] that any identity on Ae implies an identity on A is to show that cn(A) < nl for n sufficiently large. Recently it was proved [17], [18] that asymptotically cn(A) ~ dn for any Pi-algebra A where d is a non-negative integer depending on A. More precisely, there exists a limit
n+00
lim \/cn(A) = d.
This integer is called the exponent (or Pi-exponent) of A, d = exp(-A). For example, if A is nilpotent then exp(A) 0. If A is a non-nilpotent commutative algebra then exp(A) = 1. Relations between identities of A and Ae can be defined in the language of Pi-exponents of A and Ae. Clearly, exp(A e ) < exp(A) since Ae is a subalgebra of A. On the other hand there are a lot of examples of graded algebras satisfying the inequality exp(/l) < |G| 2 exp(AO(37)
For instance, let A = Mk(F) be n x n matrix algebra with the diagonal G = Zfc-grading (see previous subsection). Then the neutral component AQ consists of all diagonal matrices and exp(Ao) = 1. On the other hand exp(A) = dim A = A;2 in this case and \G\ = k. Hence exp(.A) = Gj 2 exp(A e ). In particular, the inequality (37) cannot be improved. In [81 it was conjectured that the inequality (37) holds for any graded algebra with a non-trivial polynomial identity. It was also proved that this conjecture has the positive solution in few cases. THEOREM 28 ([8], Theorem 1.1) Let A = 3&G^g be a finite- dimensional G-graded algebra over a field of characteristic zero and G a finite abelian group. If cn(Ae) is polynorn.ial.ly bounded then exp(.A) < \G\ . THEOREM 29 ([8], Corollary 5.1) Let A = geGAg be a finitely generated semisimple PI- algebra over F, char F = 0, graded by a finite abelian group G. Then exp(A) < |G| 2 exp(.4 e ).
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REFERENCES [1] Bahturin, Yu., Drensky, V. Graded polynomial identities of matrices, Linear Algebra and Appl. (to appear). [2] Bahturin, Yu., Fischman. D., Montgomery S. Bicharacters, twistings, and Scheunert's theorem for Hopf Algerbas, Journal of Algebra 236 (2001), 246 - 276. [3] Bahturin, Yu., Giambruno, A., Riley, D. Group-graded algebras with polynomial identities, Israel J. Math. 104 (1998), 145 - 155. [4] Bahturin, Y., Montgomery, S., Zaicev, M. Generalized Lie Solvability of Associative Algebras, In: Groups, Rings, Lie and Hopf Algebras. Proc. Int. Workshop, St. John's, May 28 - June 1, 2001. Kluwer AP (to appear). [5] Bahturin, Yu.A., Parmenter, M.M. Generalized commutativity in group algebras, Canadian Math. Bull, (to appear). [6] Bahturin, Yu.A., Sehgal, S.K., Zaicev, M.V. Group Gradings on Associative Algebras, J. Algebra 241 (2001), 677 - 698. [7] Bahturin Yu.A., Zaicev M.V. Group Gradings on Matrix Algebras, Canadian Math. Bull, (to appear) [8] Bahturin, Yu.A., Zaicev, M.V. Identities of Graded Algebras and Codimension Growth, Proc. AMS (submitted). [9] Bergen, J., Cohen, M. Action of commutative Hopf algebras, Bull. London Math. Soc. 18 (1986), 159 - 164. [10] Boboc, C. Superalgebras structures on Mz(k) in characteristic 2, Comm. Alg. 30 (2002), 255 - 260. [11] Boboc, C., Dascalescu, S. Gradings on matrix algebras by cyclic groups, Comm. Alg. 29 (2001), 5013 - 5021. [12] Bresar, M. Functional identities: a survey, Contemp. Math. 259 (2000), 93- 109. [13] Curtis, C.W., Reiner, I. Representation Theory of Finite Groups and Associative Algebras. John Wiley, New York, London, 1962. [14] Di Vincenzo, O.M. On the graded identities of Mi^(E), Israel J. Math. 80 (1992), 323 - 335.
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[15] Dascalescu. S., Ion. B., Nastasescu, C., Rios Montes, J. Group gradings on full matrix rings, Journal of Algebra 220 (1999), 709 - 728. [16] Elduque, A. Gradings on octonions, Journal of Algebra. 207 (1998), 342 - 354. [17j Giambrurio, A., Zaicev, M.V. On codimension growth of finitely generated associative algebras. Advances in Mathematics 140 (1998), 145 - 155. [18] Giambruno, A., Zaicev. M.V. Exponential codimension growth of P.I. algebras: an exact estimate, Advances in Mathematics 142 (1999), 221 - 243. [19] Havlicek, M. Patera, J., Pelantova, E. On Lie gradings. III. Gradings of the real forms of classical Lie algebras, Linear Algebra and Appl. 314 (2000), 1 - 47. [20] Herstein, I.N. Topics in Ring Theory. Chicago Lectures in Mathematics, University of Chicago Press, Chicago/London, 1969. [21] Hwang, Y.-S., Wadsworth A.R. Correspondences between valued division algebras and graded division algebras, Journal of Algebra 220 (1999), 73- 114. [22] Jacobson, X. Ring Theory. AMS Math. Surveys, no.2, 1943,vi+148p. [23] Kantor, I.L. Some generalizations of Jordan algebras, Trudy sem. po vect. i tenzorn. anal. 16 (1972), 407 - 499. [24] Kemer, A. Ideals of identities of associative algebras. AMS Translations of Mathematical Monograph, Vol. 87, 1988. [25] Montgomery, S. Constructing simple Lie superalgebras from associative graded algebras. J. Algebra 95 (1997), 558 - 579. [26] Passman. D.S. The Algebraic Structure of Group Rings; John Wiley: New York, 1977; 720 pp. [27] Regev A. Existence of identities in A B, Israel J. Math. 11 (1972), 131-152. [28] Sehgal, S.K. Topics in Group Rings. Marcel Dekker, New York, 1978. [29] Sehgal, S.K., Zaicev, M.V. Graded identities of group algebras, Comm. Algebra 30 (2000), 489 - 505.
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[30] Sehgal, S.K., Zaicev, M.V. Graded identities and induced gradings on group algebras, In: Groups, Rings, Lie and Hopf Algebras. Proc. Int. Workshop, St.John's, May 28 - June 1, 2001. Kluwer AP (to appear). [31] Smirnov, O.N. Simple associative algebras with finite Z-grading, Journal of Algebra 196 (1997), 171 - 184. [32] Smirnov, O.N. Finite Z-grading on Lie algebras and symplectic involution, J. Algebra 218 (1999), 246 - 275. [33] Vasilovsky, S.Yu. Zn-gra,ded polynomial identities of the full matrix algebra of order n, Proc. AMS 1 27 (1999), 3517 - 3524. [34] Valenti, A., Zaicev, M. Abelian gradings on upper-triangular matrices, Arch. Math, (to appear). [35] Zaicev, M.V., Sehgal, S.K. Finite gradings on simple Artinian rings, Vestnik Mosk. Univ., Matem., Median. No 3 (2001), 21 - 24 (Russian). [36] Zolotykh A.A. Commutation factors and varieties of associative algebras, Fundam. Prikl. Mat. 3 (1997), 453-468. (Russian)
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Computational Approach to Polynomial Identities of Matrices a Survey

FRANCESCA BENANTI1 Dipartimento di Matematica ed Applicazioni, Universita di Palermo, via Archirafi 34, 90123 Palermo, Italy. E-mail: fbenanti@dipmat.math.unipa.it JAMES DEMMEL Department of Mathematics, Computer Science Division, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A. E-mail: demmel@cs.berkeley.edu VESSELIN DRENSKY2 Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Akad. G. Bonchev Str., Block 8, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria. E-mail: drensky@math.bas.bg PLAMEN KOEV Department of Mathematics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A. E-mail: plamen@math.berkeley.edu
ABSTRACT We present a survey on polynomial identities of matrices over a field of characteristic 0 from computational point of view. We describe several computational methods for calculation with polynomial identities of matrices and related objects. Among the other applications, these methods have been successfully used: (i) to show that all polynomial identities of degree 2n + 2 for the n x n matrix algebra for n = 3,4,5 are consequences of the standard identity 2n; (ii) to obtain upper bounds for the multiplicities of the irreducible Sg-characters of the multilinear identities of degree 9 in 3 x 3 matrices; The work of this author was partially supported by MURST of Italy. The work of this author was partially supported by Grant MM-1106/2001 of the Bulgarian Foundation for Scientific Research.
2 :
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(iii) in the discovery of new central polynomials of low degree for matrices of order 3 and 4; (iv) to obtain upper bounds for the multiplicities of the irreducible Sg-characters of *-polynomial identities of degree 9 in symmetric variables only for 6x6 matrices with symplectic involution.
INTRODUCTION
The polynomial identities of the matrix algebra Mn(K) over a field K of characteristic 0 are among the most intriguing objects in the theory of algebras with polynomial identities. Since 1950, when Amitsur and Levitzki proved their famous theorem that Mn(K) satisfies the standard identity of degree 2n, a lot, of results have been established. Nevertheless, the picture is far from a satisfactory form and only the structure of the polynomial identities of the 2x2 matrices is well known. There are a lot of open problems and conjectures concerning the bases of polynomial identities of Mn(K), the minimal degree of identities which do not follow from the standard identity, the minimal degree of central polynomials, the numerical invariants of polynomial identities, etc. There are similar problems to consider for matrix algebras with additional structure as involution or group gradings. Some of the facts in the theory have been obtained, or at least conjectured, as a result of heavy calculations by hand or computer. The main purpose of the present paper is to survey some computational techniques for working with the polynomial identities, weak polynomial identities, central polynomials and ^-polynomial identities of n x n matrices. The paperis organized as follows. In Section 2 we present the main objects and give a short survey on some results on polynomial identities for matrices obtained without computers but from computational point of view. In Section 3 we give the necessary algebraic and combinatorial background and in Section 4 we describe several computational approaches. Section 5 is devoted to concrete results of the calculations. First we discuss the result that all polynomial identities of degree In + 2 for n x n matrices, n = 3, 4, 5, are consequences of the standard identity of degree In confirming for small 77 the conjecture that for 77 > 3 all such identities follow from the standard identity. We also give an upper bound for the multiplicities of the irreducible ^-characters and the dimension of the polynomial identities of degree 9 for M%(K). It seems that the obtained numerical results are equal or very close to the real ones. In a similar way we study the identities in symmetric variables of degree 9 for the matrix algebra M(K] with symplectic involution. Finally we discuss central polynomials of low degree for matrices and the difficulties in their computational study. In the last
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section we deal with computations by hand which seems to be perspective for computerization. The authors do not pretend that the present paper is an exhausted survey on all computational methods used to study polynomial identities of matrices. The choice of the topics is influenced very much by the taste and experience of the authors. We do not enter in details of the computer programs. We want only to mention that the surveyed results have been obtained using different computer systems and the programs have been written in different languages. In particular, we do not discuss the existing packages for computing with polynomial identities and combinatorial objects related with representation theory of the symmetric and the general linear groups. 2 THE MAIN OBJECTS
Let K be a fixed field of characteristic 0. We denote by A = K(X) the free associative algebra with a countable set of free generators X {x^, x2,...}. An element f(xi,...,xm) A is called a polynomial identity for a Kalgebra R if f(r\,...,rm) 0 for any r : , . . . , r m e R. The set of all polynomial identities of R, denoted by T(R), is a T-ideal, i.e. a twosided ideal of A which is invariant under all endomorphisms of A. When T(R) 7^ (0), R is called a Pi-algebra. Any set of generators of T(R) as a T-ideal is called a basis of the polynomial identities of R. The T-ideal of the polynomial identities of the matrix algebra Mn(K) is one of the most interesting objects in the theory of Pi-algebras and its applications. We now briefly give some results on the polynomial identities of Mn(K). For further reading we refer to the books by Procesi [56], Jacobson [40], Rowen [68], Bahturin [3], Formanek [32] and Drensky [20]. In 1950, Amitsur and Levitzki [1] proved that Mn(K) satisfies the standard identity of degree 2n
S2n = S2n(xi, - , %2n) = Y[
and that S2n is the only polynomial identity of degree < 2n for Mn(K). Moreover, from the Cayley-Hamilton theorem, one obtains that the powers l,r,r2, . . . ,rn of any matrix r Mn(K) are linearly dependent and this easily implies that Mn(K] satisfies the identity of algebraicity
a n L (,, T i <,,, n >n\y\i i 11 an)
sp-no/ ^ (oigiiufx
i/Tr/y o2x T y\x
...n yn
where the symmetric group Sn+i acts on the symbols 0 , 1 , . . . , n. It can be shown that an, n > 2, does not follow from the standard polynomial s2n.
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One of the central problems in the theory of Pi-algebras is to find a basis of the polynomial identities for the algebra of n x n matrices, n > 2. (In 1986, Kemer [45] (see also [46]) gave a positive solution to the famous Specht problem [73] whether every T-ideal has a finite basis. This result justifies the search for a finite basis of T(R}, for any K-algebra R.) The complete answer is known for 2x2 matrices only. Till the early 70's, the only known identities for Mz(K] were 54 and the Hall identity [[.x, y] 2 ,z]. It expresses the fact that the trace of the commutator of two matrices is equal to 0 and. by the Cayley-Hamilton theorem, [ri,r2J 2 is a scalar matrix for all n/ra G M^(K). In 1973, Razmyslov [61] found a finite basis of T(M<2(K)) consisting of 9 polynomials of degree < 6. Drensky [14] in 1981 showed that the standard identity s,i(.xi,... ,.7:4) and the Hall identity in two variables [[x, y]2,x] (which up to a sign is equal to the identity of algebraicity a.2(:f,y,y)} form a minimal basis for the T-ideal of the polynomial identities of M^(K}. He used the fact that the identities of M<2,(K) follow from these of degree < 6 (and did not use the concrete basis found by Razmyslov). Up till now, no explicit set of generators of T(Mn(K)), n > 2, is known. In 1973, Leron [50] proved that for n > 2 all polynomial identities of degree 2n + 1 for Mn(K) are consequences of the standard identity s%n. For n = 3 this result was improved by Drensky and Kasparian [24]. In 1983. they found all identities of degree 8 and showed that they are consequences of the standard identity SQ. These calculations (done by hand) were checked by computer by Bondari [11] in 1997 and by Vishne [75] in 2002, see the last section of the present paper. There was a hope that the standard identity S2n and the identity of algebraicity an form a basis for T ( M n ( K ) } also for n > 2. But for n 3 several new identities of degree 9 have been found by Okhitin [54] and Domokos [12]. For n > 3 no new identities of degree < degan = n(n + 3)/2 are known. The following problems related to the polynomial identities of Mn(K) are well known: Let 71 > 4. (i) What is the minimal degree of the polynomial identities for Mn(K) which do not follow from s^n- (For n = 2,3 this degree is equal to dega n .) (ii) Are all polynomial identities of degree In + 2 for the matrix algebra AIn(K) consequences of the standard identity S2n? Usually the results on polynomial identities are expressed in the language of the representation theory of the symmetric group Sk- It is well known that over a field of characteristic zero every T-ideal is generated by its multilinear elements. If \'\ is the vector space of all multilinear polynomials of degree A; in x\>.... x^, the properties of the T-ideal T(R) are determined by the properties of Vk n T(R) for every k. The symmetric group Sk acts from the left on Vfc by permuting of the variables. Under this action Vfc is an Sfc-module and the space Vk.r\T(R) is a submodule of V&. For a partition
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A of k we denote by x\ the irreducible ^-character corresponding to A. Then xsk(Vk n T(R}} = Y.mx(R)x\, where m\(R) is the multiplicity of X\. In 1977, Olsson and Regev [55] computed the S/t+i -character of the multilinear consequences of degree k + 1 of the standard polynomial sk:
xsk+l((sk)T n vk+i) = X(3,ifc-2) + X(22,ifc-3) + 3x(2,ifc-i) +" X(i*+i)

where (sk)T denotes the T-ideal of A generated by sk. Recently, Benanti and Drensky [7] found all consequences of degree k + 2 of Sk and calculated the Sfc+2-character of (sk)T ', for k > 5:
(sk)T) =
The method in [7] is based on the representation theory of the general linear group GLm(K) which is equivalent to the representation theory of Often, it is more useful to study the 5fc-module Vk/(VkC\T(R)). The Skcharacter of this module, denoted by Xk (R) > ig called the k-th cocharacter of R and the sequence {Xk(R)}k>i '1S the cocharacter sequence of R. The /c-cocharacter of R is decomposed as Xk(R) S7Â(-S)XA an<i the main quantitative problem is to determine the multiplicities m\(R). In the case of matrix algebras the first result in this direction was proved in 1979 by Regev [65]:
sk.
Xk(Mn(K)} =
Yl
mx(Mn(K))xx,
where A.ni(k) = {A = ( A i , . . . , A r ) h k r < n2}. Bergman [10] described all polynomial identities for Mn(K] of the form f(x,y\,...,yn} which are linear in each variable yi,...,yn- Using the result of [10], Drensky and Kasparian [23] calculated the multiplicities m\(Mn(K)) in the special case A = (Ai, A2, . . , Ar) when A2 + . . . + Ar = n. (It is easy to see that mx(Mn(K)) = 0 when X% + . . . + \r < n.) It turns out that all these identities are consequences of the identity of algebraicity. On the other hand, Formanek [30, 31] showed that m\(Mn(K)) = mp(Mn(K)) for A = (Ai, . . . , A n 2), fj, (Ai, . . . , A n 2_!) and An2 > 2. For n = 2 and n = 3 the information is more complete. In 1984, the explicit expression of Xk(M2(K)) was determined by Formanek [30] and Drensky [15]. Benanti [4] studied the &-cocharacter of M%(K] and determined all partitions A of & such that rh\(M?,(K)} is not zero. We now briefly continue our exposition on Pi-algebras with central polynomials and weak polynomial identities for Mn(K}.
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A homogeneous polynomial of positive degree /(.TI, . .., xm) A is called a central polynomial for the algebra R if / ( n , . . ., rm) is in the center of R for all FI, . .., rm /?, and f(x\... ., xm) is not, a polynomial identity for R. By the Cayley-Hamilton theorem it is easy to show that [xi,^] 2 is a central polynomial for the 2x2 matrix algebra. In 1956. Kaplansky [42], see also the revised version [43] in 1970, asked his famous 12 problems which motived a significant research activity in ring theory. One of this problems was whether there exists a central polynomial for the matrix algebra Mn(K), n > 3. The answer to the problem of Kaplansky was given in 1972-73 by Formanek [29] and Razmyslov [62] who constructed central polynomials for Mn(K), n > 2, with two different methods. The existence of central polynomials was crucial in many considerations and constructions in Pi-theory and for applications to otherbranches of mathematics, see the book by Jacobson [40]. The construction of Formanek yields a central polynomial of degree n2. The original polynomial of Razmyslov [62] is of degree 3n2 1 but Halpin [39] showed that the method of Razmyslov also gives a central polynomial of degree n2. Although it is of the same degree as the polynomial constructed by Formanek, the polynomial of Halpin is different. For long time it was thought that the minimal degree of the central polynomials for the n x n matrices is equal to n2 and this is true for n = 1 and n = 2. But. in 1983-1985, Drensky and Kasparian [24. 25] found a central polynomial of degree 8 for 3x3 matrices and showed that for n = 3 the minimal degree of the central polynomials is equal to 8. Formanek [32] in 1991 conjectured that the minimal degree of the central polynomials for Mn(K] is equal to (n2 + 3n - 2)/2. In 1994, Drensky and Piacentini Cattaneo [26] found a new central polynomial of degree 13, for n = 4, and this agrees with the conjecture. The result was generalized by Drensky [19] who constructed new central polynomials of degree (n I)2 + 4 for Mn(K), n > 2. For n = 3 and n = 4 this degree coincides with the degree prescribed in the conjecture of Formanek. The construction of Razmyslov is based on two ideas of independent interest, the Razmyslov transform [62] and weak polynomial identities [61, 62] (see also the book by Razmyslov [63]). The notion of a \veak polynomial identity due to Razmyslov plays a crucial role in his approach to the polynomial identities of 2 x 2 matrices and central polynomials for matrix algebras of any size. The polynomial f(xi:...,xm) A is called a weak polynomial identity for Mn(K] if f(ri,...,rm) = 0 for all traceless matrices r ! , . . . . r m e Mn(K) (i.e. r 1 , . . . . r m belong to the Lie subalgebra sln(K) of Mn(K)). A weak polynomial identity for Mn(K) which is not a polynomial identity for Mn(K) is called an essential weak polynomial identity. Once we have at our disposal an essential weak polynomial identity, the method of Razmyslov gives a central polynomial. In this way the
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existence of the weak identity [rr^rra] of degree three for Mz(K} gives rise to a central polynomial of degree four. Similarly the central polynomials for Mn(K) of degree n2 constructed by Halpin [39] used weak polynomial identities of degree n(n + l)/2. Initially, the central polynomial of degree 8 for Ms(K) had been found [25] by a direct construction. Later, Drensky and Rashkova [27] described all weak polynomial identities of degree 6 for M$(K} and showed that one of them gives a central polynomial of degree 8. Also, for M^(K), in [26] the authors obtained a central polynomial of degree 13 from an essential weak polynomial identity of degree 9 for 4x4 matrices. The lower degree of the weak polynomial identities in the construction of central polynomials is a big advantage from the computational point of view, see Section 5.3 of the present paper. Finally we report results about polynomial identities for matrix algebras with involution. We denote by K(X,*) the free associative algebra with involution generated by X over K. If R is an associative lf-algebra with involution *, then an element f(x,x*,.. ., xm, x*^) of K(X, *} is a *-polynomial identity for R if /(ri, r j " , . . . , rm, r^) = 0 for all substitutions ri,...,rmR. The set T(R, *) of all ^-polynomial identities of R is a *-T-ideal of K(X, *} i.e., an ideal invariant under all endomorphisms of K(X, *} commuting with * (see [35]). In case R Mn(K), n > 2, two involutions play a very important role in the study of *-polynomial identities: the transpose involution, denoted * = t, and the canonical symplectic involution, denoted * = s and defined only in case n = 2m, is even. In fact, it is well known (see [68], Theorem 3.1.62) that, if K is an infinite field and * is an involution in Mn(K], then either T(Mn(K},*} = T(Mn(K),t) or T(Mn(K),*) = T(Mn(K},s). For i = 1 , 2 , . . . , define s,; = Xi + x* and fc,; = Xi x*. Obviously, s* = Si, k* = fcj. We can regard K(X, *} as generated by the symmetric variables s,; and the skew-symmetric variables fcj and write K(X, *} = K(si,ki,s2,k,2,...). The theorem of Amitsur and Levitzki [1] can be improved if we consider only polynomials in symmetric or skew-symmetric variables. In 1974, Rowen extending a result of Kostant [49] proved that 2n-2 is a ^polynomial identity for (Mn(K),t) in skew-symmetric variables (see [67]). In 1982, also he proved that S2n-2 is a *-polynomial identity for (Mn(K), s) in symmetric variables [69]. No *-polynomial identities of degree lower than In 2 are known for (Mn(K),t] and (Mn(K},s) for arbitrary n. In 1990, Giambruno [34] showed that if / is a *-polynomial identity for (Mn(K),s) and n > 2, then deg/ > n + I. This result was improved by Drensky and Giambruno [22] who proved in 1995 that if n > 4, then (Mn(K),s) does not satisfy identities of degree n + 1 in symmetric variables only. Therefore
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the minimal degree of the identities in symmetric variables for (Mn(K}, s) is greater than n + 1. In 1996 Rashkova [58], see also [59], made one more step in this direction, showing that (Mg(-RT). s) has no identities of degree 8 in symmetric variables. In 1995, it was proved by Giambruno and Valenti (see [36]) that if / is a *-polynomial identity in skew-symmetric variables for ( M n ( K ) , s ) then deg/ > n + n/2. It is easy to showr that s^n is a *polynomial identity for (Mn(K),t) of minimal degree among ^-polynomial identities in symmetric variables. But, in [51] and [36] it was shown that in general *-polynomial identities of minimal degree for matrices with involution need not resemble standard identities. One of the first problems to study is to determine the minimal degree of a *-polynomial identity for (Mn(K),*). Concerning general results, Rashkova [60] has recently established that a polynomial f(x,yi,...,ym) which is linear in each y,;, i = 1,... .771,, is a *-polynomial identity for (A4-2m(K) +, s) if and only if it is an ordinary polynomial identity for Mm(K). The *-polynomial identities of an algebra in characteristic zero are determinated by the multilinear ones. Hence, if we denote by \4(*) the space of all multilinear polynomials of degree k in x\. x*,..., x^, xf,, to study T(R,*) is equivalent to study T4(*) nT(R, *), for any k > 1. The space Vfc(*) n T(R,*) has a natural structure of B^-module, where Bk is the hyperoctahedral group of degree k (see [35] and also [33] for the equivalent approach based on representation theory of the direct product of two copies of the general linear group). The .^-character of Vfc(*) n T(R, *) is decomposed as
r=0
Ahr
where x\,n denotes the irreducible B^-character corresponding to the pair of partitions (A, /î) and m\^(R,*) > 0 are the corresponding multiplicities. The main problem is to determine m\^(R,*). for any k or, equivalently, the multiplicities m\n(R,*) in the fc-th *-cocharactcr of (jR, *) in fc the *-cocharacter sequence Xk(R-,*} = /"^ Y^ ^\,^(R^ *)XA,^- A comr=0 Ahr
plete study of T(M2(K),t] and of T(M2(K], s), in characteristic zero, has been made by Drensky and Giambruno in [21]. They determined the multiplicities m\^(M<2(K). *), for any k. Recently Benanti and Campanella [5] investigated the *-cocharacter sequence of (M^(K)^t) and determined all the pairs of partitions such that mx^(My,(K),t) = 0.
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ALGEBRAIC AND COMBINATORIAL BACKGROUND
We consider associative, not necessarily unitary /i'-algebras only, where K is a fixed field of characteristic 0. All vector spaces and tensor products are also over K. We denote by A K(X) the free associative algebra of countable rank with a set of free generators X = { x i , X 2 , . } . An ideal U of A is a T-ideal if it is invariant under all endomorphisms of A. It is well known that U is a T-ideal of A if and only if U = T(R) for some algebra R, where T(R) is the set of all polynomial identities for an associative algebra R. Let H be a vector subspace of an associative algebra R which generates R as an algebra. The polynomial f(x\,..., xm) is called a weak polynomial identity for the pair (R, H) if f(hi,..., hm) = 0 for arbitrary hi,..., hm E H. The weak identity / is called an essential weak polynomial identity if it is not a polynomial identity for R. We assume that H has a structure of a Lie algebra with respect to the multiplication [hi, h^} = hih% h^h\. Then the weak identities for (R, H) form an ideal T(R, H) of A which is invariant under all substitutions of the free generators of A by elements of the free Lie algebra L, considered as a subalgebra of A. We consider the free algebra Am = K(XI, . . . , xm) of rank m as a subalgebra of A. The algebras A and Am are graded, A = Â^k\ where A^ is the space of all homogeneous polynomials of degree k and Am = ]C Am , with Am = Am n A(k\ Moreover, there is a more precise multigrading of Am counting the degree of each variable in the monomials from Am, Am !>2Am''"' In the sequel, all graded vector spaces are subspaces, vector spaces or tensor products of subspaces of A and Am with these particular gradings. Let Vk = Ak ''"' , k = 1 , 2 , . . . , be the vector space of all multilinear polynomials of degree k in A^.. The polynomial identities for an algebra R are determined by the multilinear ones, i.e. as a T-ideal T(R) is generated by Vk n T(R), k = 1 , 2 , . . . . For many problems, the study of T(R) is equivalent to the study of Vk fl T(R] for every k. Let Sk be the symmetric group of degree k acting on the set of symbols {1,..., k}. The vector space Vk is a left ^-module with action of Sk defined by
where a E Sk, x^ ... xik E 14 As an ^-module 14 is isomorphic to the group algebra KSk equipped with the left regular S^-action (by multiplication from the left). For any algebra R, the vector space Vk n T(R) is an Sfc-submodule of Vk, k = 1 , 2 , . . . . The irreducible representations of the symmetric group Sk are described by partitions of fc and Young diagrams.
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Let > Ar > 0,
be a partition of k (notation A h fc). The partition is of height h if A^ > 0 and \h+i 0. We relate to the partition A = ( A i , . . . , Ar) h k its Young diagram D\ with r rows of AI, ... , Xr boxes. For example, if A = (4, 2 2 ,1) then
We denote by M\ and xx respectively the irreducible S^-module related with the partition A and its character. Then
(1)
and one of the main problems in the quantitative study of the polynomial identities of R is to describe the multiplicities m\(R). A result of Regev [64] gives that the degree of the Sjt-character of Vk f~l T(R) (i.e. the dimension of the vector space Vfc n T(R)) is very close to dimV^ = k\ and it is more reasonable instead of the Sfc-character of Vfc n T(R) to study the fc-th cocharacter of R Xk(R) - Xs*(Vk/(Vk n T(R), k = 1, 2, . . . , which has the decomposition
where m\(R) = d\ m\(R) with d\ = degÂ = dimM^. As a first approximation to the problem one considers the fc-th codimension of R ck(R] = degXk(R) = d\m(Vk/(Vk n T(R))), fe = 1, 2, . . . . The celebrated theorem of Regev [64] states that there exists a positive constant a such that ck(R) < ak for all k = 1, 2, . . .. Recently, Giambruno and Zaicev [37, 38] have proved that the limit limfcôo \/~Ck(R} exists for any
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Pi-algebra R and is a nonnegative integer. In the special case of the matrix algebra the exact asymptotics of the codimension sequence is obtained by Regev, see [66]: For any n > 1 ck(Mn(K))
n-
The exact values of ck(Mn(K)) (for all k) is known for n = 2 only. Procesi [57] proved that
+ 1 - 2 fe .
The degrees of the irreducible S^-characters are given by the hook formula. Let A = (Ai, . . . , Xr) be a partition of k and let A^, . . . , A^ be the lengths of the columns of the diagram D\ . Then
where hij = A, j + X'j i + 1 is the hook length of the (i,j)-th box. For example, if A = (4, 2 2 ,1) then the hook length of the box in position (2,1) given below is hî = 4:
X X X X
The vector space Wm with basis xi, . . . ,xm is a left Gl^-module with the canonical action of the general group GLm = GLm(K}. The free algebra Am is isomorphic to the tensor algebra of Wm. Therefore Am is a GLTO-module with the diagonal action of GLm defined by g(xil ... .. . g ( x i k ) , g 6
.x ik Am,
and Am n T(R) is a GI/m-submodule of Am. The irreducible polynomial representations of GLm are also described by partitions. We denote by Wmt\ the irreducible GLm-module related with A. Then
(2)
It is known that for any T-ideal T(R) the action of Sk on Vk n T(R) and of GLm on Am H T(R), k = 1, 2, . . ., are equivalent in the following way.
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PROPOSITION 1 (see [13] and [9]) // the Sk-module Vk n T(R) has the decomposition given in (1) and the GLm-module Am H T(R) has the decomposition (2), then m\(R) ~ m\(R) for each A of height < m. This assertion holds also for the ideal T(R, H) of the weak identities for the pair ( R , H } . In particular, Vk n T(R,H) and A($ n T(R,H) are Sk- and GLm-modules, respectively, with the same multiplicities of the corresponding irreducible components. For concrete computations we need explicit generators of the irreducible (k} submodules of the SVinodule Xfcan(l the GL^-module Am . We fix a partition A = (Ai, . . . , Ar) h k. A Young tableau of shape A (or a A-tableau) is a Young diagram whose boxes are filled in with the integers 1, 2, . . . , k in an arbitrary way (and each 1,2, ... ,k appears in the tableau exactly once). The tableau is standard if its entries increase from top to bottom in the columns and from left to right in the rows. It, is known that the number of the standard A-tableaux is equal to d\. For r 6 Sk we denote by DT D\ the Young tableau such that the first column of DT is filled in consequently from top to bottom with the integers r(l), . . . , r(A' 1 ), the second column is filled in with r(Aj + 1), . . . , r(A'1 + A^), etc. We denote by ST\ the set of permutations r 6 Sk corresponding to standard tableaux DT. Since the S^-modules V^ and KSk are naturally isomorphic, for our purposes it is sufficient to describe the generators of M\ C KSk- The group Sk acts on the set of all A-tableaux: If the (?', j)-th box of the tableau DT contains the integer/;, then the (i,j)-th box of o-(Dr) contains a(p), o Sk. The row stabilizer R(DT) of DT is the subgroup of Sk which fixes the sets of entries of each row of DT . Similarly one defines the column stabilizer C(DT] of the tableau. The element of the group algebra
generates an irreducible 5^-module (i.e. a minimal left ideal of KSk) which is isomorphic to M\. Up to a multiplicative constant. e(DT] is equal to a minimal idempotent of the group algebra KSk. The automorphisms of the S^-module M\ are indexed by non-zero elements of K. Such an automorphism ^Q, 0 ^ a K, is defined by il'a(v) ~ avi v & MX- Hence, for each pair of A-tableaux DTl and DT2 there is an isomorphism 0riT2 between the Sfc-modules KSk e(DTl) and e(DT2) such that all isomorphisms are a<x> TlT2 , 0 7^ a E K. The concrete form of (/>TlT2 is the following: Let TT be the element in Sk which sends
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DTl to DT2. Then e(L> Tl ) = ir'1 e(DT*}ir and
a^.TT-M^)-
In the
Ahfc
we can choose the dx direct summands M\ as MJ = /fSfc e(Dr), where DT, T STx, are all standard A-tableaux. Hence, if e Sk is the identity permutation and e.\ = e(De), then every submodule of KSk isomorphic to MX is generated by an element
e=
Two submodules M' = M" = MX of KSk coincide if and only if the \STX tuples of coefficients (b'r | T e STA) and (b1^. T 6 ST\] related with M' and M", respectively, are equal up to a multiplicative constant. Up to a multiplicative constant there exists a unique generator w\ of Wmt\ which is multihomogeneous of degree (Ai, . . . , A m ). This element is called the highest weight vector of Wm,\ and can be described in the following way. The symmetric group S^ acts from the right on the homogeneous component of degree k of Am by place permutation
Am .
Every nonzero element w\=w\(x\, . . . , x m ), where
is the highest weight vector of a submodule Wm>,\ of Am , The complete linearization of w\ generates an irreducible 5fc-module M\ and every submodule M\ of Vk can be obtained in this way. The highest weight vector w\ of Wm,\ can De expressed uniquely as a linear combination of the polynomials w\ where the r's are such that D^ are standard tableaux (see [27])
w
*= Y, trWx^reK.
(4)
We refer to the books by Weyl [76], Macdonald [52], James and Kerber [41] and Sagan [70] for the representation theory of the symmetric and the
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general linear groups. For further reading for applications to Pi-algebras we refer to the survey articles of Regev [66] and one of the authors [17, 18]. The study of polynomial identities can be carried out also for .^-algebras with involution. By definition, an involution * of an algebra R (notation (R, *)) is a linear operator of R such that (r*)* = r and (n^)* = r 2 r i fr all r, TI, r"2 G R- Hence, the involution is an antiisomorphism of the algebra with square equal to the identity map. We denote by K(X,*} = K ( X I . X * . X2,xt,, . . .} the free associative algebra with involution * generated by X over K. As in the case of ordinary polynomial identities, in characteristic zero, the *-polynomial identities of an algebra are determinated by the multilinear ones. Hence, if we denote by \4(*) the space of all multilinear polynomials of degree k in .TI, x*, . . . , xk. x, the study of T(R,*) is equivalent to the study of Vfc(*) n T(R,*) for any k > 1. It is useful to regard the free associative algebra with involution K(X, *) as generated by symmetric and skewsymmetric variables. We set S{ x,; + x* and fe,; = xl x*, for i = I, 2, . . ., and then K(X,*) K ( S I , /q, S2 ^'2> } Moreover, for any K-algebra, R with involution *, R = R+ R~ where R+ = {r G R \ r* = r} and R~ = {r G R | r* = r} are the spaces of symmetric and skew-symmetric elements of R, respectively. Therefore /(i, . . . , sp, k\, . . . , kq) G K(X, *} is a *- polynomial identity for R if f(r^, . . . , rJ~, r{~, . . . , r~) = 0 for all rf R+ . r~ G R~ , i 1, . . . ,p, j = 1, . . . ,q. We can write the space of all multilinear polynomials of degree k as cr G 5fc, Wi = s,: or wl = ki, i = l....k}. Recall that if Z% {I, *} is the cyclic group of order 2, then B^ is the wreath product Z-2 ~ 5^ = {(o.\. . . . , a^; <r) | a,; G ^2;" G Sjt} with multiplication given by
The space Vfc(*)'has a structure of a left .B^-module induced by the action of h = (ai,...,ak-a) G Bk defined by hsl - s cr ( 7:) , hkt. = fc^l) = fc CT ( ?: ). There is a one-to-one correspondence between irreducible ^-characters and pairs of partitions (A, /^), where A h r, n h /c r, for all r = 0, 1, . . . , A:. If M\^ and xx./j. denote the irreducible jB^-module corresponding to (A, fj,) and its character, we write
Vk(*) n T(R, *) =
A
(5)
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where m\^(R, *) > 0 are the corresponding multiplicities. For every J^-algebra R with involution * the vector space Vk(*)r\T(R, *) is invariant under the above action of B^, hence the space Vk(R, *) = Vjt(*)/ (Vfe(*) n T(R, *)) has a structure of left Sfc-module. Its character Xk(R, *) is called the fc-th *-cocharacter of R and it has the following decomposition
r=0
AHr ^hfc-r
Again, as in the case of ordinary polynomial identities, one of the main problems for the ^polynomial identities of R is to describe the multiplicities m\(R,*) or, equivalently, m\(R,*}. For r fixed we let VT^-r(*} be the space of multilinear polynomials in si, . . . , sr, AV+I> . . . , kk. Now, if we let 5r act on the symmetric variables si, . . . , sr and Sfc-r on the skew-symmetric ones AV+I, ,fc&>then we obtain an action of 5r x Sfc_r on V^fc_ r (*). Since T-ideals are invariant under permutations of symmetric and skew-symmetric variables, we obtain that Vrjk-r(R, *) = Vr,k-r(*) n T(R, *) has the induced structure of a left Sr x 5fc_r-module. We denote by Xr,k-r(R> *) its character. It is well known that, there is a one-to-one correspondence between irreducible 5r X 5^_rcharacters and pairs of partition (A,//) such that A h r, and fj, \- k r. Hence, by the complete reducibility, we have the decomposition
Xr,k-r(R,*)= 51 rhx^(R, * ) ( x x X / j . ) , (6)
where XA (resp. Xn) denotes the usual ^-character (resp. 5jt_ r -character), XAXM is the irreducible 5r x 5/t_r-character associated with the pair (A, /^) and rh\tn(R, *) > 0 is the corresponding multiplicity. The relation between the 5^-character and the Sr x 5'/c_r-character is expressed in the following: PROPOSITION 2 ([21], Theorem 1.3) If the k-th ^-character of R has the decomposition given in (5) and the Sr x Sk-r-character ofVr^-r(R^ *) has the decomposition (6), then m\^(R. *) m\^(R, *}, for all A and /x. Let us denote by Km(X, *) = K(xi,x^,...,xm,x^n) the free associative algebra with involution and of rank m. We can assume that it is generated by the symmetric variables 5,; and the skew-symmetric variables ki, i = l,...,m, i.e., Km(X,*) = K ( S I , ki, . . . , sm, km). Let U = SpanK{si, . . . ,sm} and V = Sp&nK{ki, . . . ,km}. The group GL(U) x GL(V) = GLm x GLm acts from the left on the space U @ V and we
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can extend this action diagonally to an action on Km(X, *}. For every *-T{ k} Km (R, *} be its homogeneous component of degree k; it is a GLm x GLmsubmodule of Km(R,*) and we denote its character by ipk(R-, *) The irreducible polynomial GLm x GLm-characters are described by pairs of partitions (A,yu.), where A h r and // h k r, for all r = 0, . . . , k. If we denote by 4!\,^ the irreducible GLm x GLm-character associated to the pair (A,//), then we have the following decomposition
(7)
\de&lT(R,*),Km(R,*)
= Km(X, *}r\T(R, *) is a GLm x GLm-module. Let
The .Bfc-module structure o f V k ( R , * ) and the GL m x GLm-module structure of Km (R, *) are related by the following result: PROPOSITION 3 ([33], Theorem 3) If the k-th ^-character of R has the /1,\ decomposition given in (5) and the GLm x GLm-character of Km (R, *) has the decomposition (7) then m\^(R, *) rh,\^(R, *), /or a/if A, fj,. It is well known that every irreducible submodule of Km (X, *} corresponding to the pair (A, fj.} is cyclic and is generated by a nonzero polynomial called the highest weight vector it;\ ^ of the form w\,n = ''A^(SI.- ; s p , & i , . . . ,kq) - w\(si,. . . ,sp) -w^ where ar e K, w\ = w\(si, . . . , sp) and w^ = w!_L(ki, . . . , kq) are as in (3). As in the ordinary case w\_^ can be expressed as a linear combination of the polynomials (w^ wa)r where the p's and u's are such that the tableaux of the pair (-D^, D^) are standard and the action of T G 5^ from the right determines the positions of the variables s\. . . . , sp and k\, . . . , kq:
-<)T.
(8)
Notice that if we consider symmetric (respectively skew-symmetric) variables only, then /x = 0 (resp. A = 0) and w\^(s\, . . . , sp, k\, . . . , kq) = wx(s\,..., Sp) (resp. wX}l,(si, . . . , sp, ki,..., kq] = w^ki, ..., k q ) ) . For a complete description of the representation theory of the group Bk Z-2 ~ Sir on Vjt(*) and of GLm x (7Lm on Km(X,*) we refer to [35] and [33].
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COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES
In this section we describe several computational methods to study Pialgebras. All of them are based on the following idea. Let H be a subspace of the finite dimensional algebra R and let P be a finite dimensional subspace of the free algebra A. We want to find all polynomials in P which vanish on H. We fix a basis [wj(xi, . . . ,xm) \ j = I,...,d} of P and consider the polynomial
d w(xi, . . . , xm) = ^ jWj(xi, ..., xm) E P, j E K, j=l
(9)
where we consider j, j = 1, . . . , d, as unknowns. Giving different values h\s , . . . , hm E H to xi, . . . , xm, we obtain a homogeneous linear system
p
(s) i;)(/) h^} -^7 w(n,i , . . . , n, m )
t-wfh^ SjWj (ri^ , . . . , nh^}-Cl m ) u,
i=l
with respect to the d unknowns j and with "coefficients" Wj(h^' , . . . , hm) in R. Fixing a basis of R, and assuming that the coordinates of the above sums are equal to 0, each equation gives rise to dim R equations with coefficients in K. In this way, the total number of the equations in the system is equal to dim Rx (number of "experiments"), where under an "experiment" we mean to fix the values of h\a ,...,hm and perform the calculations. The solutions of this system are potential candidates for polynomials in P vanishing on H . The number np(R, H) of the linear independent solutions gives an upper bound for the dimension mp(R, H) of the vector space of such polynomials. One of the main difficulties is to decide how far is the bound np(R,H) from the real value mp(R,H). In principle, this problem can be solved with additional arguments and reasonable amount of additional calculations if the degree k of the identities is not too high. We shall discuss it in any concrete case which we consider. Another possibility is to evaluate x\, . . . , xm in (9) with generic objects. Fixing a basis {h\, . . . , hp} of H, we define the generic elements
where the z^s are algebraically independent commuting variables. Then w(xi, . . . , xm) E P vanishes on H if and only if w(y\, . . . , ym) 0. Clearly, 10(3/1, . . . , ym) is a linear combination of the basis elements of R with coefficients which are polynomials in the z,;/s. If w(xi, . . . , xm) is in the form (9), we obtain a system with unknowns the j's and polynomial coefficients. Unfortunately, in most of the cases the calculations are too big.
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Typical examples of generic objects are the generic matrices. A version of the above scheme was used by Schelter [71] to find the first new polynomial identities for 2 x 2 matrices over a field of characteristic 2 which do not originate from the identities of M^CE] and the identity 2x = 0. See also [28] for a multilinear version of this result (obtained by calculations by hand) and [2]. First \ve shall consider the problem to find all polynomial identities of degree k for Mn(K}. The simplest (but, not the best) algorithm uses that the polynomial identities of any algebra are equivalent to the multilinear identities and is the following. We consider the multilinear polynomial
with unknown coefficients &. a Sk. Since /(.TI, . . . , x^) is a polynomial identity for Mn(K) if and only if /(e n j l , . . . , &ikjk) 0 for all matrix units p 1, . . . ,k. we consider each of the n2 entries of
as a linear homogeneous equation. In this way, we obtain a system with kl unknowns <j, a G Sk, and n2 x (n 2 )^ equations. The set of the solutions coincides with the set of multilinear identities of degree k. For n = 5 and k = 12 (the most difficult case handled up till now, but with other methods) we have 12! = 479 001 600 unknowns, 2513 1.49 1018 equations and the number of independent solutions is equal to 8491. Although many of the equations are trivial, the number of the unknowns and the equations which we essentially need (at least ci^M^K}) 12! 8491) is so big that the task is out of reach for the contemporary computers. There is a nice graph theoretic approach to eliminate the trivial equations which was initially created and used for purely theoretic considerations. It is based on arguments used in the Swan proof of the Amitsur-Levitzki theorem [74], see also [20]. For every set of matrix units {GIIJI, . . . , ikjk} C Mn(K) we associate an oriented graph with a set of vertices {1, . . . , n} and a set, of oriented edges {(?'i, Ji), . - , (ik.,jk)}- Then the product eilj1 . . . &ikjk is nonzero if and only if (?'i, ji), . . . , (ik,jk) is a path of the graph. Oriented graphs which have paths going exactly once through all edges are called Eulerian. Hence, it is sufficient, to consider only those equations (10) and only those summands there which correspond to Eulerian graphs and Eulerian paths, respectively. Of course, one may use some symmetries (e.g. to consider the graphs up to an isomorphism) in order to decrease additionally the amount of calculations. Although these graph theoretic arguments cannot bring the number of the equations in the above mentioned case below the bound 12! 8491, they can be useful for other considerations.
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Instead of considering all multilinear identities of a given degree, it is better to act following the Roman Divide et imperaf (Divide and conquer!). In our case, this means to fix a partition A of A; and to consider polynomials which belong to the direct sum of all irreducible S^-modules M\ C Vk or all irreducible GLm-submodules Wm<\ of Am . We shall pay more attention to the method based on the representations of GLm. If the highest weight vector w\ is a polynomial identity for a Mn(K], then w\ (TI , . . . , rm) = 0, for all 7*1, . . . , rm Mn(K}. Therefore, from (4),
.., rm) = 0,
(11)
where we consider the T's as unknowns. There are d\ standard tableaux. The solutions of this system give potential candidates for polynomial identities of Mn(K}. The number n\(Mn(K)) of the linear independent solutions gives an upper bound for m\(Mn(K)): nx(Mn(K}} > mx(Mn(K)). The approach described above can be also used to investigate the weak polynomial identities. (Its earlier versions were used in [27] and [26] to study weak polynomial identities of degree 6 for M^(K) and of degree 9 for M(K), respectively.) If R = Mn(K] is the n x n matrix algebra and H = sln(K), then, by the method of Razmyslov, we can study the central polynomials of R. If R is a /^-algebra with involution * we can use this method also to study *-polynomial identities of R in symmetric or skew-symmetric variables only. In fact, if w\^ is a *-polynomial identity for (R, *), then Â,^(^,...,r+,rf , . . . , r ~ ) = 0, rf, . . . ,r+ R + , r f , . . . , r ~ e R~ . Hence, from (8), E VrK(r j", - , ^KK , - - . , r-))r = 0. (12)
If we consider symmetric variables only, then w\^(r^,..., r+, r w\(r^,... , r+) and (12) becomes in the form (11)
V . . , r+) = 0,
(13)
with r*,...,r 6 R+. Similarly, for skew-symmetric variables we obtain 67<(fT,... , r~) = 0, r f , . . . , r~ R~.
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In principle, the described calculations can be performed only over a constructive base field K. This is not a problem if the algebra R is sufficiently good. If for a fixed basis {ei,... ,es} all products erej are linear combinations of the basis elements with coefficients of a subfield KQ of K, then the Ko-algebra RQ with K"o-basis {EI, ... , es} and the A'-algebra R have the same polynomial identities in the following sense. If we embed canonically K0(X} into K ( X ) and TKo(R0] and T^fl) are the T-ideals of #0 and R in KO{X) and K(X), respectively, then the K-vectoi' space TK(R) is spanned by TKO(RO}- The multiplicities m\(Ro) and m\(R) of the irreducible KoSnand KSji-characters are also the same. In the special case of matrices, we can restrict our calculations to the case K = Q only. Since the ring M n (Z) and the Q-algebra Mn(Q) have the same identities in the above sense, and we have to solve a homogeneous linear system with rational coefficients, we may replace the variables of w% with matrices with integer entries and consider systems with integer unknowns. Since we are interested in upper bounds of the number of independent solutions of the systems, as in [26] we may work modulo some sufficiently large prime number. A similar idea, but in the language of multilinear polynomial identities and representations of the symmetric group was used by Bondari [11]. In order to reduce the amount of calculations he used probabilistic methods. Recently Vishne [75] has presented a new computational method for the study of the multilinear polynomial identities for matrix algebras with entries from the base field or from the Grassmann algebra and for their important subalgebras. As in [11], his method is based on representation theory of the symmetric group combined with ideas from graph theory, see [75] for more details. Fortunately, in some of the considerations (e.g. for the polynomial identities of degree 2n + 2 for n x n matrices), in both the cases of usage of representations of GLm and Sk, we have lower theoretical bounds for m\(Mn(K)), which coincide with the upper bounds n\(Mn(K}} obtained experimentally. This gives that n\(Mn(K}} = m\(Mn(K)). For other ways to be sure that the multiplicities m\ and n\ coincide, see [27] and [26]. For example, the exact values of m\(M3(K), s l ^ ( K ) ) , A h 6. were found in [27] with computer only, combined with Eulerian graphs arguments. The proof of the existence and the concrete form of the weak identity w\, A = (5,1 4 ), for (M^(K). sl^(K}} which gave rise to a central polynomial of degree 13 for M(K) was also performed by computer only and then, using this concrete form, a purely theoretical proof was found, see
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APPLICATIONS
In this section we show some applications and concrete results of the computational approach using representations of GLm, for polynomial identities, weak polynomial identities, central polynomials and *-polynomial identities of matrix algebras.
5.1
Polynomial identities of degree In + 2
The Hall identity [[2:1, 2] 2 , 3] does not follow from the standard identity 54(0:1,0:2,0:3, 4) and the minimal degree of the identities for M2(K) which do not, follow from 54 is equal to 5. On the other hand, by the result of Leron [50], for n > 3 all identities of degree 2n + I for Mn(K} follow from s%n. By [24] the polynomial identities of degree 8 of M^(K] are consequences of the standard identity of degree 6. There are many reasons to believe that the identities for Mn (K} of degree In + k are consequences of S2n for small k. It seems that here k increases at least linearly with the size n of the matrices. In this subsection we shall verify for n = 4, 5 the following conjecture. CONJECTURE 1 For n>3 all polynomial identities of degree In + 2 for Mn(K] are consequences of the standard identity s%n. Our strategy is the following. From [1], S2n is a polynomial identity for Mn(K), i.e. {s2n)T C T(Mn(K}} and mx((s2n}T} < mx(Mn(K)), for all A h 2n + 2. If we use the computational method described above, then we can determine nx(Mn(K)) linear independent solutions and we have nx(Mn(K)) > mx(Mn(K}) > mx((s2n}T), A h 2n + 2. From [7], we know the exact values of m\((s2n)T) for all partitions A of 2n + 2, n > 3. If our calculations show that n\(Mn(K}} = mx((s2n)T) for some n > 3, then we have the following results: 1. mx(Mn(K}} = mx((s2n)T) for all A h 2n + 2; 2. All the polynomial identities of degree 2n + 2 for Mn(K) and for the corresponding n, follow from, s2n. This strategy does not work for 2x2 matrices but in this case we have the complete quantitative information both for T(Mz(K}} and (s^}T'. The cocharacters of the T-ideal of M2(K) were calculated by Formanek [30] and one of the authors [15]. Kemer [44] found a basis for the multilinear elements of (54)^ modulo T(M2(K)). Restated in our language, see [16], the Sfc-character of ( V k r \ T ( M 2 ( K ) ) ) / ( V k n (s4)T) is:
X(V5
n T(M2(K)))/(V5 n
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n T(M2(K)))/(V6 and in the general case k > 7.

X(Vk
n (s4}r) = X( 4 ,2)
n T(M2(K)))/(Vk
+
n <s 4 ) T ) = X( fc -2,2)
X(fc-5,3,2) + X(fc-6,3 2 )>
X(fc-4,3,l) + X(fc-4,2 2 ) +
where for small /,; the summation is on all partitions which make sense (e.g. for ( A ; - 6 , 3 2 ) we need A; > 9). Hence, if all polynomial identities of degree 2n + 2 for Mn(K) are consequences of the standard identity S2 n , then everything depends on our possibilities for computer calculations. In order to find n\(Mn(K}) it is sufficient to perform the calculations only for those A = (Ai, . . . , \r) h In -f 2 such that A! < 4. This follows from the fact in [7] that m A ((s2n} T ) = 0 if AI > 5 and from the the following assertion which is also of independent interest. (Nevertheless, in the calculations for n = 4, 5, see [6], we have worked out also these cases for A h In + 2 as a test of the computer programs.) PROPOSITION 4 [6] Let A = (Ai, . . . , Ar) h 2n + 2, n > 2. If \i > 5 then mx(Mn(K}') = 0. The methods for the calculations for the polynomial identities of degree 8 for Ms(K) are discussed in the last section. In [6] we have performed the computer calculations for the polynomial identities for Mn(K] of degree 2n + 2 for n = 4, 5 using 64 processors on the Cray T3E at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab. It took a total of about 8 hours to complete the computations for the identities of degree 12 for 5x5 matrices from start to finish. (In order to compare our results with the known facts, six hours of this time were spent for calculations which follow from other arguments.) The results show that our upper bounds 7i\(Mn(K)) coincide with the exact values of iri'\((s2n)ri ') obtained theoretically in [7]. We shall state as a theorem the result obtained as a combination of theoretical conclusions and computer experiments: THEOREM 1 For n = 3, n = 4 and n = 5 all polynomial identities of degree 2n + 2 for Mn(K) are consequences of the standard identity of degree In. REMARK 1 The calculations for n 5 and k = 12 as performed in our paper [6] demonstrate the possibilities and the advantages of the computational method based on representations of GLm. Instead of working with one system with 12! unknowns, as in the direct attempt to handle the multilinear identities, we have to consider 77 systems with up to 7700 unknowns
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and to find only sufficiently good bounds for the ranks of the systems. We would decrease the number of the systems to 33, the number of unknowns to 5775 and the computing time to two hours if we used the information that 771^12) (Ms (K)) = I (because the highest weight vector is equal to the standard polynomial) and m\(M^(K}} ~ 0 if A h 12 with AI > 5. The case A = (2, 110) can also be handled using the result of Benediktovich and Zalesskij [8] who described the identities of degree k for Mn(K] which are skew-symmetric in k 1 variables. We also think that, comparing the method with the one based on representations of 271+2 1 it is easier to work with the highest weight, vectors than it is to consider their linearizations. (In the latter case we have to evaluate 12! products e,;CT(1).,CT(1) . . . ei <T(12) j <T(12) , which seems to be not realistic.)
5.2
Polynomial identities of degree 9 for M^(K)
During the preceding discussions we mentioned that all polynomial identities of M$(K) of degree < 8 follow from the standard identity s@ and the identity of algebraicity 03 is an identity of degree 9 for M^(K) which is known to be not a consequence of SQ. Moreover some new polynomial identities of degree 9 were found. Okhitin [54] described all identities of degree 9 in two variables for M^(K) and found one which is not contained in the T-ideal generated by sg and 0,3. Domokos [12] exhibited three Eulerian identities for the matrix algebra of order 3 which are not consequences of the known identities. The quantitative study of the polynomial identities of degree 9 for M$(K} can be carried out by the study of the fig-character of Vg n T(M^(K}}. In particular, we investigate the multiplicities in the following decomposition A=(Ai,.,A r )l-9 There are 30 partitions of the integer 9. From [10] and [23] we have that mx(M3(K)) = 0 for all A = (Ai, . . . , Ar) t- 9, A2 + + Ar < 3
and
m A (M 3 (/0) = d\ Then
for
all A = (Ai, . . . , Ar) h 9, A = (A 2 , . . . , Ar) h 3.
^)) = m (8)1) (M 3 (K)) = m (7|2) (M 3 (liO) = m(7^(M3(K)) m (6i3) (M 3 (/0) = m (6)1 3)(M3(tf)) = 1, m(&M(Mz(K})
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= 0,
= 2.
Ah 9 (9) (8,1) (7,2) (7, I2) (6,3) (6,2,1) (6, 13) (5,4) (5,3,1) (5,22) (5, 2, 12) (5. 14) (4M) (4,3,2) (4, 3, 12)
nA(M3(tf)) 0 0 0
0 1 2 1 1 5 6 13 12 4 8 18
Ah9 (4,2M) (4, 2, 13) (4, 15) (33)

(32,2,1)
nA(M3(Ar)) 23 39 25 6 20
(3Ma)
(3, 2, 14) (3, I6) (2M) (2M3)
(22,15)
26
14 (3,23) 2 2 (3,2 ,1 ) 39 47 15 10 22 18 7 1
(2, 17) (I9)
Table 1: The values of nx(M3(K}) for A h 9 In [6] we have used the computational method based on representations of GLm and have found an upper bound for the other multiplicities. In the Table 1 we summarize the obtained results. As in the previous subsection, some of the cases when the exact values of m\(M3(K}) are known are also object of computer calculations in order to check the programs. We conjecture that our values are exact (or very close to exact). As a support to the conjecture, if AI > 6, the obtained values coincide with those in [23]. Similarly, if f /(.x,y) denotes the identity in two variables found by Okhitin, then from Table 1 we have 1 = n (5 , 4) (M 3 (/0) > (5,4)(M 3 (*0) >
.e.
= 1,
m (5j4) (M 3 (/0) = rc(5i4)(M3(/0) = IThe other cases with coincidence of theoretical and experimental data are A = (I 9 ) (the standard polynomial) and A = (2, 17) when the result can be confirmed using the result, of Benediktovich and Zalesskij [8] . 5.3 Weak polynomial identities and central polynomials
Considering weak polynomial identities for the pair (R,H), in the special case R = Mn(K] we assume that, the subspace H is the Lie algebra sln(K)
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of all traceless n x n matrices. The polynomial / = f ( x i , . . . , xm) A is a weak polynomial identity for Mn(K) if / is a weak polynomial identity for the pair (Mn(K),sln(K)). We denote by T(Mn(K),sln(K)) the ideal of the weak polynomial identities for Mn(K). The character of the S^-module Vit n T(Mn(K), sln(K)) has the following decomposition
Since T(Mn(K),sln(K))
D T(Mn(K)), we have (14)
mx(Mn(K), sln(K)) > mx(Mn(K)).
Let A be a fixed partition of k. By using computational methods based on representations of the groups Sk and GLm we can compute an upper bound px(Mn(K),sln(K)) ofmx(Mn(K),sln(K)). Then, from (14), we have > mx(Mn(K),sln(K)) > mx(Mn(K)).
If we know, by some arguments, m\(Mn(K)) and we find

Px(Mn(K),sln(K)}
> mx(Mn(K)),
then we can hope that there is an essential weak polynomial identity for Mn(K) and we can obtain, by the method of Razmyslov, a central polynomial for the matrix algebra. The way indicated by Razmyslov to obtain central polynomials is based on the weak polynomial identities and on the idea of the Razmyslov transform. If / = /(n> , fk) Vk, then / can be written in the form f(xi,...,xk) = âpqp(x2,...,xk)xiq(x2,...,xk), am K,
where the monomials p and q do not depend on x\ . The mapping * defined by the equality f*(xi,. . . , xk) = ^ apqq(x2, . . . , is called the Razmyslov transform. The following result is essential in the approach of Razmyslov. PROPOSITIONS ([62]) If f ( x i , . . . ,xk) is a multilinear polynomial in K ( X ) , then: (i) /// is a polynomial identity for Mn(K), then f* is also a polynomial identity; (ii) // / is a weak identity for Mn(K), then f* is either a weak identity or has only scalar values on sln(K); (iii) // / is an essential weak polynomial identity for Mn(K] such that f ( [ x i , x k + i ] , ,Xk) is a polynomial identity for Mn(K), then f* is a central polynomial for Mn(K).
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In this set up. the computational approach was used in [27] for the description of the weak identities of sixth degree of M^(K) which explained from the point of view of the theory of Razmyslov the existence of the central polynomial of degree 8 for this algebra constructed in [25]. This method was also used in [26] to find a weak polynomial identity of ninth degree for M(K) and a central polynomial of degree 13. Further, one of the authors [19] of the present paper used the "experimental material" from [26] and [27] to construct a central polynomial of degree (n I)2 -f- 4 for all n > 3. The new family of central polynomials for Mn(K) found in [19] arises from weak polynomial identities which are highest weight vectors for A = ((n 2 3n. + 6)/2, 1"). In the approach of Halpin [39], the central polynomial of degree n2 for Mn(K) arises from a weak polynomial identity with a linearization belonging to an S^n+ij/^-module which is a direct sum of M ( ( n 2 - n + 2)/2, A 2 , . . . , \k) where A 2 + . -. + \k = n- I. In both the cases of [19] and [39], the weak polynomial identity w\(x\, . x a , . . . , x^) vanishes for x\ . sln(K) and for arbitrary matrices x?,..., Xk in Mn(K). If we search for a central polynomial of degree (n2 + 3n 2)/2, as in the conjecture of Formanek, one can try to produce it using a highest weight vector w\ as an essential weak polynomial identity. It is not clear and we have no reasonable conjecture which A should we choose and what kind of additional properties we have to require from w\. An essential weak identity of the form w\(xi,..., xm) vanishing for x\ 6 sln(K] and x^,..., xm e Mn(K) where A = (Ai, A 2 , . . . , Am) is a partition of k, produces a central polynomial of degree
2(A] - 1) + 1 + A2 + . -. + Am = k + A! - 1.
Hence, in order to find a central polynomial of low degree using the above approach, we have to minimize the sum k + AI. From computational point of view it is convenient to consider the case A (Ai, 1 s ). One possible way to get a central polynomial of degree (n2 + 3ra 2)/2 is to use the partition with AI = n and s = n(n l)/2. Koev and Perrin [47] have done some computational experiments in the case n = 5 but have not found evidences for existence of a weak identity of such kind. (The calculations were for A = (5,1 10 ) h 15, when dx = 1001.) The direct attempt based on computational methods seems to be beyond the possibilities of the contemporary computers. We believe that we can perform computational experiments to give some evidence that there are no central polynomials of degree 12 for M(K), in the same way as we work with identities of degree 12 for A'I^(K), comparing the multiplicities of the polynomial identities and the central polynomials. Unfortunately, we do
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not know too much about the identities of degree 12 for M(K] and there would be no warranty for the obtained results.
5.4
*-Polynomial identities for (M6(K),s)
By applying the computational method based on representations of GLm, in [6] we study the *-polynomial identities of degree 9 of the 6x6 matrix algebra with symplectic involution in symmetric variables only. Recall that the involution s is denned for (Mn(K),s), n = 2m, by the formula ( A B\ ( D* -B*\ \C D ) \ -C* A* ) ' where A, B, C, D are m x m matrices and t is the usual transpose. Then the symmetric elements of (Me(K), s) are in the form
where A, K\,K% Mz(K}, At is the transpose of A and K\,K<i are skewsymmetric matrices with respect to the transposition. By the result of Rowen [69] SIQ is a *-polynomial identity for (Mg(K), s) in symmetric variables. By [34], [22] and [59], (Me(K), s) does not satisfy *polynomial identities in symmetric variables of degree < 8 and the minimal degree of such identities is equal to 9. The results in [22] and [59] were obtained by the following considerations. If /(si, . . . , sm) is a *-polynomial identity in symmetric variables for (MQ(K),S), since all matrices B{= are symmetric elements of (M^(K), s) and
...,A 0
then it follows that f(xi,...,xm) is an ordinary polynomial identity for M$(K). Using the description of the polynomial identities of degree 2n+l of Mn(K) and of degree 8 for M$(K}, and by additional arguments (studying the proper polynomial identities only, as in the last section of the present paper), it was shown that the considered ordinary polynomial identities do not vanish on (M2 n ,s) and (Me,s), respectively. Now, we study the *-polynomial identities of degree 9 for (M^(K),s) in symmetric variables by investigation the multiplicities m\tlJi(MQ(K) , s)
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Ah 9 (9) (8,1) (7,2) (7, 12) (6,3) (6,2,1) (6, 13) (5,4) (5,3,1) (5,2 2 ) (5, 2, I 2 ) (5, I 4 ) (4M) (4,3,2) (4,3, I 2 )
nx(M6(K)+,s) 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 2 0 2 1 2 2 2
Ah9 (4,2M) (4, 2, 13) (4, I 5 ) (33) (3 2 ,2,1) (3M3) (3,2 3 ) (3,2M 2 ) (3, 2, 14) (3, 1) (2M)
(23, 13)
n A (M 6 (#)+,) 3 3 0 4 2 2 2 2 0 1 1 0
(2 2 ,1 5 ) (2, 17) (1)
1 1
0
Table 2: The multiplicities nx(M6(K)+, s) for A h 9 in (5), (6). Because we consider symmetric variables only in (5) and (6) fj. 0 and the sum runs on the partitions A of 9. Then for any A h 9 we have the system (13) and the solutions of the system give an upper bound n\(M(K'}+, s] for the multiplicities. By using a computer and considering symmetric elements only, we obtain upper bounds for the multiplicities, presented in Table 2. Of course, one has to use some additional arguments in order to determine the exact values of the multiplicities m\(M%(K}+, s), A h 9. The result of Rashkova [60] implies mx(M2m(K)+, s) = mx(Mm(K)} for A = ( A i , . . . , A r ) and A 2 + ... + A r = n (mx(M2m(K)+, s) = mx(Mm(K)} = 0 if A2 + . - + Ar < n). Hence the bounds are exact for A = (6,3), (6, 2,1) and (6,1 3 ). A similar approach can be used to study *-polynomial identities for Mn(K), * = t or * = s, with symmetric or skew-symmetric variables onlv.
6 PROPER POLYNOMIAL IDENITIES
In this section we shall describe a computational method based on the proper polynomial identities which was used in [24] for calculations by hand with the polynomial identities of degree 8 for 3x3 matrices. For details on proper polynomials identities and related questions, see the book [20] and the survey [17].
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A polynomial / A = K(X) is called a proper (or commutator) polynomial, if it is a linear combination of products of commutators, i.e.
i,...,j[xi\i i xip\ \xjii ' '
X
jq\i
ot-ir..j K, p, . . . , q > 2. (We assume that 1 is a product of an empty set of commutators.) We denote by B the set of all proper polynomials in A,
Bm = B n Am, m = 1, 2, . . . , Ffc = B n Vk, k = 0, 1, 2, . . . ,
i.e. Bm is the set of the proper polynomials in m variables and F& is the set of all proper multilinear polynomials of degree k. Specht [73] proved that for unitary algebras the polynomial identities are determined by the multilinear proper ones and gave a basis of F^ consisting of the following products of multilinear commutators
[Xi1 , . . . , Xip] . . . [x,jl , . . . , Xjq\,
(15)
where: Each factor [xpl , xp2, . . . , xps] is a left normed commutator of length > 2 and the maximal index is in the first position, i.e. p\ > p%, . . . ,ps; in each product the shorter commutators precede the longer, i.e. p < . . . < q in (15); if two consecutive factors are commutators of equal length, then the first variable of the first commutator is smaller that the first variable in the second one, i.e.
\xp\ i xpi > ) Xps \ [xqi >xqi i i xqs J
satisfies pi < q\. It is known that F^ and Bm are, respectively, an 5^-submodule of Vk and a GLTO-submodule of Am, with the same module structure, and the same holds for Vk<~]T(R) and BmC]T(R) for any unitary Pi-algebra R, i.e. F* n T(R) * m'x(R)Mx, Bm n T(R) = ^ E
Ahfc k>0 Ahfc
with the same multiplicities m'x(R). For any fixed product of commutators [xi, . . . ] . . . [ . . . , Xfc] one can define a mapping TT : Am Bm between the homogeneous components of degree k of Am and Bm by
TT :
It is easy to see that TT is a homomorphism of GLm-modules. Let us fix a partition A of k. If w\ = w$x\, . . . ,xm) is any highest weight vector in Am, then TT(W$, if not equal to 0, is a highest weight vector in Bm. Every highest weight vector w\ in Am is a linear combination of w^
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Am, T ST\. Hence any highest weight vector in Ti(Am) C Bm is of the form TT(W\) for some w\ Am and is a linear combination of TT(W^), T ST\. In this way, we may choose a maximal linearly independent system in U7r{7r(uip r ST\}. where the union is on all possible product of commutators [.TI, . . . ] . . . [ . . . ,.r^], and use algorithms similar to these applied to ordinary, nonproper, polynomial identities. There are simple relations between the ordinary and proper identities and their numerical invariants, see [151: PROPOSITION 6 (i) The dimensions of the ordinary and proper multilinear identities of a unitary algebra R are related by
dim(VknT(R)) = V ' }dlm(rpr\T(R)), k = 0,1, 2,
Vk n T(R) = Y, .x(R)Mx, rp n T(R) *>

X\-k
then the ordinary and proper multiplicities m\(R) and mf^(R) ofT(R) satisfy the relation where for A (Ai, . . . , A?) the summation runs on all /i = (/zi, . . . , /z g ) such that Since
(e = 2.71... is the base of the natural logarithm), working with proper polynomials instead with arbitrary polynomials, we decrease the amount of computations about c times. Unfortunately, the computer realizations of the algorithms are more sophisticated because the corresponding highest weight vectors look more complicated. The considered basis of Specht is not very convenient for the study of polynomial identities of matrices. Let Un(K) be the algebra of n x n upper triangular matrices. Since Un(K] is a subalgebra of Mn(K), the T-ideal T(Mn(K)) is contained in T ( U n ( K ) } . Hence in order to study the polynomial identities of Mn(K) it is sufficient to work in Bmr\T(Un(K)). By a theorem of Maltsev [53], all polynomial identities of Un(K) follow from the identity [xi,.T 2 ] . ..
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Siderov [72] found a basis of T(Un(K)) as a vector space. In particular, Bm n T(Un(K}} has a basis consisting of all products
where the number r of participating commutators is > n and the indices in each commutator [xil3,Xi2s, . . . ,XipaS] satisfy i\s > i2S < . . . < ipsS- As a consequence one obtains the following description of the GLm-module structure of the proper elements in T(Un(K)). THEOREM 2 (Drensky and Kasparian [24])
Bm 0 T(Un(K}} = Wm.fo-l.l) ^(p.-l,!)r>np t >2
The multiplicities of the irreducible components in the tensor product of two irreducible G_Lm-modules can be calculated by using the Littlewood Richardson rule [52]. The concrete form of the highest weight, vectors can be found using an algorithm of Koshlukov [48], see also [17] and [7]. There is an additional argument which decreases twice the size of the considered linear systems in the study of polynomial identities of matrix algebras. The free algebra A = K(X) and its subalgebras Am have an involution defined by
It is easy to see that 5* = B, T(Un(K)}* = T(Un(K)} and T(Mn(K))* = T(Mn(K)). Hence Bm n T(Mn(K)) splits into two components, namely the symmetric and the skew-symmetric ones, and the same holds for Bm n T(Un(K}}. Since the action of GLm on Am commutes with the involution, we obtain that the vector space of all highest weight vectors w\ E Wm^\ C Bm is a direct sum of its symmetric and skew-symmetric subspaces. If
(B%> nT(Un(K)})+ =
Y,Px(Un(K}}Wm^
Ah/c
and we find p^ linearly independent highest weight vectors w^ (Bm H T(Un(K)))+, j = 1,... ,p^, then we can obtain the polynomial identities for Mn(K] which are highest weight vectors in Wm,\ C B$ r\T(Un(K}})+. These identities are in the form
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At-8 (42) (4,3,1) (4,2a) (4, 2, 12) (4, I4) (32,2) (3M2) (3,2M) (3, 2, 13) (3, 15) (24) (23,12) (22,14) (2, 16) (1)
pi 3
10 10 14 7 6 13 13 13 3 5 5 6 1 1
+ P\ K) I 11 7 16 i 6 i 9 8 15 i 13 3 6 1 1 -7 2 1 3 4 2 1 1
K)~
Â
m\
i
2 1 3 4 1 1 1
14 70 56 90 35 84 56 70 64 21 14 28 20 7 1
2 4
2 8 9
4 8 5 1
Table 3: The case k = 8 and 3x3 matrices with unknown coefficients rf". Similar considerations work for the skewsymmetric component (Bm fl T(Un(K)))~. In Table 3 we present the results of the calculations for k = 8 and 3x3 matrices. The columns of the table contain: all partitions A of 8 (with AI < 4 because the results of Bergman [10], Drensky and Kasparian [23] give that w!^(M^(K}} = 0 for A h 8 and AX > 5); the multiplicities p in (B$ n T(L/ 3 (K))) and the multiplicities (m/ A ) in (Bm H T(M^(K})}. For comparison, the last two columns of the table present the multiplicities d\ in Vg and the multiplicities m\ = m\(Mz(K)) in Vg n T(M3(K}). The above results were checked by Bondari [11] using his algorithm for computing with polynomial identities based on the representation theory of the symmetric group. Once again the computations were performed by Vishne [75], also in terms of representation theory of the symmetric group. Bondari found also all central polynomials of degree 8 for 3x3 matrices. In particular, he showed that there exist new central polynomials which do not follow from these in [24, 25]. Similar computations of Vishne confirm the results of Bondari. Proper polynomial identities were also used by Okhitin [54] who found an identity of degree 9 for My,(K) which does not follow from the standard identity sg and the identity of algebraicity. Another application was in the study of the 2x2 generic matrix algebra
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over the field Z2 with two elements in [28] (for computations by hand) and in [2] for computer calculations. In this case the representation theory of GLm was used only to compare the obtained results with the known results in characteristic 0.
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[2] T. Asparouhov, V. Drensky, P. Koev, D. Tsiganchev, Generic 2x2 matrices in positive characteristic, J. Algebra 225 (2000), 451-486. [3] Yu. A. Bahturin, Identical Relations in Lie Algebras (Russian), "Nauka", Moscow, 1985. Translation: VNU Science Press., Utrecht, 1987. [4] F. Benanti, On the cocharacter sequence of 3 x 3 matrices, Commun. Algebra 24 (1996), 4263-4279. [5] F. Benanti, M. G. Campanella, On the *-cocharacter sequence of 3 x 3 matrices, Lin. Algebra Appl. 312 (2000), 101-114. [6] F. Benanti, J. Demmel, V. Drensky, P. Koev, Computer results on polynomial identities of matrices, preprint. [7] F. Benanti, V. Drensky, On the consequences of the standard polynomial, Commun. Algebra 26 (1998), 4243-4275. [8] I. I. Benediktovich, A. E. Zalesskij, Almost standard identities of matrix algebras, (Russian) Dokl. Akad. Nauk BSSR 23 (1979), 201204. [9] A. Berele, Homogeneous polynomial identities, (1982), 258-272. Israel J. Math. 42
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[12] M. Domokos, New identities for 3x3 matrices, Lin. Multilin. Algebra 38 (1995), 207-213. [13] V. Drensky, Representations of the symmetric group and varieties of linear algebras (Russian), Mat. Sb. 115 (1981), 98-115. Translation: Math. USSR Sb. 43 (1981), 85-101. [14] V. Drensky, A minimal basis for the identities of a second-order matrix algebra over a field of characteristic 0 (Russian), Algebra i Logika 20 (1981), 282-290. Translation: Algebra and Logic 20 (1981), 188-194. [15] V. Drensky, Codimensioris of T-ideals and Hilbert series of relatively free algebras, J. Algebra 91 (1984), 1-17. [16] V. Drensky, Explicit codimension formulas of certain T-ideals (Russian), Sib. Mat. Zh. 29 (1988), No. 6, 30-36. Translation: Sib. Math. J. 29 (1988), 897-902. [17] V. Drensky. Computational techniques for Pi-algebras, Banach Center Publ. 26, Topics in Algebra, Part 1: Rings and Representations of Algebras, Polish Sci. Publ., Warshaw, 1990, 17-44. [18] V. Drensky, Polynomial identities for 2x2 matrices. Ada Appl. Math. 21 (1990), 137-161. [19] V. Drensky, New central polynomials for the matrix algebra, Israel J. Math. 92 (1995), 235-248. [20] V. Drensky, Free Algebras and Pi-Algebras, Springer-Verlag, Singapore, 1999. [21] V. Drensky, A. Giambruno, Cocharacters, codimensions and Hilbert series of the polynomial identities for 2x2 matrices with involution, Canad. J. Math. 46 (1994), 718-733. [22] V. Drensky, A. Giambruno, On the *-polynomial identities of minimal degree for matrices with involution, Boll. UMI (7) 9-A (1995), 471-482. [23] V. Drensky, A. Kasparian, Some polynomial identities of matrix algebras, C. R. Acad. Bulg. Sci. 36 (1983), 565-568. [24] V. Drensky, A. Kasparian, Polynomial identities of eighth degree for 3x3 matrices, Annuaire de I'Univ. de Sofia, Fac. de Math, et Mecan., Livre 1, Math. 77 (1983), 175-195. [25] V. Drensky, A. Kasparian, A new central polynomial for 3x3 matrices, Commun. Algebra 13 (1985), 745-752.
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[26] V. Drensky, G. M. Piacentini Cattaneo, A central polynomial of low degree for 4 x 4 matrices, J. Algebra 168 (1994), 469-478. [27] V. Drensky, Ts. G. Rashkova, Weak polynomial identities for the matrix algebras, Commun. Algebra 21 (1993), 3779-3795. [28] V. Drensky, D. Tsiganchev, New polynomial identities for 2 x 2 generic matrices in characteristic 2, J. Pure Appl. Algebra 133 (1998), 83-91 [29] E. Formanek, Central polynomials for matrix ring, (1972), 129-132. J. Algebra 23
[30] E. Formanek, Invariants and the ring of generic matrices, J. Algebra 89 (1984), 178-223. [31] E. Formanek, A conjecture of Regev about the Capelli polynomial, J. Algebra 109 (1987), 93-114. [32] E. Formanek, The polynomial Identities and Invariants of n x n Matrices, CBMS Regional Conf. Series in Math. 78, Published for the Confer. Board of the Math. Sci. Washington DC, AMS, Providence RI, 1991. [33] A. Giambruno, GL x GL-representations and *-polynomial identities, Comm. Algebra 14 (1986), 787-796. [34] A. Giambruno, On ^-polynomial identities for n x n matrices, Algebra 133 (1990), 433-438. J.
[35] A. Giambruno, A. Regev, Wreath products and P.I. algebras, J. Pure Appl Algebra 35 (1985), 133-149. [36] A. Giambruno, A. Valenti, On minimal *-identities of matrices, Lin. Multilin. Algebra 39 (1995), 309-323. [37] 110. A. Giambruno, M. Zaicev, On codimension growth of finitely generated associative algebras, Adv. Math. 140 (1998), 145-155. [38] A. Giambruno, M. Zaicev, Exponential codimension growth of PI algebras: An exact estimate, Adv. Math. 142 (1999), 221-243. [39] P. Halpin, Central and weak identities for matrices, Common. Algebra 11 (1983), 2237-2248. [40] N. Jacobson, Pi-algebras: An Introduction, Lecture Notes in Math. 441, Springer Verlag, Berlin-New York, 1979.
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[41] G. James, A. Kerber, The Representation Theory of the Symmetric Group, Encyclopedia of Math, and Its Appl. 16, Addison-Wesley, Reading. Mass., 1981. [42] I. Kaplansky. Problems in the Theory of Ring, Report of a Conference on Linear Algebra, June, 1956 in National Acad. Sci. National Research Council, Washington, Publ. 502, 1957, 1-3. [43] I. Kaplansky. Problems in the theory of ring revised, Amer. Math. Monthly 77 (1970), 445-454. [44] A.R. Kemer, The ideal of identities generated by the standard identity of fourth degree (Russian), Proc. 17-th All-Union Algebraic Conf. Minsk, vol. 1, 1983, 89-90. [45] A. R. Kemer, Finite basis property of identities of associative algebras (Russian), Algebra i Logika 26 (1987), 597-641. Translation: Algebra and Logic 26 (1988), 362-397. [46] A. R. Kemer, Ideals of Identities of Associative Algebras. Amer. Math. Soc. Translations of Math. Monographs 87, Providence, R. I., 1991. [47] P. Koev, T. Perrin, Central polynomials, weak identities and parallel computers in matrix algebras, http://www.nrath.berkeley.edu /~plamen/Research_proiects/cs267/Project/project.html [48] P.E. Koshlukov, Polynomial identities for a family of simple Jordan algebras, Commun. Algebra 16 (1988), 1325-1371. [49] B. Kostant, A theorem of Frobenius, a theorem of Amitsur-Levitzki and cohomology theory, J. Math. Mech. 7 (1958), 237-264. [50] U. Leron, Multilinear identities of the matrix ring, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 183 (1973), 175-202. [51] Ma Wenxin, M. L. Racine. Minimal identities of symmetric matrices, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 320 (1990), 171-192. [52] I. G. Macdonald. Symmetric Functions and. Hall Polynomials, Oxford Univ. Press (Clarendon), Oxford, 1979, Second Edition, 1995. [53] Yu. N. Maltsev. A basis for the identities of the algebra of upper triangular matrices (Russian), Algebra i Logika 10 (1971), 393-400. Translation: Algebra and Logic 10 (1971), 242-247.
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[54] S. V. Okhitin, On varieties defined by two-variable identities (Russain), Moskov. Gos. Univ. Moscow 1986 (manuscript deposited in VINITI 12.02.1986 No 1016-V), Ref. Zh. Mat. 6A366DEP/1986. [55] J. Olsson, A. Regev, On the T-ideal generated by a standard identity, Israel J. Math. 26 (1977), 97-104. [56] C. Procesi, Rings with Polynomial Identities, Marcel Dekker, New York 1973. [57] C. Procesi, Computing with 2x2 342-359. matrices, J. Algebra 87 (1984),
[58] Ts.G. Rashkova, On the minimal degree of the *-polynomial identities for the matrix algebra of order 6 with symplectic involution, Rend. Circ. Mat. Palermo, II. Ser. 45 (1996), 267-288. [59] Ts. G. Rashkova, ^-Identities of minimal degree in matrix algebras of low order, Period. Math. Hung. 34 (1997), 229-233. [60] Ts. G. Rashkova, One conjecture for the identities in matrix algebras with involution, Annuaire de I'Univ. de Sofia, Fac. de Math, et Mecan., Livre 1, Math, (to appear). [61] Yu. P. Razmyslov, Finite basing of the identities of a matrix algebra of second order over a field of characteristic zero (Russian), Algebra i Logika 12 (1973), 83-113. Translation: Algebra and Logic 12 (1973), 47-63. [62] Yu. P. Razmyslov, On a problem of Kaplansky (Russian), Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Ser. Mat. 37 (1973), 483-501. Translation: Math. USSR Izv. 7 (1973), 479-496. [63] Yu. P. Razmyslov, Identities of Algebras and Their Representations (Russian), "Sovremennaya Algebra", "Nauka", Moscow, 1989. Translation: Translations of Math. Monographs, 138, AMS, Providence, R.I., 1994. [64] A. Regev, Existence of identities in AB, 131-152. Israel J. Math. 11 (1972),
[65] A. Regev, Algebras satisfying a Capelli identity, Israel J. Math. 33 (1979), 149-154. [66] A. Regev, On the codimensions of matrix algebras, in Algebra - Some Current Trends (Varna, 1986), Lect. Notes in Math. 1352, SpringerVerlag, Berlin-New York, 1988, 162-172.
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[67] L. H. Rowen, Standard polynomials in matrix algebras, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 190 (1974), 253-284. [68] L. H. Rowen, Polynomial Identities in Ring theory, Acad. Press, New York, 1980. [69] L. H. Rowen, A simple proof of Kostant's theorem, and analogue for symplectic involution, Contem. Math., 13, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, R.I., 1982, 207-215. [70] B. Sagan, The Symmetric Group Representations, Combinatorial Algorithms and Symmetric Functions, Pacific Grove Brooks/Cole, 1991. [71] W. Schelter, On a question concerning generic matrices over the integers, J. Algebra 96 (1985), 48-53. [72] P.N. Siderov, A basis for the identities of an algebra of triangular matrices over an arbitrary field (Russian), Pliska, Stud. Math. Bulg. 2 (1981), 143-152. [73] W. Specht, Gesetze in Ringen I, Math. Z. 52 (1950), 557-589. [74] R.G. Swan, An application of graph theory to algebra, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 14 (1963), 367-373. Correction: 21 (1969), 379-380. [75] U. Vishne, Polynomial identities of M^(G], (2002), 443-454. Commun. Algebra 30
[76] H. Weyl, The Classical Groups, Their Invariants and Representations, Princeton Univ. Press. Princeton, N.J., 1946, New Edition, 1997.
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Poincare Series of Generic Matrices

ALLAN BERELE Department of Mathematics, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614 USA. E-mail: aberele@condor.depaul.edu
1 1.1
INTRODUCTION Definitions
In this paper we describe some of the main results concerning the computation of Poincare series of the rings of generic matrices. We let n be the size of the matrices and k be the number of generic matrices. To avoid certain trivialities, we take n, k > 2. Then the matrices will have entries taken from the (commutative) polynomial algebra
The generic matrix Xa is denned to be the n x n matrix with ( i , j ) entry equal to if* ,
t(a) t(a)
t(a}
t(a)
The algebra R will be the subalgebra of the matrix algebra Mn(K) generated by Xi,... , Xk- We will sometimes write R(n, k) when it is necessary to emphasize the parameters. It is easy to see that R is defined by the universal property that, given any n x n matrices A\,... . Ak E M n (C), there is a unique homomorphism R > M n (C) which takes each Xa to Aa,
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and that, R is the smallest such algebra. It follows that R is a generic p. i. algebra, i. e., it is the quotient of the free algebra by the identities of Mn(C). So it has a Poincare series. More specifically, R has a fc-fold grading given by multidegree in the Xa. Let R(i,\,.. . , ik) be the subspace of R of degree ia in each Xa and let r ( ? i , . .. , ik) be the dimension of R ( i - i , . . . , ik). Then the Poincare series of R is
P(R)=
n,... ,ik=0
There are three reasonable ways in which we might want to "determine" the Poincare series P(R). The crudest is that we might want, a formula, or some kind of estimate, for the coefficients r(i,\, . . . , i k ) - This turns out to be a bit too messy and isn't studied much. Belov proved in [2] that P(R), and more generally, the Poincare series of any generic p. i. algebra is (the Taylor series of) a rational function. So, we would like to find polynomials / and g in k variables such that
DIDM \ P(R)(xi, . . . ,xk) (xi,... ,xk)
.
For the third method, the Poincare series P(R) is known to be a symmetric function in the sense that,
P(R)(xl, ... , xk) = P(R)(xa(l)j for any permutation a G Sk, and ... , xa(k)}
This implies that it can be written as a series in the Schur functions S\'-
"=OAePar(n)
We would like to determine the coefficients m\, or get whatever information we can about them. Information about Schur functions used in this paper can be found in [16]. The Schur functions S\ have the property that S\(xi, ... ,xk) / 0 if and only if A has at most k non-zero parts. This is often expressed by saying that A is a partition of height at most, A". So, it only makes sense to talk about m\ for such A. It. is a theorem that, for such A,
mx(R(n.,k))=mx(R(n,k +l)).
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I. e., the coefficients m\ are independent of k, as long as k is greater than or equal to the height of A. It, is also known that m\ = 0 for all A of height greater than n2 (see [20]). So, P(R(n, n2)) determines all of the P(R(n, k)). There are three related algebras which are also studied. The first is C, the commutative algebra of scalar matrices in R. This algebra can be identified with the central polynomials for M n (C). Next, C is the commutative algebra generated by traces of elements of R, and R is the algebra generated by R and C . These latter two algebras are generic algebras for the trace identities of M n (C). All three algebras have Poincare series, and all three of them are symmetric functions. Moreover, all of the properties of the m\ we mentioned in the previous paragraph in connection with R also hold in these cases as well. We will denoted the respective coefficients of the Schur functions as mx(C), m$C) and m\(R). It is known that for all A, m\(C) < mx(C), m\(R) < mx(R). A deeper fact is that m\(C] = m\(C] and m\(R) = m\(R) in many cases. Specifically, if the fc-th part of A is greater than or equal to 2, then it follows from the work of Regev and Formanek from [13] and [20] that both m\(C) = m\(C} and m\(R) = m\(R). Also, it follows from invariant theory that the Poincare series P(C) and P(R] are rational functions. It is reasonable to expect that P(C) is also rational. 1.2 Purely Algebraic Computations
The study of Poincare series of generic matrices was initiated by Formanek, Halpin and Li in [10]. In that paper they studied the ring generated by two generic 2x2 matrices. They proved that the trace ring C is the polynomial algebra generated by the five elements tr(Xi), tr(X2), tr(XiX-2), det(X$ and det(X-2); and that the ring R is a free module over C generated by the four elements /, X\, X% and X\Xi. The center C is related to C via the equation To calculate the Poincare series of R, they study the commutator ideal [ R , R ] . They show that [R,R] = R[Xi,X2}. The Poincare series for R can then be calculated using the vector space isomorphism R = R/ [R, R] R[Xi,X2\. Here is their main theorem: THEOREM 1.1. In the case of n = k - 2
P(C) =1 + x2x22P(C) P(R) =(l - Xlrl(l -
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The methods of this paper were sufficient to give a complete answer in the k = n 2 case, and the proof was conceptual and interesting. On the other hand, for larger values of k and n it is much more difficult to directly determine the structure of C and R, and the relation to C and R. See [23] for the case of three 2x2 matrices. In fact, after [10], the flow of information has been in the opposite direction: One first determines the Poincare series using some other method, and then uses the Poincare series to determine the structure of the rings. It is the goal of the remainder of this paper to demonstrate two related methods for computing P(C) and P(R) based on invariant theory. These methods make the general 2x2 case straightforward, and have proven successful in finding the rational functions in the case of two or three 3x3 matrices and two 4x4 matrices. The height two part of the cocharacter in the 3x3 case was studied in [5] and [9]. (The latter corrects an error in the former.) For other methods in the 2x2 case, see [7], [9], [111, [15] and [18]. 1.3 Procesi's Invariant Theory
Procesi proved in [17] that each of C and R is an algebra of invariants for an action of the general linear group, GL n (C). In the case of C the action is on K, and in the case of R the action is on Mn(K). In former action an A GLn(C) maps each if* to the ( i , j ) entry of the image of Xa under the conjugation action of A, AXaA~l; and in the latter action each matrix in Mn(K] is acted on by conjugation with A"1 and by the GLn(C) action on K. The fact that C and R are rings of GLn(C) invariants has many implications for the Poincare series. One corollary is the fact that P(C) and P(R) are rational functions. In terms of actual computations, there are two formulas that follow for each Poincare series, one for the coefficients m\ and one for the rational functions. These will be the subjects of the next two sections. The idea behind the computations is that K and Mn(K) are bi-modules for GLn(C) x GLfc(C), and that the Poincare series are the GLfc(C) character of the GL n (C) invariants. In general, the character of a GLn x GL^ module can be identified with the trace of the generic diagonal matrices diag(xi,.... xn) x diag(z\,. . . , z^). In the case of K, each t\* is an eigenvector with eigenvalue x,x.Jlf,a, so the Poincare series of K is
a=li,j=l
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In the case of Mn(K) = M n (C) c K the Poincare series is
i,j=l
E x&j n n (* - a^j **)' a=l i J=l
()
How do we identify the GLn(C) invariants?
2 2.1
COMPUTATIONS USING 5n- CHARACTERS Formanek's Theorem
The method we discuss in this section is based on Cauchy's identity and uses the inner product on symmetric functions with respect to which the Schur functions are orthonormal. It is useful to extend the ring of symmetric functions in .TI, . . . ,xk to its localization at Snk\ x\ x^. This corresponds to considering the ring of rational GLfc(C) characters instead of just polynomial ones. The inner product extends to this ring via
{/,#} = ( ( x \ - - - x k } a f , ( x i - - - X k } a g ) , for any a Z.
Note that (x\ x^}01 is the Schur function corresponding to the partition (a, a, , a), with k terms, denoted (ak). Equations (1) and (2) together with Cauchy's formula now imply this theorem: THEOREM 2.1. The coefficient m\ of S\ in the Poincare series P(C(n, k)) is (S\(ziZ^ i,j = l,...,k), 1}; and the coefficient m\ of S\ in the Poincare series P(R(n, k)) is (^ ZiZ^lS\(ziZ^1 \ i, j = 1, . . . , k), I). An example is in order. Let's take k = 2 and A = (4, 4, 2, 2). Then
S\(a, b, c, d) = (abcd)2(a2b2 + a2bc + a2bd + a2c2 + a2cd + a2d2 + ab2c + ab2d + abc2 + labcd + abd2 + ac2d + acd2 + b2c2 + b2cd + b2d2 + bc2d + bed2 + c2d2).
We now substitute for a, 6, c, d the variables 1, 1, z\/z^ z^j z\\

,1 ) =6 + 4Z-2.
22
Zi
So
(S\(l, 1, , ), 1) = (35(4) + -5(2,1,1) + 25(2,2), 5(2,2))
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and so m,\ = 2. In order to calculate the coefficient m\ in the case of P(R) we could need to multiply the S^ZiZ^1) by (2 + z\z~l + z2z^ ). This yields
2
+ \lz\z\
(zi, z2) + 7 S ( 5 i } ) ( z i , z 2 ) + 7S( 4i2 )(zi, z2) + 3S(3i3) (zit z2))

and so m\ = 3. The following is an easy consequence of theorem 2.1.
COROLLARY 2.2. (a) The multiplicities mx(C) and mx(R) are both zero if the height of X is greater than A: 2 . (b) If X is a partition of height < k2 and fj, = (Ai + a, X% + a, . . . , A fr 2 + a) for some a, then rn.\(C] = m M (C) and m\(R) = m^(R). 2.2 The General k = 2 Case
It is possible to use theorem 2.1 to get general formulas for m\(C] and m\(R] in the case of 2 x 2 matrices. We need to find the coefficient of 1 in the Schur functions ,z1~122) and (2 + zlZ^1 + zf l In order to do this we need two lemmas. LEMMA 2.3. Let X be a partition of height at most 4- Then
where the outer sum. is over all a C A such that a is a partition of height at most 3 and A/a is a horizontal strip; and the inner sum, is over all (3 C a such that /3 is a partition of height at most 2 such that a//? is a horizontal strip. Proof. Immediate from Young's theorem. LEMMA 2.4. (S(aii0l2)(ziz^ ,z^lzz),l) is(~l)a^^. Similarly, {(2 + Zlz^1 + z^lz-2)S(ai^
is 0 if ct] > a-2, and is 1 if QI = a2.
Proof. In general,
ai a'2
i=0
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Hence, letting a\ 02 = A,
-A,
(Zl
2A , 2A-2 2, , J2 -r Z^ Z2 + + Z2
The first half of the lemma follows. The second half can be proven similarly. Here is a more elegant proof using the properties of Schur functions.
_
1
v2A+2
2A+2
2
The following description of the Poincare series follows easily from the combinatorial lemmas together with Young's rule. COROLLARY 2.5. P(C] = (,; 5?;)2 E h tA<2(-l) A l " A 2 Â and P(R) = We can now derive the general formula for m\ for P(R). THEOREM 2.6. The multiplicities m\ in the case of P(R) are given by (A! - X2 + 1)(A 2 - A3 + 1)(A 3 - A4 + 1). Proof. By Young's rule
oo oo
S
oo min(i,a) oo ^2 j=0 Y^ a=0

S
^ S(i) J^ (a,a) = ^2 i=0 i=0 a=0
(^-j,a,j)~
But, every partition of height at most 3 occurs exactly once in this sum. So, we now need to evaluate
/ > ^M
=
/_/ / -/ S i ht(/i)<3
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where a, b, c, and d are restricted to sum to i, and by 0 < c < fjL-2 fa and 0 < b < fj,i JJL^. For a given A, the multiplicity of S\ in this sum is the number of a, 6, c, d, ^ subject to the equations
fj.\ + a. AI,
nz + b = X<2,
/j,3 + c = AS and d X^
together with the inequalities

0 < c < A2 - A3 and 0 < b < \i - A2.
It follows that the number of choices for a, 6, c and d is (Ai X? + 1)(^2 AS + l)(As A4 + 1) and that these variables determine p,. D The case of P(C) is messier, although it is not too difficult to prove that
P(C) = / ^ 5(,;) 2_^ S2a+2b+c,2b+c,c i a,b,c
and that m\(C] ^m\(R). For exact values of m\ in the cases of C, /? and C cf. [7]. 3 3.1 COMPLEX INTEGRALS Weyl's Integration Formula
The inner product on Schur functions can be calculated as an integral. This fact is due to H. Weyl. In C", let T be the torus of all ( z i , . .. , zn) with all |z,;| = 1, and let dv be the measure on T, dv = (27T?;)""- A A -. z\ zn If M is any GLn(C) module with character / ( z i , . . . . zn] then Weyl proved that the dimension of the subspace of M fixed by the action of GLn(C) is given by the integral
, ,, dz\
dzn
i*i
The application of this formuala to Poincare series is alluded to in [11], but not used explicitely until Teranishi's papers [21] and [22]. Procesi's theorem implies
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THEOREM 3.1.
la=l lli,j=l(l
z z
ij
a>
and
dv.
Consider the case of P(C) for n = 2 of 2 x 2 matrices. In this case the inner integral is
z\
Since the ta are taken to be real and with absolute value less than 1, the only poles inside the circle are at z\ = Z2tp, for some /?. Taking out the factor of f|(l rc a )~ 2 , the residue at such a pole would be
_-i\'
So the inner integral would be the sum of all such terms, j3 = 1, ... , n. Moreover, since each such term has no dependence on z%, the outer integral, i(27r?;)-1 ^ J22 =1 ^ will only multiply by \. This gives the first half of the next theorem. The second half is similar: THEOREM 3.2. The. Poincare series for C for n > 2 generic 2x2 matrices is
2 ns=i(i - *
anc? <:/ie Poincare series for R is
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For example, in the case of n = 2,
2 2 -(i-xir (i r,}\[(1 2
ol 1
x
l/
Vi~-T2j
7:
\ i -x-2/xi) / -xix2)(l
x2
x2
The method of computing Poincare series using integrals was first used by Teranishi for the case of C. He did the cases of two or three 2x2 matrices and of two 3x3 and 4x4 matrices. He also proves some interesting general results, one of which we will mention in the next section. 3.2 Graph Theory
Van Den Bergh reduced the evaluation of the integrals in 3.1 to a question of evaluating flows on certain graphs. Based on this, he evaluated the integrals as a sum of fractions. For fixed n and k let F be the graph with n vertices, v\, . . . ,vn and with directed edges e,;ja going from each Vi to Vj, where a 1 , . . . ,k. We correspond to each edge e,;j-Q the algebraic relation Zj = z,;.x?JQ. A spanning tree T on F corresponds to relations to express each degree zero Laurent polynomial in the zi, . . . ,zn in terms of the x's. Given such a polynomial / and a tree T, we will denote the resulting polynomial /|T- For example, if / = (1 z\z^ )(1 z^ z2) and T is {e]24}, then f\T = (1 x^Xl 2:124) Also, given an edge e not in a tree T, there is a unique circuit C(e,T) formed by e and some edges from T. Denote by .T C ( e > T ) the product Yl{xla elja e C(e,T)}, where the exponent is positive or negative depending on whether the edge is oriented in the direction of the path around the circuit in the direction of e. Finally, let T be the set of all trees on F rooted at v\. So, T 6 T if every vertex has a directed path in T to v\ . Here is Van Den Bergh's theorem. THEOREM 3.3. // (n,m) ^ (2,2), the Poincare series for C and R are given by
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under the specializations Xija > xa where f = Yljj-Al ZiZ^1} in the case ofC, and f = ^^ Zj,z~l 0^(1 ~ ziz^
in tfie case
f &
One application of this formula mentioned by Van Den Bergh, is that it affords "an almost trivial proof" of the following theorem of Formanek and Teranishi. THEOREM 3.4. Let f(xi, . . . , z/t) be the Poincare series for either C or R, (n,k) ^ (2,2). Then
Van Den Bergh's work also implies that each Poincare series can be written with denominator a product of terms of the form (1 u), where u is a monomial in the a;'s. It is not clear that the minimal denominator will also have such a form, but it is reasonable to suppose so. Berele and Stembridge used Van Den Bergh's results to study the denominators of the Poincare series, considered as rational functions. They found denominators for n < 4, and proved that these denominators were minimal for n < 3, and at least close to minimal for n = 4. For 3x3 matrices, the least denominator for P(C) is
(1-XiXjXk)
and the least denominator for R is

f[(l-Xi)2(l-X?)'[l(l-XiXj)2(l-x1xj)(l-XiX$ i i.<j J] i<j<k (1-XiXjXk).
OTHER DIRECTIONS
A number of open questions are obvious. Our information is very limited for matrices of size 3 or greater. Not enough is know to even guess what the general patterns should be, and no computations have been done for P(C) or P(R) when n > 2. Even in the 2x2 case it is not known how to express the numerators in terms of Schur functions. We also mention some closely related areas. Instead of a &-fold grading, we can consider the various rings with simple Z-gradings. This is equivalent to considering the Poincare series with all of the variables set equal h(x) = P()(x,x, . . . ,x). Although this series carries less combinatorial information, the information it carries has more direct algebraic application, at least in some cases. Consider C. C is
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graded Cohen-Maculy. which means that it is a finite free module over a polynomial subring.
This implies that h is a rational function, and that the denominator of h is f](l - xde9(-f^), and that the numerator is ^Xde9^\ So, knowing h gives ring theoretic information about C. These series are studied together in a number of the same works that treat the Poincare series discussed in this paper, e. g., [22], [23]. We can enlarge the ring of generic matrices, or generic matrices with trace, to generic matrices with involution or involution and trace. Up to p. i. equivalence, there is only one possible involution on A/2n(C), and two on M2n+i(C). Procesi also proved that the analogues of C and R are rings of invariants for the classical groups O n (C) and Spn(C), see [17]. Based on this, many (but not all!) of the results of this paper have been generalized to these cases, see [1] and [4]. From the point of view of p. i. theory, n x n matrices are one of a family of three types of verbally prime algebras denned by Kemer in [14]. The other two are denoted M^ and Mn(E). For Mk,e there is a theory of trace identities and invariants completely analogous to the case of M n (C), see [3]. The superalgebra pl(k,l) plays the role of GLn(C) in this case. Unfortunately, pl(k,f.) does not enjoy all of the good properties of GLn(C). In particular, it is not semisimple, and this is a serious problem for identifying the invariants, because the character of a p l ( k , l ) module does not determine it up to isomorphism. REFERENCES [1] R. Adin and A. Berele. Denominators for the Poincare series of invariants of matrices with involution, preprint. [2] A. Ya. Belov. Rationality of Hilbert series with respect to free algebras, Russian Math Surveys, 52(1997), 394-395. [3] A. Berele, Trace identities and Z/2Z-graded invariants, Trans, of the AMS, 309(1988), 581-589. [4] A. Berele, Matrices with involution and invariant theory, J. of Algebra, 135(1990), 139-164. [5] A. Berele, Approximate multiplicities in the trace cocharacter sequence of two three-by-three matrices, Comm. in Algebra, 25(1997), 19751983.
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[6] A. Berele and J. R. Stembridge, Denominators for the Poincare series of invariants of small matrices, Israel J. Math., 114(1999), 157-175. [7] V. S. Drensky, Codimensions of T-ideals and Hilbert series of relatively free algebras, J. Algebra, 91(1984), 1-17. 45203. [8] V. S. Drensky, Polynomial identities for 2x2 Math., 21(1990), 137-161. matrices, Acta Appl.
[9] V. S. Drensky and G. Genov, Multiplicities of Schur functions in invariants of two 3x3 matrices, preprint [10] E. Formanek, P. Halpin, W, Li, The Poincare series of 2 by 2 matrices, J. Algebra, 69(1981), 105-112. [11] E. Formanek, Invariants and the ring of generic matrices, J. Algebra, 89(1984), 178-223. [12] E. Formanek, Functional equation for the character series associated with n x n matrices, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 294(1986), 647-663. [13] E. Formanek, A conjecture of Regev about the Capelli polynomial, J. Algebra, 109(1987), 93-114. [14] A. R. Kemer, Varieties and Z^-graded algebras, Math. USSR-Izv. 25, 359-374. [15] L. LeBruyn, Trace ringsof generic 2 by 2 matrices, Memoirs of the Am. Math. Soc. 66(1987), no. 363. [16] I. G. MacDonald, Symmetric Functions and Hall Polynomials, 2nd. edition, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1995. [17] C. Procesi, The invariant theory of n x n matrices, Adv. in Math. 19(1976), 306-381. [18] C. Procesi, Computing with 2x2 matrices, J. Algebra 87(1984), 342359. [19] A. Regev, The polynomial identities of matrices in characteristic zero, Comm. in Algebra 8(1980), 1417-1467. [20] A. Regev, Algebras satisfying 33(1979), 149-154. a Capelli identity, Israel J. Math.
[21] Y. Teranishi, The ring of invariants of matrices, NagoyaMath. Journal 104(1986), 149-161.
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[22] Y. Teranishi, Linear Diophontine equations and invariant theory of m.atrices, in Commutative Algebra and Combinatorics (Kyoto 1985). Advanced Studies in Pure Math. 11, North-Holland, Amsterdam-New York, 1987, 259-275. [23] M. Van den Bergh. Explicit rational forms for the Poincare series of the trace ring of generic matrices. Israel J. Math. 73(1991), 17-31.
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Combinatorial methods for the computation of trace cocharacters

LUIS A CARINI Dipartimento di Matematica ed Applicazioni, University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 34, 90123 Palermo, Italy. E-mail: lcarini@dipmat.unime.it
INTRODUCTION
In dealing with the problem of determining the identities of r x r matrices over a field F of characteristic zero, there is an approach based on the combinatorics of Schur functions. The theory of trace identities, developed independently by Procesi and Razmyslov, is the basis for the link between the multiplicities of trace cocharacters and the Kronecker products of Schur functions. More specifically one can show that the group algebra FSn of the symmetric group can be identified with multilinear trace polynomials. Then one can use the classical work of Schur and Weyl on the polynomial representations of the general linear algebra gl(r, C) to show that the trace cocharacters Xn f Mr(F] equals TCn^r where
TCn,r= , XXXX(1)
AsA r (n)
Here xA XA denotes the Kronecker or inner product of the irreducible Sn-character x^ with itself and AT(n) denotes the set of partitions of n, ^ (î < < Afc), with at most r non-zero parts. Trace identities help in describing the ordinary identities of matrices. Indeed in [Fl] and [F2], Formanek showed that the (ordinary) cocharacters which describe the identities of r x r matrices, are almost identical with the above trace cocharacters TCr,n-
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It follows from the basic properties of Kronecker products that

(2)
AeAr(n) êA r 2 ()
where m |U (M r (F)) are non-negative integers. That is, one can construct a representation of the symmetric group Sn whose character is given by the left-hand side of (2) so that m^(M r (F)) represents the number of times the irreducible representation corresponding to the partition p, occurs in such a representation. Via the Frobenius map which makes the center of the group algebra of Sn onto the space of homogeneous symmetric functions of degree n. one can rephrase (2) in terms of symmetric functions as
(3)
AeA,.(n) ^tAr2(n)
where s\ denotes the Schur function associated with the partition A and 0 denotes the Kronecker product of Schur functions. In this way, various products that arise in the representation theory of the symmetric group or general linear group can be reduced to various products of Schur functions and because of the combinatorial interpretations of the Schur functions such products intimately involve the combinatorics of Young tableaux. Thus the coefficients mlt(MT(F}} arise naturally in P.I. theory, invariant theory, the representation theory of the symmetric group and the theory of symmetric functions. A central problem is to find formulas or algorithms to compute the coefficients m^(Mr(F)}. In general, relatively little is known about these coefficients. In the case r = 2, Carini and Regev in [CR] proved explicit formulas for the coefficients w.^M^F}}. The methods of [CR] are based on results due to Procesi [P2] (see also [DR]) and, in part, on the combinatorial description of the the expansion of â'b^ <8> X ^ obtained by Remmel and Whitehead in [R-Whd]. For r > 3, Berele [B] has developed some formulas which allow one to obtain information about the asymptotic behavior of the coefficients rri^ ^(M-^(F)). There seems to be no substantial results about the coefficients 'm^(Mr(F}} for r > 4. In [CCR] Carbonara, Carini and Remmel study the behavior of the coefficients m^(Mr(F}} for certain classes of \i. That is, let v = (y\ < . . . < v^} be a partition of m and n is large enough so that n m > v^. Let \u\ = m denote the size of v and let (v,n i/|) denote the partition (i>i < ... k,n i/|). They study the behavior of the coefficients m^.ri- v\)(Mr(F)) as n > oo. The main result in [CCR] is the following. For any fixed partition v of m. there are rational polynomials P^Q(X), , P"u __i(x) of degree r 1 with the same leading term
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and a constant c^r such that for all n > c Mir , Tn(Vin-m)(Mr(F)) P" (n\ r.nmod (u )V 1 /r
Here the sequence ui,U2,... is denned by induction as u\ = I and un = LCM(un-i,n) where LCM(a,b) is the least common multiple of the integers a and b. Thus there are ur polynomials of degree r 1 such that for large n the coefficient fn^l/^n_rr^(Mr(F}} can be found by evaluating one of these polynomials at n. Hence the coefficients m^^n_m^(Mr(F}) grow like a polynomial of degree r 1. We note that in the case of r 2, this result easily follows from the work of Carini and Regev [CR]. However this result is new for all r > 3. Their proof proceeds by induction on r and uses general techniques about Schur functions . In particular they apply the Remmel Whitney version of the Littlewood Richardson rule as well as the Garsia Remmel algorithm which reduces the computation of the Kronecker product of Schur functions to the computations of sums and differences of products of skew Schur functions. This is based on the combinatorial properties of the expansion of the Kronecker product of two Schur functions. In the following section, we shall describe the algorithms needed to carry out the computation of the coefficient mIJ,(Mr(F)')
COMBINATORIAL ALGORITHMS FOR COMPUTING TRACE COCHARACTERS
Given the partition A = (Ai, A2, . . . Afc) where 0 < AI < A2 < . . . < \k and ]T AJ = n, we let F\ denote the Ferrers' diagram of A, i.e. F\ is the set of left-justified squares or boxes with AI squares in the top row, A2 squares in the second row, etc. For example,
F(2,3,3,4)
Figure 1 For the sake of convenience, we will often refer to the diagram F\ simply by A. We let |A| = n denote the size of A and we let the length of A, /(A), denote the number of parts of A. We let A' denote the conjugate partition of A, i.e. the partition whose parts are the heights of the columns of FA. Given two partitions A = ( A i , . . . , A / t ) and /i = ( / ^ i , . . . ,/if), we write A < fj, if and only if k < I and \k-p < M-p for 0 < p < fc 1. If A < //, we let |A//x| = |A| \fj,\. We let F^/x denote the Ferrers' diagram of the skew shape ///A where F^/x is the diagram that results by removing the boxes corresponding to F\ from the diagram F/j,. For example, -F(2,3i3i4)/(2,2,3) consists of the lighter shaded boxes below.
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Figure 2 Let A h n and a = (01,02, , fc) be a sequence of positive integers such that ]T QJJ = n. Define a decomposition of A of type a, denoted by >i + D-2 + ... + Dk = A, as a sequence of shapes
<p = A C A1 C A2 C ... C \k = X
with AyA 1 ^ 1 a skew shape, Z?i = \l/\l~l and Di\ = o^. For example, for k = 2. A = (2,3), ai = 2. 02 = 3, the two decompositions of A of type a are pictured below where the darker portion corresponds to D\ and the rest corresponds to D?.
Figure 3 A column strict tableau T of shape \JLJ\ is a filling of F^\ with positive integers so that the numbers weakly increase from left to right in each row and strictly increase from bottom to top in each column. Such T is said to be standard if the entries of T are precisely the numbers 1,2,... ,n where n equals \fj-f X\. We let CS(fj,/X) and ST(/j,/X) denote the set of all column strict tableaux and standard tableaux of shape fj,/X respectively. Given T C5(/i/A). the weight of T. denoted by u/(T), is the monomial obtained by replacing each i in T by Xi and taking the product over all boxes. For example, if
, then
2~3
This given, the skew Schur function s^/x is defined by

(4)
The special case of (4) where A is the empty diagram, i.e. defines the usual Schur function s^. For emphasis, we shall often refer to those shapes which arise directly from partitions /it as straight shapes so as to
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distinguish them among the general class of skew shapes. One can also show that for all A, p,, and v such that |A| -f \v\ = |/x|,
(5)
see [Mac]. Here {,} denotes the usual scalar product of the space of homogeneous symmetric functions of degree n under which the Schur functions {SA : |A| = n} form a complete orthonormal system. For an integer n, the Schur function indexed by the partition (n) is also called the nth homogeneous symmetric function and will be denoted by hn. Thus, hn-= S( n ). Given a partition A = ( A i , . . . , A^), we let h\ = h\l .. .h\k. Next we shall describe a rule due to Remmel and Whitney [R-W] for expanding the product of skew Schur functions as a sum of Schur functions. Given partitions A and /u, let A * fj, denote the skew diagram that results from F\ and F^ by placing F\ on top of F^ so that the start of the top row of F\ is just below the end of the bottom row of F^. For example,
FtFigure 4 It is easy to see that s\*^ = sxSp, so that expanding the product of two Schur functions as a sum of Schur functions is just a special case of expanding an arbitrary skew Schur function as a sum of Schur functions. Moreover it should be clear that the problem of expanding an arbitrary product of Schur functions or skew Schur functions corresponds to expanding a single skew Schur function as a sum of Schur functions. For example, s (2,3) ' s (i,2) ' s (4,4,4)/(i,2) is equal to the skew Schur function whose Ferrers diagram is pictured below.
Figure 5
Such expansions can be computed via the following version of the LittlewoodRichardson rule due to Remmel and Whitney (see [R-W]).
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Skew Schur Function Expansion Rule
To compute Sx/fJ, = ]L^ C A/ $v'(1) Form the reverse lexicographic filling of A///, r/(A//i), which is the filling of FX/H which starts at the bottom right corner of -?A/> and fills in the integers l,2,...,n=|A//i| in order from right to left and bottom to top. For example.
rl(F(
LU
444)/(12)
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Figure 6 (2) We say that, a standard tableau T is (A///)-compatible if (a) whenever i + 1 is immediately to the left of i in r/(A//i), then in T, -i + 1 occurs to the southeast of i in the sense that the cell of T which contains i + 1 is strictly to the right and weakly below the cell of T which contains i and (b) whenever y is immediately above x in rl(\//j,), then in T, y occurs to the northwest of x in the sense that the cell of T which contains y is strictly above and weakly to the left of the cell of T which contains x. Then c^ , is the number of (A//u)-compatible tableaux of shape v. It is good to visualize the condition i + 1 southeast of i and y northwest of x respectively by the patterns
Thus for the example A//I = (1, 2, 3, 3)/(l, 2) pictured above, conditions (a) and (b) may be summarized by the patterns
23,43,65. We note that the collection of (A//x)-compatible tableaux can easily be constructed by adding squares labeled l,2,...,n in succession, always maintaining standardness and each time obeying conditions (a) and (b). In
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our example, one is naturally led to the tree below for constructing the (A/V)-compatible tableaux.
1 1 2 1
4 2 13 4 25 6 4 25 13 ' 6 464 25 2 13 135 4 2
13
1 24 13
24 135.
4 26 135
6 24 135
246 135
Figure 7 Having constructed the tree, one can easily read off the expansion of as
ssh(T)T T (A//j)-compatible
Thus for our example,

) = S (1 2 ,2 2 ) + S(2 3 ) + S(13,3) +
2s
(l,2,3)
We also have the following identity for Schur functions, called the JacobiTrudi identity: (7) where ho = 1 and for r < 0, hr = 0. A proof of this theorem can be found in [Mac]. We now state some properties of the Kronecker product. Suppose that A and n are partitions of n and
Then we have the following.

hn SA = SA (9)
S(in) <8> s\ s\> where A' denotes the conjugate of A
(10)
SA SM = s^ SA = sA' <8> s^ = v A'

(P + Q)R = PR + QR
(H)
(12)
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9 \v.v = gxv/j. = gvXfj. QVH\ ~ g^xu = g^x
(13)
Here in (12), P, Q, and R are arbitrary symmetric functions. We note that (9) through (12) can be easily established by the definition of the Kronecker product. A proof of (13) can be found in [Lw]. Littlewood [Lw] proved that
<8> s7) (sp sg)
(14)
where 7, <$ and A are straight shapes and c^s\ is the Littlewood-Richardson coefficient, i.e. c^\ (s-ySg,s\). Garsia and Remmel [GR] then used (14) to prove the following:
(15)
where H,K, and D are skew shapes and the sum runs over all decompositions of the skew shape D. In particular, one can easily establish by induction from (15) that (hai...h0.k)sD=
D
^ sDl...sDk D D i+" - k=
|D,|=a,.
(16)
where the sum runs over all decompositions of D of length k such that \Di\ = a, for all ?'. REFERENCES [B] Berele, A., Approximate multiplicities in the trace cocharacter sequence of two three by three matrices, Comm. Algebra 25 (1997) no 6, 19751983. [OCR] Carbonara. J.O., Carini, L., Remmel J.B.. Trace Cocharacters and the Kronecker products of Schur Functions, to appear in Journal of Algebra. [CR] Carini, L., Regev, A., Young derivation of the trace cocharacters of the 2x2 matrices. Methods in Ring Theory (Levico Terme, 1997), 63-74. Lecture Notes in Pure and Applied Mathematics, 198, Dekker, New York 1998. [DR] Drensky, V., Computational techniques for P.I. algebras, Topics in Algebra, Banach Center Publication, Vol.26, Part 1 (1990), 17-44.
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[Fl] Formanek, E., Invariants of the ring of generic matrices, J. Algebra 89 (1984) 178-223. [F2] Formanek, E., A conjecture of Regev on the Capelli polynomial, J. Algebra 109 (1987) 93-114. [GR] Garsia, A., Remmel, J., Shuffl,es of permutations and the Kronecker product, Graphs and Combinatorics, 1, 1985, 217-263. [Lw] Littlewood, D.E., The Kronecker Product of Symmetric Group Representation, J. London Math. Soc. (1) 31, pp. 89-93, 1956. [Mac] Macdonald, I.G., Symmetric Functions and Hall Polynomials, New York: Oxford University Press, 1979. [PI] Procesi, C., The invariant theory ofnxn matrices, Advances in Mathematics, 19 (1976), 306-381. [P2] Procesi, C., Computing 2x2 matrices, J. Algebra 87 (1984) 342-359. [Rl] Remmel, J.B., A Formula for the Kronecker Products of Schur Functions of Hook Shapes, J. Algebra 120, pp. 100-118, 1989. [R2] Remmel, J.B., Formulas for the Expansions of the Kronecker Products S^n) <8> S(ip-r^ and Snk^n S^P-r<r-j, Discrete Mathematics 99 (1992) 265-287. [R-W] Remmel, J.B., Whitney, R., Multiplying Schur functions, J. of Algorithms, 5, (1984), pp. 471-487. [R-Whd] Remmel, J.B., Whitehead, T. On the Kronecker Product of Schur Functions of Two Row Shapes, Bull. Belg. Math. Soc. 1 (1994), 649683. [R] Razmyslov, Y.P., Trace identities of full matrix algebras over a field of characteristic zero, Izv. Akad. Nonk. SSSR Ser. Math., 38 (1974) 337-360 (Russian); Math. USSR Izv. (1974) 727-760 (Translation) [W] Weyl, H., The Classical Groups, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1946.
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Polynomial identities for graded algebras

ONOFRIO MARIO DI VINCENZO Dipartimento Interuniversitario di Matematica, Universita degli studi di Bari, via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy. E-mail: divincenzo@dm.uniba.it
ABSTRACT In this paper we consider associative algebras over a field of characteristic zero, which are graded by a finite group. We survey some results about their graded polynomial identities.
1. INTRODUCTION Let K be a field of characteristic zero and let R be an associative algebra over K satisfying a polynomial identity. Studying the properties of R, the following natural questions arise: How many are the identities of R7 Which are the generators of the polynomial identities of the given algebra? In order to answer to the previous questions, one of the general methods consists in expanding the signature of R with an additional structure, then studying the generalized identities of the arising algebraic system, finally comparing the two kinds of identities. Of course, we have to decide how to measure the quantity of the polynomial identities. There are some numerical invariants of R, such as the codimension and cocharacter sequences brought up by Regev in [18] and [19] and the notion of Pi-exponent of R (see [10]). They have been object of an intensive investigation, mainly through combinatorial methods pertaining to the representation theory of the symmetric group. In this paper we consider the case when G is a finite group and R is a G-graded associative algebra over K. We survey some recent results about the invariants related to the graded polynomial identities of R, with particular regard to some important concrete algebras. The
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interest into graded polynomial identities was inspired by their importance for the structure theory of Pi-algebras (see for istance [17] or [2]). More precisely Kemer proved that every variety of associative algebras is generated by the Grassmann envelope G(R) = RQ EQ RI E\ of a suitable finite dimensional Zz-graded algebra R = RQ + R\ , where E = EQ E\ is the infinite-dimensional Grassmann algebra endowed with its natural Z2grading [16]. Moreover he proved that every non trivial prime variety is generated by one of the following algebras: M n (K), Mn(E], Mkj(E). In [3] Berele defined a Sn x 5m-cocharacter for Z2-graded algebras and he related this cocharacter to the ordinary Sn+m-cocharacter for Pi-algebras. More recently many authors studied Pi-algebras which are graded by an arbitrary (finite) group G. For n x n-matrices, Vasilovsky described a basis of the G-graded identities when G is the group Z or Zn ([23], [24]). Bahturin, Giambruno and Riley proved in [1] that any G-graded algebra is a Pi-algebra as soon as its 0-component is. In their combinatorial proof, as well as in [3 1, [4], [6], [12], were given generalizations of some common Pi-invariants to their graded-version, such as the n-th graded codimension and the n-th graded cocharacter. In the next section we start to describe these invariants. 2. G-GRADED INVARIANTS Let G be an additive group of finite order r, and let IK be a field of characteristic zero. If R is an associative K-algebra, we say that R is a G-graded algebra if there are subspaces R^3' for each g G such that,
and
If 0 7^ r e R^ dc(r] = 9-
we say that r is homogeneous of degree g, and write
We may define a free object, namely the free G-graded ^-algebra in the following way: let X := {x%. n 6 N, g e G} be a countable set of indeterminates. and consider the free K-algebra over X, which we shall denote by the symbol K(XG). Its homogeneous component of degree g is (K(XG))(g} := spanK^1.^2 . . . *?; n,ij 6 N,9j G,9l + gn = g}
As for ordinary algebras, me may talk about polynomial identities. A polynomial / = /(^f 1 , . -,x^>) with variables xf X9t is a graded polynomial identity for R if for all substitutions xf > a,; 6 R91 (i = 1, . . . , n) it results /(fli, . . . , an) = 0. The set of all graded polynomial identities for R is an ideal of K(XG) invariant under all endomorphism of K(XG) preserving the homogeneous components; we call it the Tc--ideal of R, and denote it by TG(R). Of course Tc(R) contains the T-ideal of all ordinary polynomial
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identities of R. Following [6], we briefly recall some definitions and results about the G-graded polynomial identities of G-graded algebras. DEFINITION 1. Let
The elements in VG will be called the multilinear polynomials of degree n ofK(XG). Then VG is a left 5n-module under the natural action of the symmetric group Sn; we denote the ^-character of the factor module VG /(VG D TG(R}} by Xn(R}i and by cG(R} its dimension over K. We say that (Xn(R))n )
6N N
is the G-graded cocharacter sequence of R is the G-graded codimension sequence of R.
Now, let us fix an order in G, say G = {hi,... , hr}, and for HI, ... ,nr e N let us consider the blended components of the multilinear polynomials in the indeterminates labelled as follows: r r 1 1 , . . . , x^, then x^ +i > >a;n?+7Z2 and so on. We denote this linear space by V^ . nr. Of course, this is a left Sni x x 5nr-module. We shall denote by Xni,...,nr(R) tne character of the module V^ n /(V^ n fl TG(R}) and by c^ n (R) its dimension (see [6]). Since the ground field K is infinite a standard Vandermonde-argument yields that a polynomial / is a G-graded polynomial identity for R if and only if its homogeneous components (with respect to the ordinary N-grading) are identities as well. Moreover, since charK is zero the well known multilinearization process shows that the To-ideal of a G-graded algebra R is determined by its multilinear polynomials, i.e. by the various
v^^nrc^forrêJv.
We remark that, given the cocharacter Xni,...,n r (-^)i tne graded cocharacter X n ( R ) ig known as well. More precisely, by [6] Theorem 2, we have: PROPOSITION 1. Let R be a G-graded algebra with graded cocharacter sequences Xn(R) and Xnlt...,nr(R}- Then
An V-"-/
VG(R\ =
/ ^ X~ni,...,nr\ (rt:\ ,...,n r ) n\ H \~nr=n
\^
VG
f ^ fSn
Moreover
- E
+nr=n
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,.".,
It is worth noticing that if K is algebraically closed and G is a finite abelian group there is a well understood duality between group gradings and group actions on R. This leads to consider an action of the wreath product, GlSn on the free algebra K(XG). as showed in [9] and [12]. However, Theorem 4 of [12] shows that the GlSn-gr&ded cocharacter associated with the G-graded algebra R is completely determined by Xn\ n r (^0- So we study the structure of
G V 'HI,...
,n.r
Let us denote by H the group Sni x x SHr. Since the field K is of characteristic zero then any //"-module is a direct sum of irreducible submodules. It follows from the theory of the representations of the symmetric groups that the irreducible representations of H and their characters are in a bijective correspondence with the m.ultipartitions where A,; is a partition of nj for all i 1, . . . , r (see [14], Chapter 3. Theorem 7.1 and [15], Theorem 11.5). More precisely if we use the same symbol A,; to denote the irreducible character associated with the partition Aj then the character of the irreducible /f-module associated with (A ) is the tensor product A^) A( r ). We end this section recalling the following definition DEFINITION 2. Let ip andx be characters of the symmetric group Sym(n). We consider the decompositions of <p and x into the irreducible characters, say
Ahn
Ahn
where m\ and m'^ are non-negative integers, and A varies into the partitions of n (we write A h n). One writes f ^ X tf
ana
only if m\ ^ m'^ for all A h n.
With this notation, we have PROPOSITION 2. Let R be a G-graded algebra with ordinary cocharacter and codimension sequences \n(R] and cn(R). respectively. Then
3. SUPERALGEBRAS If G is isomorphic to Z2 we say that the G-graded R is a superalgebra. In this case we prefer to set y; := x and z,; := x\ in the free superalgebra. Y
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is the set of even variables and Z is the set of the odd ones. Also we write T2 in place of T Z2 . As we mentioned before, the Grassmann algebra E over an infinite dimensional EC-vector space is a very important istance of superalgebra. The graded polynomial identities of E are described in the following proposition (see, for instance, [13]). PROPOSITION 3. Let E = EQ@EI be the infinite dimensional Grassmann algebra, then: 1. T2(E) is generated, as T2- ideal, by the following polynomials: [2/1,2/2] := 2/12/2 -2/22/1 zi oz2 := ziz2 + z2zi [2/1,22] =2/122 ~ 222/1 2. The graded cocharacter sequence of the superalgebra E is xl*m(E} = (n) <8> (l m ) We recall that the Grassmann envelope of the superalgebra R = RQ + R\ is
G(R)
:= (RQ
As in [16], useful information are provided by comparing the (graded) identities of R with those of its Grassmann envelope. An effective tool to this comparison is the map C defined as follows. DEFINITION 3. Let m be a multilinear monomial in the free superalgebra and let ii < < Ik be the indeces of the odd variables occurring in m. Then for some a 6 Sym({i\, . . . , i ^ } ) we may write m = m0zo(i^miza(i^ . . .mk^za(i^mk where mo, . . . , m^ are multilinear m,onom,ials in even variables only. Then one defines (,(m^ := ( l)am and extends this m,ap by linearity to the whole space of all multilinear polynomials. We summarize the content of Lemmas 1 and 4 of [16] in the following way. PROPOSITION 4. Let R be a superalgebra, then 1. / T2(R) n V^m if and only i/(/) 6 T2(G(R)) H V^m;
2. T2(G(R)) n Vfa = C(T2(R) n Vfa) .

3. If B is a set of multilinear polynomials generating T2(R) then (J3) generates T2(G(R)). The following Proposition summarizes the content of Lemmas 2 and 5 of [5].
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PROPOSITION 5. Let A := M 2 (K) be endowed with its non-trivial Z2grading

A0 :--
o\
0
o,2
_wi
and
A '. AI
(Yo V
0
Then (A) is generated by the polynomials [yi,y2\ and z\z<izj, The graded cocharacter sequence of A is determined by and for p > 0,
P2_
(ni,n 2 )hn (P1,P2)I-P
The graded codim.ension sequence of A is given by and for p > 0
Then one can consider the Grassmann envelope of the superalgebra M 2 (K) (see [5], Theorem 1). PROPOSITION 6. Let us consider the superalgebra B := with its natural Z-2- grading, that is
0
0
endowed
a,; EQ\
and
B\ :
0 0
is isom.orphic to the Grassm,ann envelope o/A/2(K) and it holds is generated by the polynomials [2/1,2/2] and z\z^z^ The graded cocharacter sequence of B is determined by and for p > 0,
Pi
n-2 We remark that, the following formula

lim
follows by the previous Propositions and straightforward calculations for both the superalgebras M2(K) and M\
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Also, the relation between the graded cocharacter sequences of these superalgebras is a particulare case of the following more general result (see Lemma 6 of [3] and Lemma 7 of [5]). PROPOSITION 7. Let R be a superalgebra and G(R) be its Grassmann envelope. Let
\rn
be the decomposition into the irreducible characters of the graded cocharacter of R. Then
Xi-n fj.\-m,
where p,' denotes the conjugate partition of /j,. 4. TENSOR PRODUCTS OF GRADED ALGEBRAS Let G and H be finite groups. If A and B are K-algebras, graded by G and H respectively, then A B is a G x H-graded algebra, with (g, h}homogeneous component A9 'Bh. In [6], section 7, the following result has been proved. PROPOSITION 8.
and
Now, we consider the algebra A E which is naturally graded by the group G x Z2- We study and compare the G x Z2-graded polynomial identities of A <g> E with the G-graded identities of A. We describe a set of generators of such identities of A E in terms of the generators of the Gidentities of A. We also compare the corresponding cocharacter sequences. Notice that the free algebra K(XGxZ'2) is both a G-graded algebra and a Z2-graded algebra. Referring to the Z2-grading of ~K(XGxZ2) one considers the map defined in Definition 3. We want to define a similar map from the free G-graded algebra to the free G x Z2-graded algebra. DEFINITION 4. Let J C N. Let (pj : K(XG) -* K(XGxZ*} be the unique G-homomorphism defined by the map
( (gfl) I\ J'/
/ ^ff r/ 1 f 1
^):=
..*,
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Also, for a multilinear monomial m 6 V^ , , define

O(m) :=
We may extend the map Q by linearity to the space of all G-graded multilinear polynomials Vf^ ' . If / V^p then O(/) ig a multilinear element of K(XCx1"*). EXAMPLES T/ien 1. Lei G = Z3, /77, = .r^1^1^^0^2' and J = {1, 3, 4, 9}.
/-\ _ T (2,0) (U) (1,1) (0,1) (0,0) (2,0) (jn) .i6 .r4 .TJ ,T3 .372 x5
_ / n (143)_(2,0) (1,1) (1,1) (0,1) (0,0) (2,0) (, -U Zg J-4 ] ^3 X2 X5
Here is the main Theorem of [7]: THEOREM 1. Let C K(XG) be a system, of multilinear generators for TG(R}. Then the system is a set of multilinear generators for Tc'Xz2(R E}. The main tool of the proof consists in a careful inspection of the multilinear components of the ideals Tc(R] and TGxi2(RE). These components are related via the map ("j. More precisely, let us fix an order in G, say G = {hi, . . . , hr} and set the following order in G x l,^: Consequently, we consider the space V^^^2 Pr qr n TcxZ2(R E) of the multilinear polynomial identities of R E in the set of variables labelled ftl 0) (fclll) asr T (P1 ' . then r(hl 'l) , . . . , x T pl+?1 as x(l / ? l ! 0 ) . . . . . 3, tnen x , . . . and ana so on on. pi+1 We compare it with the space V^+qi ,pr+qr n Tc(R) of the multilinear identitities of R in the indeterminates ,TI J , . . . , xpli+qi , . . . and so on. By Lemmas 4 and 5 of [7] it holds Vt,r>rr
n
TG^(R E} = tj(VpG1+qi,...,pr+qr
n T G ( J R)),
for the suitable J. The groups acting on these spaces are H : SP1 x 59l x x Spr x Sqr and // := Spl+qi x x Spr+qr respectively. Note that H ^ H, therefore both these spaces are JY-modules. Denote by (A, /x) the multipartition (A(i). /^(i), , A( r ), yu( r )), where A,; h p,; and /^7; h q,;. Then the relation between the graded cocharacter sequences of /? and R E is given by the following result (see [7], Proposition 8). THEOREM 2. Let
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be the character of the H -module
,...,Pr+qr n TG(R
Then the character of the H -module
is
l H.
where (A, //} := A (1) yu'(1) <8> A (r) <g> fjf(r) and //, -x is the conjugate partition of /j,^ . As a consequence, one has COROLLARY 1. Let R be a G-graded Pi-algebra. Then
5. APPLICATIONS TO SOME VERBALLY PRIME ALGEBRAS In this section we shall apply the results of the previous sections to the study of the invariants of some concrete verbally prime algebras. As follows by the results of Kemer [16], every non trivial prime variety of associative algebras is generated by one of the following algebras: M n (K), Mn(E), Mkj(E). Here, as above, K is a field characteristic zero, E is the Grassmann algebra over an infinite-dimensional K-vector space, and for fixed integers fc, I (k > I) Mki(E) is the following block-matrix algebra
Ei\]k
E0J\l
The first application concerns the notion of Pi-exponent. In [18] Regev proved that R satisfies a non-zero polynomial identity if and only if the sequence of (ordinary) codimensions is exponentially bounded. In the 80's it was conjectured by Amitsur that for any Pi-algebra R the limit limn \/cn(R} does exist and it is an integer. This conjecture has been recently verified by Giambruno and Zaicev (see [10] and [11]). This number is called the Pi-exponent of R. In the same spirit, for G-graded algebras we may consider the graded cocharacter sequence c^(R) and limn ^/c^(R). Only partial results about the existence of this limit are known (see [12],[13]). Let us consider endowed with its natural Z2-grading. By Corollary 1
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Regev described in [20] the asymptotic behaviour of the codimension sequence of R = Mk(K). By this description it, follows limn >/c n (Mfc(K)) = A:2 , so as in [7] we get
lim
The second application is about the graded cocharacter sequence of the Z2 x Z2-algebra Mi(E}. This algebra is isomorphic to M%(K)E as graded algebra. Hence, as a consequence of Theorem 2 and Proposition 5, we get the following description of its graded cocharcter sequence (see Corollary 16 of [7]). PROPOSITION 9.
< A
where
Ol
< X>=
K.
0-2
- di) - (fci - 1)),

A:,; := 77?.m{o.?; - 6,;, C7; d,;},
A>*=
0.1
C2
and
71
As third application we describe the Zn x Z2-graded identities of the matrix algebra Mn(E) = Mn(K) E. Vasilovsky in [24] found a system of generators for the algebra M n (K) equipped with its natural Zn-grading, where the t-homogeneous component is (M n (K)) = spariK{e,;j \ j i = t e Z n ). Using this fact and Theorem 1 we have (see Corollary 12 of [7]):
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THEOREM 3. The ideal TZnxZ2(Mn(E)) of multilinear identities:

r
is generated by the following set
r ,\ (0,0) J / (0,0)1 V ' / Lxl >X2 J
Lxl
(0,0) (0,l)i
! /
>X2
, \
>
(0,1) (0,1) (0,1) (0,1) dj -I x 2 ~T~ (" 9 -^ 1

~V x
.X- -1
X l 2 3 (-i,0) ,-p (1.0) V ' ' fvi\ ' / .(i,l) \ ' / _

J^ O
(t,0) (-i,0) (i,0) ' >\ ' /~>\ ' / _
~*\ X
*' Q
^t- Q
x 3 X2 l (-i,0) / y (ii,l) > 'ryi*' ' ,(i,0) -vi*-' '

:
(i,0) (-i.O) (i,0) ' /V I \ ' I
iX/ O
Jy I
Jî
_(i,0) (-t,l)_(,0) _
J/Q J/o
.-ivo d-n
ry\ '
(t,0) (-t,l) (i,0)

"^ 1
\ X -1
(1.1) (-i,l) (t,0) ,

' ^V
,jtj n
'
> rf. \
// o
'
^^ ^G o
(i,0) (-i,l) (i,l)

/^vi\
iX- o
'
'rtiV
Jy -|
'
XV 1
/>i JLi 1
, '
'
/\ Ju f)
/
i> Q T^ t(/ O it>O li/ 1
'^v li-O
' /y <Jj O
'
__ |^
/y> \ ' t-O O
ff J^Q
'
'KV> ^L- 1
'
/ori Z n .
Finally, consider the algebra Mk,i(E}E endowed with a suitable Zg-grading. First, define
Ae?:j1
| J^T = t
Next, consider Mkj(E) E and define
A generating set for the ideal Tzk+lXz2(Mkj(E*) E) has been found in [8] . As a corollary of this result and Theorem 1 we get as in [8] PROPOSITION 10. The algebras Mk,i(E}E andMk+i(E} are Pi-equivalent as Zk+i x Za -graded algebras. General arguments lead to their ordinary Pi-equivalence, and we obtain a new proof for a result of Kemer, using only elementary tools. COROLLARY 2. For n = k + l, the algebras Mkj(E} O E and Mn(E) are Pi-equivalent. REFERENCES
[1] Y. Bahturin, A. Giambruno, D.M. Riley, Group-graded algebras satisfying a polynomial identity, Isr. J. Math. 104, (1998), 145-155. [2] A. Berele, Magnum P. I., Isr. J. Math. 51 (2), (1985), 13-19. [3] A. Berele, Cocharacters of Z/2Z -graded algebras, Isr. J. Math. 61 (1988), 225-234. [4] A. Berele Supertraces and matrices over Grassmann algebras, Advances in Math. 108 (1), (1994), 77-90. [5] O. M. Di Vincenzo, On the graded identities o/M M (.E), Isr. J. Math. 80 (3), (1992), 323-335.
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[6] O. M. Di Vincenzo, Cocharacters of G-gmded algebras, Comm. Algebra 24 (10), (1996), 3293-3310. [7] O.M. Di Vincenzo. V. Nardozza. Graded polynomial identities for tensor products by the Grassmann Algebra, Comm. Algebra, (2002), (in press). [8] O.M. Di Vincenzo, V. Nardozza, Zk+iX.%2-graded polynomial identities for Mk,i(E)<8 E, Rend. Mat. Univ. Padova, (2002), (in press). [9] A. Giambruno, A. Regev, Wreath Products and P.I. algebras, J. Pure Appl. Algebra 35, (1985), 133-149. [10] A. Giambruno, M. Zaicev, On codimension growth of finitely generated associative algebras, Adv. Math. 140 (1998), 145-155. [11] A. Giambruno, M. Zaicev, Exponential codimensions growth of Pi-algebras: an exact estimate, Adv. Math. 142 (1999), 221-243. [12] A. Giambruno, S. Mishchenko, M. Zaicev, Group actions and asymptotic behaviour of graded polynomial identities (preprint) [13] A. Giambruno, S. Mishchenko. M. Zaicev. Polynomial identities on superalgebras and almost polynomial growth, Comm. Algebra 29 (9), (2001), 3787-3800. [14] D. Gorenstein, Finite Groups, Second Edition (1980), Chelsea Publishing Company, New York. [15] G. D. James, The representation theory of the symm.etnc group, Lecture Notes in Math. 682 (1978), Springer. Berlin. [16] A. R. Kemer, Varieties and Zi-graded algebrs , Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Ser. Mat. 48 (1984),1042-1059 (Russian). Translation: Math. USSR Izv. 25 (1985), 359-374. [17] A. R. Kemer, Ideals of identities of associative algebras, AMS Trans, of Math. Monographs 87 (1991). [18] A. Regev Existence of identities in A B, Isr. J. Math. 11 (1972), 131-152. [19] A. Regev, The representation of S-,, and explicit identities for P.I.-algebras, J. Algebra 51, (1978), 25-40. [201 A. Regev Codimensions and trace codim.ensions of m,atrices are asymptotically equal, Isr. J. Math. 47 (1984), 246-250. [21] A. Regev, On the identities of subalgebras of matrices over the Grassmann algebra, Isr. J. Math. 58 (3), (1987), 351-369. [22] A. Regev, Tensor products of matrix algebras over the Grassmann algebra, J. Algebra 133 (2). (1990), 512-526. [23] S. Y. Vasilovsky, Z-graded polynomial identities of the full m,atrix algebra, Comm. Algebra 26 (2), (1998), 601-612. [24] S. Y. Vasilovsky. Zn-graded polynomial identities of the full matrix algebra of order n, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 127 (12), (1999), 3517-3524.
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Matrix invariants and the failure of Weyl's Theorem

M. DOMOKOS Renyi Institute of Mathematics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 127, 1364 Budapest. E-mail: domokos@renyi.hu
INTRODUCTION
Throughout the paper k denotes an algebraically closed field (unless stated otherwise). The main object of study is the ring of invariants of d-tuples of n x n matrices under the simultaneous conjugation action of the general linear group. Our focus is on the case when char(A:) is positive; for the zero characteristic case we refer to the survey [21]. In the first half of the paper we collect some known facts on modules with good filtration, and illustrate their use in the characteristic p invariant theory, by presenting a proof of Donkin's theorem [17], which gives generators of the ring of matrix invariants. The proof explained here is extracted from the proof of a technically more involved result of the author and Zubkov in [12], describing semi-invariants of quivers. In the second half of the paper lower and upper degree bounds for a generating system of the ring of matrix invariants are investigated. New explicit indecomposable invariants are given in Theorem 2 for the case 0 < char(fc) < n, with a short and elementary proof. Related results from [11] and [8] are surveyed.
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2 2.1
GOOD FILTRATIONS AND SLn x SLn-INVARIANTS MODULES WITH GOOD FILTRATION
Let G be a connected reductive affine algebraic group over an algebraically closed base field A; of arbitrary characteristic, with coordinate ring k[G\. Let T be a maximal torus in G, X ( T ) the group of rational characters (weights) of T, X+(T) the set of dominant weights with respect to a chosen system of positive roots, B the Borel subgroup belonging to the system of negative roots. The weight lattice X(T) has a natural partial order: for A, JJL X(T) we write A ^ /i if fi A is a sum of simple roots. By a G-module we mean a rational G-module, i.e. a not necessarily finite dimensional vector space V endowed with a linear action of G. such that any finite subset of V is contained in a finite dimensional G-stable subspace of V, and for any finite dimensional G-stable subset W of V the map G x W > W, (g. w) i> g v is a morphism of algebraic varieties. For a dominant weight A X+(T) denote by k\ the one-dimensional B-module obtained by composing the natural homomorphism B T with the one-dimensional representation of T with character A. Denote by V(A) the induced module V(A) := Indgfc A = {/ e k[G\ V6 6 5,V# e G : f(bg) = \ ( b ) f ( g ) } . The group G acts on k[G] by the right regular representation (g f}(x) : = f ( x g ) , and obviously the subset V(A) of .B-equi variant morphisms G > k\ (where B acts on G by left translations) is a G-submodule of k[G]. Moreover, it is well known that V(A) is finite dimensional. When char(A;) = 0, then (V(A) | A 6 X+(T)} is a complete list of simple G-modules up to isomorphism. When char (A;) > 0, the module V(A) is usually not simple, but it has a simple socle L(X), and (L(A) A G X+(T)} is a complete list of simple G-modules up to isomorphism. Recall that the formal character of a finite dimensional T-module V is the map X(T) > Z, i> dim(V^), where V^ is the -eigenspace of T in V. The formal character ch(V(A)) is given by Weyl's character formula. So ch(V(A)) is independent of k, and o is the same as in the case when A; = C. We refer to [25] for the above material. The duals of the induced modules are usually called Weyl modules. Define A(A) := V(A*)*, where A* := WQ A, and WQ is the longest element in the Weyl group of G. The Weyl module A (A) has simple top isomorphic to L(A), and ch(A(A)) = ch(V(A)). An ascending chain 0 = VQ C V\ C F2 ' OI submodules is called a good filtration of the G-module V if U?: V, = V and for all i 1 , 2 , . . . either Vi/Vi-i = 0 or there is a A X+(T) with Vi/K-i = V(A). (For our
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purposes it will be sufficient to consider finite dimensional modules, hence finite filtrations only.) The main facts on modules with good filtration we shall use later are collected in the following proposition, they can be found in [14], [15], [16], [18], [30]. (The special case when G is GLn or a direct product of general linear groups will be applied only.) PROPOSITION 1 Let V , W be finite dimensional G-modules having good filtration. (i) Assume W < V. Then V/W has good filtration. (ii) Assume W < V. For any rational character x of G, the natural homomorphism, V - V/W maps the subspace V '* of relative invariants with weight x surjectively to (V/W)G'X. In particular, the space V of G -invariants is mapped onto (V/W} . (in) Let 0 = V0 C Vi C C Vm = V be a good filtration of V. Then dim f c (Hom c (A(A),y)) = #{i In particular, dimk(VG) equals the multiplicity of the trivial module as a factor in any good filtration ofV. (iv) The tensor product V W has good filtration.
(v) For a dominant weight p. denote by V^^ (resp. V^^) the sum of those submodules in V all of whose composition factors belong to {L(v} v ^ {J>} (resp. {L(v) \ v -< p.}. Then V-^/V^ is isomorphic to a direct sum of copies o f V ( p , ) , and V^ has good filtration. (vi) If H is a Levi subgroup (resp. the commutator subgroup) of G, then V has good filtration as an H -module.
In the sequel we will need to tensor filtrations and maps. Consider the filtrations 0 = VQ < Vi < < Vm = V and 0 = W0 < Wi < < Wq = W of the finite dimensional G-modules V and W . Order the pairs ( i , j ) lexicographically, and write ( i , j ) 1 for the direct predecessor of ( i , j ) . Define V W(ij) '= Z]( a ,6)<(ij) â W*>- ^he following proposition is elementary, and can be shown by choosing A;-bases of V and W compatible with the given filtrations: PROPOSITION 2 {VW(ij) \ (i,j)} is a filtration ofVW with factors V W(iJ)/V W(ijj)_-i
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PROPOSITION 3 Suppose that ^ : Vi - Wi (i = 1, 2J are surjective Gmodule homomorphisms of finite dimensional G-modules, and Vi, ker(yjj) have good, filtration (i = 1,2,). Then <î <g> <pi : Vi <8> V2 Wi Wjj w surjective, and ker(y>i <g) ^2) âs good filtration. Proof. Set Ki := ker(</?,;), (i = 1,2). Then the factors of the filtration 0 < KI K2 < K] V2 < K\ <S> V2 + Vi K2 < V\ V2 are isomorphic to KI K2j KI W72, Wi <g) 7^2, Wi W2, which all have good filtration by Proposition 1. 2.2 INDUCED MODULES FOR GLn
Now we turn to the case G = GLn, the general linear group over k. Then T is the group of diagonal matrices, and X(T) is identified with Z71 such that with ( a i , . . . , an) Zn we associate the character diag(ti,... ,tn) ^t"1 The subset of dominant weights is X+(T):={A = ( A i , . . . ,An) A i > . - - > A n } . The partial order ^ on J 5 f + (T) is given explicitly as A X /^ if AI < /î, AI + A2 < /î + ^2i i A] + + \n = m + + fj,n. The chosen Borel subgroup B is the group of lower triangular matrices. As an explicit example of an induced module we note that V(l r ) is the rth exterior power f \ r ( k n ) of the standard module, where (l r ) := ( 1 , . . . , 1 , 0 , . . . ,0) X+(T). Indeed, k[G] contains the n2-variable polynomial algebra k[xjj \ I < i,,j < n] in the obvious way. The variables are entries of a generic n x n matrix X := (.x,;j)" j. It is well known that the space of .B-equivariant morphisms G + k^rj is spanned by the r x r minors of X belonging to the first r rows. The restriction of the right regularrepresentation to this subspace is clearly isomorphic to Ar(kn). Let us adopt the notation of double tableaux: write (ir i\ \ ji jr) for the r x r minor of X obtained by choosing the rows of index i\ < < ir and columns of index j\ < < jr. Display the product (ar ai \ bi br) (cs c\ d\ - ds) as the tableau C'.
where the lengths of the rows are always assumed to non-increase from top to bottom, i.e. (r, , s) is a partition, called the shape of the tableau. A
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tableau is called standard if it is non-increasing along each column. The set of partitions of t with at most n non-zero parts is denoted by A + (n, *) := {A = (A!,... , An) | A! > An > 0, ^
i
A,: = t},
this is a subset of X+(T). Take A A + (n, i) and let A = ([AI, ... ,/x s ) be the conjugate partition of A, that is, m = #{j \ \j > i}. The module V(A) is the subspace of k[G] spanned by the double tableaux of shape A of the form
1
b2
dn
Moreover, the standard tableaux of this kind constitute a basis of V(A). (This module V(A) is called the Schur module Ex in [22], and the Schur module correponding to A in [1].) An explicit good nitration of V(A)V(f) is constructed in [4] for A, v A + (n, t). The restriction to the special linear group SLn of V(A) is an induced 5Ln-module, so a good filtration of a GLn-module is also a good filtration for the corresponding SXn-module (see Proposition 1 (vi) for a more general statement). 2.3 THE COORDINATE RING OF Homk(V,W)
Let V be a vector space with basis ei,... ,en,W& vector space with basis / ! > i /m- The corresponding dual basis in W* is denoted by /*,... , /^. The fixed bases induce identifications GL(V) GLn and GL(W) GLm. The group GL(V) x GL(W) acts on Homk(V:W) by the rule
(g, h)-<p:=ho<po g~\ (g, h) GL(V) x GL(W), w*((p(v}}~) E Homk(V, W)*. Then the coordinate ring k[Homk(V, W)} is identified with the symmetric tensor algebra S(VW*). This is an rran-variable commutative polynomial algebra with generators Xij '= e.j $* (i = 1, , m, j 1,. , n), endowed with a GLn x GLmaction, such that
(g, h) x^ = the ( i , j ] entry of h~lXg
(g GLn, h GLm), where X denotes the m x n generic matrix whose (i.j)-entry is x^.
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Next we recall a good filtration of the fth symmetric tensor power W*) of V W* from [5], [1]. First we fix some notation: N is the set of natural numbers, NO := N U {0} A(t) :={a = ( a i ! Q 2 ) . . . ) | a i N 0 , I>i = *} A(n, t) := {a e A(t) 0 = an+l = a n+2 = - } A + (t) := {a <E A(t) ax > a2 > } S (V) := SQl(V) <g> 5 Q2 (F) for a A(t) AF := A Q 1 F A Q 2 F<8> for a <E A(i) t : = { 1 , 2 , . . . ,*} for t E N /(n, t) := the set of maps > n St '= the symmetric group acting on t Sb := {TT St b(ir(i)) = b(i),i = 1, . . . , t} for 6 /(n, t) St/Sb is a fixed set of left 5&-coset representatives in St Sb \ St is a fixed set of right 5&-coset representatives in St
I(q,nq,n) := {/ n := (n, . . . , n)
We shall freely use the following convention: identify (cq,... ,an) G A(n,t) with the map a : t > n, such that a(j) = i for j = ai + + "i-i + ! , , ai + + a,;. Thus A(n, t) is embedded into /(n, t), and the Young subgroup SQ is then defined for a 6 A(n, t). The sequence n is also considered as an element of I(q,nq), and clearly I(q,nq,n) = {n o r re Sn \ Snq}. The Young subgroup SUOT wm be abbreviated as Sr '-= Snor for r e Sng. There is a natural GL(V) x GL(H /r )-module map Sq : f\qV f\qW* -* 5 9 (F W*),
t'l A A Vq W\ A A W* ^ ^
7T65g
(-1TVTT(1) ^1 ' ' ' ^Tr(g) ^q-
In other words, for ii < < ig and ji < < jq we have that, 8q(eri A A eiq f^ A A /) = (j, . . . ji | n . . . i g ), & q x q minor of X. Given a = (0*1, . . . , as) A(s, t) we set
(vs
For a partition A e A + (t), the image of S\ is the subspace of Sf'(V W/r*) spanned by all the double tableaux of shape A. Introduce an order < on
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t) such that A < /K if for the minimal i with A,; ^ in we have that A,; > m. Define
then (M(A) A e A+(t)} is a filtration of 5* (I/ W*). Note that M(A) is non-zero only if A,; < min{n, m} for all i. So if M(A) 7^ 0, then A, the conjugate partition of A, is a weight both for GLn and GLm (i.e. A has at most min{re, m} non-zero parts). Denoting by M(A 1) the direct predecessor of some non-zero M (A) in the nitration, we have the isomorphism M(A)/M(A - 1) 9* V(A) V(A*) as GLn x GL^-modules, (1)
see [1]. (Moreover, the images of the standard double tableaux form a vector space basis of M(A)/M(A - 1).) Composing <$>, with the natural homomorphism M(A) * M (A)/M(A 1) we obtain an epimorphism ox : ^XV f\xW* -> V(A) V(A*). A pair (z/, 77), where ^ is a dominant weight for GLn and 77 is a dominant weight for GLm is naturally identified with a dominant weight for GLn x GLm, and it is easy to see that the induced GLn x GLm-module V((^, 77)) is isomorphic to V(/>) <8> V(?7). So (M(A) A A + (i)} is a good filtration of St(VW*) as a GLn x GLm-module (and also as an SLn x SLm -module). Note that being the tensor product, of induced GLn x GLm,-modules, f \ x ( V ] <g> /\X(W*) has good nitration. Since the unique maximal (with respect to -<) weight of the GLn x GLm-module /\XV f\xW* is (^, ^*) with fj, = A, and this weight occurs with multiplicity 1, by Proposition 1 (v) the kernel of S\ is the sum of all submodules whose all weights are -< (fj,, A 4 *), and ker(<5,\) has good nitration as a GLn x GLm-module. Next we state the First Fundamental Theorem for invariants of several vectors (resp. covectors) with respect to the action of the special linear group, proved over an arbitrary infinite base field in [6]. Note that S*(V W*} can be identified with the coordinate ring of both V* 0 V* (m copies) and W W (n copies). PROPOSITION 4 S(VW*)SLW (respectively S(V W*)SL(-W^ ) is generated as an algebra by the n x n minors (respectively m x m minors) of X ; that is,
0,
ift/n^N.
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and
Sl(V W
[0,
Given a G A(i) and TT 6 S/ set
and
where the index w, in eu, /,* is- understood modulo re. PROPOSITION 5 //(A a V) 5L(v is non-zero for a e A(t), then q := n/t N and = Spanfc{ Similarly, if (f\aW*)SL^-w^ Y, (-l)Tewor | TT 6 5fi \ 5n(?}.
is non-zero, then s := t/m E N and
= Span,{
j-i / ^'rh.Of+f'dci
where m := (m. . . . , rre) A(s, rres) C /(s, m,s). Proof. Take a vector space F with basis 51 . . . . , c/t , and denote by Fi the subspace spanned by {gj a(j) = i}. Then F j;F,;, and set GLa : = GL(Fi) x GL(F2) x < GL(F). The group GLa contains 5a acting on F by permutation of the basis elements. Define a GL(V>rnodule embedding /, : AQF -> ^(V F), using
AQF ^ ,:(A':y (g) A Q; F Z ) ^ 7;SQ':(V Fi) < 5*(F F).
It follows easily from Proposition 4 that im(/,) = Sl(V F)GLc"det, the subspace of relative invariants of GLa with weight, det : GLa > fc*. Thus by Proposition 4,
",\ ) GLQ,det
GL a ,det
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if t/n N, and (/\aV)SL^ is zero otherwise. Assume now that t nq with q e N. Since f\nV A"F and ker(<5s) have good filtration as GL(F}modules, by Proposition 1 (vi) they have good filtration as (7LQ-modules, implying that
(6n(^V A*F)) GL< " det = 8n (/\*V (A^CL^deA . \ /
Denote by H the diagonal subgroup of GLa corresponding to the basis 51,... ,54. Then (A".F)GLQ'det < (A"F)H'det = AFj, where A"Fj denotes the subspace of A"F spanned by gw := ?=1fl',r((i-i>H-i) A.. ./\gn(in), n e St. Since A"Fj is stable with respect to the subgroup Sa of GLa, we have that (A"JF)GL"'det < (A"Fi)5a'sign, where sign : Sa -> k* is the sign character of Sa. It is easy to see that actually (A"F)GL<*'det = (AF i ) 5Q ' sign . Clearly {g^ \ n St/Sn} is a basis of A n Fj, and the elements of this basis are permuted up to sign by Sa. Thus the alternating orbit sums ^peSQ/SQnS^(~-'-)P5p7r-1 (as ^ ranges over Sn \ Snq) span the space of Sarelative invariants with weight sign. Applying i~l o 8n we obtain the generating set of (l\aV}SL(v\ stated in the proposition. Indeed, denoting by Ae := (ei A ... A e^) <g> (ei A ... A en) the basis element of f\nV, we have
nq
u=i
nq
The proof of the second statement is similar. 2.4 SLn x SLn-lN VARIANTS
We are interested in the subalgebra of SL(V) x 5L(H^)-invariants in the coordinate ring of the direct sum of d copies of Homfc(F, W), in the special case dim(F) = dim(W) = n. The coordinate ring is identified with the dn2-variable polynomial algebra knj '= &[#,- | s = 1, . . . , d, 1 < i, j < n}. Set X(s) := (a^)"j=1 for s = 1, . . . ,d. The group SLn x SLn acts on
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kn,d by algebra automorphisms, (g,h) E SLn x SLn maps xf- to the ( i , j ) entry of h~lX(s)g. An element of kn^ is said to be multihomogeneous of multidegree t = ( t i , . . . ,tn>) if it has total degree ts in the variables belonging to X(s) for s 1, ... , d. The multihomogeneous component of kn,d f multidegree t is denoted by kn^,t- The action of SXn x SLn respects this multigrading, so kndn* " is spanned by multihomogeneous elements. Fix q 6 N and a multidegree t = (ti, . . , t d ) with ]Pt,: = nq. Call A = ( A i , . . . ,\h.i-\_____h/i-d) a t-superpartition of height ft, = ( / i i , . . . ,/i^) if A7 := (A/,,1+. ..+/,,,._!+!, . . . . A/JJ+...+/J.J e A.+ (hi,ti) for z = 1, . . . ,d. In other words, a t-superpartition is obtained by concatenating a d-tuple of partitions. Denote by A + (t) (resp. A + (/i, t)) the set of t-superpartitions (resp. t-superpartitions of height h). With A e A+(h,t) and r, c I(q,^2hi) we associate an SLn x SL^-invariant dety c of multidegree t. Take commuting indeterminat.es yj (i = 1. . . . .^h/) over fc^ .^. Define det^ c by
det r A c := the coefficient of [] y^ in det J] ,=i \i=i
yi [X(/i(:))] r(i) , c(i)
, (2)
/
where for an n x n matrix Z and z,j G g we write [^]7;,j for the nq x ng matrix partitioned into blocks of size n x n, containing Z as the block in the ( i , j ) -position and O nxi ? everywhere else. (Recall our convention that (hi, . . . , hd) is identified with the map h . I(d, J] hi) for which the fiber hrl (i) is the interval h\-\ ----- h /ij-i + 1, . . . , hi H ----- h hi for i 1, . . . . d.) Since for (a, 6) 6 SLr, x S'L,,. we have
, . . . , 6 ~ ' ) I ^ y,;[.T"(^(?'))]r(i),c(7:) j diag(a, . . . , a ) , V i /
the multiplicativity of the determinant imples that detr c is indeed an SLn x SXyj-invariant. Call the triple (A, r, c) t-admissible. if r o A, c o A 6 /(g, nq, n). We shall see that if det^ c is non-zero, then (A. r, c) is t-admissible. EXAMPLE. Take n = 4 and d = 3, the case of triples of 4 x 4 matrices. The coefficient of yÂyt in det [W*(^$*(2) %$ the
5L4 x SL4-invariant det^ c of multidegree (3, 3, 2), where A = (2, 1, 2, 1, 2) 6 A + ((2,2, 1),(3,3,2)), a superpartition of height (2,2,1), and 1 = r(2) = r(4) = r(5), 2 = r(l) = r(3), 1 = c(2) = c(3) = c(4), 2 = c(l) = c(5).
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Next we derive an explicit formula for det^c. Set Zs = (zsi3} := [X(h(s})]r(sMs)
for s = 1, ... , ]T hi. The coefficient of Y[ y$s in det(^ ysZs] is

nq
<-'>' EIK&where the inner sum ranges over the set of maps / I{^2,h^nq) with #/~ : ( s ) ^si s = ! > >Z^Z' The map a H-> A o a gives a bijective correspondence between S\ \ 64 and the set of such maps, so
nq
r E IIv i
nq
\ocr(u)
We have
if
otherwise;
,,
"' CT(W')=r
A U
( )
and
"' T ( M )
= C
here and later, the lower indices i,j in x\ are understood modulo 77, . Thus det r c is zero unless r o A n o [i and c o A = n o TT with some /^, TT 6 5n? (i.e. if r o A, c o A I(q,nq, n)). Assume from now on that (A, r, c) is t-admissible, r o A = n o /x, and c o A = n o TT with /x, TT G S1^. Then n o cr = r o A if and only if S^cr = Sfip.. Similarly, n o r = c o A if and only if SnT = S^TT. So we have
nq
A det QeT 'r,c
V 2^
V 1-IYT TT xt(u] Z^ ^ ^ ll' X o-(),r()u=l
o-65^n(5n,/SA) T6Sft7r
Multiplication by /n"1 from the left yields a Injection 5n^x n (Snq/S\) > Snofj,/Sx. Thus we get
(recall that S^ denotes the Young subgroup Sno^, and the lower indices in x|- are understood modulo n).
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PROPOSITION 6 For any multidegree t, the space k^Ld"fxSLn

by elements det c , where (A,r, c) is t- admissible.
A
is spanned
In characteristic zero this statement can be easily derived from Proposition 4, the first fundamental theorem on SX-invariants of several vectors (covectors). Indeed, kn^,t is identified with S*(V W*) as in section 2.3. and Sl(VW*} is a homomorphic image of r*(V)r t (W 1 ), where T\U) = U U Q3 tj copies). Spanning sets of T\V}SL^ and T^W*}8^^ are given by Proposition 4 (actually we need here only the special case of multilinear invariants), and the image of r*(F) 5L ( v ) -^(W*)3^^ in Sl(V W*) is a spanning set of S^V H'"*) 5L ( l/)x5L(w/) . This approach does not, work in positive characteristic, as the following example shows. EXAMPLE, Consider the case n = 2, d = 1, t = 2. T2(V)SLW is 1dimensional, and is spanned by e\ e% &i e\. Similarly, T2(W*)SL(W^ is spanned by /* f% f% ff. The image of (ei 62 62 ei) (fi /2 - /2 /*) in S"(^ W*) is 2(111x22 - ^122:21). Therefore if char(fc) = 2. the 5Z/2x 5L2-invariarit det(X) is not contained in the image This problem is overcome by replacing the tensor powers Tt(V)Tt(W*} with various tensor products of exterior powers A A F A A W*, and using the description of SL(V) x SL(W)-invariants in these spaces, given in Proposition 5. Proof of Proposition 6: Identify kn^,t with Sl(V W*} as in section 2.3. Tensor the nitrations {M(A':) A' A + (^,;)} of SU(V W*). Applying Proposition 2 successively, we obtain a filtration {M(A)| A = ( A 1 , . . . ,Xd}, A ? ; e A + ( t z ) } (4)
of St(VW*), whose members are indexed by t-superpartitions (identifying a d-tuple of partitions with the sequence obtained by concatenating them, and ordering d-tuples of partitions lexicographically), and whose factors have good filtration as SLn x .Si,, -modules by Proposition 1 (iv). By Proposition 3 the kernel of 6A := f =1 6 A , : AAF AAl'F+ - M(\}/M(\ - 1) has good filtration as SL(V] x 5L(W)-module, hence applying Proposition 1 (ii) twice,
= (M(A)/M(A
_l l)SL(V)xSL(W)
= M(X)SL(V}XSL(W)
/M (A -
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Setting 8\ := ^=1^t, we obtain that modulo M(X 1), the space , ( A %*)SL(WO) spans M^SL(V)xSL(W\ jt follows that
Panned by the sum of <5 A ((A A y) SL ( y ) (A A VF*) SL ^), as A ranges over A + (). Hence a generating system of ^f^"x is obtained n x from Proposition 5, evaluating 8\. We get that ^n^ ( is non-zero only if q ;= ^ tj/n 6 N, and then is spanned by elements
is s
nq
-V ~~ / v
V / ./
V / -,
7ro r (-n r*(w) v ^ " TT 11 ^ôo-f
where A A + (t), /x, TT e 5ng, and again, the lower indices of a;? . are understood modulo n. It is sufficient therefore to show that each h^)7r can be written as a linear combination of elements det^ c . We have
nq Z^ Z^ Z-w
-
u=l
5,r
u=i
Note that {ja \ a 5M n Sx \ S'A/S'A n SV, 7 5^ n 5A/5^ n 5A n (where Sp,r\S\\ S\/S\ n 5,r is a set of double coset representatives in S\) can be taken for S\/S\ n 3*. Thus
^V,f
/> ae5MnsA\5A
ng
where for any permutations /3,7 G S1^ we set
V r-n " " TT r*(u)

S7 T657 u=l
0 1
For any permutations (3, 7 5*ng and superpartition A e A + () there exist a superpartition v A + (t) and a permutation 77 in the Young subgroup St such that 5^ n Â n 57 = S^^. (The fibers of the map v o ry are obtained by intersecting one-one fiber of no/3, A, and no 7.) Clearly there are maps r,c with r oi/ = no fl o r j ~ l , and c o v = n o 7 o ry"1 , so (i/, r, c) is an admissible triple. By (3) we have
finishing the proof.
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MATRIX INVARIANTS: GENERATORS AND DEGREE BOUNDS DONKIN'S THEOREM
3.1
Our main object of study is A:^", the ring of invariants of d-tuples of n x n matrices. Recall that knj is the coordinate ring of Mn^ := knxn ffi ff^xn ^ copies), on which GL n acts by simultaneous conjugation g-(Ai,... ,Ad):= (gAig-\... ,gAdg~l), and k^n consists of the polynomial functions on Mn^ that are constant on the GI/n-orbits. We shall often write / kn>d as f ( X ( l ) , . . . ,X(d,}}, displaying the generic matrices X ( r ) as the arguments rather than the variables x\ .-, and if Si, ... , Bd are n x n matrices with entries from a commutative A;-algebra C, then f(B\, . . . , Bd) is the element of C obtained substituting x[- by the (i, j')-entry of Br. For an n x n matrix A over a commutative ring C, denote by (?i(A) the ith characteristic coefficient of A (i = I , . . . , d ) , i.e. det(.A tl) Yî=Q(~l}n~'l'cri(A)tn~'t, wnere * is a commuting indeterminate over C, and / is the n x n identity matrix. The generic matrices X ( r ) are elements of the n x n matrix algebra over knd, so the expression <Ji(X(ji) X ( j s ) ) ' f^ T makes sense, and it is obviously contained in kndn for all i = 1, . . . , n, s N, ji,... ,j s e r f .
1
PROPOSITION 7 The substitution X(d+ 1) ^ I induces a surjective kalgebra homomorphism if> : A; Proof. (This was noticed in [7]; see [12] for more details.) Observe that if the d-tuples (Ai,... , A,i) and ( J B i , . . . ,Ba) belong to the same GLnorbit, then the d + 1-tuples (Ai, . . . , A^ /) and (Bi, . . . , Bd, I) are in the f^T same SLn x SLn-orb\t, hence im(c^) is contained in kn dn . To show the subjectivity we give explicitly a preimage of / kndn. Denote by A* the adjugate matrix of A 6 knxn, i.e. the ( i , j ) entry of k* is (-1)'+^' det(Ajt), where Aji is the n I x n I minor of A obtained by removing the jth row and the ?!th column. Note that A* det(A)A~11 provided that A is invertible. For / A;^" put f:(Al,...,Ad+l)^f(A*d+lAl,A*d+lA2,...,A*d+lAd). Clearly /* e fcnirf+1. Since (hAg~lY = gA*h~l, we have (hAd+ig~lYhAig~l = hence f* E k In view of Proposition 7, a system of generators of k^n can be obtained from the system of generators of k^^8^ given in Proposition 6. Denote
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by RHtd the subalgebra of kn^ generated by all the ai(X(ji) X ( j s ) ) . We claim that fc^nX n is contained in Rn,d- It is sufficient to show that all the det rc are contained in Rn<d- Recall that det^c was defined as some multihomogeneous component of a generic linear combination of nq x nq matrices, see (2). By Amitsur's formula [2], the coefficient of 0%' in det(^ y,;[X(/?,(i))] r ( 7 ;) ]C (j)) can be expressed as a polynomial of characteristic coefficients of products of the nq x nq matrices [X(h(i))]r^^c^. It is easy to see that any such characteristic coefficient is either zero, or agrees with some characteristic coefficient of the corresponding product of the n x n matrices X(h(i}}. Therefore by Proposition 6 k^{SLn < -Rn,d+i, and since the substitution X(d + 1) i> / maps Rn,d+i into Rn,d, we have kndn < Rn,dThus we have obtained a proof of the following theorem: THEOREM 1 (Donkin [17]) The algebra k^n is generated by characteristic coefficients (?i(X(ji) X ( j s ) ) of monomials of X(l), . . . , X ( d ) . The Hilbert series H(k]Zl,... ,zd) := describes the quantitative behavior of the Np-graded algebra k^j[n . As was observed in [17] (see also [37]), this numerical invariant of kndn is independent of the base field k: PROPOSITIONS The Hilbert series H(k^n; zi, . . . , zd) is the same as the Hilbert series H(Cn dn; z\, . . . , Zd) of the ring of matrix invariants over C. Proof. The GLn-module kn^t has a filtration (M(A) | A e A+(i)}, whose members are indexed by d-tuples of partitions, such that as a GLn-module, M(A)/M(A- 1) ^ f =1 V(//' : ) V(^' : *), where tf is the conjugate partition of A7/ (see (1) and (4)). It follows by Proposition 1 (iv) that kn^t has good filtration s~v also as a GLn-module. Therefore by Proposition 1 (iii), the r dimension of kn d coincides with the multiplicity of the trivial module as a factor in a good filtration of kn^,t- Since the formal characters ch(V(r;)) are the same as for k = C, they are linearly independent. Hence the formal character ch(kn^^t) uniquely decomposes as a sum of ch(V(r/)), and the filtration multiplicity of the trivial module is the same as the multiplicity of the trivial character in ch(fc n: d,t). Since the formal character of kn^,t is also independent of k, the claim follows. We close this section by mentioning a further consequence of the fact that the GLn-module kn^ has good filtration. Namely, k^n is Cohen-Macaulay by [23] also when char(fc) > 0.
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3.2
INDECOMPOSABLE INVARIANTS
Despite the characteristic free approach to the ring of matrix invariants f~* T discussed in section 3.1, the degree bound for the generators of knd" depends heavily on the characteristic. Denote by A+ the maximal ideal of r* r kn dn generated by the homogeneous elements of positive degree. A set of homogeneous elements of A+ generates kn rfn if and only if its image modulo A\ spans the /r-vector space A+/A^_. We call an element of kn^jn indecomposable if it is not contained in A\. It is clear that if there exists a homogeneous (resp. multihomogeneous) indecomposable invariant of a given degree (resp. multidegree), then any homogeneous (resp. multihomogeneous) system of algebra generators of kn must contain an element of that degree (resp. multidegree). THEOREM 2 Assume that char(fc) = p > 0, and P := pr < n for some r N. Then <jj(X(l} X(d)] is indecomposable in kn d for j = I,... , P 1. Proof. Denote by Dd the subspace of Mn^ consisting of d-tuples of diagonal matrices, having 0 entries outside the first P diagonal positions. The symmetric group Sp acts on Dd by simultaneous permutation of the first P diagonal entries of the matrix components. The coordinate ring k\Dd] of Dd is a dP-variable commutative polynomial algebra k[yr- r = 1,... ,d, j = 1 , . . . , P], where the comorphism i* of the injection i : Dd > MHtd maps x?j to y[ if i = j < P, and to 0 otherwise. The action of Sp on Dd induces an action on k[Dd}', it is given explicitly by TT y = yL.-,. Since for any x Dd and TT E Sp we have that i(x) and /,(TT x) are in the same GLn-orbit (indeed, conjugate by the permutation matrix corresponding to TT), we have that ^*(k^n) < k[Dd]Sp Denote by B+ the maximal Sp ideal of k[Dd} generated by the homogeneous elements of positive degree. Clearly i*(A+) C B+. Therefore to prove that crj(X(l) X ( d ) ) ( A\ it is sufficient to show that s^d := i-*(<7j(X(l} X(d')')) B\. Thus the proof is completed by Lemma 1 below. LEMMA 1 Assume that char(Ar) = p > 0, and P = pr is a power of p with r 6 N. Then for any d e N and j = 1,... , P 1, the polynomial.
E
s an indecomposable Sp -invariant in k,\Dd\
, that is,
Proof. Fix j .
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Assume now that d > 1, and we know that Sj:C B\ for c < d. Note that the action of Sp on k[Dd] is a so-called permutation action, i.e. Sp permutes the monomials in the variables y^. It follows that the orbit sums of monomials constitute a vector space basis of k[Dd\Sp. For a monomial w denote by w+ the orbit sum of w; that is, w = XêS /stabM ^ ' w> where Stab(w;) is the stabilizer subgroup of w in Sp. Assume that Sjtd B+, then Sjtd = îîlivfw'f for some finite index set /, 7, k, and i>j, Wi nontrivial monomials. Since the total degree of a monomial in the variables belonging to Y := {y^ | b = 1 , . . . P} is preserved by the Sp-action, and each monomial of Sj^ has total degree j in Y, we may assume that Vi and Wi have total degree < j in Y for all i /. Define thefc-algebrahomomorphism ^ : k[Dd] -> k[Dd-i] by ^(ydb) = 1 (6 = 1,... P), and ^(y) = $ if a < d. Clearly ip is Sp-equivariant, hence it maps k[Dd\Sp into k\Dd-\\Sp For i 6 / we have ip(v^~) B+, unless Uj involves only variables belonging to y, when ip(vf] equals 1 e k multiplied by the size of the Sp-orbit Sp t>j. Since the degree of v^ is less than P, the number #(Sp v^ is divisible by p (e.g. because a P-cycle acts fix-point free on the Sp-orbit of i>j), so if)(vf] 0 in the latter case. Similarly, for alH e J we have i^(w^~) B+ or ij}(wf) = 0. Thus we obtain V(j,d) = E,;e/7^(^)V'(^) B|. This contradicts the induction hypothesis, since ^(SJ)OT) = Sj,d-iThe ring of invariants of 5p acting on k[Dj\ is investigated by Fleischmann in [20] (having a completely different motivation). It is shown there that k(Dd]Sp is generated by its elements of degree < d(P 1), and some indecomposable invariants (different from SjiQr) are presented for the case char(fc) = p. The above proof of Lemma 1 is the adaptation of an argument from [20] to our needs. An immediate consequence of Theorem 2 is the following lower degree bound for the generators of the ring of matrix invariants when 0 < char(fc) < n. COROLLARY 1 //char(ft) = p > 0 andpr < n for some r N, then is not generated by its elements of degree < d(pr 1). k^n
The special case j = 1 of Theorem 2 was obtained in [11] as a consequence of the following result: THEOREM 3 Let k be an infinite base field k of arbitrary characteristic. Then the invariant tr(X(l) X ( d ) ) is decomposable (i.e. is contained in A+) if and only if the T-ideal generated by a:" in the free non-unitary associative k-algebra k(x\,... , X d - i ) contains the monomial x\ -x^-iThis connection between the Nagata-Higman problem and the ring of matrix invariants is due to Razmyslov [33] and Procesi [31] when char(fc) =
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0. The extension in [11] to arbitrary characteristic is based on a result of Kemer [27] (see Zubkov [38] for a stronger version), asserting that all multilinear identities with trace of knxn follow from the multilinearization of the Cayley-Hamilton identity. 3.3 UPPER BOUNDS AND EXPLICIT PRESENTATIONS
The group GLn is reductive, hence k^dn is a finitely generated fc-algebra. To get a finite generating system from Theorem 1 one needs an upper degree bound for the generators. Denote by (3(n,d,k) the minimal such m that kn dn is generated by its elements of degree < m. An explicit upper bound for /3(n, d, k) can be produced, combining the method of Dubnov-Ivanov [19] and a formula from [2]. Denote by 7V(n, d, k) the minimal such m that all monomials x^ x,;m in the free non-unitary associative algebra k(xi, . . . ,Xd) are contained in the T-ideal of A:{XI, . . . , x^) generated by x. The number N(n, d, k} is finite by [26]. If char(A:) = 0, then N(n, d, A;) < n2 by [33], and if char(fc) > n, then N(n,d,k) < 2n 1 by [241. A general explicit upper bound for N(n,d,k) with arbitrary k was given by Belov in [3]. (See [28] for an improvement.) It is well known that if char(A') 0 or char (A:) > p, then /3(n, d, k) < N(n, d, k}: in this case % ^J" is generated by products of traces of monomials in X(l}, . . . ,X(d), and the Cayley-Hamilton identity can be used as in [19] to derive the relations among the generators needed for the degree bound. The following more general result is proved in [8]:
S~1 T
THEOREM 4 For any infinite field k and n > 2 we have that
where |_f j '<<? the lower integral part o/. //char (A") > |_f j (or i/char(fc) = Q;, then/3(n,d,k) <N(n,d,k). If 0 < char(fc) < n, then not all the characteristic coefficients can be expressed by traces of products. The main contribution in the proof of Theorem 4 is the following lemma of [8], which can be viewed as a replacement of the multiplicativity of an = det for some other characteristic coefficients. LEMMA 2 Let R denote the subalgebra of k^^ generated by the characteristic coefficients <jj(X(ii) X(is)), where j < \_^\, s 6 N, and ' ! ) ; 7 's {!,... , d } . As an R- algebra, knd" is generated by c r r ( X ( i ) ) , where r = [rj\ + 1, . . . , n, and i {!,... ,d}.
f~* T
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Combining this lemma and the idea of [19], we get that kn dn is generated by the elements crr(X(i)) with r > |_f j, i {1, , d } , together with < 7 j ( A X n ) - - - X ( i s ) ) where j< [fj, s < N(n,d, k), 7 4 , . . . , i a e {!,... ,d}. In particular, we obtain Theorem 4. We mention that a minimal system of generators of the ring fcG^2 of 2 x 2 matrix invariants is determined for the case char(fc) = 2 in [11] (the cases char (A;) = 0 and char (A;) > 2 are covered in [35] and [32]), and an explicit Cohen-Macaulay presentation is given for &2 42 The pairs (n, d] for which kn ^n is a complete intersection were classified in [29] under the assumtion char(fe) = 0; this result is also extended to arbitrary characteristic in [11], using results from [13].
3.4
WEYL'S THEOREM
Let G be a group acting linearly on V. Denote by Vd the direct sum of d copies of V, endowed with the diagonal action of G. Consider the algebra fc[yd]G of polynomial invariants of d-tuples of vectors, and denote by /3d the minimal such m that fc[yd]G is generated by its elements of degree < 777,. Weyl's Theorem [36] asserts that if char(fc) = 0, then /3^ < Aiim(V) for arbitrary d. In other words, if we increase the number of copies of V, the degree bound stabilizes once we reached the dimension of V. Moreover, one obtains a system of generators for d > dim(V) by polarizing a system of generators for the case d = dim(V). This theorem fails in positive characteristic. A simple example with G finite is given in [34]. We have seen in Corollary 1 that although several results on nxn matrix invariants have a characteristic free approach, Weyl's theorem fails when 0 < char(/c) < n. A central theme in classical invariant theory is the study of k[Vd}G', where G is one of the classical groups SL(V), Sp(V), O(V), SO(V), see [36]. It is remarkable that in almost all cases, the generators of the ring of invariants have a uniform description, not depending on the characteristic of k, and the 'obvious' invariants form a generating system, see [6]. For example, provided that, char(fc) ^ 2, the algebra fc[Vd](y) is generated by quadratic elements, and as an algebra over k[Vd](v\ the ring k\yd}so<^v^ of special orthogonal invariants is generated by elements of degree dim(F). However, as it is shown in [11], when char(fc) = 2 and dim(V) = 4, Weyl's theorem fails for k[Vd]s4. Indeed, it follows from Corollary 1, Proposition 7, and the observation k[Vd}s4 ^ fc02><5Z'2 from [9], that the ring of 5O(4)-invariants of d-tuples of 4-dimensional vectors is not generated by its elements of degree < d I if char(A;) = 2. From this point of view, the ring of vector invariants of the (special) orthogonal group On in characteristic 2, is studied in our work with Peter Frenkel [10].
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. The author thanks the organizers for inviting him to the conference held at Pantelleria. This paper was written during his stay at the School of Mathematics of the University of Edinburgh, supported through a European Community Marie Curie Fellowship. The author is partially supported by OTKA No. F 32325 and T 34530.
REFERENCES
[1] K. Akin, D. A. Buchsbaum, and J. Weyman, Schur functors and Schur complexes, Adv. Math. 44 (1982), 207-278. [2] S. A. Amitsur, On the characteristic polynomial of a sum of matrices, Lin. Multilin. Alg. 8 (1980), 177-182. [3] A. J. Belov, Some estimations for nilpotence of nill-algebras over a field of an arbitrary characteristic and height theorem,, Comm. Alg. 20 (1992), 2919-2922. [4] G. Bom, The universal form of the Littlewood-Richardson, rule, Adv. Math. 68 (1988), 40-63. [5] C. de Concini, D. Eisenbud and C. Procesi, Young diagrams and determinantal varieties, Invent. Math. 56 (1980), 129-165. [6] C. de Concini and C. Procesi.. A characteristic free approach to invariant theory, Adv. Math. 21 (1976), 330-354. [7] M. Domokos, Relative invariants 0/3x3 m,atrix triples, Lin. Multilin. Alg. 47 (2000), 175-190. [8] M. Domokos. Finite generating system, of matrix invariants, Mathematica Pannonica, to appear. [9] M. Domokos and V. Drensky, Grobnef bases for special orthogonal and 2x2 matrix invariants, J. Algebra 243 (2001), 706-716. [10] M. Domokos and P. E. Frenkel, On, orthogonal invariants in characteristic 2, in preparation. [11] M. Domokos. S. G. Kuzmin, and A. N. Zubkov, Rings of matrix invariants in positive charateristic, J. Pure Appl. Alg. (2002), in press. [12] M. Domokos and A. N. Zubkov, Semi-invariants of quivers as determinants, Transformation Groups 6 (2001), 9-24.
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[13] M. Domokos and A. N. Zubkov, Semisimple representations of quivers in characteristic p, Algebras and Representation Theory 5 (2002), 305-317. [14] S. Donkin., Rational representations of algebraic groups: tensor products and filtrations, Lecture Notes in Math. 1140 (1985), Springer, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York. [15] S. Donkin, Skew modules for reductive groups, J. Algebra 113 (1988), 465-479. [16] S. Donkin, The normality of closures of conjugacy classes of matrices, Inv. Math. 101 (1990), 717-736. [17] S. Donkin, Invariants of several matrices, Inv. Math. 110 (1992), 389-401. [18] S. Donkin, On tilting m,odules for algebraic groups, Math. Z. 212 (1993), 39-60. [19] J. Dubnov and V. Ivanov, Sur I'abaissement de degre des polynomes en affineurs (French), C. R. (Doklady) Acad. Sci. URSS 41 (1943), 95-98. [20] P. Fleischmann, A new degree bound for vector invariants of symmetric groups, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 350 (1998), 1703-1712. [21] E. Formanek, The polynomial identities and invariants ofnxn matrices, Regional Conference Series in Mathematics, 78, Providence, RI; American Math. Soc., 55 p., 1991. [22] W. Fulton, Young Tableaux, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1997. [23] Mitsuyasu Hashimoto, Good filtrations of symmetric algebras and strong F-regularity of invariant subrings, Math. Z. 236 (2001), 605623. [24] G. Higman, On a conjecture of Nagata, Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 52 (1956), 1-4. [25] J. C. Jantzen, Representation Theory of Algebraic Groups, Academic Press, Inc., Boston, 1987. [26] I. Kaplansky, On a problem, of Kurosch and Jacobson, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 52 (1946), 496-500.
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[27] A. Kerner, Multilinear identities of the algebras over a field of characteristic p, International J. of Alg. and Computation 5 (1995), 189197. [28] A. A. Klein, Bounds for indices of nilpotency and nility, Arch. Math. (Basel) 74 (2000), 6-10. .[29] L. Le Bruyn and Y. Teranishi. Matrix invariants and complete intersections, Glasgow Math. J. 32 (1990), 227-229. [30] 0. Mathieu, Filtrations of G-modules, Ann. Scient. EC. Norm. Sup. (2) 23 (1990), 625-644. [31] C. Procesi, The invariant theory of n x n matrices. Adv. Math. 19 (1976), 306-381. [32] C. Procesi, Computing with 2x2 342-359. matrices, J. Algebra 87 (1984),
[33] Y. P. Razmyslov, Trace identities of full matrix algebras over afield of characteristic 0, (Russian), Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR Ser. Mat. 38 (1974), 723-756. [34] D. R. Richman, On vector invariants over finite fi,elds, Adv. Math. 81 (1990), 30-65. [35] K. S. Sibirskir, Algebraic invariants for a set of matrices, (Russian), Sib. Math. Zhurnal 9 (1968), 152-164. [36] H. Weyl, The Classical Groups, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1946. [37] A. N. Zubkov, Matrix invariants over infinite fields of finite characteristic, (Russian), Sib. Math. Zhurnal 34 (1993), 68-74. A. N. Zubkov, On a generalization of the Procesi-Razmyslov theorem, (Russian), Algebra i Logika 35 (1996), 433-457.
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Free nilpotent-by-abelian Leibniz algebras

VESSELIN DRENSKY1 Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Akad. G. Bonchev Str., Block 8,1113 Sofia, Bulgaria. E-mail: drensky@math.bas.bg GIULIA MARIA PIACENTINI CATTANEO2 Department of Mathematics, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Rome, Italy. E-mail: piacentini@mat.uniroma2.it
ABSTRACT We embed the free nilpotent-by-abelian Leibniz algebra into a wreath product and give its explicit basis as a vector space over the base field. As an application we establish the rationality of the Hilbert series of the relatively free algebras of nilpotentby-abelian varieties of Leibniz algebras over infinite fields. As a consequence of our approach, we prove that every variety of nilpotent-by-abelian Leibniz algebras over a field of characteristic 0 can be defined by a finite system of polynomial identities. The class of such varieties contains all varieties generated by a finite dimensional solvable Leibniz algebra.
INTRODUCTION
A Leibniz algebra L over a field K is a non-associative algebra with multiplication called a bracket, [-,-]: LxL >L
The work of this author was partially supported by Grant MM-1106/2001 of the Bulgarian Foundation for Scientific Research. 2 The research of the second author was partially supported by M.U.R.S.T. and C.N.R.
lr
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satisfying the Leibniz identity
In other words, the operator of right multiplication [ , z] is a derivation of the algebra. This identity is equivalent to the classical Jacobi identity when the bracket is skew-symmetric. Leibniz algebras are related in a natural way to differential geometry, homological algebra, classical algebraic topology, algebraic K-theoiy, loop spaces, non-commutative geometry, etc., as a generalization of the corresponding applications of Lie algebras, see the paper by Loday [7j. The free Leibniz algebra was described by Loday and Pirashvili [8] . Having explicitly the free algebra, one can consider Leibniz algebras from the point of view of combinatorial ring theory and algebras with polynomial identities. In [5] we commenced the systematic study of polynomial identities of Leibniz algebras. We described asymptotically the varieties of metabelian (i.e. solvable of class 2) algebras and gave a complete list of all left-nilpotent of class 2 varieties. These varieties are among the simplest objects in the theory of varieties of arbitrary linear algebras. Trying to transfer other combinatorial results on varieties of Lie algebras to Leibniz algebras, the next step is to consider varieties of solvable algebras and, in particular, nilpotent-by-abelian Leibniz algebras. One of the standard ways to study relatively free algebras in products of two varieties of Lie algebras is to embed the algebra into the wreath product introduced by Shmelkin [9]. Unfortunately, this result is based on properties typical of free Lie algebras which do not hold for free Leibniz algebras and does not work straightforward for Leibniz algebras. Nevertheless, in the present paper we give the construction of the wreath product and the embedding of the relatively free algebras in the special case of nilpotent-byabelian algebras. This gives explicit bases of the free nilpotent-by-abelian Leibniz algebras. As an application we establish the rationality of the Hilbert series of the relatively free algebras of nilpotent-by-abelian varieties of Leibniz algebras over an infinite field. This is an analogue of the result of one of the authors [3] that the Hilbert series of any nilpotent-byabelian variety of Lie (or associative) algebras is rational. As in [3] the proof uses the approach of Krasilnikov [6] for his proof that any variety of nilpotent-by-abelian Lie algebras in characteristic 0 can be defined by a finite system of polynomial identities. As a consequence of our proof we obtain also the Leibniz analogue of the theorem of Krasilnikov.
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PRELIMINARIES
In this section we shall recall some basic facts which we shall need for our purposes. Since varieties of Leibniz algebras have many combinatorial properties similar to those of Lie and associative algebras, we refer to [2] and [4] for more details. We fix a field K of any characteristic. All vector spaces and algebras will be over K. A Leibniz algebra is a non-associative algebra L with multiplication called a bracket, i.e. a vector space equipped with a bilinear mapping [-,-]:LxL>L, which satisfies the Leibniz identity [x,[y,z]] = [ [ x , y ] , z ] - [ [ x , z ] , y ] , which means that [gi, [92,gs}} = [[91,92],53] - [[di,93\,92], for all si,02,53L. Of course, if also the condition \g, g] 0 for all g L is satisfied, L is a Lie algebra. For any Leibniz algebra L, we may associate a Lie algebra ->Lje obtained by quotienting L by the ideal ann generated by [g,g], g . L. The Leibniz identity (2.1) allows us to express every commutator as a linear combination of left normed commutators. We shall use the notation [ffi.P2] =5i(ad52), [ 5 1 , - ,5n-i,5n] = [[51.- ,5n-i],5n](2.1)
The following proposition shows that, over a field of characteristic 0, finite dimensional solvable Leibniz algebras share one of the basic properties of finite dimensional solvable Lie algebras. PROPOSITION 2.1 If L is a finite dimensional solvable Leibniz algebra over a field of characteristic 0, then the commutator ideal [L, L] of L is nilpotent, i.e. there exists a c such that
[[51. 52], [53, 5 4 ] , - - - , [52c+l,52c+2]] = 0 for all gi,... ,g2c+2 L.
Proof. Let L be a finite dimensional solvable Leibniz algebra. The identities [x, [y, y\] = 0 and (2.1) give that Lann is a right L^-module. Since Lê is a finite dimensional solvable Lie algebra over a field of characteristic 0, the commutator ideal [-^Lie'-^Liel acts nilpotently on any finite dimensional and L itself satisfies
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anni for some p. Hence, for q sufficiently large and for any g\, . . . i92(P+q) ru _LLrann i ranni \n , rann , rannii , 7-ann [[9 1 + ,9-2 + L ] > - , [92p-i + L, , gi p + L jj C L , . r anni r, 92 + L ].... ,L rann ,, , i-anni
,92p+2+L r~ T 311111 /
, r ann [ , r ann
n
, rann,92(p+q)+L
[L
r /-ami <
A9lp+l+
\;---,[92(p+q)-l+L
ir
CL
] rr T j ] \v o n (ad[[L L i e ,L L i e j) = 0,
because [I/Ljp, -^Lje] acts nilpotently on L ann . By definition, the Leibniz algebra Fy with a set of generators Y is free if, for any Leibniz algebra L, an arbitrary map Y > L can be extended to an algebra homomorphism Fy > L. If V = KY is the vector space with basis Y. then (see [81) the free Leibniz algebra Fy may be described as the tensor module T(V) = V 0 F2 - V"- 0 equipped with the bracket defined inductively by
for all y,;p, %, 6 F, p = 1, . . . , 777,, q = 1, . . . , n. We fix a countable infinite set of variables X = {x\. X2, . - } and denote by F = FOO = FX the free Leibniz algebra freely generated by X . We shall also use other symbols, e.g. x, y, 2, y,:, for the elements of X. For any system of elements {?J.,(.TI, . . . , x n j | i 6 /} C F we define the variety il of all Leibniz algebras satisfying the polynomial identities M,;(.TI, . . . ,.r n j = 0. ?' /, and denote by U the T-ideal of F of all identities of il. The factor algebra .F(il) = F/U is the relatively free algebra of countable rank in il. If L is any Leibniz algebra, then the set U(L) = {u(gi, , gn) U(KI, , Xn) & U, gi L} is the verbal ideal of L corresponding to it and L/U(L) is the largest factor algebra of L belonging to il. If Fy is the free Leibniz algebra with an arbitrary set Y of free generators, then we shall use the same notation Y (instead of Y + U(Fy)} for the free generators of the relatively free algebra Fy(ii) = Fy/U(Fy) il. If Y = Xm = {xi, . . . , xm}, we shall use the notation Fm(ii) for Fy(il). Over an infinite base field K the relatively free algebra Fm(ii) of rank m in il has a natural (multi)grading which inherits the (multi)grading of Fm. If Fn, (il) and F4"'1 ''"'""" (H) are the homogeneous components of degree
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n and of multidegree (HI, . . . ,nm) in Fm(ii), respectively, then the formal power series
H(Fm(U) ,*!,... , t m ) = are called the Hilbert series of FTO(il). If il and QJ are two varieties of Leibniz algebras, we denote by il2T their product which consists of all algebras L with an ideal I in il such that the factor algebra L/I belongs to 2J. We denote by 9TC the variety of all nilpotent of class < c Leibniz algebras; 91C is defined by the identity [ x i , . . . ,xc+i] = 0; and by 21 the abelian variety consisting of all Leibniz algebras with trivial multiplication, i.e. 21 is denned by [xi,X2] = 0. An algebra L belongs to the product 9V21 if and only if its commutator ideal L' is nilpotent of class < c. Proposition 2.1 gives that over a field of characteristic 0 every finite dimensional solvable Leibniz algebra is in 9tc2l for some c. We need the following definitions and constructions for Leibniz algebras, see [7]. Let L be a Leibniz algebra with K- linear mappings S : L > L and A : L + L, As usually, 6. is called a derivation of L if 5([gi,g2\) = [$(91} > 92\ + [9itG(92)] f01' an 9i,92 L. The mapping A is called an antiderivation if ^([91,92]) = [A( 5 i), 52 ] - [A(ff 2 ),0i], for all 51, 52 L. The pair d = (8, A) of a derivation 8 and an antiderivation A of L is called a biderivation, if ] = [ffi, A( 52 )], 91,92 L. (2.2)
The vector space Bider(L) is a Leibniz algebra with respect to the bracket
[(81, Ai), (62, A 2 )] =
A typical example of a biderivation is the pair ( ad(g), Ad (<?)), where Ad(#) = [5, -] is the left multiplication by g L. Then g > ( ad(0), Ad(<?)) defines an algebra homomorphism L > Bider(L). If L is a Lie algebra, then the notions of derivation and antiderivation coincide. In this case, if H is a subalgebra of Der(L), then one can construct the semidirect product L \ H which is a Lie algebra with bracket [g\ + <5i,<?2 + 62] = ([91,92] + 61(92) ~ 82(91)) + [8i,82], gi L, 6t 6 H. For arbitrary Leibniz algebras we need some additional properties of the biderivations. For any biderivation (6, A) 6 Bider(L) we define
gcL.
(2.3)
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LEMMA 2.2 Let L be a Leibniz algebra and let H be a subalgebra of the Leibniz algebra Bider(L), such that (AiA 2 )(0) = (Ai62)(g) for all g 6 L and (5,;. A,;) H . Then the semidirect product L\ bracket [91 + h^ 92 + h,2] = ([51,52] + [ 9 i , h 2 ] + [hi, 92]) + [hi,h2], gi 6 L, hi = (Sj, A-;) H, where the brackets [gi,hj] and [hj,gi] are as in (2.3), is a Leibniz algebra. If L G il, H 6 27 /or some varieties il and 27, i/ten L\ H belongs to the product 1127. Proof. Since L and Bider(L) are Leibniz algebras, it is sufficient to check the Leibniz identity (2.1) for the six cases [51, [52, h]], [gi, [h,g2]], [h, [51,52]], [g, [ h i , h 2 } } , [hi, (g, h2}} and [hi, [h2,g[]. First, let h = (6, A). Using the fact that 6 and A are a derivation and an antiderivation, respectively, we obtain (2.4) H with
), 52] +^([51, 52]) = [51, By (2.2) this is equal to [.9l) A( 52 )] = [si. [^.52]];
[[/i,5i],02]-[[^,52],5i] = [A(5i),92]-[A(5 2 ),5i] = A([5:,5 2 ]) = [/i, [51,52]]Similarly, if h, = (5,, A ?; ), 7 = 1, 2, then [5, [/ii,/i 2 ]] = [5, (5i2 - Wi, Ai^ 2 - 5 2 Ai)] = -(<5i<52 - <5 2 5i)( 5 ),
[[s,/ii],/i 2 ] - \\9MM = - S 2 ( - S i ( g ) ) - (-8^-62(9))) = \g,[hi,h2]]; [[h^g]Ji2] - \[hiJi2],g] = [ [ h i , h 2 ] , g ] - [[hi,g],h.2] = (A^ 2 - 6 2 which, in virtue of (2.4), is equal to (AiA 2 )((?) [hi, [^2,5]]. Hence L X H is a Leibniz algebra. If L E H, H 27, then L is an ideal of L X H which belongs to il, the factor algebra (L X H)/L = H belongs to 27 and therefore L X H is in 1127.
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EXAMPLE 2.3 (Compare with [5], Proposition 2.2.) Let K[T] be the polynomial algebra in the set T = {1,^2> } f countably many commuting variables and let M = \ âjK[T\ | ( ^ uiajK[T} (2.5)
be the free right K[T}-module generated by {aj,UiO,j i,j = 1,2,...}. We give M the structure of a Leibniz algebra with trivial multiplication [M, M] = 0 and define linear mappings <5; : M > M, A; : M > M, i = 1 , 2 , . . . , by = Uiajf(T), S i ( a j f ( T ) ) = -ajtifCT), A,(â,-/(T)) = -uiajtkf(T), Si(ukajf(T)) = -â^,:/(T), (2.6) (2.7)
/(T) e tf[r]. Since [M, M] = 0, trivially <% is a derivation, A, is an antiderivation and the pair hi = (6,;, A,;) is a biderivation of the Leibniz algebra M. It is easy to check that any two biderivations hi, hj commute, i.e. [hi,hj] = 0, and satisfy (2.4). Since the biderivations hi,h%,... are linearly independent, the vector space H = ,->1 Khi is a subalgebra of Bider(M) and M X H is a Leibniz algebra. Since both M and H are abelian, M X .ff belongs to DîQl = 2l2 and satisfies the metabelian identity 2 , 3:3,2:4 = 0. The above considerations generalize the corresponding construction for Lie algebras. If MO is the ^[Tj-submodule of M generated by {a?- | j = 1 , 2 , . . . } equipped with trivial multiplication [Mo, MQ] = 0 and H acts on MO by [h,,
ajf(T)}
= -[aj/CO.fci] = <5,;(a,/(T)) - -a^/(T),
(2.8)
then MO X H is a metabelian Lie algebra. If the field K is infinite and il is any variety of (not necessarily Leibniz) algebras, then every mapping SQ : Y > .Fy(il) can be extended to a derivation 6 of Fy (il) by
\
,; ^ y^ . . . 50(yiJ . . . yin, fc=i aj G A". Since this is the only way to define the derivation, we have to show that it is well defined. For the proof, it is sufficient to show that S(f(yi, . . . , ym)) = 0 in Fy (il) for any relation /(yi, ... , ym) = 0 in Fy (it).
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Since the algebra Fy-(il) is graded, we may assume that / ( y i , . . . , ym) is homogeneous. Let us consider the polynomials f k ( y i , - - - ,ym,ym+k) equal to the linear in ym+k component of / ( y i , . . . ,yk + ym+k, ,ym}Since f(x\,.. . ,xm) = 0 is a polynomial identity of il and K is infinite, fk(xi,... ,xm,xm+k) 0 is also a polynomial identity. Since
m,
\-v
k=l
we obtain that <5(/(yi, . . . , y m )) = 0 in Fy(il). The same arguments work over an arbitrary field K if the variety 11 has the property that the multihomogeneous components of every polynomial identity for il are also polynomial identities for il. In particular, this holds for the varieties of all Leibniz algebras and all nilpotent of class < c Leibniz algebras. LEMMA 2.4 Every mapping AQ : Y Fy can be extended to an antiderivation A of the free Leibniz algebra Fy. Proof. The only way to extend AQ to an antiderivation of Fy is as the linear mapping A : Fy > Fy defined by A(y,;) = Ao(yi), yi Y, and then inductively on the basis monomials [u,v] by A([w. i>]) = [ A ( u ) , u j [A(u),u.]. Hence it is sufficient to show that A([u, [v, w}} [[u, v],w] + [[u, w], v]) = 0 for every three monomials ?/,, v. w G Fy. By the definition of A, A([w, [v, w}}) = [A(7/) ; [v, w}} - [A(K w}), n]
A([n, [v, w}} - [[?/, v], w} + [[u, w}.v}}
), [v, w}}
COROLLARY 2.5 .Efen/ mapping A0 : F -> Fy(^n c ) can 6e extended to an antiderivation A of i/ie /ree nilpotent of class c Leibniz algebra Fy(yic).
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Proof. The antiderivation A of the free Leibniz algebra Fy extending the mapping AQ preserves the c-f-l-th power Fy+ . Hence A can be also defined on the factor algebra Fy(OIc) 9* FY/Fy+l. Corollary 2.5 is not true in general for relatively free Leibniz algebras even in characteristic 0. For example, let 91 be the subvariety of ^3 defined by the identity [xi, 0:2,0:3] + [x^,X2,xi] = 0 (which is equivalent to [ x i , X 2 , x i ] = 0). Let AQ be defined by AQ(O:I) = x\, AQ^) = AQ^S) = 0; suppose it can be extended to an antiderivation. Direct computations show that it would imply 0 = A([XI, x2,x3] + [X3,x2,xi]) = [xi,X2,x3] - [xi, [2:3,0:2]]. This gives that 2 [1,2:2, 2:3] [2:1, 3, 0:2] = 0 and hence [ x i , x \ , X 2 ] 0. Since this is not an identity in 9t, we obtain that AQ cannot be extended. LEMMA 2.6 Let L be a Leibniz algebra generated by a set G and let 8 and A be, respectively, a derivation and an antiderivation of L. The pair (6, A) is a biderivation if and only if
]
(2-9)
for all gilt... ,gik_l,gik <E G and all k = 2,3, . . . . Proof. Clearly, (2.2) implies (2.9). Let (2.9) hold. We shall verify (2.2) for all commutators g' = [gpl , . . . , gpr\ and g" = [gqi , . . . , gqs], gpi,gqj in G, by induction on s. The base of the induction s = 1 is (2.9). Let us_! = [gqi, . . . , ffg^J and g = gqs. Using (2.1) and that, A is an antiderivation, by direct calculations we show
By the inductive assumption,

s -i)],
[\9f,9],
Finally, [g',vs-i] is a linear combination of left normed commutators and again Hence
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Since 6 is a derivation, we obtain
LEMMA 2.7 Let the generating setY of the free nilpotent of class c Leibniz algebra Fy("Jtc) be the disjoint union of the subsets YQ and Y\. Let V be the ideal o/Fy('Jt c ) generated by all [j/jj , t/j2 ' >%'J> wêre k > 2, yjl Y, yJ2.. . . ,yjk_l YI and yjk Y0. r/ien; (i) The factor algebra FY(WC)/V has a basis [ y j l , y j 2 , ... ,yjk] + V, where k = 1, . . . . c and y^ e F, %2, . . . , y^ 6 YI . (ii) //<So and AQ are mappings from. Y to Fy (9^) such that SQ(YQ) C KYo, Ao(Yo) = 0 and [yh , . . . , %,,__!, <$o(%J - A 0 (%J] 6 F /or a// yjs e Y and a// k 2, . . . , c, i/ien i/ie jiarr (<5o, AQ) induces a biderivation of the factor algebra Fy('JI c )/V. Proof, (i) Multiplying from the right the generators of the ideal V by elements of Y, we obtain that V contains all left normed commutators [yh ' %2> > 2/j'J such that some z/ J2 , . . . , j/Jfc belongs to !() Since the commutator [yj0, [yjl , yj2, . . . . yjk]} is a linear combination of left normed commutators of the form [yj0, y^ , . . . , y?:fe] (all starting with jo), we derive that if at, least one of the y^, . . . ,yjk belongs to Y0, then [yjo , [y^ , . . . ,yjk]} belongs to V. Hence V is spanned by those [ y j 1 , y j 2 , . . . ,yjk] with some j/72 , . . . , y j k in YQ and therefore the factor algebra has a basis consisting of all commutators [y^ , yJ2,. . . , yjk] + V with yjl Y and %2, . . . , y}k e YI, A; = 1 , . . . ,c. (ii) Let 6 and A be, respectively, the derivation and the antiderivation of ^V(^c) extending SQ and AQ: they exist by Lemma 2.4 and the comments above it. Since [u, y] G V for all u 6 Fy(sJIc) and y e YQ, and since 6o(Yo) C ^Fo, we obtain that 8 ( [ u , y \ ) = [6(u),y] + [u,8(y)} e [Fy(9T c ),y 0 ] C V if y FO- This gives that #o induces a derivation 6 of FY(^C}/V. Similarly, if u Fy(sJtc) and y e YQ, then, since A 0 (Y 0 ) = 0, A([w, y]) = [A(w), j/] [A(j/), n] = [AO(M), y] V^ and AQ also induces an antiderivation A of FY(yic)/V. Now the condition [ y j l , . . . , y j k _ 1 , S 0 ( y j k ) - A 0 (%-J] e V guarantees that
[%1 + K . . . , y^^ + F, 5(%fc + F)] = [yh + F, . . . , %,_, + F,

in Fy(91c)/F and the proof follows from Lemma 2.6.
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WREATH PRODUCTS AND THE EMBEDDING THEOREM
Recall the definition of the free (Leibniz) product of two Leibniz algebras LI and LI- Clearly, L\ and L^ are isomorphic, respectively, to some factor algebras FY/(ui(Y] \ i E I) and Fz/(vj(Z) \ j e J). The free product LI * Z/2 of I/i and L^ is isomorphic to the factor algebra Fyuz/(ui, vj \ i I,j J). Obviously, LI and LI can be naturally considered as subalgebras of LI * LI and LI * L-2 = (Li)^*^ X L-2, where (Li)/^*^ is the ideal of LI * L<2 generated by LI. Now we specify to the case of Leibniz algebras the abstract definition of a il- wreath product. Let il be a variety of Leibniz algebras with a T-ideal U of F = FX and let L and H be Leibniz algebras such that L 11. We call the algebra W = Lwi^H the il-wreath product of L and H if: 1) W is generated by L and H, 2) The ideal of W generated by L belongs to il, 3) All homomorphisms 0 : L -> G and </># : H > G such that the Leibniz algebra G is generated by <?^(L) and 0//(Lf), and such that, the ideal of G generated by </>i,(L) belongs to il can be extended to a homomorphism <t>: W -+G. It is easy to see, using categorical arguments, that Lwi^H is isomorphic to the factor algebra of the free product L* H modulo the ideal generated by U(LLH). Since LL*H/U(LLifH} il and L/LL*H = H e vax(H), where var(#) is the variety generated by H, we obtain that Lwry-ff il var(.ff). Our purpose is to give an explicit combinatorial description of Lwr^H in the special case when il = <Jlc, L = Fx(yic) and H = Pz(2l) (i.e. L = Fx/\Fx, . . . , FX] and H = KZ is with trivial multiplication). c+i times Till the end of the section we fix the sets X = {xi,x%, . . .} and Z = {zi, 22, . . . } for the free generators of Fx(91c) and Fz(2l), respectively. LEMMA 3.1 (i) The ideal N of Fx(yic} * FZ(W) generated by Fx(^c} is spanned by all commutators of the form
i2 ' z hi i
(3.2)
where k = 1, 2, . . . and jsi < J& < . . . < jsps for each s = 1, . . . , fc. (ii) Tfte idea/ o/ Fx(fnc) * ^z(^) generated by Nc+l = \N,... ,N] is c+i times spanned by all commutators of the form (3.1) and (3.2) with k > c + 1.
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Proof, (i) Since the Leibniz algebra -Fx(91c) *Fz(2l) is generated by XuZ, as a vector space, it is spanned by left normed commutators [vri, . . . ,vrri], where vrt X U Z. The ideal TV generated by FX(^C) is spanned by those [vri , . . . , vTn] with at least one vrf in X. The algebra F^(2l) is abelian and [z,;, Zj] = 0 for all Zi, Zj 6 Z. Hence the commutators in TV are of two types: [xri , vT2 , . . . , vTri ] and [zn , xr2 . vT3 , . . . , wrn J , vrt X (J Z. Using that the multiplications from the right in a Leibniz algebra are derivations of the algebra, we obtain that the ideal N is spanned by commutators of the form (3.1) and (3.2). Using that 0 = [v, [z,;, Zj]] = [i>,z,;,Zj] [v,Zj,Zi] for any v X U Z , we derive that
for any permutation cr of 1,2, ... ,p and this yields the conditions js\ < JS2 < < jsPs in (3.1) and (3.2). (ii) The ideal generated by Arc+1 is spanned by all commutators of the generators X U Z (with arbitrary distribution of the brackets) containing at least c + 1 variables .x,;. This implies the statement for k > c + 1. COROLLARY 3.2 The mc-wreath product F Y (9 f I c )wrrn c F z (2l) is spanned by the set of free generators Z of the algebra FZ(^} and by all commutators of the form, (3.1) and (3.2) with k < c. Proof. Let TV be the ideal of Fx(^c) * Fz(%) generated by Fx(rnc)- Since Fx(^c)*Fz(î) = TVXFz(2l) and Fx(91c)wratcF^(2l) is the factor algebra of Fx(yic) * FZ(&] modulo the ideal generated by TVC+1, the statement follows immediately from Lemma 3.1 (i) and (ii). Now we shall prove that the spanning elements in Corollary 3.2 form a basis as a vector space of the algebra Fx(y^c)w^tncFz(^!i). For this purpose we shall generalize the construction in Example 2.3. Let K[T] = K[ti, t2,...} and let M be the free right #[T]-module with a set of free generators {a.j, ma.j \ i,j = 1 , 2 , . . . } , as in (2.5) in Example 2.3. We fix a basis of M as a vector space Y = {a.jw, u,a,jW \w = tpll ... t%? , i,j, m = 1, 2, . . . , pr > 0}. (3.3)
We consider the free nilpotent Lebniz algebra Fy (*Jtc) and define a mapping v : Y -> Y by i/(a.jw) cij-w, i/(uid.jw) = ajtiw (3.4)
for all i,j = 1 , 2 , . . . and all monomials w 6 K[T}. Let, in the above notation, V be the ideal of Fy('Jtc) generated by all elements
[ySl,yS2,..- ,ySk] - [y S l ,Kj/ S 2 ),-.- >^(ysj],

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(3.5)
where ySp Y and k = 2, . . . , c. We shall denote by the same symbols ys (instead of ys + V) the generators of Fy(9 r l c )/V and similarly for the linear mappings on Fy(yic) inherited by the factor algebra. LEMMA 3.3 (i) The vector space -Fy(9t c )/V has a basis consisting of all commutators [y, aj2W2, , ajkw^\, where y Y and wz, ... , Wk are monomials in K[T], k 2, . . . , c. (ii) The derivation <5j and the antiderivation Aj of -Fy(*Tlc) defined in (2.6) and (2.7) induce, respectively, a derivation and an antiderivation of the factor algebra jFy(*yi c )/V such, that hi = (Si, A,;) is a biderivation of
Fy(<nc)/v, 1 = 1,2,....
Proof, (i) Clearly, v acts as a linear operator on the vector space KY and the ideal V of .Fy(9lc) can be generated by any system
(y'^y'sv- ,s4J-[3/ ai XO-- Xz4)L
(3.6)
where the elements y's run on any basis of KY. We shall replace the generating set Y of Fy(^c) with Y' = YI U V0' where FI = {cû;} C Y and y0' = {bijw = (uittj + aft)*, | w = if . . . C , z, j, m = 1, 2, . . . , pr > 0}.
Obviously, v(a,jw) = a,jW and v(bijw] = 0. Hence, the generating elements (3.6) of V have the form
, ...,
y'k],
y{, y'p+i, ,y'k y, fc = 2 , . . . , c, and can be replaced by a smaller system [y{,a,j2W2, . . . ,ajk_1Wk-i,bikjkWk\. Now Lemma 2.7 (i) gives that FY(W-C)/V has a basis consisting of all commutators [j/, aj2u>2, . . . , Qj fc u;fc], y' y', fljp^p y"i. Clearly, we may replace y' 6 Y1 with y y. (ii) The derivation 6,; and the antiderivation A, of -Fy(*Tlc) as denned in (2.6) and (2.7) satisfy
&i(brjw) = &i((ura,j + a,jtr}w) = (-Uidjtr + Uiajtr}w = 0. For any y^,... ,y_ &Y'
V,
[y's, . . 24_! , si(brjkw) - &i(brjkw)} = -[y'si ,... , y^_ i , brjkti)w] V. By Lemma 2.7 (ii), Si and A,; induce, respectively, a derivation and an antiderivation of Fy(*Tlc)/V such that the pair (Si, Aj) is a biderivation.
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PROPOSITION 3.4 Let FY(ytc}/V be the algebra defined by (3.3) - (3.5) with biderivations hj (<5j, A,;) defined by (2.6) and (2.7). Then the vector space H with basis {/i,; i 1,2, . . . } is an abelian subalgebra of the algebra of biderivations o/Fy(97 c )/F which satisfies the condition (2.4) and W\ = Fy(9T c )/F X H is a Leibniz algebra with basis consisting of all hlt i = 1, 2, . . . , and all commutators [y,a,j2w2. . . . ,a,jkWk], where y 6 Y and w2, . Wk are m.onomials in K[T], A; = 2, ... , c. Proof. As in Example 2.3, the components 8( and A': of the biderivations [hi, hj} = (6,8j 6j6i, A,;6j <5jA,;) are equal to 0 on the generators a/^w and upa,kw of Fy(*JIc)/l/. Since <5,' is a derivation and A is an antiderivation which are extended in' a unique way if already defined on the generators of the algebra .Fy(9Tc)/V, we obtain that they are equal to 0 on the whole FY(^c)/V. Hence H is an abelian subalgebra of Bider(Fy(^ c )/F). In Example 2.3 we have checked that the elements of H satisfy condition (2.4) on the generators. By induction on the length of the commutators of FY(WC)/V we obtain for vi = [ y r i , . . . ,yTp\ and v2 = [y Sl , . . . , y S q ] , using that h j , h j are biderivations (which already satisfy (2.4) on vi,v2):
Hence W\ FY(^C}/V\H is a Leibniz algebra. The statement about the basis of W]_ follows from the linear independence of the biderivations hi, i = 1, 2, . . . , and from Lemma 3.3 (i). THEOREM 3.5 Let X = {xi,xz,...} and Z = {zl,z2,...}. The 9V wreath. product W = JFx(^c)wl'nc^rz(^) l5 isomorphic to the algebra W\ = FY(^C)/V X H from, Proposition 3-4- The set Z and all commutators of the form, (3.1) and (3.2) with k <c form a basis ofW. Proof. Let us consider the natural homomorphisms of Leibniz algebras 01 : FX^C) > Fy^JlJ/V and fr2 : Fz(2l) * H defined on the generators of Fx(mc) and Fz(2l) by fafa) = aj, 4>2(zi) = hi = (8l, A ?: ). Clearly the algebra W\ = Fy(^c}/V X H is generated by the images of <pi and 4>2. The ideal of W\ generated by 4>i(Fx(^c)) is equal to Fy(l:nc)/F and belongs to *Jlc. By the characteristic property of the wreath product W = ), we can extend <pi and (f>2 to a homomorphism ^ : W *
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W\. Obviously, the image of Zi is hi and the images of the commutators (3.1) and (3.2) are, respectively,
l ai''
and by Proposition 3.4 they are linearly independent in W\. Hence the generators Zi of Fz($i) and the commutators (3.1) and (3.2) are also linearly independent in W. Since the variety 9lc2l consists of all Leibniz algebras L with commutator ideal L' which is nilpotent of class < c, we obtain that 9tc2l is defined by the polynomial identity
[[Xi,X2},[x3,X^,... ,[x2c+i,X2c+2}} =0. (3.7)
We denote by Uc the T-ideal of the free Leibniz algebra FX corresponding to <TIC21 and generated by the identity (3.7). LEMMA 3.6 The variety *TIC21 satisfies the polynomial identities
] , t i , . . . ,tr] = 0,
(3.8)
for all p,q, . . . , r > 0, and all identities
where p,a, . . . ,T are permutations of {I, . . . ,p}, {!,... ,q}, ... ,{!,... ,r}, respectively. The ideal t/ c _i(Fx(^n c 2l)) of the algebra Fx(yict&) is spanned by the commutators of c "inner" commutators of length p,q, . . . ,r>2
(3.10) where z3 < . . . < ip, ji > j2 < j3 < . . . < jq, . . . , k\ > k,2 < fc3 < . . . < kr. Proof. Since the mapping &dw, w Fx(Mcyi), is a derivation of and [[u, v],w] = [[u, w],v] + [u, [v, w}} for u, v Fx(^c2l), we obtain that
, X2c+2], tl , . . . ,tr]
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is a linear combination of values of [[x], 2]? ; [^c+ij 2c+2]]j i' e - the identity (3.8) is a consequence of the identity (3.7). Consider
For s = 1, ... , c, set in the previous expression
y = X'2c+\-,
Z X2c+2-
Then, by (3.8), the following is zero

[x,[y.z},[x2s+l,X2s+2\,--. . . . ,[X2c-l,Z2c],tl,... ,tr}.
By applying (2.1) we obtain that we can permute the variables, as in (3.9). The identities (3.8) and (3.9) give that (3.10). with the restrictions ? 's < < ip, js < < jq, , &3 < < kT on the indices, is a spanning set of Uc-i(Fx(^c^-})- In order to establish that we may assume that ji > J2 < js, . . . , k\ > &2 < k%, it is sufficient to take into account that the Leibniz identity (2.1) implies that the commutators [xj1 , Xj2 , .Tj3 . . . . , xj J , . . . , [xkl , xk2 , xk3 , . . . , XkT] in (3.10) behave as Lie elements. The anticommutativity and Jacobian identity give that
and we can rearrange j\ , J2 ,js,..., k^.k.2, k^ in such a way that j\ > J2 < Before proving the embedding theorem in its complete generality, we shall establish it in the case of free metabelian Leibniz and Lie algebras. (The Lie algebra case is well known and follows for example from [9].) LEMMA 3.7 Let M \ H and MQ \ H be, respectively, the Leibniz and Lie algebras in Example 2.3. Then the mapping i, : Xj, > a,; + hi, i = 1 , 2 , . . . , defines embeddings of the free m,etabelian Leibniz algebra F^(2l2) into M\H and. of the free metabelian Lie algebra FX(^}~[_,\Q into M$\H. Proof. The free metabelian Leibniz algebra Fx(^2) was described in [5] in the case of characteristic 0. It has a basis consisting of all commutators [.Zjj, ,r,;2, . . . ,.T, r J, ?'s < . . . < in. If K is an arbitrary field, by Lemma 3.6 we can only say that this set spans the algebra as a vector space, and not that it is a basis. But indeed it is a basis also for K arbitrary: in fact, since the algebra M \ H is also metabelian, the mapping i can be extended to a homomorphisrn i.\ : Fx(2l 2 ) * M \ H, Let,
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belong to Fx(2l2) (where a,;,/3/c 6 K, n > 2), and let some a,j be different from 0, j = ( j i , J 2 , ,jn)' Direct computations give that,
fc
+ hk).
We write i-i(f) in the form
n(/) = E iii2/iita (r) + E ai#! (T)+ E

/ ilZ2 (T),<? 7;i (T) e tf[T], T = {*i,*2, - - . } Obviously because the summation runs on all i's with ?'i = ji, 22 J2 and ?'s < . . . < zn. Hence ti(f) ^ 0 which proves simultaneously the embedding and the linear independence of the commutators [x,1,37i2, . . . ,Xin] with 13 < . . . < inThe proof of the Lie case is similar. If LQ : Fx(^)ê > MQ \ H is the corresponding homomorphism of Lie algebras, and / has the form (3.11) with ii > i,2 < . . . < in, then
If 3 = Oli J2j i jn) is the index with maximal j\ among all indices with c*i ^ 0, then to (/) = E apfp(T) + E Pkfa + hk) ^ 0 because fh (T) 0. The following theorem is the main result of the section. THEOREM 3.8 (i) The mapping /, : Xi > Xi + Zi, i = 1, 2, . . . , defines an embedding of the relatively free Leibniz algebra FX(^C^) into the wreath product W = Fx(9tc)wrincFz(2l). (ii) The elements (3.10) which are commutators of < c commutators and such that i$ < ... < ip, ji > jz < Js < < jq, , î > ^2 < ^3 < < kr, form a basis of jF;f (91C21) as a vector space. Proof. By Theorem 3.5 we may identify W = Fx(W.c}vjivncFz(%.} with the algebra W\ = Fy^J/V \ H and replace i with i' : x^ > a,i + hi, i = 1 , 2 , . . . . Since W\ ^c^j we can extend i' to a homomorphism Fx(^c2l) * W\ (which we shall denote by the same symbol i1}. Let //(/) = 0 for some nonzero / 6 Fx(OTc2l). If Uc-i is the ideal of FX corresponding to *Tlc_i2l, then d maps C/c-i to UC-$W$ and Uc-i(Wi) is spanned by all commutators
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Since Fx/Uc-i = FX^C-I^) and Wi/U^W^ ^ F^(^c_ by induction on c we may assume that / C/ c -i- Hence / is a linear combination of commutators of c commutators of the form (3.10). The first commutator [x^ , x,;2 , xi:i . . . . ,x ? ; p ] in (3.10) behaves as an element in the free metabelian Leibniz algebra F^(2l2) while the other commutators
are as in the free metabelian Lie algebra -FxO^^Lie 1 Hence the commutator in (3.10) maps under /,' to [(n,;io,j2 + antl2)t13 ...tip, (a.hth - a^t^t^ . . .tjq, ,(ak,tk.2 ~ (i.k2tkl)tk3 . . . t f c r ] , and these elements are linearly independent in W\. (Compare in / the coefficients for those (3.10) with i\, i% fixed and ji, . . . , k\ maximal possible. as in the proof of Lemma 3.7.) Since this is impossible, we obtain that / = 0 in Fx(*Jtc2l) thus proving both (i) and (ii). 4 HUBERT SERIES
In this section we assume that the base field K is infinite. Our main result will be that for any subvariety il of 07C21 the Hilbert series of the relatively free algebra Fm(ii} is rational. This result is an analogue of a similar result for the subvarieties of the variety of Lie algebras ('JV-^Lie (^- e - satisfying the identity (3.7)) and for varieties of associative algebras satisfying the identity [ x i , x^} . . . [x-ik-i, X2k] 0, see [3]. Our approach uses ideas of Krasilnikov [6] and follows the main steps of the proof in [3] ([3] also is based on ideas of [6]). Till the end of the paper we shall work in the relatively free algebra Fm(9V-2l). We denote by Uc-\ the T-ideal of the free Leibniz algebra consisting of all polynomial identities of sJtc_i2l and by Uc-\ its image f/ c _i(F m (^c^)); Uc~i is generated by all values of [[.T!,.^], . . . , [x2c-i,x2c]} in Fm(9V2l)- By Theorem 3.8 (ii). Uc-i has a basis consisting of all commutators
where A;n < . . . < kipl , i,2 > J2 < ^21 < < ^2 P2 > > 7'c > Jc < ^cl < . . . < kcpc. With some freedom in the notation, we shall write also v\ . . . vc instead of [vi, ... ,vc]. Then J7c-i is spanned by the elements w of the form
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where bsh > 0 are integers. We denote by W\ the subalgebra H generated by a?; and hi, i = I, . . . , m. Clearly, W\ = FY where Fym(yic), Vm, Hm are the subsets of Fy(9tc), V, H, respectively, depending on the first m generators a,;, hi. The embedding i1 of Fm(91c2l) into the wreath product Wi = FYm(^c)/Vm X Hm ^ F m (<N c )wr<n c F m (2l) sends the element w C/c-i from (4.1) to
(4.2)
If NI is the ideal of Wi generated by FYm(9lc)/Vm, then i' (t/ c _i) C N{. We consider the commutative algebra in cm variables
R=
As in [6] and [3] we define the following action of R on Uk-i by
s=l
where w is the element in (4.1). The first main difficulty is to establish that the action (4.3) is well defined. For this purpose we use the machinery of Section 3 and define an action of R also on the ideal N of W\ by
(n
where [v\w\,v-2.w-2,... , vcwc] are basis elements of JVf, see Proposition 3.4. The following lemma is crucial in the considerations and originates from the paper by Krasilnikov [6]. LEMMA 4.1 The ideals Nf ofWi and Uk-i o/F m (M c 2l) are finitely generated left R-modules under the R-action defined in (4-3) and (4-4)> respectively. Proof. It is obvious that the action (4.4) defines an .R-module structure of N. It holds even more, that TVf is a free .R-module with the finite free generating set {[ a j/i> a J2>... , a j c ] , [hiah,aj2,... ,ajc] | i,ji,... , j c = 1,... ,m}. This implies that /,' (Uc-i) is a submodule of N generated by the images
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of the finite number of commutators [[î 1) 3; i j 1 ] ) [-î^jz]' ' [xic> xjd]- Since the action (4.3) of R on Uci is the same as the action on its image // (t/ c _i) inherited by the action (4.4) on JVf which is well denned, we derive that the action (4.3) is also well defined. LEMMA 4.2 Let S be the subalgebra of R generated by all products
(4.5)
(3 e K, h = 1, . . . ,m. Then S is generated by the elementary symmetric polynomials e p (ii/ l , . . . , tch), p 1, ; c, h, = 1, . . . , m, and the algebra R is a finitely generated S -module (under the action of S by multiplication). Proof. The elements ght0 = 1 + (3ei + /32e2 + ... + (3cec belong to 5. where ep = e p (ii/ l , . . . ,tch) are the elementary symmetric polynomials in t - i h , - - - -,tch- Since the base field K is infinite, standard Vandermonde arguments give that all ep also belong to S. Hence 5 coincides with the subalgebra of R consisting of all polynomials which are symmetric in each group of variables t,\h, . . . ,tch, h = 1 , . . . ,m. Since Rh = K[t-]_h,... ,tch] is a finitely generated module of the algebra Sh = K[tih, . . . ,tch] of symmetric polynomials in c variables (because tsh is a zero of the polynomial e - e,tc-1 + e2tc-2 -... + (-l)cec = (t - tlh] (t - tch) which is of degree c with coefficients in Sh), we obtain that R is also a finitely generated 5-module. LEMMA 4.3 Let U be a T-ideal of the free Leibniz algebra Fx such that Uc C U C Uc-i- Then the image U = U(Fm(VlcW)) is an S-submodule of Uc-\. Proof. Any element f ( x \ , . . . , xm) of U is a linear combination of products of the form (4.1). Since U is a T-ideal, we obtain that f ( x i + / 3 [ x i , x h ] , x 2 + (3[x2,xh], ... ,x m + /3[xm, x,,}) also belongs to U. Using the identities (2.1), (3.8) and (3.9), we calculate for (4.1)
h],x.2
+ (3[x2, xh}, ..., xm + /3[xm, xh})
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= II
s=l \
[xi.+P[xi.,xh],xjt + 0 [ x j s , x h } ] I] (ad xh)b'h

h=l
=n
Similarly,
8=1 \
h=l
= (1 + (3tih)... (1 + (3tch) *w(xi,... ,xm) =gh,
f ( x i + /3[xi,xh],x2 + /3[x<2,xh],... ,x m +
-- ,xm) U.
THEOREM 4.4 Let K be an infinite field and let U. be a subvariety of the variety of Leibniz algebras *Jtc2l. Then for any m > 1 the Hilbert series H(Fm(ld),t) of the relatively free algebra Fm(il) is a rational function o f t . Proof. By standard inductive arguments, it is sufficient to consider the case 9t c _i2l C H C 91C21 and to. show that the Hilbert series of the vector space Uc-i/U is a rational function. By Lemma 4.1, Uc-i is a finitely generated /^-module. By Lemma 4.2, R is a finitely generated S-module. Hence Uc-i is also a finitely generated S- module. The algebra S is finitely generated and hence Uc-i is a noetherian 5-module. By Lemma 4.3, U is an S-submodule of Uc-i and, therefore, the factor module Uc-i/U is also finitely generated. Both the algebra S and Uc-i/U are graded with the same grading as the free Leibniz algebra. By the Hilbert-Serre theorem, see e.g. [1], the Hilbert series of any finitely generated graded module of a finitely generated graded commutative algebra is a rational function and this completes the proof of the theorem. REMARK 4.5 (i) The Hilbert-Serre theorem has a stronger version which states that the Hilbert series of a finitely generated module of a finitely generated commutative algebra which are both multigraded is a rational function in several variables. The careful investigation of the proof of Theorem 4.4 gives that for any subvariety il of 9lc2l, the base field K being infinite, the Hilbert series H(Fm(ii),ti, . . . ,tm) is also a rational function. (ii) The proof of Theorem 4.4 gives also that the T-ideals of Fm(9V-2l), the field K being infinite, satisfy the ascending chain condition. The proof of the following corollary of Theorem 4.4 follows immediately from Proposition 2.1.
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COROLLARY 4.6 // the field K is of characteristic 0 and the finite dimensional Leibniz algebra L is solvable, then the Hilbert series H(Fm(va,i'(L)). t) is a rational function.
5 FINITE BASIS PROPERTY
In this section we assume that the base field K is of characteristic 0. As a by-product of Theorem 4.4. we shall establish that the subvarieties of the variety 9V21 of Leibniz algebras have finite bases for their polynomial identities. In particular, this holds for the identities of finite dimensional solvable Leibniz algebras. These results are analogues of the results of Krasilnikov [6] for Lie algebras. In his proof Krasilnikov uses essentially that the variety of Lie algebras ^c^Lje is generated by the finite dimensional algebra of all (c+1) x (c +1) upper triangular matrices. This implies that the subvarieties of ^c'-^Lje are determined by their T-ideals in the relatively free algebra F m ( ( iR c 2l)Lj e for some finite integer m. Since we do not know whether 9tc2l is generated by a finite dimensional Leibniz algebra, we need some additional considerations. We shall apply representation theory of the symmetric and the general linear groups, see [4] and [5] for details. We denote by Vn the vector space of all multilinear in .TI, ... ,xn polynomials in the free Leibniz algebra FX- Since char A" = 0, every variety 2H is determined by its identities in Vn. n = 1 , 2 , . . . . We shall denote by Vn(W) the factor space Vn/(VnnT(W)). Recall that Vn is a left Sn-module, (where Sn is the symmetric group of degree n) and Vn Pi T(2U) is an Snsubmodule of Vn. The irreducible 5?,,-modules are described by partitions A = ( A i , . . . . A/-) of n. LEMMA 5.1 Let M(A) be an irreducible Sn-submodule ofVn corresponding to the partition A = ( A i , . . . , A^), X^ ^ 0. Then the polynomial identities in M(A) are equivalent to a single polynomial identity w$xi,. .. . x ^ ) in k variables which is a linear combination of sum.s of the form,
sign(7r)[.Tj,... ,xw(^,... ,.7^(2), ,x^(k),...} (5.1)
for som,e xl: where we have denoted by .. . products of right multiplications with xi,... , .Tfc.
Proof. The lemma follows from the fact that the polynomial identities in the irreducible 5,,-submodule M(A) of Vn are equivalent to a GLk(K)submodule W($ = W(\i,... ,A f c ) of the free algebra Fk and W(A) is generated by a polynomial w\ called the highest weight vector of W(A) and which is in the required form.
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COROLLARY 5.2 If W is a variety of Leibniz algebras and there exists a positive integer k such that Vn(W) is a direct sum of irreducible Snsubmodul.es M(Ai,. .. , A&) for all n = 1, 2 , . . . , then every proper subvariety of W can be defined as a subvariety of W by polynomial identities in k variables. Proof. If it is a subvariety of 2H, then FX(it) is a homomorphic image of FX(W) and the 5n-module Vn n T(tt) = (Vnr\T(U.))/(Vnr\T(2B)) is a factor module of Vn(W). Hence the identities of each irreducible component of Vn n T(il) are equivalent to some polynomial identity in < k variables. THEOREM 5.3 Every subvariety of the variety <JIC21 of Leibniz algebras over a field of characteristic 0 can be defined by a finite number of polynomial identities. Proof. The variety 9lc2l can be defined by the identity (3.7). Let M(A) be an irreducible Sn-submodule of V^(9tc2l) for some A = ( A i , . . . , A&) with Afc 7^ 0. By inductive arguments, we may assume that M(A) is contained in the ideal Uc-i(Fx(yic%))By Lemma 5.1, the identities of M(A) are equivalent to a single identity in k variables which is a linear combination of sums of the form (5.1). We present (5.1) in terms of the basis (3.10). Using the identity (3.9), we obtain that if four skew-symmetric elements x it(pi)ixK(p2),xir(p3) an(^ x^(pi) are ^n tne same inner commutator in (3.10), then the corresponding sum vanishes in Fx(f^c'î)- Hence, the total number of skew-symmetries in (5.1) is bounded by 3c. (Additional arguments based on the Littlewood-Richardson rule for the tensor product of two irreducible GX(.K")-modules give that k < 1c + 1.) Hence every subvariety of 9lc2l is determined by its identities in _F3C(9tc2l). By Remark 4.5 (ii), the T-ideals of .F3C((nc2l) satisfy the ascending chain condition. Hence they are finitely generated as T-ideals of -F3C(91C21) and it C 9^21 can be determined by a finite number of polynomial identities, together with the defining identity of 9TC21. Again, the proof of the following corollary of Theorem 5.3 follows immediately from Proposition 2.1. COROLLARY 5.4 // the base field K is of characteristic 0 and the finite dimensional Leibniz algebra L is solvable, then the variety var(L) has a finite basis for its polynomial identities. 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The first author is grateful for the kind hospitality and the creative atmosphere during his visit to the Department of Mathematics of the University
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of Rome "Tor Vergata" with a C.N.R.-N.A.T.O. Guest Fellowship when part of this research was carried out.
REFERENCES
[1] M.F. Atiyah, I.G. Macdonald, Introduction to Commutative Algebra, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass., 1969. [2] Yu. A. Bahturin, Identical Relations in Lie Algebras (Russian), "Nauka". Moscow, 1985. Translation: VNU Science Press, Utrecht, 1987. [3] V. Drensky, On the Hilbert series of relatively free algebras, Comm. Algebra 12 (1984), 2335-2347. [4] V. Drensky, Free Algebras and Pi-Algebras, Graduate Course in Algebra, Springer-Verlag. 1999. [5] V. Drensky, G.M. Piacentini Cattaneo, Varieties of metabelian Leibniz algebras, J. Algebra and its Applications 1 (2002), No 1, 31-50. [6] A.N. Krasilnikov, On the property of having a finite basis of some varieties of Lie algebras (Russian), Vestnik Moskov. Univ. Ser. I, Mat. Mekh. (1982), No. 2, 34-38. Translation: Moscow State Univ. Bull. 37 (1982), No. 2, 44-48. [7] J-L. Loday, Une version non commutative des algebres de Lie: les algebres de Leibniz, Enseign. Math. 39 (1993), 269-293. [8] J-L. Loday, T. Pirashvili, Universal enveloping algebras of Leibniz algebras and (co)homology, Math. Ann. 296 (1993), 139-158. [9] A.L. Shmelkin, Wreath products of Lie algebras and their application in the theory of groups (Russian). Trudy Moskov. Mat. Obsc. 29 (1973), 247-260. Translation: Trans. Moscow Math. Soc. 29 (1973), 239-252.
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Pebbles and Expansions in the Polynomial Ring

ADRIANO M. GARSIA Department of Mathematics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0112 USA E-mail: garsia@schur.ucsd.edu
ABSTRACT. We show here that some simple combinatorial facts concerning arrangements of pebbles on an n X n board have surprising consequences in the study of expansions in the polynomial ring Q[ZI, ^2, . . . . xn]. In particular in this manner we obtain a purely combinatorial proof of an identity of Lascoux-Schutzenberger given in Funkt. Anal 21 (1987) 77-78.
I. INTRODUCTION
We recall that the "lattice cells" of the Cartesian plane are the subsets
dj
= {(x, y) :i- 1 < x <i & j - 1 < J/ < j }
The "n x n board" is the collection of lattice cells Bn = {Cij : l<i,j <n}.
The "diagonal " of the board is the collection

Vn
= {dti
: 1< i < n}
We will deal here with arrangements of pebbles in the n x n board with the following properties:
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(1) At most one pebble in each cell and no pebbles in the diagonal. (2) The pebbles above the diagonal are white and arranged in left justified rows, some of which may be empty. (2) Below the diagonal the pebbles are black but unrestricted. The display below illustrates such an arrangement in Bs. For clarity we have shaded the diagonal cells. The numbers on the left of the board indicate the row counts of the white pebbles and the numbers below the board indicate the column counts of the black pebbles.
o
0
o
o
0
o
Fig. 1.1
o
0 0 1
Given such a filling f the vectors which give the row counts of white pebbles and column counts of the black cells will be respectively denoted ct(T) and B(T). For the filling in Fig. 1 we have = ( 0 , 1 , 0 , 2 , 1 , 5 , 0 , 3 ) and l3(f) = ( 0 , 0 , 1, 2, 1, 2,3,4)
It will be convenient to set for any vector of integers a = (QI, a2, . . . , an)
We shall sav that a vector of integers a = (oi,9, , ) is "subiriangular" if

0 < a-,- < i1 ( for i - l , . . . , n ) .
Clearly for all our board fillings f both a(Jr) and ^(J7) are subtriangular vectors in particular we necessarily have also the inequalities
< <
I.I
Given two subtriangular vectors a ( a i , a 2 , . . . ,a n ) and /? = (/3 1 : /?,,...,/?) we shall denote by C(a,3} the collection of all fillings of B n satisfying conditions (1), (2) and (3) and whose white row
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counts and black row counts are given by a and /? respectively. In symbols
C(a,0) = {f:a(f) = a & /3(f) = p } 1.2
We should note that the cardinality of the collection C(a,fi) is given by a product of binomial coefficients. More precisely we have
Given a filling T we let Ti(f) denote the total number of pebbles (white or black) in the ith row of the board. We set
and call it "the vector of total row counts". For the example in Fig. 1 we have
r(P) = (3,1,5,3,3,4,3,3) 1.4
It will be convenient to set

6 = (0,1,2,3,. . . , n - l ) . 1.5
This given we shall say that two subtriangular vectors a = (ai,a 2 , . . . ,a n ) and /? = (/?i,/3 2 , . . . ,/? n ) are "complementary" if and only if
J3 =
5-a 1.6
that is fa = i-l-ati for i = 1 , 2 , . . . , n
The contents of these notes are divided into three sections. In the first section we establish some properties of the vectors of total counts for the elements of our collections C(a,/3). In the second section we derive consequences of these properties for polynomials in Q[ZI, x?, . . . , x n ] and in the third section we give some applications.
Acknowledgement
We are grateful to Jeff Remmel for several stimulating exchanges and invaluable help in the proof of Theorem 1.1. 1. PEBBLES' MAGICS To simplify our presentation it will be good to make some preliminary remarks and introduce further terminology. To begin, given a filling f of the board Bn we shall denote by /"<,- the filling of the board #, obtained by removing the last n i rows and columns of f. Note that since there are no pebbles on the diagonal, there can't be more than n - 1 total pebbles falling in any row of our fillings. Thus if a r(f) has distinct components these can only be the integers 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . , n - I in
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some order. We shall then say that T(F) is a "permutation of 6 " or briefly a "permutation" and T itself will be called "permutationaF . A filling T of Bn will be called ''''perfect" if the fillings
are all permutational. If T is permutational and <r = (<ri,o- 2 , . . . ,an] is the permutation giving
then the sign of a will be briefly referred as the "sign of f" . In symbols
s i g n ( f ) sign(cr) 1.1
This given, the total pebble counts have the following remarkable properties: THEOREM 1.1 Let a = (aâ-,,. . . ,an) and /? = (ft ,/? 2 , , & > ) be any given subtriangular vectors, then (a) Every r(}r) with distinct components must be a permutation of 6. (b) If \a + |/?| / \6\, the total count vectors r(f) have repeated components for all T 6 C(a,(3). (c) If 8 = 6 - Q then the collection C(a,{3) has a unique permutational filling . This filling is also perfect and we have
/ fT~\ = /(-lyi+^+.-.-t-p^ i\/3i4-/3'?4- -I- 8 sign(F)
1.2
(d) v
^ u, + -r |^| = |6| but 0 ^ 8 - a there may be more than one permuIf a\ tational filling in C(a,0). However in this case the signs of the fillings always add up to zero.
Proof. We have observed above that Property (a) holds true. Property (b) is an immediate consequence of (a). To prove c) we start by looking at the case n = 2. Here there are only two complementary pairs, namely ((0, 1),(0,0)) and ((0,0), (0, 1)). The two collections C((0, 1). (0,0)) and ((0,0), (0, 1)) reduce to the single fillings given in the figure below.
Fig 1.1
For the first filling we have r(Jr) = (0,1) = 6 and for the second = (1,0) = (1,2)6. So the sign, in each case, is as stated in 1.2
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and thus property (c) holds true in this case. We can thus proceed by induction. We shall begin by showing that when /? = 6 - a we can easily construct a filling T0 e C(a,/3) that is not only permutational but also perfect. We then show that T0 is the only permutational filling in C(a,j3). Since both fillings in Fig. 1.1 are trivially perfect let us assume that for any choice of complementary a' = (a\,a^, . . . an-i) and /?' = (/?i,/? 2 , . . . ,/? n -i) we have constructed a perfect rilling f'0 e C(a',/3'). Let <*,/? be given with an+/3n = n-l and let a = (ai,a 2 , -<xn-i, a n ), /? = (/?i,/?2, ,/?n-i,/#n) For convenience set an = k and /3n n I k. Note that to complete the induction we need only construct a permutational filling T0 e C(a, /?) such that
?<n-i = r'0.
1.3
These conditions uniquely determine T0. In fact, to satisfy 1.3 , we must construct T0 by filling the subboard Bn-\ of Bn with T<n-\ then place k left justified white pebbles in the top row of Bn and~n - 1 - k black pebbles in the last column of Bn. Now the requirement that r(F0} be a permutation of ( 0 , 1 , . . . , n- 1) determines the rows where these black pebbles must be placed. The reason for this is simple. Given that an = k, we necessarily have rn(T) k for all f C(a,(3). So we need only assure that
are a permutation of 0,1,...,*:- !,* + !,. . . , 7 i - l . Since 1.3 yields that Ti(F0} = r,^) + we see that we are forced to place the black pebbles in the rows where the components of r,-(^) take the values k,k + l , . . . , n - 2 . This completes our induction and the proof that perfect fillings always exist and are unique. However the possibility remains that there may be permutational fillings that are not perfect. To exclude this possibility we need to familiarize ourselves with the nature of our perfect fillings. This is best done with an example that illustrates the algorithm which transpires from our existence proof. In fact, for a given a = (0:1,02, . . . ,an) our inductive process determines the sequence of steps we must follow to construct the successive fillings
The display below a = (0, 1,0,3, 1,2).
illustrates
the
sequence
we obtain
for
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Fig. 1.2
The information contained in such a display can be compressed into a triangular array given by the sequence of vectors
1.4
placed from bottom to top under the diagonal of Bn. In this manner the sequence of fillings displayed in Fig 1.2 reduces to the single diagram given below
o o
0
0
1
2 1 5 0 4 3
o
0
O
0 2 1
3 0 2 1
4 0 3 2
0 1
0
Fig. 1.3 Clearly we can recover the successive fillings in Fig. 1.2 by placing a pebble in a cell whenever the integer in the cell is greater than the integer in the cell immediately to the left. We should also note that our argument shows that the triangular arrays resulting from a perfect filling may be directly constructed from a very simple recursion. In fact, if c(i,j) (for i < j) denotes the content of cell (z,j), then the triangular array corresponding to a given subtriangular vector a = (Q-I, a 2 , . . . , Q n ) is obtained by setting
0 if c(i,j- 1) < aj ,
if c ( i , j - 1) > otj .
1.5
c(i, i) =
and for j > i c(i,j) = c(i,j - 1) +

1
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In particular we see that the contents of row i only depend on the components
Oj, + !,- - ,
Keeping this in mind we shall complete our proof of Property (c) by induction on n. Let us assume then that for any two complementary subtriangular vectors a' = (a'l,a'2,...,a'n_l') and /?' = (/?i,/?2> >/%-i) there is one and only one permutational filling T'0 in C(a',/3') and its sign is as given in 1. By what we have shown it follows that f'0 must be perfect. Now let a = (ai,a2, ,an) and let /? = 6 - a, and suppose that the filling T 6 C(a,/3) is permutational. Note that the position of the component n 1 in r(F) is uniquely determined by a. To see this note that either we have a, 2 we have
ak = k - 1 and a, < j - 1 V j = k + 1, k + 2, . . . ,n
Now in the first case we must have TI(T) = n 1 and in the second case Tk(f) = n - I. In fact, in the first case the total pebble counts on rows 2 , 3 , . . . , n cannot exceed n 2. The same must hold true in the second case for the same reason for rows k + 1, k + 2, . . . , n. On the other hand, also for rows 1, 2, . . . , k - 1 the counts cannot exceed n - 2 because ak = k - 1 forces f)k = 0 which in turn prevents placing any black pebbles in column k. Thus in any case the position of n - 1 is uniquely determined by a as asserted. Proceeding in the second case we construct a filling f of Bn-\ by removing row k entirely from F together with the k 1 empty cells below the diagonal in column k and n k empty cells immediately above the diagonal in columns It is easily seen that the resulting filling T' is in C(a',0') with
a' = ( a l l a 2 l . - . , atk-i, "fc+i, , )
and
/? = (01, & , . . . , /?*_!,/?* + ! - 1 , . . . , /?-!)
moreover a' and /?' are complementary and we must also have
1.6
In other words r(f') is simply obtained by removing the component n 1 from r(^ r ). It thus follows that f is a permutational filling of C(a',/3'). By induction T1 must also be perfect. It then follows from the recursions in 1.5 that the top n k rows of the triangular arrays for a' and a must be identical. This gives that
rnF0 1.7
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with T0 the perfect filling of C(a,3). From the recursions in 1.5 it also follows that the first k - 1 entries in rows 1, 2 , . . . , k - 1 of the triangular arrays for a' and a- must also be identical. Since there can't be any black pebbles in column k of T0, it follows that the partial row sums for T0 can't change across column k. But after that the recursions will force them to change precisely as the partial row sums change for a'. This shows that we must also have
n(^') = n(f0) , r,(T'} = r,(T0] , ... , Tk^(T') = rk^(T0) 1.8
Since both rk(T0} and rk(f") must necessarily be equal to n 1, we see that combining 1.7 and 1.8 with 1.6 we derive that
T = To
This proves that T is perfect. To complete the induction in this case we need only check that the sign is correct. To this end note that by induction we must have
sign(J- J ( 1) -r, & i . k+i+ -TI- n \. ; |g
Since rfc(:F) = n - 1, it takes exactly n - k adjacent transpositions to move n - 1 to the end of r(J"), after doing that we obtain a vector that is r(jF') concatenated with n I. Thus
sign(?) = (-l)n-ksign(T'} 1.10
since (3k = 0, 1.9 and 1.10 give 1.2. This completes the proof of (c) in this case. The other case can essentially be dealt in the same manner by specialiizing k 1 in the various steps of the argument. We are left to prove Property (d). To begin let us suppose that we have a permutational filling T e C(a,/3) and suppose further that (3 ^ 6 - a. This given we claim that for at least one i = 2 , 3 , . . . , n - 1 the vector r(F<i) must have repeated components. To see this note that since all the components of r(/"< ; ) are < i - 1, if r(T<i) has distinct components it must then be a rearrangement of ( 0 , 1 , . . . , i 1). But that cannot happen for all i because then we have
Now this difference is also given by the number of white pebbles in row i of T<i plus the number of black pebbles in column i of T^. But the former is a,- and the latter is $. This would yield on + i3i = i - I for all i = 2 . 3 , . . . , n
which is excluded by our assumption that J3 ^ 6 - a. Suppose then that i0 is the largest i for which r(f<i) has repeated components. And suppose as well that h,k are the largest pair for
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which rft(:F<;o) = rj^JxiJ and let <?4(;F) be the new filling obtained by interchanging the tail ends of rows h and k of f that are to the right of column i0. This construction defines a map T^(JF~) with the following three properties
(1) r e c ( a , p ) => </>(?) ec(a,0).

(2) <j> is an involution of C(a,/?), that is <j>((j>(F)) = T (3) sign((?)} = -8ign(F) VT e C(a,/3).
where for convenience we make the convention that the sign of a vector with repeated components is assigned the value zero. Property (1) is clear since the interchange of row tails preserves the column counts of black pebbles. Property (2) follows from the fact that the interchange of row tails preserves the i's for which Th(P<i) has or has not distinct components, as well as the largest pair h,k for which the equality Th(F<io) = ^(.TxiJ holds true. . Finally property (3) is assured by the fact that Th(4>(f}} = rk(:F) and r,t(</>(;F)) = Th(T}. So when r(f) is a rearrangement of 6 the map 4> changes the sign of the corresponding permutation. In summary this involution produces a pairing of the elements of C(a,/?) which couples an element T for which r(jF) has positive sign with one with negative sign, forcing the signs to add up to zero as asserted. This completes the proof of the Theorem. In the case a = ( 0 , 1 , 0 , 2 , 4 , 2 ) and /? = (0,0,1,2,1,2) we found only 8 fillings whose total row counts are rearrangements of (0,1,2,3,4,5). These are displayed below along with the pairing induced by <j>.
lolol
III
BEHHBCI
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2. A REMARKABLE SCALAR PRODUCT FOR Q[Xn]

In the space of polynomials in x\,x-2,...,xn with rational coefficients we introduce a scalar product "{ , }" by setting for xp = x^x^ xpnn
and G>li^l
?2 T? .A, r ?1 *L j r.6>)
-rli ,L, n
, ,
, T
(XP , x*\
\ ' /
det
=
x- J '
_
Pj+i, 11"
^ 7 i
\\. . , '^ = i
i
2.1
det | x\
. =1
Given a symmetric polynomial P it will be convenient to use plethystic notation and denote P[x^x2,..., xk] by the symbol "P[Xk]" with Xk =
Xl + X', + +
Xk.
This section is dedicated to the proof of the following result THEOREM 2.1 For a subtriangular vector j3 = (/?i,/3 2 , . . . , / ? ) set
This given, for any subtriangular vector a (a\, a o , . . . , an) we have

1 if ,8 = 8 -a
,
2.3
(x , ^0}
= {
0
if $ ^ 6 - a .
Proof. have
Note that for a = ( 0 , 1 , 0 , 2 , 1 , 5 , 0 , 3 ) and ,8 = ( 0 , 0 , 1 , 2 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ) we
and
Now a typical monomial occurring in the expansion of 6/3 is of the form xa x ( x b l x b 2 ) x (xc) x (xdlxd2] x ( x e i x e 2 x e 3 ) x (xflXf2Xf3xft) with
1 < a < 2 , 1 < bi < 62 < 3 , 1 < c < 4 , 1 < d1 < d2 < 5
2.4
1 < 6l < e2 < e3 , 6 , 1 < /i < /2 < /3 < A < 7 ,

In particular one of these monomials is
;
2.5
A moment of reflection should reveal that we can represent each of the monomials in 2.4 as a placement of black pebbles in B&. That is the factor xa is represented by a pebble in column 3 and row a, the factor xblxb2 by two pebbles in column 4 in rows hi and 62, etc.,
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and finally the factor xjlxf2xj3Xf4 by 4 pebbles in column 8 and rows /!, /2, /a, /4. At the same time the monomial xa can be represented by a placement of 0 2 , ^ 3 , . . . ,an left justified white pebbles in rows 2 , 3 , . . . ,n. In particular, we see in this manner that the pair
X 3? -I X *}3j "yttj ^,3j cX f
may be represented by the filling displayed in Fig. 1. Now the scalar product (xa , is a sum of terms of the form
, xa x
x ( x c ) x (xdl
In particular one of the terms will be

(x01 , xq)
=
det\\x
\8
i'J=l
4 4
~4
det
5
0.
We should be able to see now how our study of arrangements of pebbles helps in the evaluation of the scalar product in 2.3. In fact, in full generality, each of the terms obtained in the expansion of the scalar product (xa , 4>p} will correspond to a placement of pebbles in Bn. A term corresponding to an f e C(a,/3) where r(F) has repeated components will yield a determinant with two equal columns and thus contributes nothing to the sum. So the only surviving terms are those represented by an T e C(a,/3) where r(/") has distinct components. But, Theorem 1.1 asserts that this can only happen when a| + |/?| = (), and is a rearrangement of 6. But then the determinant in the numerator of (xa , a:7"^)} will evaluate to a multiple of the denominator, the factor being the sign of the permutation that rearranges r(f) to 8. But then again by Theorem 1.1 we derive that when /? ^ S- a all these terms will add up to zero, and when /? = 6 - a the only surviving term will be one producing the sign ( i)/ 3 i+^+ +/' which is precisely the factor we need to produce a 1 in the first case of 2.3. Thus 2.3 holds true as desired and our proof is complete.
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It should be of interest to see how the identity in 2.3 may be proved analytically. To this end we need the following auxiliary result which is interesting in its own right. PROPOSITION 2.1 For a,n integers we have
xa
f0
if 0 < a < n - 1 ,
i =1
ilj = i(xi ~ x i)
ifa-n_i.
Proof. The Lagrange interpolation formula gives that for a polynomial P(x) of degree < n we have
P(x) = p(Xi)1 x
fr?
Ui=i(xi-xj)
3*i
-.
2.7
Dividing by the product OîC ~ j} this may be rewritten as

28
Setting P(x) = x" (for a < n - l) and replacing x by 1/f gives
This given setting i = 0 we obtain 2.6 precisely as asserted. The analytic proof that (x , fig} = 0 when a + \0\ ^ () is based on the same idea that yielded part (a) and (b) of Theorem 1.1. So we shall not repeat ourselves here. This given we shall prove 2.3 under the assumption that To begin note that we may also compute the scalar product defined in 2.1 according to the formula
< / . > = E "(
""'"-.)
Now for f(x) xa and g(x) (f>g(x) we may use the decomposition of Sn into left cosets of Sn-i and write their scalar product in the form
xn -
Xn-\)
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<*(
T^
_^nx(
^^-^-J
Thus if we inductively assume that 2.3 has been proved for n - 1 variables, then the inner summand will not vanish only when
/3i + ai=i-l for i = 1,2,..., n- I. 2.11
But then the assumption in 2.9 gives that we must also have
an+/3n-n-l 2.12
That proves the second case of 2.3. But when 2.11 and 2.12 hold true, the inductive hypothesis gives that
2 13
'
Using the addition formula
r =0
the identity in 2.13 yields
We can now use Proposition 2.1 together with 2.12 to derive that the inner sum vanishes for r < /? reducing 2.14 to
proving the first case of 2.3 and completing the induction argument. We must still show that the induction can be started. We can do this by showing that 2.3 is true for n = 1. In this case we have only two subtriangular vectors, namely
(0,0)
and
(0,1)
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So the two possibilities for xa are

1 and x2 .
On the other hand 2.2 gives 0o,o = 1 and Using 2.10 we see that <o,i = -x\
and
( * 2 , 1 > = ^^1 X
'
X'2-Xi
= 1 and X = -lZl = i.

' .X-1-Xl
Thus 2.3 holds true in this case and our argument is complete. 3. EXPANSIONS IN Q [ X l , x 2 ) . . , , x n ] Let Pn denote the module of polynomials in xltx2,. .. ,xn with integer coefficients and An denote the submodule of symmetric polynomials in Pn. In symbols
Pn =N[xi,X2,...,Xn}
From the fundamental Theorem of the Theory of Symmetric Functions we derive that every polynomial P e An has a unique expansion of the form
P r Y^ r epi\Y 1pp2lY 1 pPn\\ 1 2^ P I L A n J e 2 L A n J ' - - t n L A "J p>0
with coefficients cp e N. Theorem 2.1 allows us to extend this result to Pn in a rather remarkable way. To be precise we shall show here as a first application of our pebbles' magics that THEOREM 3.1 Every polynomial P Pn has a unique expansion of the form
a<6p>0
where a.< 6 means that 0 < at 0 means that pi > 0 for i ~ 1, 2 , . . . , n . In otner words we may write
P 1 \7 ^ Act 4 fY An IT" *
< J ?9 -Z
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with the coefficients Aa[Xn] uniquely determined elements of An. In fact they may be simply computed from the formula Aa(Xn] = (P , 0 6 _ a ) 3.3
Proof. The existence and uniqueness of the expansion in 3.1 for every P e Q [ x i , x 2 , . . . ,xn] is equivalent to the statement that the collection of polynomials
3.4
is a basis for Q[xi,x2,. . . , x n ] . However, to show that it is a basis we need only show independence. Indeed, it is easily seen that
o r
This means that the number of elements of Cn of any given degree is the same as the number of monomials in xi,x^,...,xn of that same degree. This may also be rewritten as
q de
Sree(P) =
^ d>0
q" dimHd^X!, X2, . . . , Xn}) .
3.5
where Wd(Q[ari, 22, - , ] ) denotes the subspace of homogeneous elements of degree d in Q[xi,ar2, . . . , x n ] . So Cn has the correct number of elements in each subspace 7id(Q[xi,x2,. ..,zn}), which means that if they are independent they must also span the subspace. This given, assume if possible that we have a collection of symmetric polynomials {Aa[Xn]}a<6 such that 0 = ^xaAa[Xn].
a<6
3.6
Now from the formula in 2.10 it immediately follows that if A is symmetric then
(Af , g) = (f, Ag) = A(f,g).
Thus taking the scalar product of 3.6 by <j>p and using formula 2.3 we derive that
0 =
a<6
This proves independence. So the expansions in 3.1 do exist and are unique for every P e Q[z 1 ,z 2 , . . . , x n ] .
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Formula 3.3 is proved in exactly the same way. Indeed if
a<6
then taking the scalar product by fig gives
a<6
Finally note that, given 2.3. the definitions in 2.1 and 2.2 immediately imply that if P e Pn then (P , (/i^) An. This completes our proof. REMARK 3.1 We should mention that a similar result may also be obtained for the collection {$6-a}a<s- In fact, from 3.2 and 3.3 with P = (f)6_!} we derive that
a<6
Taking the scalar product of both sides by x7 gives
Since both matrices \\((pi-p , ^-a}|| and ||{z7 , xa)\\ have entries in An from formula 2.3 we derive that their determinants must be 1. This implies that they both have inverses with entries in A n . In particular we must have the expansions
with u/j a[Xn] e An. Using this in 3.2 we derive that every polynomial P E Pn may be expanded in the form
P = ^fa.pBplXn]
f}<6
3.7
with Bp[Xn] e A n . This given, the equations in 2.3 yield that

B0[Xn] = (P , x0}. 3.8
This shows that also the expansion in 3.7 is unique. REMARK 3.2 In contemporary jargon Theorem 3.1 proves that Pn is a free A n -module of rank n\ with basis {xa : a < 6 }. The beauty of the
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pebble's magic is that it yields a purely combinatorial way of proving an explicit formula for coefficients in the resulting expansions. Let us recall that two bases {a;}=1 and {/?;}"=! are said to be "dual" with respect to a given scalar product "( , )" if ||(a; , &j)IIPj=i is the identity matrix. For such pairs the expression
t=i
is usually called the "Reproducing Kernel". Theorem 2.1 essentially states that the bases {xa}a<6 and {<t>5-a}a<6 are dual with respect to the scalar product "{ , )". Thus a reproducing kernel for our scalar product is given by the expression
js w K
a<6
177)
3 9
We are thus led to the following beautiful identities. THEOREM 3.2

-i-Vi). 3.10
Moreover for every polynomial P e Pn we have
P(x)
as well as
P(y)
3.11
3.12
where "{ , } " and "{ , }j." represent taking the scalar product with respect to the y and x-variables respectively. Proof. Note that
(by 2.2) = Y,*a

a<6
<t>*-(y)
This proves 3.10.

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Next we note that combining 3.2 and 3.3 we derive that every P G T>n has an expansion of the form
P(x)
=
a<6
and from 3.9 we derive that this is just another way of writing 3.11. Similarly combining 3.7 and 3.8 we derive the expansion
P(y)
V>_
and this is another way of writing 3.12. REMARK 3.3 It develops that, for a given index set En of cardinalty n\ we may have a pair of bases
{aa(x)}a=n and {ba(x)}aeEn ,
dual with respect to the scalar product "{ , )" for which the corresponding reproducing kernel
^ aa[xi,x2,...,xn] b a [ y i , y 2 , . . . , y n ]
does not evaluate to & n ( x , y ) . This is in stark contrast with what happens for standard scalar products, where the reproducing kernel is unique. The basic reason for this is that our scalar product may take "non scalar11 values. This circumstance invalidates the customary uniqueness proof. An example in point is obtained when we take En = 5,, and for a e ,? we let o tt (x) be the so called "descent monomial":
ma(x)
=
In fact, it was shown in [1] that for every P e Q[zi,x 2 , ,xn] we have a unique expansion of the form P(x) =
a 5,,
Aa(x)ma(x)
with the coefficients Aa(x)\n An. Thus also {ma(x)}a^sn is a A n -module basis for Pn. It can be shown that the Gramm matrix of {ma(x)}asn with respect to "{ , }" is uni-triangular under suitable total orders of 5n and thus may be inverted to yield a polynomial diial basis { d a ( x ) } a e s n However, note that for n = 3 we obtain
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and it is easily seen that there are no choices of {da}aes^ giving ma(x) da(y) = (x2 - yi)(x3 -
We must mention that this particular observation is due to F. Bergeron and C. Reutenauer. ( t). It should be of interest to find an explicit formula for the reproducing kernel of the descent basis and its dual. The above example notwithstanding, we can nevertheless obtain a uniqueness result even for the scalar product "{ , )". To be precise we have THEOREM 3.3 Let En be an index set of cardinalty n\ and let
{aa(x)}aeBn , {ba(x)}a=.n 3.13
be two collections of polynomials in Tn satisfying for a,/? G Hn the duality condition

1 0
Moreover assume that for some integers {c ia } <{ ]aeSn we have the expansions
aa(x) ^Vc,a t<f> (Va<En) 3.15
then the collections in 3.13 are both A.n-module bases for Pn and
aa[xi,X2,...,xn]ba[yi,y2,...,yn] J (xt - yj) . 3.16
Proof. Taking the scalar product of 3.15 with bp(x) gives

(aa , bp)
=
e<<5
Thus 3.14 implies that the matrix ||c :Ct || e? 6,aHn has determinant 1, and is therefore invertible over the integers. Denoting by di<a the entries of its inverse we obtain the expansions
3.17
t) Personal communication
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Using this in 3.9 we obtain

A n ( z , j / ) = ](
=
]JT a a (z)d i 0 )^_ e (3/)

aH
*' " ]T a a (:c)(^ d e i 0 <fo_ e (t/)j

aEn f<6
3.18
Taking the ( , )x scalar product of both sides by 6/j(j/), using 3.12 on the left hand side and 3.14 on the right hand side we obtain that
Substituting this back into 3.18 and using 3.10 gives 3.16. But now 3.16 allows us to we rewrite 3.11 and 3.12 respectively in the form
P(x) = âa(x)(P(y),
a<6
ba(y)}y
and
This shows that { a a ( x ) } a e ^ n and {ba(x)}ae^n are A n -bases for P n because the unicity in these expansions follows immediately from the identities in 3.14. Lascoux-Schutzenberger in [2] (see also [3]) introduced the scalar product { , ) as a natural ingredient in the study of '"Schubert Polynomials" . In fact, they proved that these polynomials are essentially the self dual basis for this scalar product. What we have established in these note allows us to derive their result with very little more effort. It is therefore worthwhile that this further consequence of pebble magics should also be included. To this end we need to recall some definitions. The basic ingredients in this context are the "divided difference" operators 8, of Lascoux-Schutzenberger. These are denned by setting for every polynomial P = P(XI,X?, . . . , xn)
S,P = Xi - Xi +l
--
(P-SiP]
(for i = 1,2, . . . n - l)
3.19
where 5,- denotes the simple transposition
si =
We recall that (i,i+ 1) acts on a polynomial in xi,x2,...,xn by interchanging Xi and xi+i. Note that for any monomial xp = x\l xp^ xpnn we have
Pi ~
'
Pi
3.20
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We see from this identity that <5; sends any polynomial into a polynomial that is symmetric in xi}xi+i. Moreover if P is symmetric in Xi,Xi+i, then P SiP 0 and 3.19 then gives 6{P = 0. In particular we deduce that 6? = 0 3.21 Note that 6, has a Leibnitz formula. Indeed note that the definition in 3.16 gives
SiPQ
-_ (r= (SiP)Q +
Si(P6iQ),
Since SiSiQ = 8iQ, this may be rewritten as

6{PQ 3.22
Another important identity satisfied by the difference operators 6t is the "Coxeter relation"
c c
oo
We recall that a factorization of a permutation <r into a product of simple reflections

ff = S i 1 s i 3 - - - s i k 3.24
is called "reduced" if the number of factors is as small as possible. In other words 3.24 is reduced if and only if k is equal to the number of inversions of a. The latter is usually called the '"length" of a and is denoted /(<r). We may now define a difference operator "<5CT" by setting
6a = M,- 2 ---<5 i j b .
3 25
In fact it follows from 3.23 that the expression on the right hand side of 3.25 depends only on a and not on the particular factorization that is used, as long as it is reduced. We should point out that it follows from 3.21 that the product on the right hand side of 3.25 will vanish if 3.24 is not reduced. It will be convenient to denote by <j(") the top permutation of Sn. That is
(n)
fl
.-.
l
n-1
2
n]
[n
n- I
n-1
ij
This given, the "Schubert polynomial" S Ha(x} is simply defined by setting It follows from this definition (together with 3.21 and 3.26) that we have 1
6aSHf)(x) = (Snffo-i(x) I if /(/Ja- ) = /(/?)- l(a) , 3.27
^0
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otherwise .
The relation between the Schubert polynomials and the scalar product { , ) stems from the following two important properties PROPOSITION 3.1 For any two polynomials P,Q we have
a)
b)
(SiP , Q) =
-(P,s{Q).
(P , SiQ),
(6{P , Q)
Proof. From 2.10 it follows that the scalar product may also be defined by setting (P ,Q) = niin>i>i>l\X'
X
_ ,AnPQ,
3>
3.29
where for a polynomial P we set

An P y~] sign(a)(T P .
6S n
It is easily seen that for any i = 1. . . . n - 1 we have
Thus An(siP)Q
x a;
= -AnPs,Q.
ives 3 28 a
Dividing by nn>i>j>i( i ~ ;) S - )To prove 3.28 b) note that if P is symmetric in xt,xi+i then AnP An SiP - -AnP, and this forces AnP = 0. In particular we must also have
An6t(PQ) = 0.
But now from 3.22 we get

0 = An6t(PQ) = An(SiP)Q + AnSl(P6tQ) = An(&,P)Q An P6fQ
dividing by n r i >i>j>i( ; E ~ a 'j) ancl using 3.29 gives 3.28 b). This completes our proof. An immediate consequence of this proposition is the following beautiful result of Lascoux-Schutzenberger: THEOREM 3.4 For a,/? e Sn we have
{
TM
(-l)(i)siqn(a) 0
if a = 8 otherwise
3.30
Proof. Recalling that we have set 6 = (0, 1, 2, . . . , n - 1) , we may simply write

Z?-1^-2 _ ! = <7("V .
This given, we have

(v^SHa , SHp^) = (aW^-i^xr^V , SHpaW} 3.31
Now it is easily verified that we have the relation <r(n)*,V> = -6n_i and this implies that
ffWdeffW = - f l ,n(<7)^(n) < 7 < r ( .)
Taking account that sign(a~1a^n)) - (-!)($ sign(a) we derive that <rW6a-lt,w<rW = (-!)(;) ^(a)^,,,-!.
Substituting this in 3.31 gives, using 3.28 b)

3
(-!)($ 8ign(a) (x* , 6at,(n) SHpa(n)}
But now, 3.27 gives

(Snpa-i
^ a a ( n ) SHpa(n) = <
if /(â- 1 ) = /(/?<T("))-/(a<T(")),
^0
otherwise.
Since /(acr(")) = Q) - /(a) and /(/?<r( n )) = Q) - /(/?), 3.32 reduces to
sign(a) <
a-,}
if /(/fo- 1 ) = /(a) -/(/?),
3.33
0 otherwise. Finally note that from 3.20 and the definition in 3.26 it follows that the polynomial SHpa-i is necessarily of the form
where the symbol "p < <r("^" is to express that the sum is over exponent vectors p= (PI,PI, , p n ) with
Pi<n-l,p2<n- 2, . . . , p n _ i < 1 , pn = 0. 3.35
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Taking this into account we get, using 3.29
Now the term Anx6+p necessarily vanishes unless the components of 6 + p are all distinct. On the other hand, the inequalities in 3.35 yield that all the compents of 8 + p are necessarly < n - 1, thus if they are distinct they can only be a rearrangement of the components of 8. But that is only possible when p 0, forcing STipa-i to be constant. Since the degree of S"H0a-i, in 3.33, is necessarily l(a) - /(/?) this can only happen when 0 = a. So, in view of 3.33 to prove 3.30 we are left to show that (x* , SUid] = 1 Since it is easily seen from 3.29 that (*' , 1} = 1 we are reduced to verify that STiid = 1 . 3.36
This is easily shown by induction on n. Indeed, by definition we have
and since we ma write
we have, using the inductive hypothesis
"
This proves 3.35 and completes our proof.

We are finally in a position to state and prove the following remarkable identity.
THEOREM 3.5
~~ ~~
(xi + n)
3.36
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Proof. It follows from 3.30 that the collections {(-!)(')<r( n ) SH a } a e S and {sign(a)SHai7(n)}aS are dual with respect to the scalar product { , ). From 3.34 and 3.35 we derive that the polynomial a has an expansion of the forrm
(<6
Thus we may apply Theorem 3.3 and obtain the identity (*,--!/,-) 3.37
Since the definition in 3.26 yields that the polynomial SHaa(n) is homogeneous of degree /(acr( n )) = l((^) - a) we see that making the replacements y,-> yi and xi*xn+i_, changes 3.37 into 3.36 completing the proof of the Theorem.
REFERENCES
[1] A. M. Garsia, Combinatorial methods in the theory of Cohen-Macaulay rings, Advances in Math., 38 (1980), 229-266. [2] A. Lascoux and M. P. Schiitzenberger, Symmetrization operators on polynomial rings, Funkt. Anal. 21 (1987) 77-78 . [3] I. Macdonald, Notes on Schubert polynomials, Publications du Laboratoire de Combinatoire et d'Informatique, Mathematique, Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Montreal Canada (1991).
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Group actions, codimensions and exponential behaviour

A. GIAMBRUNO Dipartimento di Matematica ed Applicazioni, Universita di Palermo, Via Archirafi 34, 90123 Palermo, Italy. E-m'ail: agiambr@unipa.it
INTRODUCTION
Let A be an associative algebra over a field F of characteristic zero and let G be a finite group acting on A as a group of automorphisms and antiautomorphisms. The study of the G-polynomial identities for the algebra A has been carried out by several authors and there is a well established literature on the subject (see [23], [24], [2], [10]). For an algebra A with G-action one defines IdG(A), the set of G-identities of A, as the set of all G-polynomials (polynomials in non commutative variables on which G acts formally) which vanish under all evaluations in A. IdG(A) is an ideal of F(X\G}, the free associative algebra with Gaction, with the property that it is invariant under all endomorphisms of F(X\G} commuting with G. Let Id(A) denote the T-ideal of the free algebra F(X) of ordinary polynomial identities of A (G trivial). In case Id(A) ^ 0, we say that A is a Pi-algebra. Clearly IdG(A) D Id(A) and a general problem is that of relating these two sets. It is not hard to exhibit algebras such that IdG(A) is a proper ideal of F(X\G) whereas Id(A) = 0. For instance, when G is generated by a single automorphism of order 2, one can exhibit algebras which are not PI and still satisfy a non-trivial G-polynomial identity. Here we shall only study the case of Pi-algebras. A general approach to the study of IdG(A) is done, as in the ordinary
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case, as follows. Since char F = 0, standard arguments show that the ideal IdG(A) is determined by its multilinear G-polynomials. Let VG be the space of multilinear G-polynomials in n variables. Then, one considers the quotients VG(A) VG /VG n IdG(A) and studies the sequence of spaces {VG(A)}n>\. The dimension of VG(A) over F is the n-th G-codimension of A, In case G = 1, one simply speaks of codimensions. A first problem in this setting is that of studying the sequence of Gcodimensions and relating it to the sequence of codimensions of the algebra. It is well known ([10]) that for any PI-algebra the sequence of G-codimensions is exponentially bounded. Hence a general question is how can one determine the exponential behaviour of this sequence and relate it to the corresponding behaviour of the codimensions. Here we shall illustrate a general approach, but we shall be essentially dealing with two special cases which are of interest: 1) when G is a finite abelian group of automorphisms of A. 2) When G = Z2 is generated by a single involution i.e., an antiautomorphism of order 2. In the first situation, in case the field F is algebraically closed, a G-action on A is equivalent to a G-grading on A (actually A will be graded by G = G, the group of linear characters of G). Thus the study of the G-polynomial identities is equivalent to that of the graded polynomial identities of A. In this case we shall give two different characterizations of those ideals IdG(A) whose G-codimensions are polynomially bounded ([9]). In case the group G is of order 2, then A has an additional structure of algebra with involution or of superalgebra, according as G = Z2 is generated by an antiautomorphism or an automorphism of order 2, respectively. In this case much more can be done. First, we shall present a characterization of the ideals Id12 (A) having sequence of the Z2~codimensions polynomially bounded ([7], [8]). As a reward, we shall prove that the Z2-codimensions of a Pi-algebra cannot have intermediate growth (between polynomial and exponential). Then, we shall see that one can determine, in the case of finite dimensional algebras, the exact exponential behaviour of the sequence of Z2-codimensions and that it is an integer ([131, [3]). It turns out that this integer is strictly related to the Wedderburn-Malcev decomposition of the algebra, and coincides with the dimension of a suitable semisimple Z2-stable subalgebra. As an application, one can deduce a characterization of those ideals whose sequence of Z2codimensions has small exponential growth (([3], [25]). Another kind of problem we shall consider, is that of studying the spaces VG(A) by mean of the representation theory of some group related to the symmetric group Sn. Our inspiration comes from the ordinary case, where there is a natural action of the symmetric group Sn on the space of multilinear polynomials in n variables. Here we shall see that VG(A] has
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a structure of G I 5n-module, where G I Sn denotes the wreath product of G and Sn ([10]) and we shall deduce some properties of the corresponding G I Sn-characters. Throughout F will be a field of characteristic zero and A will be an associative Pi-algebra over F.
G-IDENTITIES AND G I S^- ACTION
For an associative F-algebra A we denote by Aut*(A) the group of automorphisms and antiautomorphisms of A which are fixed on F. Also, throughout we shall denote by G a finite subgroup of Ant* (A). Notice that, if Ant,(A) denotes the subgroup of Ant* (A) of automorphisms of A, then G n Ant(A) is a subgroup of G of index at most 2. In order to study the identities with automorphisms and antiautomorphisms of A, one then introduces the following universal object. Let X be a set, G a finite group with a subgroup H of index 2. We construct F(X\G), the free algebra on X with G-action by interpreting the elements of H as automorphisms and those of G\ H as antiautomorphisms. The algebra F(X\G} is freely generated by the set {x9 = g(x] \ x 6 X, g 6 G} on which G acts in a natural way. If gi,g2 G then (x91)91 = ^192) and extend this action to F(X\G). If v,w are monomials and g G, then define (vw)9 = v9w9, if g e H and (vw)s = w9v9, if g e G \ H . Then extend this action linearly to all of F(X\G). Thus G acts on F(X\G) with H as automorphisms and G \ H as antiautomorphisms. The elements of F(X\G) are the G-polynomials. Let now A be an F-algebra and G a finite group acting on it (G C Aut*(A)). If H = G n Aut(.A), then any set theoretical map tp : X > A extends uniquely to a homomorphism (p : F(X\G} > A such that </?(/9) = If we let <5 be the set of all such homomorphisms, then IdG(A) = n<Ae<j> Ker</> is the ideal of G-polynomial identities of A. By naturally extending the ordinary case (G trivial), the degree of a monomial M in a variable x e X, is defined as the number of times the variables x9 appear in M (regardless of the exponent g e G) . Thus, for every n > 1, we define the space of multilinear G-polynomials VG = SpanF{3(i) -x9;(n) \<reSn,gi,...,gn G}. Clearly, V H IdG(A) is the set of all multilinear G-polynomial identities of degree n in the first n variables. Since char F = 0, standard arguments show that any G-identity is equivalent to a system of multilinear G-identities. Hence the subspaces VG C\IdG(A), n > 1, carry all the information about the G-identities of A.
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Now, in the theory of polynomial identities there is an action of the symmetric group Sn on the space of multilinear polynomials in x^, ... ,xn. This action plays a very important role in the theory. For instance, one of the main features is that two multilinear polynomials f(x\, . . . ,x n ) and g(x\, . . . , .Tn) generate the same T-ideal if and only if they generate the same Sn-module under this action. In the case of G-polynomials an important role is played by the group G I Sn. the wreath product of the finite group G and Sn. In fact we shall show how one can naturally describe the spaces of multilinear G-identities through the representations of this group. We start by describing the group algebra F(G I Sn). Let us denote for short FG---FG = FGn . The group Sn acts on FGn by permuting coordinates: if a Sn, b = 61 <8> bn FG", then cr(b) = a(bi ' bn] = 6,7-1(1) <S> <8> 6,7-1 (n)- The group algebra F(G I Sn), that we shall also write as FG I Sn, is then defined as follows: as a vector space FG I Sn = FGn FSn and multiplication is defined via (b <r)(c r) = b a(c) <8> or where b, c e FGn,CT,T e Sn. As in [10], the map
where g\, . . . ,gn G G, a 6 Sn, induces a linear isomorphism i/> : FG I Sn This in turn defines a left action of FG I Sn on VG given by a o i/>(6) = i>(a.b), for 0,6 6 FG I Sn. It follows that if /(.TI, ... ,xn) 6 VG and g\ gn <E>CT G ; Sn,, then
i i
Hence the ideal of G-polynomial identities IdG(A) of A is invariant under the G ; Sn-action. This makes VG/VG n /d G (A) a left G i 5n-module. The dimension VG
vGnidG(A)
is the n-th G-codimension of A. In the next sections we shall exploit the representation theory of GlSn for an abelian group G arid we shall apply it to the study of the G-polynomial identities of an arbitrary algebra A. We conclude this section by comparing the sequences of G-codimensions and ordinary codimensions of an algebra. When G = 1, F(X\G} = F(X) is the free algebra on X and IdG(A) = Id(A) is the T-ideal of F(X) of ordinary polynomial identities of A. In this case we simply write VG = Vn
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and Cn(A) cn(A), the n-th codimension of A. Hence we shall compare the two sequences {c%(A)}n>i and {cn(A)}n>i. For general algebras A, it is easy to check that, for all n > 1, cn(A) < c%(A). For Pi-algebras the following holds ([10, Lemma 4.7]). LEMMA 1 For any PI- algebra A, cn(A) < c(A} < \G\ncn(A). A celebrated theorem of Regev ([28]) states that the codimensions of a Pi-algebra are exponentially bounded i.e., there exists d > 0 such that cn(A) < dn, for all n > 1. Since dim^r Vn n\, this implies that A is a Pialgebra if and only if cn(A) is exponentially bounded. Then, an immediate consequence of the above is that an algebra A, satisfying a non-trivial G-polynomial identity, is a PI- algebra if and only if its sequence of Gcodimensions if exponentially bounded. This result was applied in [2] for proving that if A satisfies a, so-called, essential G-identity then A is a Pi-algebra. As a consequence, the authors gave a new proof of Amitsur's theorem ([!]) which states that any algebra with involution satisfying an identity with involution, is a Pi-algebra. The reward for this approach was that also a bound was obtained on the degree of some identity satisfied by A. In the next sections we shall study special cases of this general setting. 3 GROUP ACTIONS AND GRADINGS
In case G is a finite abelian group acting on A as a group of automorphisms, there is a close connection between G-identities and G-graded identities. We first recall the following basic definitions. Let G be a finite group. Recall that an algebra A is G-graded if A can be decomposed into the direct sum of subspaces A g^QAg such that AgAh C Agh- The free associative G-graded algebra is defined as follows. Let F(Y) be the free associative algebra over F on a countable set Y. We write Y in the form Y \JgecYg, where Yg = {y[g , 3/3 > } are disjoint sets. The indeterminates from Yg are said to be of homogeneous degree g. The homogeneous degree of a monomial y^1' y^*' F(Y) is defined to be g\gi gt, as opposed to its total degree, which is defined to be t. Denote by fg the subspace of the algebra F(Y) generated by all the monomials having homogeneous degree g. Notice that fgJ-'h Q Fgh, fr every g, h in G. It follows that F(Y) = g&G-^9 ls a G-grading, and F(Y) is the free G-graded algebra on Y. The algebra F(Y) has the following universal property: given a G-graded algebra A, any set theoretical map -0 : Y > A extends uniquely to a
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homomorphism $ : F(Y} + A of G-graded algebras. Hence, if we let ty be the set of all such homomorphisms, Id9T(A) = p) j,^ Keri/> is the ideal of G-graded polynomial identities of A. As we have already remarked in the case of a G-action, since char F = 0, Id,9r(A) is determined by its multilinear polynomials. Hence, for every n > 1, we consider the space of multilinear G-graded polynomials VT = SpanF{4?i) *<*;> a <E Sn, < ? ! , . . . , 9n 6 G}
and VnT n Idgr(A) is the set of all multilinear G-graded polynomial identities of degree n in the first n variables. Accordingly, the n-th G-graded codimension of A is defined as
After this brief digression into graded identities, we return to the Gactions. Suppose now that G is a finite abelian group acting on A as a group of automorphisms and F is an algebraically closed field. It is well known (see [24]) that, in this case a G-action on A induces a G-grading on A. This process can be reversed and, so, there is a well understood duality between group actions and group gradings on A. We give next a proof of this fact. For a finite abelian group G, let us denote by G the group of all its irreducible characters. Notice that G is a group under pointwise multiplication: if x, ^ e G,g G, then (xV;)(<?) = x(ffM#) and G = G. LEMMA 2 Let G be a finite abelian group and let G be the group of all irreducible G-characters over the algebraically closed field F. If G acts as a group of automorphisms on the F -algebra A, then A has a structure of G-graded algebra. Conversely, if A is a G-graded algebra, then G acts as a group of automorphisms of A. Proof. Suppose that A is an algebra such that G C Aut(A). We extend the action of G to an action of the group algebra FG: if G = {g\, . . . ,gk} and en, . . . ,Q f c <E F, then set, aa^9i+-+akgk _ aiQgi H ----- h akagk _ Write FG = JL^-FG/,; where /i, . . . , fk are the minimal idempotents of FG. For any g e G, we have that, gfa = Xi (#)/?> ?' ! , > & , where Xi, . Xk are all the irreducible characters of G and Xi(fj) = îjfji with 6ij the Kronecker symbol. For i = 1, . . , , fc, define A^ = {a e A\a = X r ( g ^ } (2)
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It is not hard to see that AXi is the linear subspace of A generated by all elements of the form a-^% a 6 A. Since every a e A can be written as a = a/1 -I ----- \-afk, it follows that
A
= GAx-
(3)
It is readily seen that the decomposition in (3) gives a G-grading on A. In fact, if a Ax, b e A^,, then a9 = x(9)ai b9 = ^(9)^ and, so, (ab)9 = asb9 = (xt^>)(g)ab, and this says that AxA^j, C A^,. We have proved that the algebra ^4 with G-action is a G-graded algebra. Suppose now that A = g^cAg is an associative algebra graded by a finite abelian group G of order k. We define an action of G on A by setting x() = S g eG^(^) a 9' wnere X is an irreducible G-character and a .A is of the form a = ^,9Ga9> og A/- This completes the proof. D We now apply the above duality to F(X\G), the free algebra with Gaction. Let us start with a finite abelian group G acting on A and let /i , . . . , /t be the minimal idempotents of the group algebra FG. Let G = {xi, ,Xk} and recall that Xi(fj) = GijfjFor any x X we can write x = xl = x-^lH ^ = x-^1 + + x-^fc; hence, for g e G, x 9 = x9(/i+-+/fc) = X9fl + + xgfk = Xi(d}xh + ---- \-Xk(g}xfk. This says that Spanp{:r% G} = SpanF{x/1, . . . ,xfk}. It follows that F(X\G] is freely generated, as an associative algebra, by the set {xfl,...,xfk\x E X}. Now, the space W SpanF{xs|gr G, x 6 X} can be decomposed as
where WXi = Span{x^|x G X}. This in turn induces in the free algebra the following grading as a vector space
F(X\G] = F ( X \ G ) X .
(4)
Notice that in case G acts as a group of automorphisms on A, then (4) becomes a G-grading and it is easy to see that it is the one described in the previous lemma. It follows that F(X\G) is the free G-graded algebra onX. In what follows we will identity G = G and we will say that the algebra A has G-action or is G-graded in case G C Aut(A). An important property of this G-grading of the free algebra F(X\G) is that if ip : F(X\G) > A is a homomorphism into any associative algebra with G-action A, then tp commutes with the G-action if and only if (p is a homomorphism of G-graded algebras ([9]). From this we immediately get that IdG(A) = Id9r(A).
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G I ^-REPRESENTATIONS
About the representation theory of G I Sn, in [30] Specht gave a general method for studying the representations of a wreath product over the complex numbers. In [281 Regev showed how to describe all irreducible representations of G I Sn for any finite group G in the framework of a Schur context. Here we shall apply his results to the case when G is an abelian group and we shall derive some consequences for the G-identities. Throughout this section G will be a finite abelian group of order k acting on A, and F an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. Recall that, given an integer n > 1, we say that (A) = (A(l), . . . , X(k)) is a multipartition of n and we write (A) h n, if there exists a finite sequence of partitions A(l) H n\, . . . . A(A:) 1- n^, where n\ + + n^ n. It turns out that, for an abelian group G, there is a one-to-one correspondence between non-equivalent irreducible representations of GlSn and multipartitions of n. In order to construct minimal idempotents of the group algebra FG I Sn one proceeds as follows. Take (A) = (A(l), . . . , \ ( k ) ) a multipartition of n, where A(l) h n\. . . . , $t) h n^, and let Sn. be the symmetric group acting on the set {n\ + + n,;_i + 1. . . . , ni + + n z }, i = 1, . . . , A;, UQ = 0. Then, for every i = 1, . . . , A:, choose a tableau on X(i) and let ex(i] be the corresponding minimal idempotent of FSUl. If /i, . . . , fk are the minimal idempotents of FG, the element C(A> = /?ni ' ' ' f k n " A(i) ' ' ' e A(fc) is a minimal idempotent of FG I Sn. For any multipartition (A) of n, let us denote by X{$ the irreducible G I Sn.-charact.ei1 corresponding to (A). Recall the action of G I Sn on the space of multilinear G- polynomials given in (1), and let Xn (^) denote the character of the G I SV,-module
T rC I A \ _
is called the n-th G-cocharacter of the algebra A. Since char F 0, by complete reducibility, we can write Xn(A] as a sum of irreducible characters
(A)hn
where rn.(\) > 0 denotes the corresponding multiplicity. Recall that for any abelian group G, the free algebra with G-action F(X\G) is G-graded, as a vector space, as in (4) and it is freely generated by the elements :r-' ? , where x G X arid 1 < i < k.
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Let E = {/i, ... , fk} denote the set of all minimal idempotents of FG. For any e = (e\, . . . , en) e En, we define
Then it, is clear that VG has the following decomposition
V =
Since the variables from x^ are free generators then, if we write h 6 VGr]IdG(A) ash = eeE" he 'with he e Fne, we will have that he e IdG(A) for all e En. This says that VG n Jd G ,4 = een V n Fix e and consider the space V- Suppose that in V , n\ variables Xi have exponent /i, ... , n/t variables Xi have exponent /&. Clearly n\ + + nk = n. We let the group Sni x x Snie act on the left on the space V by permuting each set of variables with the same exponent. Since T-ideals are invariant under this permutation action, V^/V^ fl IdG(A) becomes an Sni x x SHk -module. Let us define
It is well known that there is a one-to-one correspondence between nonequivalent irreducible Sni x x Snk -representations and multipartitions (A) = (A(l), . . . , A(fc)) h n such that A(l) H HI, . . . , A(fc) h n fc . For any i = 1, . . . ,k, choose a partition X(i) h n, and a tableau of shape A(z). If e.$i) is the corresponding minimal idempotent of the group algebra FSni, then is a minimal idempotent of the algebra x x 5 nfc ). From this, it is clear that there is a close connection between irreducible G I S'n.-representations and irreducible Sm x x SV^-representations. We shall state this precisely in terms of characters in the next theorem. For any partition A h r, let x\ the irreducible 5r-character corresponding to A. Then x\(i) ' ' 'X\(k) is the irreducible 5rai x x 5rafc-character associated to the multipartition (A) = (A(l), . . . , A(fc)). By complete reducibility, the Sni x x ^-module ^^...^(^4) has character
Xni,...,nk(A) = x(Vni,...,nk(A)) = (A)hn
m
'(X)XX(l)
'"
X\(k),
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where (A) = ( A ( l ) , . . . , X(k)) is a multipartition of n such that A(l) h n i , . . . , X(k) H njf. and ?T?/,A> > 0. The connection between G I 5n-characters and Sni x x S"nfc-characters is the following ([9]). THEOREM 1 // V(A) has G I Sn-character
Xn(A)
Gi \\
/ ($\-n
V^
(\)X(\)
and Vm,...,nk(A) has Sni x x Snk-character

Xni,...,nk(A) = ^ m/x)X\(l) ' ' ' X\(k),
then rri(x) m'/^, for all multipartitions (A) = ( A ( l ) , . . .. A(A:)) where A(l) h n i , . . . , X(k} \- rifc, nj + + n^ = n. As an immediate corollary we get the following formula for the n-th G-codimension of A.
(5)
where ( 5
) is the generalized binomial coefficient.
ALGEBRAS WITH POLYNOMIAL GROWTH OF THE GCODIMENSIONS
If A is a Pi-algebra with G-action, by Lemma 1 and [26], we know that the G-codimensions of A are exponentially bounded. A first step towards the study of the growth of this sequence is done by examining the case when the sequence is polynomially bounded i.e., c^(A) < a,n* for some constants o., t. Recall that all algebras are over F, a field of characteristic zero. We first look at the ordinary case (G trivial). A characterization in this setting was given by Kemer in [16]. In case an algebra A has polynomially bounded sequence of the codimensions, he produced a list of polynomial identities satisfied by A. As a consequence he obtained a result that we now describe. Let A denote the infinite dimensional Grassmann algebra over F. Recall that A is generated by a countable set {e\, 6 2 , . . . } subject to the condition ejCj = CjCi. Also, let LIT? be the algebra of 2 x 2 upper triangular matrices
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over F. Kemer's characterization is the following: for an algebra A, cn(A) is polynomially bounded if and only if A, UT2 g var(A), the variety of algebras generated by A ([17]). We remark that the ideal of identities of A and UT2 have been extensively studied ([21], [19], [5]). Here we start by giving a characterization of the G-graded ideals whose sequence of graded codimensions is polynomially bounded in case G is any finite group ([9]). THEOREM 2 Let A = g^QAg be an F-algebra graded by a finite group G. Then the sequence of graded codimensions of A is polynomially bounded if and only if for som.e positive integers m and r the algebra A satisfies the following graded identities 1) [ x i , x 2 ] [x2m-i,x2m] = 0, for allxi,..., x2m E AI;
2) 1.7:3 X2r-iyX2X4: X2r
for all xi,...,X2r A\,y . Ag, where H is the subgroup of S2r generated by the transpositions (12), (34), . . . , (2r 1 2r), and aT F depends on g 6 G; 3) the ideal of A generated by g^\Ag is nilpotent. In case G is a finite abelian group acting on A by automorphisms and F is algebraically closed, we know, from the results of section 3, that there is a duality between G-actions and G-gradings. Hence, in this case, Theorem 2 is a result about G-codimensions. COROLLARY 1 Let A be an algebra over the algebraically closed field F and let G be a finite abelian group acting by automorphisms on A. Then the sequence of G- codimensions of A is polynomially bounded if and only if A satisfi.es the conditions 1),2),3) of Theorem 2. If one applies the representation theory of the group GlSn, as indicated in section 4, it is possible to deduce, from the above corollary, a theorem describing when c^(A) is polynomially bounded, in terms of properties of the G-cocharacter sequence of A. Recall that an algebra A satisfies the Capelli identity of rank t if any polynomial multilinear and alternating in t + 1 variables vanishes in A. With this definition at hand, we can prove the following lemma valid for any algebra A, graded by a finite group G, over the algebraically closed field F.
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LEMMA 3 If A has polynomial growth of the G-codimensions, then A satisfies a Capelli identity. Proof. By Lemma 1, cn(A] <c^(A). Hence the ordinary codimensions of A are polynomially bounded. But then, by [14, Theorem 3 ], the ^-characters appearing with non-zero multiplicity in Xn(A) have corresponding diagram of height bounded by a constant. By a theorem of Regev ([27]) this says that A satisfies a Capelli identity. D We also need the following technical lemma that can be proved through the hook formula giving the degrees of the irreducible 5n-characters ([5, Theorem 12.2.12]). LEMMA 4 Let X \- n and let t, q be fixed integers. If A lies in a strip of height t i.e., A = (Ai, . . . , Am) with m < t, and A2 > <?+4 then x$l) > nq+l for large enough n. Recall that the r?.-th G-cocharacter of A has the decomposition
where X($ is the irreducible G?5n-character associated to the multipartition (A) = ( A ( l ) , . . . , A(A;)). We write X(i) = (A(i)i, A(?;) 2 , . - - ) and |A(i)| = m in case X(i) h m. We can now prove the following characterization ([9]). THEOREM 3 Let A be an algebra over the algebraically dosed field F and let G be a finite abelian group of order k acting by automorphisms on A. Then the sequence {c^(A}}n>i of G-codimensions of A is polynomially bounded if and only if there exists a constant C such that the n-th G-cocharacter of A has the following decomposition
(A)hn \\(l)\-\(l)l<C
Proof. Suppose first that c^(A) < cm9, for some constants a,q. By Theorem 2, the ideal / generated by gîAg is nilpotent and let IN = 0. Let n = n\ + + n,k and suppose that n^ + + njt > N. By Theorem 1, the 5ni x x Snk -character of Vni^^^k(A) has the following decomposition (A] =
m
(X}X\(l) ' ' ' X\(k)
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where (A) = (A(l), . . . , A(fc)), A ( l ) h ni, . . . , A(fc) h n^, and the multiplicities m ( A > are the same as in Xn(A} = E(A}Hn m {A)X{A>. Since IN = 0 and n2 -\ ----- \- nk > N, it, follows that Vnir..,nk(A) = 0. Hence rn/\\ = 0 for any (A) with 77,2 + + nk > Af. It remains to show that if (A) = (A(l), . . . , A(fc)), A(l) h ni, . . . , A(fc) h n/j, is such that rn^ ^ 0, then ni A(l)i is bounded by a constant. By Lemma 3, the algebra A satisfies the Capelli identity of some rank t. Hence any multilinear polynomial alternating on t + 1 variables vanishes in A. Such polynomial is clearly still zero if we evaluate its alternating variables in A\. It follows (essentially from [27]) that A(l) must lie in a strip of height t. We shall prove next that, A(l)2 < q + 4. This together with the above will say that n\ A(l)i < t(q + 4), the desired conclusion. Suppose to the contrary that A(l)2 > g + 4. Then, by Lemma 4, XA(i)(l) is asymptotically greater than (n N)g+l. Since, by what we proved above, n<2 + + nk < N, we must have that n\ = n n^ nk > n N. Hence, <%(A) > dim ^,...,^(,4) > XA(i)(l) -XA(fc)(l) > (n-N)*+l, a contradiction. Conversely, suppose that there exists a constant C such that |A(2)| + - + \X(k)\ + |A(1)| - A(l)i < C, for all multipartitions (A) = (A(l), . . . , X(k)) with m-{\) ^ 0. Then, for any n, we have that the number of non-zero spaces Vni^,.tnk(A) does not exceed the constant Ck~l . Hence, by recalling the formula (5) relating the G-codimensions to the dimensions of the spaces Vni,...,nk(A), we get that, in the sum (5), the number of non-zero summands is bounded by a constant. Let now W Vni^m H k ( A ) be any non-zero subspace. Any irreducible Sni x x 5nfc-submodule of W is of the type W\ <8> Wk, where every Wi is an irreducible Sni -module corresponding to a partition A(z) h n,;, i = I, . . . ,k. Moreover, dim Wi < C\ for any i = 2, . . . , k. For i = 1, from the hook formula it easily follows that dimH7! < /n^'c\\ < nc . Since the dimensions of all Sni -modules are polynomially bounded, their multiplicities are also polynomially bounded, both in FSni and in W. Hence the dimension of any Vnii...jnk(A) is polynomially bounded and, by Theorem 1, is polynomially bounded. D Notice that the above theorem says that in order for the G-codimensions to be polynomially bounded, in the decomposition n = |A(1)| + + |A(fc)|, the integers |A(1)| - A(l) 1 ; |A(2)|, . . . , |A(fc)| should be bounded by some common constant i.e., all the Young diagrams A(2), . . . , A(fc) contain only a bounded number of boxes, and the diagram A(l) contains only a bounded number of boxes out of the first row.
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SUPERALGEBRA, ALGEBRAS WITH INVOLUTION AND POLYNOMIAL GROWTH
The theorems of the last section are the most general results obtained so far, regarding algebras whose sequence of G-codimensions is polynomially bounded. Still we would like to obtain a characterization, like in the ordinary case, in terms of ideals of identities that are well known and understood. This achievement has been reached in two cases: when G is generated by an automorphism or an antiautomorphism of order 2. We first fix some notation. Suppose that G = {</?) is the multiplicative group of order 2. Then -^ and ^ are the minimal idempotents of the group algebra FG. By applying what we proved in section 3, we see that the free algebra with G-action is freely generated by the elements Xi + x? and Xi ;xf , z = l , 2 , . . . . For convenience, for every i, let us write .TJ + xf = yi and Xi xf z,. Then F(X\G) = F(Y, Z) is the free associative algebra on the two sets Y {y\. j/2> } and Z = {zi, 2*2 . . .}. The difference between the case when (p is an automorphism or an antiautomorphism of order 2 lies in the following. In the first case, as we remarked in section 3, F(Y,Z) has a structure of Z2-graded algebra (or superalgebra) where the variables from Y have homogeneous degree 0 and the variables from Z have homogeneous degree 1. F(Y, Z) is the free superalgebra on Y and Z. In case <p is an involution, we write (p = * and F(Y,Z) has an induced structure of algebra with involution where the variables from Y are symmetric i.e., y* yz, and the variables from Z are skewsymmetric i.e.,
Z* = -Z,;, i = l,2,....
Now, since an automorphism or an antiautomorphism can be regarded as a unary operation on an algebra, then one can naturally speak of varieties of Z2-graded algebras or superalgebras, denoted supervarieties, and of varieties of algebras with involution, denoted starvarieties. In case A is a superalgebra, we shall denote by su.pvar(A) the supervariety generated by A, by IdsuP(A) the ideal of F(Y, Z) of graded identities of A and by cSnp(A] the corresponding sequence of graded codimensions or supercodimensions. When A is an algebra with involution *, we denote by starvar(A) the starvariety generated by A, by Id* (A) the ideal of F(Y,Z) of Z2-identities or *-identities of A and by c^(A) the corresponding sequence of Z2-codimensions or *-codimensions. In case V is a variety of superalgebras (of algebras with involution) and A is a generating algebra, we shall write Cn''p(A) = If a variety V of superalgebras (algebras with involution) has sequence of the supercodimensions (*-codimensions, resp.) polynomially bounded, we say that V has polynomial growth. Moreover we say that a variety V has
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almost polynomial growth if V has not polynomial growth, but every proper subvariety U of V has polynomial growth. The use of this terminology will be soon clear. Let us go back to our original problem of describing the super varieties and the *-varieties with polynomial growth. As for the superalgebras, we are looking for a minimal list of superalgebras A\,... , An, having the following property. Given a supervariety V, then V has polynomial growth if and only if Ai V, for alii 1,... , n. This says that Idsup(Ai} 2 Idsup(V] and, from this it follows that, any supervariety properly contained in supvar(Ai) must have polynomial growth. It is obvious that the same remark holds, with the due changes in notation, for the *-varieties. Now, if A is any Pi-algebra, then A can be viewed as a superalgebra with trivial grading i.e., A = A^ 0 A^ where A^ = A and A^ = 0. Thus, var(A) can be viewed as the supervariety defined by all the identities of the algebra A in even variables and by the identity z 0 with z odd. Recall that if A is the infinite dimensional Grassmann algebra over F, A has a natural Z2-grading A = A^ A^ 1 ', where A^ is the span of all monomials in the e^s of even length, and A'1' is the span of all monomials in the e,;'s of odd length. Since A has also the trivial grading, in order to distinguish between the two, we shall write A and A.sup to mean A with the trivial grading and A with the grading A = A^' A^ described above, respectively. Another useful example is the algebra UT2, of 2 x 2 upper triangular matrices over the field F. Also in this case UT2 has a natural grading UT2 = (t/T2)0 0 (UT2)i where (UT2)0 = Feu + Fe22, the subspace of diagonal matrices, and (UT2)i = Fe\2 (here the ejj's are the usual matrix units). In this case, we write UT2 and UTûp, for the algebra UT2 endowed with the trivial grading and the above grading, respectively. One more example is obtained by considering the commutative algebra A = F tF where t2 = 1 with grading A^ = F, A^> = tF. Notice that in this case the corresponding automorphism <p is also an involution of A. It turns out that the above five algebras are enough in order to classify all the supervarieties with polynomial growth. In fact we have ([8]). THEOREM 4 Let V be a variety of superalgebras. Then V has polynomial growth if and only if A, UT2, AS"P, UTP', F tF < V. As a consequence, one obtains that the same five algebras classify all the supervarieties with almost polynomial growth. COROLLARY 2 A, ASUP, UT2, UTûp andFtF generate the only supervarieties of almost polynomial growth.
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Notice that, as we remarked above, if A and UT% have trivial grading, then supvar(K) = var(K) and supvartyTz) = var(UT2). Now, in [19] it was proved that c n (A) = 2""1. Also, by the results in [20], it follows that cn(UT2) = 2 + (n - 2J2"- 1 . Thus, var(A) and var(UT2) have exponential growth. Recall that, by the result of Kemer mentioned above ([17]), both varieties have almost polynomial growth. About the other varieties, in [31] it was shown that C/T|"P generates a variety with almost polynomial growth. The same property was proved in [8] for the algebra A.sup and in [6] for the algebra FtF. It was also shown that the supercodimensions of these algebras have exponential growth equal to 2 i.e., limn-+00(c%lp (A)) = 2, where A is any of the above three algebras. We now turn to the case of algebras with involution and ^-varieties. Since the algebra F tF is commutative then, by the above, it generates a *variety with almost polynomial growth. Another candidate was constructed and studied in [22]. Let, R = F(en + 33) + Fe22 + Fe^ + Fei3 + Fe2s be the algebra of 3 x 3 upper triangular matrices, having equal entries in the (1,1) and (3,3) positions. This algebra has an involution obtained by flipping a matrix along his secondary diagonal. Since / = Fe\^ is a *-invariant ideal of R, the quotient algebra, M = R/I, has an induced involution. In [22] it was proved that starvar(M) has almost polynomial growth and its sequence of *-codimensions has exponential growth equal to 2. The classification of the *-varieties with almost polynomial growth was obtained in [7] as follows. THEOREM 5 A ^-variety V has polynomial growth if and only if M, F tF V. Hence M and F tF generate the only ^-varieties with almost polynomial growth. We finish this section with an important corollary. As we have remarked above, the superalgebras and the algebras with involution described in the previous two theorems have supercodimensions or *-codimensions growing exponentially. Hence the following corollary holds. COROLLARY 3 There exists no variety of superalgebras or of algebras with involution with intermediate growth. 7 FINITE DIMENSIONAL ALGEBRAS AND EXPONENTIAL GROWTH
In this section we shall describe how to determine the growth of the corresponding codimensions for a superalgebra or an algebra with involution which is finite dimensional over F.
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Even if in this section we shall adopt a common terminology for the two cases (of superalgebras and algebras with involution), the reader should be aware that these are quite different from the point of view of polynomial identities. For instance, as we have already remarked, a superalgebra can satisfy some nontrivial graded identities and still not be a Pi-algebra. Instead, by a well known theorem of Amitsur ([!]), if an algebra with involution satisfies a nontrivial *-identity, it must be a Pi-algebra. Recall that in [11] and [12] it was shown that if A is any Pi-algebra, and Cn(A) is its sequence of codimensions, then
exp(A) =
exists and is a non negative integer, called the Pi-exponent of the algebra A. 'In case A has an additional structure of superalgebra or algebra with involution, one can study the exponential behaviour of the corresponding sequence of supercodimensions or *-codimensions and compare it with the Pi-exponent. In the ordinary case, based on a theorem of Kemer (see [18, Theorem 2.3]), one makes the following basic reduction. If A is any Pi-algebra, then there exists a finite dimensional superalgebra B = B^ B^ such that var(A) = var(A.(B)) where A(B) = (A<) < 0) ) (A*1* B^) is the, so called, Grassmann envelope of B. Unfortunately, an analogous result is not available in case of superalgebras or algebras with involution. In order to illustrate the results so far obtained in a compact way, let us say that an algebra A is a (/^-algebra if A has an automorphism or an antiautomorphism (f of order 2 i.e., A is either a superalgebra or an algebra with involution. By analogy, we shall use the terms y>-variety, (^-codimensions and write ip-var(A), c(A), Id^(A), with the obvious meaning. Let now A be a finite dimensional </?-algebra over the field F. Since the (/5-codimensions of A do not change upon extension of the field F, for our purpose, we might as well assume that F is algebraically closed. Let
A = B +J
be the Wedderburn-Malcev decomposition of the algebra A ([4, Theorem 72.19]), where B is a maximal semisimple subalgebra of A and J = J(A) is its Jacobson radical. It is well known that Jv = J is stable under the (/j-action. Also, by [18, pag. 21] and [14, Theorem 4], we may assume that B^ = B has an induced (/^-action and, being semisimple, we can write B = BI Bm where B\,... , Bm are (/^-simple subalgebras. Now define an integer d = d(A) in the following way. Consider all possible products of the form JB,^ J.B7;2 J JBik ^ 0 for distinct B^,... , Bik and set dimF(Bil Bik) = dilr._tik. Then defined = max^,...^ {dtj,...,^}-
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In [3] it was proved that if A is a finite dimensional superalgebra over the algebraically closed field F, having the decomposition given above, then there exist constants 0,1,0,2,^1,62, such that a,inbldn < csnup(A) < a 2 n 62 d n . In particular lim,,.-.^ ^/CnLp(A) = d. Since by a theorem of Kemer [18, Theorem 2.2], for any finitely generated superalgebra A satisfying a polynomial identity, there exists a finite dimensional superalgebra A' such that Idsup(A) = Idsup(A'), we obtain the following. THEOREM 6 Let A be a finitely generated superalgebra satisfying an ordinary polynomial identity. Then lim \ cîp(A) exists and is a nonnegative n>oo V integer. For any superalgebra A as in the theorem above, we define the superexponent of A as supexp(A) = lim ?/csnup(A).
n>oo V
In case of algebras with involution one gets a similar characterization that leads to the following result ([13]). THEOREM 7 Let A be a finite dimensional algebra with involution. Then lim ^/c*(A) exists and is a nonnegative integer.
n>oo
Then one defines, for any finite dimensional algebra with involution j4, the *-exponent of A as *exp(A) = lim \Jc*n(A). The notion of super-exponent and *-exponent is extended to the corresponding varieties in the obvious way. Notice that the above two theorems imply that there exist no finite dimensional algebras with involution or finitely generated superalgebras with corresponding sequences of the codimensions with intermediate growth. A result that we already know in more generality. If V is a supervariety, generated by a finite dimensional superalgebra, then supexp(V) < 1 means that, V has polynomial growth. But then, it is natural to ask if there exists a characterization, similar to the one given in Theorem 4, of the supervarieties of superexponent > 2. Analogous question can be made for the *-varieties. Both cases have been recently studied and we now describe the results obtained. Let us start with the case of the superalgebras.
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Let us denote by UTn(F] the algebra of n x n upper triangular matrices over F and by M n (F) the algebra of n x n matrices over F. Then we define the following eight superalgebras over F. A\ M2(F), with trivial grading. A2 = M 2 (F), with grading ((Q
A3= p
J , (p F\ (tF tF
Q
(F@t,F 0
FtF\ ., ,. ((F F J . t h grading^ //F F
pj,^
FtF\ = t/T3(F), with trivial grading. = UTz(F), with grading
= Z7T3(F), with grading
= t/T3(F), with grading We remark that when the field F is algebraically closed, all possible Ggradings on UTn(F), for G an arbitrary finite abelian group, were classified in [32]. It turns out that there exist only four distinct Z2-gradings on LT3(F), and these give rise to the algebras A$, AQ, Aj, AS given above. A throughout study of the above eight algebras and their identities leads to the conclusion that, for all i,j e {!,... ,8}, i ^ j, Idsup(Ai) g Idsup(Aj). It turns out that the above is a minimal list of superalgebras characterizing varieties of superexponent greater than two ([3]). THEOREM 8 Let V be a supervariety generated by a finitely generated superalgebra satisfying an ordinary polynomial identity. Then supexp(V) > 2 if and only if AI V for some i 6 {1,..., 8}. Putting together Theorem 8 and Theorem 4 one can prove the following.
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COROLLARY 4 Let V be a supervariety generated by a finitely generated superalgebra satisfying an ordinary polynomial identity. Then supexp(V) 2 if and only if A,; V, for all i { ! , . . . ,8}, and either UT2 or UTP or F tF lies in V. In case of algebras with involution, the algebras that come into play are quite different,. First recall that in the study of the ^-identities of Mn(F) only two involutions are relevant (see for instance [29]): the transpose involution and the symplectic involution (this last one is defined only in case n is even). In the description we are going to give, another involution of UTn(F), that, we shall denote * = j, comes into play: the reflection of an upper triangular matrix matrix along its secondary diagonal. With this at hand, we can now give the following list of algebras with involution. B\ = UTs(F}/Feiz, with involution induced by the involution j on UT3(F).
B2 =
(D
V
~
U
0\
'
, where D =
0 6 / , D = 0 b /'and \0 0 cj \0 0 aj a. b, c, d, d', e, e', /, /' 6 F, with involution induced b y j o n UT6(F}.
(a'
tc
'
'\
By, = A/2(F), with transpose involution. B<i = M%(F}, with symplectic involution. A study of these algebras and their *-identities leads to Id*(Bj] < Id*(Bj), for all i,j e {!,... ,4}, i ^ j. It turns out that the above four algebras characterize all varieties of ^-exponent greater than two ([25]). The result is the following. THEOREM 9 Let V be a * -variety generated by a finite dimensional algebra with involution. Then * exp(V) > 2 if and only if BI . V for some
ie{i,...,4}.
Combining Theorem 9 and Theorem 5 one obtains the following. COROLLARY 5 Let V be a ^-variety generated by a finite dimensional algebra with involution. Then * exp(V) = 2 if and only if Bi 0 V, for all i 6 { 1 , . . . , 4}, and either M or F iF lies in V. We close this section with a final remark. If A is any superalgebra for which supexp(A] is defined, then from Lemma 1 one deduces that, exp(A) < snpexp(A) < 2exp(A).
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It is then natural to wonder if there exist superalgebras filling the gap between d and Id, for every positive integer d. The answer to such a question is yes. In fact, in [3], it was shown that, given any two integers d > 1 and 0 < k < d, there exists a finite dimensional superalgebra A such that exp(A) = d and supexp(A) = d + k. The analogous question for algebras with involution was answered positively in [25]. REFERENCES [1] S. A. Amitsur, Identities in rings with involution, Israel J. Math., 7 (1968), 63-68. [2] Y. Bahturin, A. Giambruno and M. Zaicev, G-identities on associative algebras, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 127 (1999), 63-69. [3] F. Benanti, A. Giambruno and M. Pipitone, Polynomial identities on superalgebras and exponential growth, (preprint). [4] C. W. Curtis and I. Reiner, Representation Theory of Finite Groups and Associative Algebras, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1962. [5] V. Drensky, Free Algebras and Pi-Algebras, Springer Verlag, BerlinHeidelberg-Singapore, 1999. [6] A. Giambruno and S. Mishchenko, Polynomial growth of the *codimensions and Young diagrams, Comm. Algebra, 29 (2001), 277284. [7] A. Giambruno and S. Mishchenko, Star-varieties with almost polynomial growth, Algebra Coll, 8 (2001), 33-42. [8] A. Giambruno, S. Mishchenko and M. Zaicev, Polynomial identities on superalgebras and almost polynomial growth, Comm. Algebra, 29 (2001), 3787-3800. [9] A. Giambruno, S. Mishchenko and M. Zaicev, Group actions and asymptotic behavior of graded polynomial identities, J. London Math. Soc., (to appear). [10] A. Giambruno and A. Regev, Wreath products and P.I. algebras, J. Pure Applied Algebra, 35 (1985), 133-149. [11] A. Giambruno and M. Zaicev, On codimension growth of finitely generated associative algebras, Adv. Math., 140 (1998), 145-155.
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[12] A. Giambruno and M. Zaicev, Exponential codimension growth of Pialgebras: an exact estimate, Adv. Math., 142 (1999), 221-243. [13] A. Giambruno and M. Zaicev, Involution codimensions of finite dimensional algebras and exponential growth, J. Algebra, 222 (1999). 471-484. [14] A. Giambruno and M. Zaicev, A characterization of algebras with polynomial growth of the codimensions, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 129 (2001) 59-67. [15] G. James and A. Kerber, The representation theory of the symmetric group, Encyclopedia of Mathematics and its Applications 16 (AddisonWesley, London, 1981). [16] A. Kemer, T-ideals with power growth of the codimensions are Specht (Russian), Sibirskii Matematicheskii Zhurnal, 19 (1978), 54-69; English translation: Siberian Math. J., 19 (1978), 37-48. [17] A. Kemer. Varieties of finite rank, Proc. 15-th All the Union Algebraic Conf. Krasnoyarsk, Vol 2 (1979), 73 (Russian). [18] A. Kemer, Ideals of identities of associative algebras, Translations of Mathematical Monograph 87 (American Mathematical Society, Providence. RI. 1988). [19] A. Krakowsky and A. Regev, The polynomial identities of the Grassmann algebra. Trans. Am.er. Math. Soc., 181 (1973), 429-438. [20] V. N. Latyshev, The complexity of nonmatrix varieties of associative algebras. 1,11, Algebra i Logika, 16 (1977), 149-183, 184-199 (Russian). Translation: Algebra and Logic, 16 (1977), 48-122, 122-133. [21] Yu. N. Mal'cev, Basis of identities of the algebra of upper triangular matrices, Algebra i Logika, 10 (1973), 393-400 (Russian); English translation: Algebra and Logic, 10 (1973), 242-247. [22] S. Mishchenko and A. Valenti, A star-variety with almost polynomial growth, J. Algebra, 223 (2000), 66-84. [23] S. Montgomery, Fixed Rings of Finite Automorphism, Groups of Associative Rings, Lecture Notes in Mathematics 818, (Springer, Berlin, 1980). [24] S. Montgomery, Hopf Algebras and Their Actions on Rings, CBMS Regional Conf. Series in Math. 82, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, 1993.
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[25] M. Pipitone, Algebras with involution whose exponent of the *codimensions is equal to two, Comm. Algebra (to appear). [26] A. Regev, Existence of identities in A B, Israel J. Math., 11 (1972), 131-152. [27] A. Regev, Algebras satisfying a Capelli identity, Israel J. Math., 33 (1979), 149-154. [28] A. Regev, The representations of wreath products via double centralizing theorems, J. Algebra, 102 (1986), 423-443. [29] L.H. Rowen, Polynomial identities in ring theory, Academic Press, New York, 1980. [30] W. Specht, Eine varellgemeinerung der symmetrischen gruppe, Schriften Math. Sem. Berlin, 1 (1932), 1-32. [31] A. Valenti, The graded identities of upper triangular matrices of size two, J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 172 (2002), 325-335. [32] A. Valenti and M. Zaicev, Abelian gradings on upper-triangular matrices, Arch. Math, (to appear).
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Monotone Matrix Maps Preserve NonMaximal Rank1

A. GUTERMAN Department of Higher Algebra, Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119899, Russia. E-mail: guterman@mmascience.ru
ABSTRACT It is shown that bijective monotone linear transformations on rectangular m, x n matrices with respect to <, <, *<, <*, <, < matrix partial orders preserve the set flmn of matrices with rank less than min{m,n}. As a consequence we obtain a classification of all bijective monotone linear transformations with respect to each of partial orders mentioned above.
_ * O 0\
PRELIMINARIES
Let Mmn(F) be the set of m x n matrices over a field F, M n (F) = M nn (F), GLn(F) be the general linear group of order n, On(F) and Un(F) be the groups of orthogonal, resp. unitary, matrices of order n. The symbols A*, rkA, and M(A) will stand for the conjugate transpose, the rank, and the linear span of columns, respectively, of a matrix A M mn (F). Symbols a\(A) and a (A) will denote the maximal singular value and the set of nonzero singular values for real and complex matrices. The fields of real and complex numbers will be denoted by R and C, correspondingly. A partial order on a set S is a binary relation which is reflexive, transitive, and antisymmetric. One of the basic partial order relations on the set S = M mn (F), where F is an arbitrary field, was introduced by R. Hartwig in [16] and, independently, by K. Nambooripad in [21]. It can be defined as follows
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DEFINITION 1.1 For A, B E M mn (F)- it is said that A<B iff i-k(B- A] = ikB-ikA . (1)
The star partial ordering A < B on M mn (C) is due to M. Drazin [9]. It can be defined as DEFINITION 1.2 For A,B M m n (C) it is said that A < B iff
A* A = A*B and AA* = BA\ (2)
The left-star and right-star partial orderings A* < B and A < *B on Mmn(C) have been introduced by J. Baksalary and S. Mitra [2] as follows DEFINITION 1.3 For A, B e Mmn(C) it is said that A*<B iff
A* A = A*B and M(A) C M(B).
DEFINITION 1.4 For A, B e M m n (C) it is said that A <* iff AA* = BA* and M(A") C M(B*}. J. Baksalary and J. Hauke [1] defined a singular value partial ordering A < B on Mmn(C) as DEFINITION 1.5 For A, B e Mmn(C) it is said that A < B iff A<B and a(A) C a(B). J. Gro/3 [13] defined a <ri-partial ordering A < B on M mn (C) by DEFINITION 1.6 For .4,5 e A/ mn (C) it is said that A<Biff
A A A<B, where < stands for each * <, < *, <. or <. We summarize the corresponding references in the following corollary: COROLLARY 1.7 1. [16, Section 2, (Hi), Hartwig]. Let A, B 6 M mn (C). Suppose that A < B. Then A<B.
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2. [2, Theorem 2.1, Baksalary, MitraJ. Let A, B e M mn (C). Suppose that A< B. Then A*< B and A <*B. 3. [1, Section 2, Baksalary, Hauke]. Let A,BE A < B. Then A<B. 4. [13, Section 1, Gro(3]. Let A, B Mmn(C). Then A<B. 5. [2, Theorem 2.1, Baksalary, Mitra]. Let A,Be that A*< B or A <*B. Then A<B. Mmn(C). Suppose that Suppose that A < B. Mmn(C). Suppose
6. [13, Section 1, Gro/3], Let A,B e Mmn(C). Suppose that A*< B or A<*B. Then A < B. 7. [13, Section 1, Gro/3]. Let A, B e Mmn(C). Suppose that A*< B or A <*B. Then A < B. 8. [13, Section 1, Gro/3]. Let A, B e Mmn(C). Suppose that A < B. Then A < B. 9. [1, Section 2, Baksalary, Hauke]. Let A, B Mmn(C). Suppose that A< B. Then A<B. 10. [13, Section 1, Gro/3]. Let A, B Mmn(C). Suppose that A < B. Then A<B. Monotone transformations on M mn (F) are denned as follows: DEFINITION 1.8 The map T : Mmn(F) -> Mmn(F) is called monotone with respect to a given matrix partial order < (also called order < preserver) if for each pair A, B e Mmn(F) the relation A < B implies T(A) < T(B). time to time researches working on matrix partial orderings were trying to investigate the set of operations on M mn (F) that leave a given partial order relation unchanged, see for example [3]. It is straightforward to prove that minus order is invariant under GLm(F) xGL n (F)-action, star, a, and cri-orders are invariant under C/ m (C)x[7 n (C)action in the complex case and under Om(R) x On(R)-action in the real case. If the matrices are square, i.e., m = n one may see that the transposition is also monotone linear operation with respect to any of matrix partial orders under consideration. The natural question is to find a complete characterization of monotone linear transformations for the given matrix partial order relation.
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Problems of classifying linear transformations on matrix algebras that leave certain matrix relations, subsets, or properties invariant, have been intensively investigated during the past century. The questions of this kind are usually called Linear Preserver Problems (LPPs). Among the first results in this direction was the theorem by G. Frobenius on determinant preservers, see [10], and the theorem by J. Dieudonne concerning the singularity preservers, see [7]. It was shown that these transformations are standard, where standard transformations are denned as follows; DEFINITION 1.9 The transformation T : Mmn(C) -> Mmn(C) is called standard if there exist invertible matrices M G M m (C), N E M n (C) such that T(X] = MXN for all X E M m n (C) or in the case of m = n also T ( X ) = MX*N for all X E Mmn(C). Note that for determinant preservers the additional condition det (MTV) = 1 is necessary. Detailed and self-contained surveys of the known results on LPPs can be found in [22, 20]. The problems of classifying linear preservers for matrix relations of different nature have been also worked out, for example, commutativity, see [4, 24], coherence, see [18, 23], coritrolability and observability, see [11, 19], etc., see [22, Chapter 7] for the detailed account. Recently the bijective linear preservers for minus and star partial orders on square matrices were characterized by author in [14, 15]. In this paper we show that bijective linear preservers for the singular (T ff\ value partial orders < and < on M,n,,(C) preserve the set fimn(C) of matrices with rank less than min{?n,n}. The developed technique allows (7 <TI us to provide a classification of bijective linear preservers for < arid < partial orders and to extend our previous results on linear preservers for minus, star, left, and right star partial orders, see [14, 15], from square to rectangular matrices. Our paper is organized as follows. In Section 2 we introduce the deformation technique for matrix relations on Af m n (F) which allows us to reduce problems under consideration to the characterization of linear preservers of the set of matrices with non-maximal rank. In Section 3 we _ * characterize bijective linear transformations that preserve <, <, *<. < *,
<, or Oorders.
a
CTI
THE REDUCTION TO LINEAR PRESERVERS OF fimn(F)
Let (~) be a certain binary relation on the matrix algebra M mn (F). We consider the following deformation of the set of matrices involved in the relation ~.
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DEFINITION 2.1 We denote by L(~) the following set: L(~) {X e Mmn(F) | t/iere exist nonzero S,R M mn (F), swc/i t/iat t/ie relation (~) holds for the pair (S, \X + /?) /or a// A F}. The following properties of deformations on M mn (F) are useful. LEMMA 2.2 Let ~i, ~2 be arbitrary binary relations that are defined on matrix algebra Mmn(F). Suppose that ~2 ?-s an extension of ~i in the following sense: for any A,B& Mmn(F) if A ~i B holds then A ~2 B holds. Then L(~i) C L(~ 2 ). Proof. Let us consider an arbitrary matrix X L(~i). By definition of the set L(~) there exist nonzero matrices R,S& M mn (F) such that # ~i (AX+S) for all A F. By the condition it follows that R ~2 (XX +S) for all A F. Thus, X E L(~ 2 )D
LEMMA 2.3 Let T be a linear bijective transformation which maps pairs of matrices satisfying (~) into pairs of matrices satisfying (~). Then T maps the set L(~) into itself. Proof. Let us consider an arbitrary matrix X L(~). Then by definition of L(~) there exist nonzero matrices S, R 6 M mn (F) such that (~) holds for pair (S,XX + R) for all A F. The transformation T preserves (~). Hence, (~) holds for pair (T(S),T(\X + R)) for all A F. Since T is a linear transformation, it follows that T(XX + R) = \T(X) + T(R). Hence, (~) holds for pair T(S), X T ( X ) + T ( R ) ) for all A F. Note that T(5) ^ 0 and T(R) ^ 0 since S ^ 0, R ^ 0, and transformation T is bijective. Hence, by definition, T(X] L(~).
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Below by firnn(F) we denote the set of matrices with coefficients from the field F such that their rank is less than min{m, n}. Recall that matrix units Eij are matrices with 1 on (ij')'th place and zero elsewhere, I is the identity matrix of an appropriate size. LEMMA 2.4 Let F be an arbitrary field of cardinality \F\ > min{m,n}. ThenL(<) = ttm Proof. Without loss of generality we can assume that m < n. I. Let X be a matrix, rk X = r < m,. Then there exist invertible matrices U and V such that
X = U(En + ... + Err)V.

We choose the matrices R = UEinV and S = U(E\n + Emi)V. Note that in the case A = 0 one has rk (XX + S - R) = I and rk (XX + 5) - rk R =
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2 1 = 1, i.e., if A = 0 then the pair (R, XX + S) is rank subtractive. In the case A ^ 0, one has rk(AX + S R) = ikX, on the other hand rk (XX + S) = rkX + 1 and ikR = 1. Then ik(XX + S} - ikR = ikX + 1 - 1 = ikX = rk(XX + S - R). So for all A e F the pair of matrices (R, XX + S) satisfies the rank subtractivity condition. Hence X E L(<). II. Conversely, let X fi mn (F). Thus vkX = m. Then there exists ny, x m submatrix X' of X, such that detX' ^ 0. We consider matrices U M m (F), V 6 M n (F), det (UV) = 1, such that X' = Udi&g (!,...,!, det X')V. For an arbitrary matrices R, S M mn (F) we consider the submatrix (XX + S R)' in the matrix (XX + R S) formed by the same system of rows and columns as the submatrix X' in X. Thus the determinant
det (XX + S - R}' =
det ([/(diag (A, . . . , A, A det X1) + U~lS'V~l -
U~l^V~l)
= det UV det (diag (A, . . . , A, A det X') + U^S'V'1 - U^R'V'1 = det diag (A, . . . , X^XdetX^+U^S'V^-U^BfV-1} = detX'-\
is a polynomial of degree m on the variable A since the coefficient at Xm is equal to det X' ^ 0. The cardinality |F| > m, hence, there exists an element A0 F, such that det (X0X + S - R)' + 0, i.e., the matrix (X0X + S - R) has a nonzero m x m, minor. Therefore, rk (XoX + S R) m. On the other hand, for an arbitrary nonzero matrix R 6 M mn (F) one has i-k(X0X + S} - tkR < m. Hence, the equality rk (X0X + S} - ikR = rk(\oX + S R) is impossible for any nonzero matrices R 6 M m n (F). Thus L(<) C n m n (F).
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LEMMA 2.5 L(<) = fi mn (C). Proof. I. Let us consider an arbitrary matrix X 6 fimn(C). Denote k = min{m, n}. By the singular value decomposition, see [17, Theorem 7.3.5] for complex case and [12, Theorem 2.5.1] for real case, there exist unitaryorthogonal (resp., orthogonal in the real case) matrices U M m (C), V Mn(C) such that. X = UX'V, where X' = avEn + ... + (TrErr, r = rk X < k, and a\, . . . ,ar are singular values of the matrix X. We consider the matrices R = UR'V, S - US'V, where R' = S' = Er+i r+i + ... + Ekk. By the choice of matrices R' and S' one has: S'(R')* = R'(R')* = Er+i r+i +
TM
. . . + Ekk e and (R')*^X star partial RR* = (XX
M m (C), (R'YS1 = (R'YR' = Er+ir+i + ... + Ekke M n (C), = 0, \X'(R'Y = 0 for all A e C. By the definition of Drazin order we have to check now that R*R = R*(XX + S} and + S}R* for all A 6 C. Indeed,
R*R = V*(R')*U*UR'V = V*(R'YR'V = V*(R'YS'V = = V*((R')*XX + (R'TS')V = V*(R?)*(XX + S'}V = V*(R')*U*U(XX' + S')V = V*(R'}*U*(\UX'V + US'V) = R*(\X + S)
for all A C. And

RR* = UR'VV*(R')*U* = UR'(R')*U* = US'(B?)*U* = = U(XX'(R')* + S'(R')*)U* = U(\X' + S')(R')*U* = = U(\X' + S')VV*(R?YU* = (XUX'V + US'V)V*(R')*U* = (XX + S)R* for all A e C. Hence, R < XX + S for all A C. Therefore, X e L(<).
* II. Since for any matrices A,B Mmn(C) the condition A < B im_ * _ plies the condition A<B, we have by Lemma 2.2 that L(<) C L(<). By
Thus O m n (C) C !/(<). Let us prove the converse.
Lemma 2.4 one has L(<) C fimn(C). Hence, L(<) C Clmn(C).

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LEMMA 2.6 L(<) = L(<) = fi m n (C). Proof. By [1, Section 2] and Lemma 2.2, one has that CL(<) CL(<), L(<) C L(<) C
Theorems 2.4 and 2.5 concludes the proof.

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LEMMA 2.7 L(<*) = L(*<) = n m n (C). Proof. By [2, Theorem 2.1] and Lemma 2.2, one has that
L(<) C L(*<) C L(<),
L(<) C L(<*) C L(<).
Theorems 2.4 and 2.5 concludes the proof.

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MONOTONE LINEAR TRANSFORMATIONS ON M mn (F)
For the later use we recall the characterization of linear preservers for nonzero matrices of rank less than or equal to k in M mn (F), for arbitrary k < min{m, n}. The corresponding results were obtained by R. Westwick in [25] for k = I and by G. Chan and M. Lim in [6] for k > 2, see also [22, Section 2.1]. THEOREM 3.1 [22, Theorem 2.4] Let F be an infinite field. Let T : Mmn(F) f Mmn(F) be a linear transformation preserving the set of matrices of rank less than or equal to k where k is a fixed positive integer less than n. Then either T is standard or there exists nonsingular matrices M e Mm(F), N e Mn(F) such that ImT = {M[B O}N: B e Mmk(F)}, or m = n and ImT = {M \ N: B Mkn(F)}.
The assumption of bijectivity for transformation T or the assumption that the ground field F is algebraically closed simplifies the structure of transformations under considerations. The corresponding results are due to D. Djokovic [8] and L. Beasley [5]. THEOREM 3.2 [8, Theorem 2] Let F be an arbitrary field andT : M mn (F) > Mmn(F) be a bijectwe linear transformation and the assumptions of Theorem- 3.1 are satisfied. Then T is standard. THEOREM 3.3 [5, Theorem 4] Let F be algebraically closed field and assumptions of Theorem, 3. 1 are satisfied. Then T is either zero or standard. We start the characterization of monotone linear transformations with the following: REMARK 3.4 It is easy to see that in the case min{m, n} = 1 all linear transformations are monotone with respect to each of the six matrix partial orders under consideration. Indeed, the only comparable pairs of m.atrices
7 7 7
in this case are A < A, 0 < A for any matrix A, where the sym,bol < stands _ * a o"i for each of <, <, *<, < * , < , < matrix partial orders. Applying our deformation technique together with Theorem 3.2 we have THEOREM 3.5 Let T : Mmn(F] -> Mmn(F) be a bijective linear transformation. min{m. n} > 1, here F is an arbitrary field of cardinality \F\ > min{m, n}. The transformation. T preserves the minus-partial order (i.e., for matrices A, B Mmn(F) the condition A<B implies the condition T(A)<T(B}) if and only if T is standard.
TM
Proof. It is straightforward to check that transformations of standard form preserve the rank function and hence preserve the minus order. Conversely, by Lemma 2.4 we obtain that L(<) = fimn(F). Hence, by Lemma 2.3 the transformation T which is (<)-preserver, maps the set f2 mn (F) into itself. Using Theorem 3.2 we get the required form of the transformation T.
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THEOREM 3.6 Let T : Mmn(C) -> Mmn(C) be a linear bijective transformation, min{m, re} > 1. The transformation T preserves a Drazin * star order, i.e., for matrices A,BE Mmn(C) the condition A < B implies the condition T(A) < T(B], if and only if T(X] = aMXN for all X 6 Mmn(C] or in the case of m = n also T(X) = aMXtN for all X Mmn(C), in both cases M e Um(C), N Un(C). Proof. 1. Let 0 7^ a C, M e M m (C), N e M n (C) be unitary (orthogonal in the real case) matrices. The transformation X > aMXN preserves the * star order, since for arbitrary matrices A,B Mmn(C) such that A < B, i.e., A*A = A*B and AA* = BA*, one has (aMAN)*aMBN = aaN*A*M*MBN = aaN*A*BN =
= aaN*A*AN = aaN*A*M*MAN = (aMAN}*aMAN aMBN(aMAN)* = aaMBNN*A*M* = aaMBA*M* =
= aaMAA*M* = aaMANN*A*M* = aMAN(aMAN}*

* Hence, by the definition of the star order aMAN < aMBN. In the case ra = n the transposition preserves the star order:
(A^B* = (A^B* = (BA*)* = (AA*)* = (A*)* A* BÂ1)* = BÂ*? = (A*BY = (A*A)1 - At(At}\ Thus the set of transformations from the conclusion of this theorem is among the star order preservers. 2. Let us prove that star order preservers are necessary of the standard form. The transformation T preserves the star partial order. Hence, by Lemma 2.3 transformation T maps the set L(<) into itself. It follows from * Lemma 2.5 that L(<) = Jl mn (C). Hence, the transformation T preserves the set of matrices of rank less than min{m, n}. Thus by Theorem 3.2 we obtain that transformation T has a standard form, i.e. there exists
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invertible matrices P <E Af m (C), Q <E Mn(C) such that T(X] = PXQ or in the case m = n. 3. It remains to prove that P and <5 are the products of unitary and scalar matrices. Consider the singular value decomposition for matrices P and Q: P = UPDPVP, Q = UQDQVQ where UP,VP e Um(C), UQ,VQ e Un(C), Dp and DQ are diagonal matrices of an appropriate size. Let us * take matrices A, B M m r ) (C) such that A < B. Thus, since T preserves * the star order, PAQ < PBQ. By the definition of the star order it means that (PAQ)(PAQY = (PBQ)(PAQY (3)
(PAQY(PAQ) = (PAQY(PBQ}.
(4)
Since P and Q are invertible matrices equalities (4), (3) are correspondingly equivalent to the equalities AQQ*A* = BQQ*A* , A*P*PA = A*P*PB .
Since Up, VQ are unitary, i.e., VgVg = / and UPUP = I, we have

AUQDQD*QU%A* = BUQDQD*QU%A* , (5)
and
A*VPD*pDpVPA = A*VPD*pDpVPB . (6) Without loss of generality we assume that m < n. Consider the matrices < = DpD*p diag ( p \ , . . . ,pm), * = DqD^ = diag(gi, . . . ,qn) that, are in fact, diagonal as products of the diagonal matrices. Our aim is to prove that $ and \& are scalar matrices. We show first that < is scalar, that is f/, = ql+i for any -t, i = 1, . . . , n 1. Let j be a reminder of i modulo m, i.e., i = km. + j for the certain integer k, here 0 < j < m,. Let I be the following number: 1=1 ?', i 1. . . . , n 1 we consider a pair of matrices G, = E^ + EU+I, H, = EH + EI+H+I + EH+I EI+H e M mn (C). ._ . For any
* Let us check that Gi < Hi. Indeed,
G*Gi = (En + Ei+n)(En + EH+I) = EH + EH+I + Ei+n G*Hi, = (En + El+ii)(En + EI+H+I + EH+I EI+H
TM
and
GiG\ = (EH + En+l)(Eu + Ei+ii) = 2EU HiG* = (En + EI+H+I + EU+I EI+H)(EH + En + Ei+ll + En ~ Ei+n = 2EU . Since by part 1 of this proof the multiplication with unitary matrices preserves the star order for the matrices Ai = GiUq , Bi = HiUq e Mmn(C) * one has that Ai < Bi. Substituting A = Ai, B = Bi into the left-hand side of the equality (5) one has that AiUQDQD*QU*QAl = = (Eh + En+l}(qiEn + ... + qnEnn)(Eu + Ei+ll) = (qt + qi+l}Eu , Substituting A = Ai, B = Bi into the right-hand side of the equality (5) one has that BiUQDQD*QU*QA* = (En + EI+H+I + EH+I ~ Ei+n)(qiEu = (En + EI+U+I + EU+I - Ei+n)(qiEu + = (qi + qi+i)Eu + (qi - qi+i)Ei+u Hence by the equality (5) we have that (<?,; + qi+i)Eu (qi + qi+i)Eu + (qi qi+i)Ei+u. Thus qi = qi+i for all i, i = 1, . . . , n 1. It follows that \I> = DqDQ is scalar matrix. Nonzero elements of a diagonal matrix DQ are nonnegative since they are singular values of Q. Hence DQ is scalar matrix. Therefore, Q = UqDqVQ is a product of unitary and scalar matrices. Essentially identical consideration for equality (6) with substitutions A = Mmn(C), i = 1, . . . ,m leads to the conclusion that the matrix $ = D*pDp is scalar. Hence Dp is scalar and P is a product of scalar and unitary matrices. Thus for any X M mn (C) one has that T(X] = PXQ = ~fMX/3N = /3-yMXN or in the case m = n one has T(X) = PX*Q = -yMX^N = 0^MX*N, where M Um(C), N Un(C). The substitution a = fa concludes the proof.
n
THEOREM 3.7 LetT : Mmn(C) -^ Mmn(C) be a bijective linear transformation, min{m, n} > 1. The transformation T preserves a a-partial order if and only ifT(X) aMXN for all X Mmn(C) or in the case ofm = n also T(X] = aMX^ for all X G Mmn(C), in both cases M e Um(C],
TM
Proof.
1. By the step 1 of Theorem 3.5 all standard transformations preserve the minus-order. It is well-known, see for example [12, 17], that the multiplication with unitary and scalar matrices and transposition transformation do not change the singular values of a matrix. It follows that transformations of proposed type are among the a-order preservers. 2. Let us prove that cr-order preservers are necessary of the standard form. The transformation T preserves the cr-order. Hence, by Lemma 2.3 <j transformation T maps the set L(<] into itself. It follows from Lemma 2.5 (j that L(<) = n m n (C). Hence, the transformation T preserves the set ^mn(C). Thus by Theorem 3.2 we obtain that transformation T has a standard form, i.e. there exists invertible matrices P & Mm(C], Q 6 M n (C) such that T(X] = PXQ or T(X) = PX*Q in the case m = n. 3. Let us prove that if a standard transformation T preserves the cr-order then matrices P and Q are products of scalar and unitary matrices. It was already shown, see Theorem 3.5, step 1, that all standard transformations preserve a rank-subtractivity condition. Let us show that the singular value inclusion condition provides a restriction on matrices P and Q. Let P = UpDpVp. Q = UqDqVQ be a singular value decomposition of matrices P and Q, i.e., Up, Vp, UQ, VQ are unitary matrices of an appropriate size,
DP = diag (pi,.,. ,p m ), DQ = diag (qi,... , qn), pi > pi > . .. > pm > 0, <?: > q2 > ... > qn > 0.
(7
For arbitrary matrices A, B M mn (C) such that A < B we have that PAQ < PBQ, i.e., UPDpVpAUQDQVQ < UPDpVpBUQDQVQ. Since the multiplication with unitary matrices preserve the cr-order (see step 1), it follows that DpVpAUQDQ < DpVPBUQDQ. (7) Without loss of generality we can assume that m < n. For arbitrary ?', 1 < i < n, it is straightforward to check that (En + EH+I) < (En + EH+I - E-2i + E-2i+\). It follows from [1, Section 2] that (En + EH+I) < (En + EH+I Eii + E-2i+i). We consider the matrices
Ai = Vpl(Ei,, + aEli+l}UQ\ Bi E2i + E2l+l)Ul e M mn (F).
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Thus Ai < Bi since UQ, Vp are unitary. By substituting A = Ai, B B{ IT into the inequality (7) one has Dp(Eu -I- EH+I)DQ < Dp(En + EH+I Eii + E2i+i}DQ. This implies a(DP(Eli + Eli+1)DQ) C a(DP(Eu + Eli+l - E2i + E2i+1)DQ) (8)
<T
Let us show that if (8) holds then we necessary have that qi = Qi+i for all i, i = 1,... ,n. Indeed, let there exists i such that qi / Qi+i- For the left-hand side of (8) we have Dp(Eu + EH+I)DQ = piqiEn + p\qi+iEn+i. Thus (jj(DP(En + Eli+l}DQ) = 0 if j > I a,ndai(Dp(Eii + Eii+i)DQ) = ? + p\q^+i For the right-hand side of (8) we have Dp(Eu + EH+I - E2i + E2i+i)DQ =
The singular values of this matrix are the eigenvalues of the following matrix DP(EU + Eli+l - E2i + E2l+l}DQ(DP(EU + Eli+l - E2i
This follows that the matrix Dp (En + EH+I E2i + Ezi+i)DQ has only two nonzero singular values:
c?i / Dp(Eii+Eii+i-E2i+E2i+i)DQ \ V JJ
2 2 2 2 2 =l -(piQi +P2qi +P2 2
2
1 , O O
0 9
9 9
0 9
?t + l
+ zpiipi - u i
+z p i i +p +i p i
Eli+1 - E2i + E2i+lD
- 0 if j > 2.
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It is routine to check that \lp\H + p{(fi+i &(Dp(En + EH+\ E2l + E-2i+i)DQ} if and only if pip^Qi + g,;+i)(* - q,;+i) = 0. Note that pipz(qi + <7?;+l) ^ 0 since Dp is invertible and all singular values are real non-negative. Thus qi ql+i = 0. In order to prove that Dp is scalar one can analogously consider A = Vpl(Erl + Ei+l JU^1, B = Vp\En + Ei+11 - El2 + EW2)Uf. Thus for any X e M mn (C) one has that T(X) = PXQ = -/MX/3N =-3jMXN or in the case m = n one has T ( X ) = PX1Q = -yMX*/3N = B-fMXlN, where M Um(C), N e Z7 n (C). The substitution a = 0~f concludes the proof.
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THEOREM 3.8 Let T : Mmn(C) -> Mmn(C) be a bijective linear transformation, min{m. n} > 1. The transformation T preserves a cri-order if and only i f T ( X ) = aMXN for all X e M m n (C) or in the case of m n also T ( X ) = aMX*N for all X e Mmn(C), in both cases M Um(C),
N e un(C).
Proof. 1. By the part 1 of Theorem 3.5 all standard transformations preserve the minus-order. It is well-known, see for example [12, 17], that the multiplication with unitary and scalar matrices does not change the singular values of a matrix. It follows that transformations of proposed type are among the cri-order preservers. 2. The transformation T preserves the cri-order. Hence, by Lemma 2.3 <TI transformation T preserves the set L(<). It follows from Lemma 2.5 that "i L(<) = fimn(C). Hence, the transformation T preserves the set of singular matrices. Thus by Theorem 3.1 together with Lemma 3.2 we obtain that transformation T has a standard form, i.e. there exists invertible matrices P M m (C), Q Af n (C) such that T ( X ) = PXQ or T(X) = PX1Q in the case m n. 3. Let us prove that if a standard transformation T preserves the cri-order then matrices P and Q are products of scalar and unitary matrices. Without loss of generality we assume that m < n. Let P = UpDpVp, Q UqDQVQ be a singular value decomposition of matrices P and Q, i.e.. Up, Vp, UQ, VQ are unitary matrices of a subsequent size, DP = diag ( p i , . . .,pm), pi > p'2 > . > pm > 0, DQ = diag (qi,... ,<? n ), <7i > <?2 > > <7n > 0. For arbitrary matrices A, B e Mmn(C) such that A < B we have that PAQ < PBQ, i.e., UPDpVpAUQDQVQ < UpDpVpBljQDqVQ. Since the multiplication with unitary matrices preserve the cri-order (see part 1), it follows that < DPVPBUQDQ.
TM
Assume that P is not a scalar matrix. Let i be the smallest integer such that pi ^ p\ . Consider the matrices A = Vpla.EuUQl, B = Vp\Eu - aE21 + EÛf.
ffi It is starightforward to check that A 0. Thus for given ma(TI trices P, Q DpaEnDq < Dp(EuaE2i+E2i)DQ since the transformation
under consideration preserves the <-order. a\ Let us check that there exists a value of a > 0 such that DpaEnDq < Dp(Eu aE2i + E2i)DQ does not hold. This contradiction will conclude the proof. Indeed, DpaEnDq = apiq\E\i. Hence, ai(DpaEnDQ) = ap\q\. E2i)DQ = piqjEu - apiqiEn +piqiEu. Li - aE2i + E2i)DQ) = -
<TI
Essentially in the same way as in the proof of Theorem 3.7 one may show that if a R is chosen such that
then ai(DP(En - aEî + E^Dq) > <Ji(DPaEnDQ). It means that T does not preserve ui-order. This contradiction shows that the matrix Dp is scalar. Hence, the matrix P is the product of unitary and scalar matrices. Assumption that DQ is not scalar ($ ^ q\ for some i, i = 2, . . . , n) gives a contradiction when we substitute the following pair of matrices: A = bVÊnUf 1. The transformation T preserves a left-star order if and only ifT is standard, where N is an arbitrary nonsingular matrix of order n and M is an arbitrary unitary matrix of order m.
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Proof. 1. The straightforward calculations show that all transformations of standard type preserve the inclusion M(A) C M(B). It, was shown in the proof of Theorem 3.6 that if M is unitary then the transformation X > MXN (and transposition transformation if any) preserves the condition A*A = A*B. 2. Essentially the same as in the step 2 of the proof of Theorem 3.6 one can obtain that all bijective linear preservers of left-star order are necessary standard. The only difference is to use Lemma 2.7 instead of Lemma 2.5. 3. In order to show that M is a unitary matrix one can follow the proof of step 3 of Theorem 3.6 since our conditions imply that the equality (6) from this proof holds. D Analogously we have: THEOREM 3.10 Let T : Mmn(C) -* Mmn(C) is a bijective linear transformation, min{m. n} > 1. The transformation T preserves a right-star order if and only ifT is standard, where M is arbitrary nonsingular matrix and N is an arbitrary unitary matrix. As a direct consequence of our classification theorems we have: COROLLARY 3.11 A linear bijective transformation is a monotone with ? ? respect to a matrix partial, order <, where the symbol < stands for each * G O\ of <, <, * <, < *. <, < matrix partial orders, if and only if it preserves ? ? the order < in both directions, that is for any A, B G Mmn(F) A < B iff
T(A)
REMARK 3.12 It is straightforward to show that all results of this paper are valid if the ground field is a field of real numbers (instead of complex numbers). The only replacements are substitutions of orthogonal matrices instead of unitary matrices in formulations of Theorems 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9 and 3.10 and, the application of real version singular value decomposition, see [12, Theorem. 2.5.1] in, their proofs. REFERENCES [1] J. K. Baksalary, J. Hauke, Partial orderings on matrices referring to singular values or eigenvalues, Linear Algebra Appl., 96 (1987), 17-26. [2] J. K. Baksalary and S. K. Mitra, Left-star and right-star partial orderings, Linear Algebra Appl., 149 (1991), 73-89.
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[3] J. K. Baksalary, F. Pukelsheim, G. P. H. Styan, Some properties of matrix partial orderings, Linear Algebra Appl., 119 (1989), 57-85. [4] L. Beasley, Linear transformations on matrices: The invariance of commuting pairs of matrices, Linear and Multilinear Algebra, 6 (1978), 179-183. [5] L. Beasley, Linear transformations on matrices: The invariance of sets of ranks, Linear Algebra Appl., 48 (1982), 25-35. [6] G. H. Chan, M. H. Lim, Linear transformations on tensor spaces, Linear and Mltilinear Algebra, 14 (1983), 3-9. [7] J. Dieudonne, Sur une generalisation du groupe orthogonal a quatre variables, Arch. Math., 1 (1949), 282-287. [8] D. Z. Djokovic, Linear transformations of tensor product preserving a fixed rank, Pacific J. Math. 30 (1969), 411-414. [9] M. P. Drazin, Natural structures on semigroups with involution, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc., 84, no. 1 (1978), 139-141. [10] G. Frobenius, Uber die Darstellung der endlichen Gruppen durch lineare Substitutionen. Sitzungsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, (1897), 994-1015. [11] H.-K. Fung, Linear preservers of controllability and/or observability, Linear Algebra Appl., 246 (1996), 335-360. [12] G. H. Golub, C. F. Van Loan, Matrix Computations, Baltimore, London: The John Hopkins University Press, 1989. [13] J. Gro/3, A note on rank-subtractivity ordering, Linear Algebra Appl., 289 (1999), 151-160. [14] A. Guterman, Linear preservers for Drazin star partial order, Comm. in Algebra 29, no. 9 (2001), 3905-3917. [15] A. Guterman, Linear Preservers for matrix inequalities and partial orderings, Linear Algebra Appl., 331 (2001), 75-87. [16] R. E. Hartwig, How to partially order regular elements, Math. Japonica, 25, no. 1 (1980), 1-13. [17] R. A. Horn, C. R. Johnson, Matrix Analysis, Cambridge, London, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
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[18] L.K. Hua, A theorem on matrices over a sfield and its applications, J. Chinese Math. Soc. N.S., 1 (1951), 110-163. [19] C.-K. Li, L. Rodman, N.K. Tsing, Linear operators preserving certain equivalence relations originating from system theory, Linear Algebra Appl., 161-165 (1992), 165-225. [20] C.-K. Li and N.-K. Tsing, Linear preserver problems: A brief introduction and some special techniques, Linear Algebra Appl., 162-164 (1992), 217-235. [21] K. S. S. Nambooripad, The natural partial order on a regular semigroup, Proceedings of the Edinburgh Math. Soc., 23 (1980), 249-260. [22] P. Pierce and others, A Survey of Linear Preserver Problems, Linear and Multilinear Algebra, 33 (1992), 1-119. [23] Wan Z.-X. Geometry of Matrices.Singapore, New Jersey, London, Hong Kong: World Scientific, 1996. [24] W. Watkins, Linear maps that preserve commuting pairs of matrices, Linear Algebra Appl., 14 (1976b), 29-35. [25] R. Westwick, Transformation on tensor spaces, Pacific J. Math., 14 (1967), 613-620.
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Explicit decompositions of the group algebras FSn and FAn

A. HENKE Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LEI 7RH, England. E-mail: aehlO@mcs.le.ac.uk A. REGEV 1 Department of Mathematics, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. E-mail: regev@wisdom.weizmann.ac.il
ABSTRACT Part 1 of this paper reviews A. Young's classical theory of how to decompose the group algebra CSn of the symmetric group Sn into a direct sum of minimal left ideals. These left ideals are in an explicit bijection with the set of the standard Young tableaux of size n. Part 2 of this paper follows [6]; we show how to explicitly decompose the group algebra CAn of the alternating group An into a direct sum of minimal left ideals. These left ideals are in an explicit bijection with a certain half of the set of the standard Young tableaux of size n.
INTRODUCTION
Let Sn and An denote the symmetric and the alternating groups of degree 77, respectively. The aim of this review is to give a detailed account of a certain decomposition of the group algebra CAn as a direct sum of minimal left ideals. This decomposition - in terms of certain standard Young tableaux - was obtained in [6], and the presentation here is more detailed, complete, and - we hope - easier to follow.
1
Partially supported by Minerva Grant No. 8441.
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The analogue decomposition of CSV,,, which is classical, is an important tool in studying the multilinear codimensions and cocharacters of algebras satisfying polynomial identities (p.i. algebras). In [7], the above authors introduced and studied the alternating-groups analogue of codimensions and cocharacters: we called these the A-codimensions and A-cocharacters of a given p.i. algebra. Similar to the SVi-case, an explicit decomposition of CAn into a direct-sum of minimal left ideals, is an important tool in studying these A-codimensions and A-cocharacters. The paper has two parts. In the first part, we give a detailed review of A.Young's decomposition of CSn into a direct sum of minimal left, ideals. This is done in two steps. In the first step, CSn is decomposed into a direct sum of minimal two-sided ideals, see Proposition 4.2:
Ahn
In the second step, each minimal two-sided ideal I\ is further decomposed into a direct sum of minimal left ideals, see Theorem 5.9: FSneTx. TX standard of shape A Note that in this decomposition of CSn there is an obvious bijection between the standard Young tableaux of size n and these minimal left ideals. The first, part also contains some further observations which become instrumental in the second part. In the second part, of this paper we deduce the analogue decompositions of CAn. again in two steps. The first step gives the decomposition of <CAn into a direct sum of minimal two-sided ideals, see Theorem 8.2:
As can already be seen from that decomposition, self-conjugate and nonself-conjugate partitions play different, roles in the ^4n-theory. In the second step, each of the above minimal two-sided ideals is further decomposed into a direct sum of minimal left ideals. First, the classical generators e-rA = Rj, C^, of the left ideals in CSn are replaced by QTX = Rj- C^ + R^ Cj, , the left-ideal-generators in CAn. Now Theorem 10.6 gives the following decompositions into minimal left, ideals in CAn: when A is non-
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self-conjugate,
Tx standard of shape A Note that {T\ \ standard of shape A} contains half of all the standard tableaux of shapes A and A'. When A is self-conjugate,
with f. = . Here e\ = e^ + e^ is the identity element in I\, while the tableaux T i , . . . ,Th are a certain half of the set of the standard tableaux of shape A. Thus the decomposition of CAn given in Theorem 10.6, is in terms of one half of the set of the standard tableaux of size n. We conclude the introduction with the following remark: a crucial property of the CTX 's is that they are semi-idempotents. This is no longer true about the #TA'S, but nevertheless, it was shown in Section 4 of [6] that most #TA'S are indeed semi-idempotents.
PART 1: THE DECOMPOSITION OF FSn. 2 THE SEMI-IDEMPOTENTS eTx.
2.1. Basic definitions. Let A be a partition of n, denoted as A H n. We identify A with its diagram. For example, A = (3,1) h 4 is identified with
E
A tableau T\ of shape A is a filling of the diagram D\ with the integers 1,... ,n: T\ = D\(dij) where the flip's are 1,... , n. For example,
is a tableau of shape A = (2,1,1) with aî 2, 0^2 = 3, 02,1 = 1 and 0^1 = 4. Given A h n, a tableau T\ = D\(aij) of shape A and a Sn,
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define aT\ = crD A (a,;j) = D A (cr(a.,;j)). For example, applying the 4-cycle a = (1, 3,2,4) to\ the above example would change it into
Trivially, aT\ ??TA if and only if a 77. Next construct the two subgroups RTX and CTX of Sn: the elements of RTX are the so called row permutations of T\ = Z? A (o,ij); these are the permutations a Sn such that for all i.,j, both 0"(ffi,j) and 0.,;^ are in the same row. In the first example above there are only two such permutations: the identity and (2,3). Similarly construct the subgroup CTA of the column permutations ofT A . Let A' denote the conjugate partition of A. For example. (2, 1, 1)' = (3, 1). If T is a tableau, the conjugate tableau T" is defined in a similar way. Note that RTX and CTX are both direct products of symmetric groups,
CTx
5Aix5v2x...,
where A = ( A i , A 2 , . . . ) - The following basic property holds for row and column permutations: LEMMA 2.1 Let A be a partition of n with a corresponding tableau T\ = D\(a.itj) and let a 6 Sn. Then aT\ D\(a(altj)) with
CaTx x
~~^ In particular, if q G CTX then CqTx = CTXand therefore &a'i\ = o~eTxo~~^.
Proof. Let 1 < 01 < < o^ < n and let S'fc(o) = 5fc(ai, . . . , afc) C Sn denote the symmetric subgroup on a i , . . . , afc. Let { 6 l 5 . . . ,br} C {o.j,... , o,fc} and let 77 = (61,... ,6 r ) 5^(o.) be the corresponding r-cycle, then (a(bi),... ,a(br)) = aria"1. This implies that (ai), . . . . a (ait.)) = aSk(ai. , aâ"1, which implies the lemma. Given a subset G C Sn> define the elements G+,G~ in the group algebra FSn by
g&G
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Here F is a field of characteristic zero. Now construct the elements &TX 6 FSn, the main objects of Alfred Young's theory on decomposing FSn:
(1)
For example, let T\ be a tableau of shape A (2, 1), given by
then eTx = (I + (2, 3))(1 - (1, 2)) = 1 + (2,3) - (1,2) - (1, 3, 2). 2.2. Von Neumann's Lemma. The goal of this section is to prove that the elements e?x introduced in Equation (1) are semi-idempotents. The main step in the proof of this latter result is von Neumann's Lemma, given in 2.8. To prove this we study next how the action of an element a 6 Sn moves the entries of a tableaux T\. The following definition is important: Definition 2.2 If i and j appear in the same row ofT\, we say that they are co-row in T\, or T\-co-row. Similarly, i and j are T\-co-column if i and j appear in the same column ofT\. LEMMA 2.3 Let p RT\, 1 G CTX, and let i,j be co-row in T\, then i,j are not co-column in pqT\. Proof. Clearly, pqT\ = (pqp~l)(pT\) and moreover, by Lemma 2.1, pqp~l CPTX Thus the effect of pq on T\ is: apply first the row permutation p of T\ to obtain the tableau pT\, then apply a column permutation of pT\. This implies the proof. REMARK 2.4 Let A and n be two partitions of n with some corresponding tableaux T\ andT^. Assume T\ andT^ satisfy the following condition: any i,j which are T\-co-row are not T^-co-column. We shall say that T\ and T^ satisfy the co-row-not-co-column condition. In particular we can take A = [i. Then there exists a unique element a Sn with T^ = aT\. Assume that T\ and aT\ satisfy the co-row-not-co-column. Let q CaTx- Then, i f i , j are T\-co-row then i,j are not o~T\-co-column and therefore also not qaT\-co-column. Hence also T\ and qaT\ satisfy the co-row-not-co-column condition. MAIN LEMMA 2.5 Let a Sn and suppose T\ and aT\ satisfy the corow-not-co-column condition. Then a = pq, with p RT^ and q CTXTM
Proof. Show that there exists an element q G C^TX such that T\ and qaT\ differ by an element, p RTX- pT\ = qcrT\. The following describes an algorithm to obtain such a row permutation p: 1. The assumption implies that the elements in the first row of T\ are in different columns in aT\. Hence there exists q\ G COTX such that the first row in T\ and in q\aT\ have the same set of elements. 2. Consider the elements in the second row of T\: in q\crT\ they appear below the first row. Moreover, by Remark 2.4, T\ and q\aT\ satisfy the co-row- not-co-column condition. Thus, as in step 1, there exist 92 G CqiaTx = CaTx (see Lemma 2.1), fixing the first row of qiaTx and bringing the above elements to the second row: now the first two rows in T\ and in q-2q\aT\ have the same set of elements. Note also that <j2<?i G CaT\- This terminates step 2. By induction on the number of rows, this shows that there exists an element q G CffTx such that T\ and quT\ differ by a row permutation of T\, i.e. there exist a row permutation p G RTX such that pT\ = qo~T\. Therefore p = qa . Now q C^TX = aCrxv~l by Lemma 2.1, so q = aq'a~l where q' E CTXThe proof now follows since p = qa = aq' cr~â = crq1' . LEMMA 2.6 Suppose T\ is a tableau of shape X. Assume that a $ RTX-CTX, then there exist transpositions p RT\ and q G CTX such that paq ~ a . Proof. As a ^ RTX CTX, the previous lemma implies that there exist i,j which are T\-co-row and crT\-co-column. Define the transposition r = ( i , j ) . Then T is both a row permutation of T\ and a column permutation of aT\. So define p r RTX and q = r E COTX- Then r = q = aqa~l with q a~lra CTX (by Lemma 2.1). Hence paq rao~lro = T2cr = a. LEMMA 2.7 Suppose p is a row permutation andq is a column permutation ofTx. Then The proof of this lemma is straight forward; moreover, we have the following result: LEMMA 2.8 (Von-Neumann's Lemma) Suppose a G FSn satisfies paq sgn(q)a for all p G RTX and all q G CTX Then there exists (3 G F such that a, = Be TX Proof. Write a = âes Q<?a w^h elements aa G F ' . From paq = sgn(q)a deduce that, sgn(<7)a =
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and hence ap-iaq-i = sgn(q)a(T; or, for all p RTX, Q G CTX we have: apaq = sgn(q)aa. (2)
Consider first a 1. Let ai := (3, then apq = (3 sgn(g). Next, suppose <T ^ Rra CT CT - By Lemma 2.6, there exist transpositions p, q with paq = a. Then a.a = Q.paq QO- by Equation (2), and so aa = 0. 2.3. Semi-idempotents GTX The elements eÂ were defined in Equation (1). We will show next that for each partition A and each tableau T\ of shape A these elements are semi-idempotents. This important fact allows us to obtain, see Theorem 5.6, the desired decomposition of FSn. We first need the following lemma: LEMMA 2.9 Let a FSn, say with a = Y^ff^sn coefficient a\ is non-zero. Then a2 is non-zero.
a
<ra- Assume that the
Proof. Let ra : FSn > FSn be the map given by right multiplication with a, that is ra(x) = xa. Then (ra)2 = r a 2. Show that (r a ) 2 ^ 0- Then this implies that a2 ^ 0. Now ra = ^2aaara, so its trace is tr(ra) âcg.atr(ra} and we have n! for a = 1, 0 for a ^ 1 . To compute ir(rv), choose the elements of Sn as a basis of FSn\ when a ^ 1, the matrix corresponding to ra has only zeroes on its main diagonal. Hence ^(^"a) = Oil n\ ^ 0. Now tr(ra) is the sum of the eigenvalues of ra, hence ra has a non-zero eigenvalue 7: rax jx for x ^ 0. Then rx = ^mx and hence r' ^ 0 for all m. THEOREM 2.10 The element &TX defined in Equation (1) is a semiidempotent. More precisely, there exists a non-zero element /3 F such that
Proof. Recall that pR^. = Rj, , C^ q = sgn(<j)C^ and BTX Rj- C^ , hence, by von- Neumann's Lemma, e^ = fter^- We show in Proposition 2.11 below that /3 is non-zero. Note that eÂ = ^,aeg aâ with ai = 1: this follows since RTX fl CTX 1, therefore 1 I 1 is the only solution to 1 = p q, for p RTX and q CTX Note.
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Let e\ fie\ for a non-zero element /?, and let e = \e.\,
then e2 = e. So every semi-idempotent provides an idempotent. And moreover, FSne = FSne\. The following proposition gives some additional information on the scalar (3. PROPOSITION 2.11 Suppose e?r = BTX for a non-zero scalar (3, then dim FSneTx = -^. (3)
Together with the 'hook-formula' for dim FSneTx, it implies that j3 equals the product of the hook, numbers. Proof. Let e = \e,Tx and write e?x = Yâ&SHaâ- Then ai = 1, hence tr(rT ) = n! (see the proof of Lemma 2.9). Since e is an idempotent, FSn = FSne FSn(l e). Clearly, re annihilates FSn(l e) and is the identity map on FSne, hence tr(re) = dim FSne = dim FSne-Tx- The proof now follows since tr(re) = tr(rieTJ = ^tr(r fiT J - -n! .
THE LEFT IDEALS FSneTx
Our goal is to prove that the left ideals FSnexx are minimal and for different partitions are non-isomorphic. This is done in Theorem 5.9. The main result in this section is: THEOREM 3.1 Let A,/z be partitions of n with X ^ fj.. 1. Lei Tit\. TZ^X be two tableaux of the same shape A. Then, as left FSn- modules, FSneTlx <* FSneT2X . 2. Let T\ and T^ be tableaux of shape A and n respectively. Then as left FSr, -modules, FSneTx FSneT, . We begin by proving the first part of this theorem only. Then in the rest of this section we prepare the proof of the second part, which is given in Proposition 3.5. Proof. There exists a e Sn such that T^,\ = crT\_\. By Lemma 2.1, ex2 = CTe^cr"1 and FSneT2 = FSno-eT1a~l = (FSneTl}^~1- The map given by right multiplication with a"1 is an isomorphism.
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LEMMA 3.2 Let A,/u be partitions ofn and let T\ ^ TM be two corresponding tableaux. Assume there exist i, j which are T^-co-row and T\-co-column. Then 67^67^ = 0, but possibly &T^T\ " 0-
Proof. Let r = ( i , j ) ; so by assumption, r . RT^ and r CTX and hence RT = rRj, and C^~ = Cp r. With the latter we obtain
JA
* [i
-* A
So CJ1^ RT = 0 which implies that er, er = .Ri C^ Rt C^ = 0. J A JM A ^ JA JA ^ ^

Let A = ( A i , A 2 , . . . ) and n = ([^1,^2,...) be two partitions of n, then say A > yu if for all i:
AI H + A,; > /.ii + + Hi.
For example (3,1) > (2, 2). Note that > is a partial order on the partitions of n, while the left lexicographic order A > p. is a total order on that set. Trivially, if A o /j,, then A > /j,. LEMMA 3.3 (Lemm,a 2.2.4 i-n [10]) Let A ; / u be partitions ofn with corresponding tableaux T\,T^. Assume any pair i,j which is T^-co-row is not T\-co-column. Then A > fj,. Proof. The proof is similar to the proof of the Main Lemma 2.5. 1. Consider the elements in the first row of T^; these elements appear in different columns in T\, hence AI > n\. Furthermore, there exists qi G CTX such that these elements appear in the first row of q\T\. Note that the assumption of the lemma now holds for TM and <?iT\, namely, any pair i,j which is TM-co-row is not giT\-co-column. 2. Consider the elements in the second row of TM. They appear in different columns in q\ CTX ', some of these may already appear in its first row, while the others can be moved - by a column permutation - to the second row: there exist q% E CqiTx = CTX such that the elements in the first two rows of T^ appear in the first two rows of q^q\T\. In particular, AI + A2 > ^\ + ^2- Note that 17291 CTX and that the assumption of the lemma holds for T^ and q2QiT\. This terminates step 2. Thus, by an induction on the number of rows, we conclude that A l> fj,. PROPOSITION 3.4 Let X,/j, be partitions ofn with fj, > A and T\,T^, any corresponding tableaux. Then there exist i,j which are T^-co-row and T\co-column. This implies that 67^0,67^ = 0 for any a FSn.
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Proof. If no such i,j exists, deduce (using Lemma 3.3) that A > /j., hence A > fj,, a contradiction. By Lemma 3.2 this implies that GT^T^ = 0. Given cr e Sn, eTxaeT^cr~l = &TxâT^ 0, which follows by the first argument, of this proof applied to T\ and T^ := uT^. Hence e^creT^ = 0 and by linearity, &TxaeT = 0 for all a 6 FSn. As a corollary we can now prove the second part of Theorem 3.1: PROPOSITION 3.5 Let \,n be partitions of n with /j, > A and let TX,T^ be two corresponding tableaux. Then the only homomorphism h : FSneTx -> FSneT^ of FSn-modules is the map h = 0. In particular, FSn&T^ ^ FSneTx whenever X ^ fj,. Proof. Assume that h is non-zero, then h(e-px) ^ 0. Choose a = h(eTx) in Proposition 3.4, then eâe-p^ = 0. By Theorem 2.10, there exist non-zero scalars /3i,/?2 with e^ = /?ieÂ and e^, = ,826^ respectively. Moreover,
er an< fi2 := e\ := ~k~ ~5~eTp- are i^6111?0^6^^ with FSnexx = FSne\ and ~ ~ r rr\\ ^ -r^ = FSne2- Denote b = 4-a, then h(e\) = b ^ 0 by above. Since b FSne2, we have be? = b. Thus
0^6
= h(ei) h(e\) e\h(e\) e\b = e\be-2 = 0
by above, which is a contradiction. Hence h is the zero-map. REMARK 3.6
1. Let R be an algebra, M, N two R-left-modules. Assume M = MI A/2 and N = N\ A^2 with M\ = N\ ^ 0. Then there exists a non-zero R-homomorphism h : M > N: extend the non-zero isomorphism h : MI - NI to h : M -> N by h(M2) = 0. 2. Let Par(n) : {A|A h n}. Recall that the conjugacy classes of Sn are given by the partitions of n. Therefore any set of \Par(n)\ FSnmodules which are irreducible and -pair-wise, non-isomorphic. forms a complete set of irreducible FSn-m,odules: any irreducible FSn-module is isomorphic to one of its members. PROPOSITION 3.7 For each partition A of n, let T\ be a tableau of shape A and let J\ C FSe^ be a minimal left ideal, i.e. irreducible FSn-m,odule. Then 1. Up to isomorphism,, {JA|A H n} is a complete set of irreducibles for
FSn.
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2. For each partition X of n, FSn&T\ JA ''' J\, & direct sum of several copies of J\. We show later that FSnTx J\ and thus is irreducible. Proof. The first part follows from 3.5 and 3.6. For the second part, assume that FSnG-Tx = J\K\- be a decomposition of FSneTx into irreducibles JA, K\ etc. where K\ ^ JA- Then, as there are precisely Par(n)\ different irreducibles (see the first part of the Proposition), it follows that K\ = J^ for some partition /^,. But this contradicts Proposition 3.5. Hence K\ = J\ and FSneTx = JA 0 JA 4 THE TWO-SIDED IDEALS 7A-
Recall some general facts from the representation theory of finite groups. Take F to be the field of complex numbers and let G be a finite group. Let
be the isotypic decomposition of FG as a left module over itself. Here s denotes the number of simple non-isomorphic modules. An isotypic decomposition exists for every module. When this module is the regularrepresentation then we can say moreover: each Ij is a simple algebra, that is Ij has no two-sided ideals ^ 0, Ij, and Ij = M^ (F), the dj x dj matrices. Moreover, this is the unique decomposition of FG as a direct sum of minimal two-sided ideals. In this section we give the isotypic decomposition of FSn. Definition 4.1 Let X be a partition of n and define I\ = ^T where the sum runs over all n\ tableaux T\ of shape X. FSneTx,
Suppose we are given a partition A of n. In the previous section we introduced the simple modules JA. Recall that this definition depends on the chosen tableau T\ as well as of the choice of the minimal left ideal. Whenever we speak of JA we therefore assume that we have fixed some tableau T\ and some minimal left ideal JA C FSneTx. Later, we will see that indeed JA = FSneT^ is simple. PROPOSITION 4.2 Let X be a partition of n. hold: The following statements
1. The above defined I\ is a two-sided ideal in FSn. It equals the twosided ideal FSneTxFSn for any tableau T\ of shape X. As left FSnmodule,
/A = JA JATM
2. The decomposition of FSn given by
into a direct sum, of simple algebras is
lx.
Ahtt
(4)
This decomposition is unique. Moreover, each I\ is isomorphic to some matrix algebra I\ = Mfi(F}. The above decomposition is the isotypic decomposition of FSn. Proof. For I\ to be a two-sided ideal, it suffices to show that I\a = a C I\ for a E Sn- This follows since by Lemma 2.1, FSneTxa ~ FSno-~leTxo- FSnea-i(Tx) = FSne-fx ^ ÂNote here, that a~l(T\) T\ is again a tableau of shape A for any a Sn. Next, by linearity and the previous argument, FSneTxFSn = FSneTxa = FSnefx =
Recall from Theorem 3.1 that FSneTl = FSneT2 where Ti,T2 are both tableaux of shape A. It then follows from part 2 of Proposition 3.7 that I\ is isomorphic to a direct sum of simple modules J\. Part two of the proposition now follows from the last statement and from part one of Proposition 3.7: Each I\ is an isotypic component of FSn, and hence as remarked at the beginning of this section, a decomposition of FSn into a direct sum of simple algebras. As /A,/p, for A ^ n are two different simple subalgebras of FSn, follows: COROLLARY 4.3 Let A / fi be two partitions ofn, then I\-I^ = 0. it
Recall that CTX R^ C^ and that CTX is a semi-idempotent with e^ = /3eTx for some non-zero scalar /3, see Theorem 2.10. Define similarly &TX = CT RT Note that CTX is the image of &TX under the algebra-involution h : FSn * FSn where h(a] = a"1 for a Sn. Now. by the same arguments as for CTX (or by using the algebra-involution), the element CTX is a semiidempotent with elf, d&Tx foi" the same scalar /3. LEMMA 4.4 Let X be a partition ofn and T\ a tableau of shape A. Then the above CTX E I\. Moreover, let A' denote the conjugate partition of A. Then
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Proof. Note that by above, the scalar /? is non-zero. Hence
fe
= 4A = CT,RTXCT,RT> = CT,er,R^ e /A,
which implies the first statement. Let T'x be the conjugate tableau of T\. Then RT* = CTX and CT> = RT^. Thus, for example, C R^ = R^,C^, lies in /y since T( is of shape A'.
THE STANDARD TABLEAUX
Definition 5.1 A tableau T is standard if its rows are increasing from left to right, and its columns are increasing downward. For example, there are two standard tableaux of shape (2,1), namely
T72
IT
and
Our next goal is to prove that firstly, FSneTx is already irreducible, and, secondly, that dim (FSneTx) = d\, where d\ is the number of standard tableaux of shape A. A basic fact here is the following: THEOREM 5.2 With the notation established above,
Ahn
Proof. This follows from the Robinson-Schensted or RSK-algorithm, see chapter 3 of [10] and (7.43) in [11]. REMARK 5.3 In preparation for the next lemma we need the following observation: Let T\ be standard, with x in the (i,j)th entry in T\. Then (i,j) divides the boxes or entries ofT\ into a disjoint union of four sets of boxes or entries which we will call areas. We label these areas with 1,2,3 and 4 according to the figure, where the box with entry x belongs to area 4.
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Clearly x is minimal in area 4 and is larger than the elements in area 1. Let TI = D\(alJ), T2 = D\(bij] and assume T\ and T2 have the same first k rows. Then 0^+14 = bfc+i,i, since both are minimal in area 4. Note that in this case there is no area 3. We order the set of all tableaux T\ lexicographically by scanning each row left to right, starting with the top row of the diagram. Formally this ordering is described in the following definition: Definition 5.4 LetT\ = D\(aij) andT2 = D\(bij). Then we sayT\ < T2 if there is (io,jo) such thataij = bltj for alii < i$ and all j, anda^j = biQtj for 1 < j < jo - 1, and ai0ijo < blojo. LEMMA 5.5 Let TI = Dx(altj) and T2 = -D A (6 lJ ) with TI < T2. there exist two entries u,v 'which are T\-co-row and T^-co-column. Then
Proof. Let (?o, jo) be as in the above definition of TI < T%. By the remark above, jo > 2. Let x = Qi 0 j 0 and choose v x. We show that x appears in T-2 in area 3. For k = 1 , . . . , 4, denote area k in tableau Tf by Ak(T(). For fe = 1,2, area Ak(Ti) = Ak(T2) hence x <j Ak(T2). Let y = blQM. By assumption x < y. Also, y is minimal in A^T-z), therefore x 0 A^(T2}. Consequently x 6 A^(T2). Thus, in Tj, x bkj with k > IQ, I < joClearly, (io,) is in area 1. Finally choose u ai0ti = b^^. THEOREM 5.6 Let T: < T2 < < Tdx be the standard tableaux of shape A, ordered lexicographically as above. 1. Then &T]^TI 0 i f T l < Tj but possibly CT^TJ 7^ 0. 2. The following sum is direct:
Tx standard
T\ standard
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In particular, see Proposition 4,2,
dx /A20FS n e Tt =
i=l
0 FSneTx. TX standard
(5)
Proof. The first part of this theorem follows from Lemmas 5.5 and 3.2: There exist entries u, v which are T^-co-row and Tj-co-column and hence er^Ti =0. Denote ej = e^ for 1 < i < d\ and let 0 = a\e\ + + ad\ed\ =: x. Right-multiply this equation by e\ and apply the first claim to deduce that 0 = fia\e\ where e\ = /3e\ with (3 ^ 0 by Proposition 2.11, so a\ei = 0. Thus x = 0362 + + adx&dx 0. Now right-multiply by 62- By an induction on the number of summands, it follows that OjCi = 0 for all 1 < i < d\ and hence the claim follows. REMARK 5.7 Let I\ = Md(F], the d x d matrices over F, then it is well known that I\ is a direct sum of d minimal left ideals, each of dimension d. Conversely, if Ji, . . . , Jfc C I\ are k non-zero left ideals such that ^3i=1 Ji = (Bi=i Ji; then k < d, so dim I\ > k2 , and if k = d then each Ji is minimal with dim Jj = d. By part 2 of 5.6 this implies the following: COROLLARY 5.8 Let A be a partition of n, then dim I\ > d\ where d\ is the number of standard tableaux of shape X. We now can summarize the results of this section: THEOREM 5.9 Let X be a partition of n. Then dim I\ = d^, and hence JA = MdA (F} . The two-sided ideal I\ decomposes as IX=
T\ standard
FSneTx. is minimal, that is FSn-irreducible,
(6) with
Each left ideal FSneTx dim (FSneTx) = dx.
Proof. Comparing the dimensions in Equation (4), using the previous corollary and Theorem 5.2 we obtain
n\ =
Xrn
dim /A >
Ahn
d\ = n\ .
Therefore dim I\ = d\ for all partitions A of n. The other results follow from Remark 5.7 and the inclusion (see Theorem 5.6) /A 2 0
T\ standard
FSneT,.
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BRANCHING.
In this section we recall the branching rule for Sn, following Section 2.8 in [10]. We need the following notation: Let A be a partition of n, let A+ denote the partitions of n + I whose diagrams are obtained from that of A by adding one box, and let A~ denote the partitions of n 1 whose diagrams are obtained from that of A by deleting one box. As usual, we denote by J\ C /^ some minimal left ideal in FSn. THEOREM 6.1 (Branching Rule) Let X be a partition of n. Then as left FSn+i-modules and as a left FSn-i-modules respectively, we have the following isomorphisms: FSn+1Jx = JM and Jx =*
The proof of this theorem can be found in [10], pages 77/78. It is also possible to give a proof using the elements BTX . The above Branching Rule gives rise to the so-called Young graph, which is an infinite graph. Its vertices are the partitions of all natural numbers n, starting from zero. Here the empty set <p is the partition of zero. The edges are defined as follows: Two partitions A and p are connected by an edge (denoted JJL / A) if and only if fj,\- n 1, A h n and as diagrams, A is obtained from fj, by adding one box:
(i)
(I 2 ) (2) / \ >/ \ (I 3 ) (2,1) (3)
(I 4 )
!/ \
(2,1 2 ) (2 2 ) (3,1) (4)
,/
,/
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PART 2: THE DECOMPOSITION OF FAn (following [6]).
THE FUNCTIONS / AND r,.
We assume the notations as introduced in the first part of this paper. Our aim in this second part is to obtain the decomposition for FAn into minimal left ideals. As a first step we introduce in this section two functions / and 77 which play an important role in obtaining this decomposition. Definition 7.1 Let function f : FSn > FSn be defined by linearity and by f(cr) = sgn(cr)cr for a G Sn- Moreover, denote r/ = id + f , that is r](a) = a + f ( a ) where a FSn. PROPOSITION 7.2 The above function f is an involution which satisfies the following properties: 1. The function f is an algebra isomorphism. 2. Let a <= FAn and b FSn then f(ab) = af(b). Thus f : FSn -> FSn is a homomorphism of left FAn-modules. 3. For all partitions A of n we have f(I\) /A'Proof. Clearly, /2 = id. Since /(err) = /(O-)/(T), it follows that / is an algebra isomorphism. To prove the second statement, it suffices to check when a = a 6 An and b = TT (E Sn', then trivially /(CTTT) = cr/(7r). The last statement follows since / is an algebra isomorphism, and from using I\ = FSneTxFSn (see Proposition 4.2) and Lemma 4.4: f(eTx) = REMARK 7.3 Note that r\ : FSn -> FSn is a homomorphism of left modules since it is a sum of two such maps. Moreover, r\ : FSn > FAn, since ry(cr) = 2cr if a An and r/(a) = 0 if a An. Note also, that if a G FSn, then a (E FAn if and only if r)(a) = la. LEMMA 7.4 For all partitions X o f n w e have rj(I\) = ri(I\i) = rj(I\ Proof. Let a = r)(x\) = x\ + f ( x \ ) for x\ G I\ = f(I\') (see Proposition 7.2). So x\ = f ( y \ ' ) for some y\> 6 7y. Thus, since /2 = id,
a = f(y\>) + f2(y\') = y\> + f(y\<) = ^(yv).

so a e f](I\i}. Thus rj(I\) C T?(/A')) an(i the proof follows by the symmetry of the argument. The second equality follows now from the additivity of r?:
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PROPOSITION 7.5 Let X be a partition of n. Then n(Ix>) = T?(/A) = (/A + /v) fl FAn. In particular, if A is a self-conjugate partition, this implies that rj(I\) = I\ n FAn. Proof. The first equality sign is proved in Lemma 7.4, we prove now the second one, that is ri(I\) = (I\ + I\*) n FAn. Note that the left-hand-side is contained in the right-hand-side since /(/A) = I\' by Proposition 7.2, and hence rj(I\) C I\ + I\'. Conversely, let a be an element on the right-hand-side, then from rj(a) = 2a and from a e I\ + I\> deduce that la = 77(0) e T^/A + Â') = r/(-6,) == f?(-Tv)i so a rj(I\) by Lemma 7.4. Note, if A is non-self-oonjugate then I\ n FAn = 0: Indeed, if x then /(z) = x, while x I\ implies that f ( x ) G IA'- The claim now follows since I\ n I\i = 0 by Proposition 4.2. We quote now the basic facts about the character theory of An. Here it is crucial to assume that F = C. See for example [9]. Let {xA | A H n} denote the irreducible Sn -characters. degx A = d\. Denote by XA the restriction of xx to An, then xA X^' THEOREM 7.6 Let F be the field of complex numbers. 1. Let A ^ A'. Then %A = XX ^s An -irreducible. 2. Let A = A' Then %A = XA+ + X A ~ ; where xA are An-irreducible with Moreover, these irreducible An- characters are distinct, and are all the irreducible An- characters. This character-theorem implies the following representation-theorem. THEOREM 7.7 Let F be the field of complex .numbers and recall Equation (4). For each partition A of n, let J\ C. I\ be a minimal left ideal, i.e. FSnirreducible. Consider J\ as a left FAn-module. 1. Let A ^ A'. Then J\ remains also FAn -irreducible. Also, J\ = J\> as FAn-modules (since x = x ). 2. Let A = A'. Then, as FAn-modules, J\ = J^ ffi J^ , both J^^x FAn -irreducible, and dim j = dim J^ = ^d\.
are
Moreover, any irreducible FAn-module is isomorphic to one of the above irreducible FAn-submodules of FSn.
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THE ISOTYPIC DECOMPOSITION OF FAn.
We proceed to describe the isotypic decomposition of FAn which, as remarked at the beginning of Section 4, is also its decomposition as a direct sum of simple subalgebras. We first describe the isotypic decomposition of FSn as a left FAn-module, which is a consequence of Theorem 7.7. i,From this we derive the isotypic decomposition of FAn. In the final two propositions we compare these two isotypic decompositions. PROPOSITION 8.1 Consider FSn as a left FAn-module. 1. Let X ^ A'. Then I\ I\> is an isotypic component. 2. Let A = A'. Then I\ is the sum of minimal left ideals J\ C 7^, each decomposes as J\ = J^J^. Therefore I\ I^Ql^ where I\e is the sum of the J^ 's, e = , and both 1^ and 1^ are isotypic components. Next, we obtain the isotypic decomposition of FAn as a left F^4n-module by applying r/ : FSn FAn. Let e = and denote (see Lemma 7.4) {(A,A') I\ = ~n(Ix) =r](I\>), = ^(Â)) , for A non-self-conjugate, for A self-conjugate, for A self-conjugate.
Note that by Schur's Lemma, r) maps an irreducible F^ln-submodule of FSn either to an isomorphic module or to zero. Generally, to each irreducible character there corresponds a non-zero isotypic component of the regular representation. This proves the following theorem (using Lemma 7.4): THEOREM 8.2 The isotypic components of FAn are as follows: 1. Let A ^ A'. Then r](I\ @ I\>) = r](I\) = "n(I\') = I{\,\'} ^s an isotypic component. In particular r/(I\ 7\/) is non-zero. 2. Let A = A'. Then rj(I^) = Ix and r/(Ix ) = Ix nents. In particular r/(Ix) is non-zero. are isotypic compo-
These are all the isotypic components of FAn. More precisely: FAn= ($ /u<v> (ft (/> + ffi/n (7)
Here ^nsc(n) = {{A, A'} A + X' h n} and f l s c ( n ) = {A | A = A' h n}. The above decomposition is also the decomposition of FAn into simple subalgebras.
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PROPOSITION 8.3 Denote dim Ix = dx. Then the following holds: 1. Let A 7^ A'. As an algebra, ^{A,A'} ^s isomorphic to the matrix algebra Mdx(F). In particular, this implies that I\ I{\,\'} I\'> both isomorphisms of FAn-modules and algebra isomorphisms. Also 2. Let A = A'. As an algebra, Ix is isomorphic to the matrix algebra Mh(F) where h = ^d\ and e = . Proof. Let P denote some isotypic component of FAn. As an algebra, P is isomorphic to Md(F), where d is the dimension of an irreducible submodule of P. We prove the first part, that is assume that A is non-self-conjugate. By Theorem 8.2, r)(I\) is non-zero. By Theorem 5.9, I\ is a direct sum of minimal left ideals. Thus there exists a minimal left ideal Jx C I\ such that r)(J\) is non-zero. By Schur's Lemma, J\ = r/(J\), hence both have dimension d\. Therefore r)(J\) is FAn-irreducible, and is contained in the isotypic component TJ(IX) = I<x,X')- Hence as algebras, I(x,\') M The isomorphisms I\ =. I{x,x'} I\' f ^^n-modules are given by Theorem 8.2 and by dimensionality. The equality /{A,A'} == (I\I\)^FAn follows from Proposition 7.5. For the second part argue similarly, applying part 2 of Theorem 7.7. PROPOSITION 8.4 Let A be self-conjugate, then Ix = ^ Â Moreover, n n FAn = Px and dim I\ = (\d\) . In particular, dim I\ = idim I\ Proof. Clearly r/(/ A ) = r)(l) + r)(I^), and it follows from the isotypic decomposition, see Theorem 8.2, that this sum is direct. This proves that
To show that Px n FAn D Px it suffices to show (by Remark 7.3) that /A D /A. This follows since both are the respective isotypic components for the same isomorphism type of irreducible FAn-module in FSn and FAn respectively with FSn D FAn. Thus I{ n FAn D FX. By definition, Ti(I{) = /|, and since r\ is a homomorphism of modules,
Thus, applying Proposition 7.5, deduce that

n
(/+ n FAn) (/A"
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which obviously implies the desired set-equalities. The dimension-equalities follow by part 2 of Proposition 8.3:
/I V dim 1+ = dim /A = I z -dA ) \ /
THE CENTRAL IDEMPOTENTS OF FAn.
Let ex denote the identity element of the simple algebra Ix. So ex is a central element in FSn which is also an idempotent. Recall the definition of the algebra isomorphism / and the map 77 given in Definition 7.1. We need the following simple observation: LEMMA 9.1 Let ex 6 I\ and ex/ 6 /A' be the corresponding identity elements, then exi = f(ex). Moreover: 1. Let X ^ A'. Denote e^v} = z\ + z\>, then C{A,A'} G ^{A,A'} identity element of the simple algebra //A A'}zs
ê
2. Let X_= X'L Then ex Ix n FAn = Ix. Since Ix = 1+ I~ and /A = 1^ Ix , the element ex decomposes as:
ex ex
= e+ + ex, eA -t- ex.

(,
(8)
(V)
/Q\
Here e\ 6 Ix and ex 6 Ix with e = . Thus, by (9), e\ is the identity element of II. Moreover, both these decompositions coincide: Proof. Show first that f(e\) = e\> for any partition A. Recall that / : I\ /A' is an algebra isomorphism, see Proposition 7.2. Let x I\, then e\x = x. Hence f ( e \ ) f ( x ) = f(e\x) = f ( x ) for any element x I\. Since /(/A) = I\', it follows that both f(e\) and e\> are identity elements in /A') and by the uniqueness of such an element, f(e\) = e\/. Assume next that A / A'. Clearly e\ + e\> is the identity element of I\I\'. By Propositions 7.5 and 8.3, ex + ex, = n(ex) e FAn n (Ix @ Ix,) = I(x,\')Hence ex + e\> is the identity element of /(A,A ; )' Finally, let A = A'. Here Ix = Ix>, therefore both f(e\) and ex are identities in Ix and hence are equal. The equality f ( e x ) = ex implies that ex 6 FAn hence e\ 6 Ix n FAn. The equalities e\ = e\ now
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follow from Proposition 8.4 and from the uniqueness of the decomposition of e\ in J^~ 7^ , as both (8) and (9) above are such decompositions. Note that in this last proof a crucial difference occurs for self-conjugate partitions: Equations (8) and (9) give two decompositions of e\. The second decomposition says that e\ is the two-sided identity on the algebra Ix. see the beginning of Section 4. Now Ix is an isotypic component of the FAn-module FSn and might not be an algebra. PROPOSITION 9.2 Let A = A' and let Jx C Ix be a minimal left ideal, hence FSn-irreducible. Then e\J\ ^ 0 and ecxJx C 7^ for e = . Thus the isotypic components corresponding to A of the FAn-modules FSn and FAn respectively are given by Ix = exlx and I{ = exlx.
In particular, e\ is a left identity on Ix. Proof. Fix irreducible FA7j-submodules Jx C 7| and let J\ JXJX C 7\. By Lemma 9.1, eex = eex hence e\ is the identity of Ix. therefore efx Jx ^ 0. By construction and by Theorem 7.7, J\ = J\, an left FAn-modu\es. Let h : J\ > J\ be such an isomorphism. By Lemma 9.1, ej^ FAn, hence 0 ^ h(efxJx) = e{h(Jx) = ecxJx. The isomorphism h and the definition of the isotypic components imply that exJ\ C 7^, and therefore e\I\ C Iex. Deduce equalities from the following inclusions:
/^ 0 /A~ = /A = exh = (el + ex)I\ C e+Ixe~Ix C I+QI-.
Hence I{ = e\Ix and Ix eÎx exl\- Similarly, the equality Ix = e A-^ follows from the following inclusions: Ix = (el + e~x}Ix C e+Ix e~Ix C Ix
PROPOSITION 9.3 Let A be a self-conjugate partition of n and e = . Then 1. efxx = x if x G 7^; and exx = 0 if x e Ixe. 2. xe\ e\x = x if x 6 7^; and xe\ = e\x = 0 if x 6 7^~e.
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Proof. Since e\eê = 0 and I^f = e^fl\, it follows that e\I^f 0. Note that this is a left-sided result only. The proof of the first part follows since e\ = e% + e^ is the identity on I\: e~x = 0 if x I{, hence e\x = e\x + e^x = e\x = x. The second part follows from the first since by Lemma 9.1, e\ is the two-sided identity on 7|. REMARK 9.4 Let G be a finite group and let x be an irreducible character of G. To x corresponds a component (i.e. a minimal two-sided ideal) in FG with the corresponding central idempotent e. The following is a well know formula relating x o-nd the central idempotent e:
e =
In the case G = Sn it is well known that x^(a~1} = XX(}- Suppose A 7^ A', then together with part 1 of Lemma 9.1, this gives the following explicit formula for the central idempotent in /(A,A') ;
6A + ex =
'
In case A = A' such an expression is more involved. Explicit formulas for e~^ and e~^ are given in [5], Theorem 5.
10
THE DECOMPOSITION OF FAn INTO MINIMAL LEFTIDEALS.
In Section 8 we obtained the decomposition of FAn into its isotypic decompositions, that is the decomposition of FAn into simple algebras I{\,\>\ and 7^ for e . In this section (see Theorem 10.6) we give explicit decompositions of these simple algebras into a direct sum of minimal left-ideals. In the first case this is rather easy, while that of /^ requires some preparations. LEMMA 10.1 Let X be a partition of n and T\ any tableau of shape A. Then FSneTx = FAneTx. Proof. Certainly, the right-hand-side is contained in the left-hand-side. In case A = (1"), the dimension of both sides equals one and hence they are equal. Assume next that A ^ (1"), i.e. AI > 2. Let the first row of T\ contain i and j and let T = ( i , j ) be the corresponding transposition, then T RTX. It follows that rexx STX- Also FSn = FAn + FAnr, hence FSneTx C FAneT>, + FAnreTx = FAneTx + FAneTx = FAn&Tx, and the proof follows.
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Definition 10.2 Denote gxx T)(eTx) GTX +e'T . Here T\ is a tableau of shape X with BTX = R^ Cj< and e'T = /(&r A ) = R^- C the corresponding semi-idempotents. LEMMA 10.3 Let X be a self-conjugate partition of n > 2 and T\ any tableau of shape X. Let e = then
Proof. Without loss of generality, we prove the claim for e^. Assume for a contradiction that e~^(eTx + e'T ) = 0. Since n > 2 and A is selfconjugate, hence A / (n). Let the first column of T\ contain i and j and let T = ( i , j ) be the corresponding transposition, then T 6 CTX- Multiply the equation e~^(exx + e'T ) = 0 from the right by a := 1 r; since C^ a 2C^ while C a 0, it implies that eêrx = 0. Since e~ is central in FAn, Lemma 10.1 implies that 0 = e^FAneTx = e^FSneTx-, and by Proposition 9.2 this is a contradiction. LEMMA 10.4 Suppose X is self-conjugate and let T\ be a tableau of shape A. Then FAng-rx is the direct sum of two non-zero left ideals: FAngTx = FAne+gTx FAne~gTx. We show later that these are minimal left ideals in FAn. Proof. In Lemma 10.3 we have seen that e^gr^ " 0- Hence the two ideals on the right-hand-side of (11) are non-zero. Their sum is direct since the elements e^ are central in FAn with e^ e^ = 0. The right-hand-side of (11) is included in the left-hand-side since FAne^gTx C FAngxx. Also, since e\ + e^ = e\ and hence gTx \9TX + e:\9Tx, we obtain that the left-hand-side of (11) is contained in the right-hand-side. Let A = A' and let Ti,...,7) ( be the standard tableaux of shape A with one and two in their first column. Define T[ to be the tableau obtained from T; by conjugation. The conjugate tableau T'x of a standard tableau of shape A is a standard tableau of shape A' which means in this special situation, it is of shape A. Moreover T- is a tableau whose first row starts with one and two. This implies that the set of all Tj and all T/ is the set of all standard tableaux of shape A and hence d\ = 2h. LEMMA 10.5 Let X be a partition of n with n>2. (11)
1. Let A = A'. Let h = ^d\ and let TI, . . . , T/, be the standard tableaux of shape X having one and two in the first row. Then the following
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sum of left ideals in FAn is direct
2. Let A 7^ A'. Then the following sum of left ideals in FAn is direct FAngTx. TX standard Proof. 1. Assume that 3i=i aj<?r, = 0 for some elements c^ 6 FAn. As in the proof of Lemma 10.3 we multiply this equation by (1 (1,2)) from the right, which implies that Tx standard
(1,2)) =
But since the sum ^ FSnexx, running over all standard tableaux T\, is a direct sum, this implies that all 0*67; = 0. Since <?T; er, + e'T , deduce that ^=1 aieT ~ - Apply *ê automorphism / given in Definition 7.1:
h h
since f(e'T ) = STX. By the same argument, all /(aj)er ; = f(a,ie'T.) = 0. Since / is an isomorphism, all a^T = 0 and therefore all a^j- = 0. 2. Note that for A non-self-conjugate, e^gr^ = eTx since e'T I\< and e\I\i = 0. Assume that X}aTA<?Tx = 0 where the sum runs over all standard tableaux T\ and where GTA -F^n- Multiply this equation by the central idempotent e\ to obtain 0 = YêâT\9Tx S a i\er A But since the sum J2 FSneTx running over all standard tableaux T\ is a direct sum, it implies that all QrAeTA = 0. Applying / and arguing as in the first part, deduce that all aTx<?T\ = 0- Hence the claim follows. The main result in this section is the following theorem. THEOREM 10.6 Let X be a partition of n. With the notations as in Theorem 8.2 we have:
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1. Let X ^ A'. Then /(A,A') C I\I\> and /(A,A') decomposes into a direct sum of minimal left ideals in FAn as follows:
FAn9Tx. TA standard
2. Let X = A'. Ta&e T\ ..., T/j as m /ie ./irsi part o/ Lemma 10.5, and let e = . T/ien /^ 7^ C /A and / decomposes into a direct sum of minim,al left ideals in FAn as follows:
1=1
Proof. 1. By the first parts of Theorem 5.9 and Proposition 8.3, for A non-selfconjugate, I(\,\>) is isomorphic to the matrix algebra M^X(F). Hence any direct sum of d\ non-zero left ideals in /(A,A') must equal /(A,A')) and these ideals necessarily are irreducible. The proof now follows from the second part of Lemma 10.5. 2. Since e\ ej + e^ we obtain using Lemma 10.4 and Lemma 10.5
h h h
*x9T,)
^tFAngTi=QFAngTi 1=1 i=i

h
i=l h
and by dimensionality we obtain equality in this last equation. The equation also implies, by multiplying by e^, that
Since 1^ is isomorphic to the matrix algebra Mh(F): any direct sum of h non-zero left ideals in 1^ must equal l, and these ideals necessarily are irreducible. Similarly for 1^.
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LEMMA 10.7 Let T\ be any tableau of any shape X, then dim FAngTx = dx. Proof. We distinguish between A self-conjugate and A non-self-conjugate: 1. Let A be non-self-conjugate. Since I(\t\'\ M^(F), all minimal left ideals in the decomposition in the first part of Theorem 10.6 are d\ dimensional. 2. Next, let A be self- conjugate and e = . Lemma 10.5, the claim follows since If Tx = Tj, Tj as in
dim FAnecx9Ti =h = ( l / 2 ) d x and by Lemma 10.4, FAngx, = FAne^gTi FAnexgTt- Let now T\ be any tableau of shape A, then there exist a E Sn such that T\ = aT\. It follows that gxx cr^cr""1. Since aAna~l = An, we obtain that FAngTx = aFAna^lagTl^~l = aFAngô~^ . As vector space, the latter is isomorphic to FAng^ where such an isomorphism is given by x axa~l . m We can now prove: PROPOSITION 10.8 Let X be a partition ofn, Tx a tableau of shape X and let J\ C 7^ be a minimal left ideal in FSn. Then the following holds: 1. As left FAn-modules, J\ = FAngrx2. FSngTx = FSner^ FSne'Tx 2dim FSneTx = and in particular dim FSngrx =
Proof. As left F5n-modules, J\ = FSneTx- Hence this is also an isomorphism of left F^4n-modules. Use Lemma 10.1 to deduce that ri(FSne.Tx] = ^(FAneTi) = FAngTx. Therefore, by dimensionality (see Lemma 10.7), 77 : FSneTx * FAngTx is an isomorphism, which proves the first part. To prove the second part, notice that FAngTx is a left ideal in FAn. For any non-zero left ideal L in FAn, dim FSnL = 2dim L as FSnL = L (1,2)L. Since FSngTx = FSn(FAngTx), deduce that dim FSngTx = 2dim FAngTx = 2dx. Now FSngTx C FSneTx + FSne'Tx and since both sides have the same dimension, they are equal and the sum is direct.
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REMARK 10.9 1. Lemma 10.1 can easily be generalized for Specht modules Sx. Recall from [10], page 62, that &t is the polytabloid Kt{t} = C^ {t} and Sx = CSnet. It is easy to show that also Sx = CAnet: If X (n) then Sx = Cet. If X ^ (n) then C^ 'absorbs' transpositions, and the proof follows. 2. It can be proved that if J\ C 1^ is a minimal left ideal then there exists an idempotent e G FSn such that J\ = FSne: since J\ is minimal, such e is called a 'primitive' idempotent. We make the following conjecture: Conjecture. For any primitive idempotent e 6 FSn, (a) FSne = FAne, (b) r](FSne) * FAnr,(e] and (c) dim FSnr/(e) = 2dim FSne. yi-Branching. For the branching-rule between An and An+i, which is similar to the branching-rule between Sn and Sn+i. given in Theorem 6.1, see Section 2 in [2].
References [1] A.BERELE AND A.REGEV, Hook Young diagrams with applications to combinatorics and to representations of Lie superalgebras, Adv. in Math. 46 (2) (1987). 2 [2] C.BESSENRODT AND J.B.OLSSON, Branching of modular representations of the alternating groups, J. Alg 209,143-174 (1998). [3] H.BOERNER, Representations of groups. North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1963. [4] C.W.CuRTis AND I.REINER, Methods of representation theory vol. I. Pure and applied mathematics, Wiley, New York (1990). [5] A.GlAMBRUNO AND E.jESPERS, Ccentral idempotents and units in rational group algebras of alternating groups. Intern. J. Alg. and Cornp., Vol. 8, No. 4(1998) 467 477. [6] A.HENKE AND A.REGEV, Weyl modules for the Schur algebra of the alternating group. J. Alg., to appear. [7] A.HENKE AND A.REGEV, A-codimensions and A-cocharacters, Israel J. Math., to appear. [8] G.D. JAMES. The representation theory of the symmetric group. Lecture Notes in Mathematics, vol. 682, Springer, Berlin, 1978. [9] G.D. JAMES AND A. KERBER, The representation theory of the symmetric group. Encyclopedia of mathematics and its applications, vol. 16, Addison-Wesley, 1981. [10] B.E.SAGAN, The symmetric group, representations, combinatorial algorithms, and symmetric functions. Wadsworth &: Brooks/Cole Mathematics Series, 1991.
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[11] R.STANLEY, Enumerative Combinatorics Volume 2. Cambridge Studies in Adv. Math. 62, Cambridge University Press, 1999. [12] H.WEYL, The Classical groups. Princeton Math. Series, No. 1, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, N.J.
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Graded and ordinary polynomial identities in matrix and related algebras

PLAMEN KOSHLUKOV1, IMECC, UNICAMP, Cx. P. 6065, 13083-970 Campinas, SP, Brazil. E-mail: plamen@ime.unicamp.br
ABSTRACT In this paper we survey results concerning the polynomial identities satisfied by some important algebras over infinite fields of positive odd characteristic. Some of the results are generic and classic while some others are quite recent and/or new. The paper is based on a talk given at the Meeting on PI algebras held in September 2001 in Pantelleria, Italy.
INTRODUCTION
This paper is based on a talk given at the Meeting on Combinatorial Methods in PI theory that was held in Pantelleria, Italy, in September 2001. Thanks are due to the organisers of the Meeting for the warm hospitality, and for the excellent and creative atmosphere during the conference. The structure theory of algebras with polynomial identities is based on several fundamental results. The first of them is the description of the Tprime ideals of identities. These are the ideals of identities (or T-ideals) that are prime inside the class of all T-ideals. The second consists in representing the identities satisfied by an algebra by means of the identities satisfied by some "simpler" algebras, for example, finitely generated, finite dimensional, and so on. The third is the revelation of the connection between identities of algebras and of graded algebras. All this was done mainly by A. Kemer, see for example [25], [5]. One of the corollaries of Kemer's theory was the
1
Partially supported by CNPq and by FAEP, UNICAMP
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positive solution of the famous Specht Problem. Although the structure theory was developed for algebras over a field of characteristic 0 some of its results may still hold over any infinite field. On the other hand when one considers polynomial identities in algebras over an infinite field of positive characteristic there may appear significant "discrepancies", see for example [26, 27, 28, 23, 44]. We outline some of the most important results concerning the structure of the T-ideals. and compare the situations when the characteristic of the base field is 0 and when it is a prime p > 2. The case when it equals 2 is, apparently, the most difficult and delicate. The known results in it are very few (we recall some of them further). Unless otherwise stated, all vectorspaces, algebras and so on are considered over an infinite field K. Again unless explicitly mentioned we suppose that the characteristic char/C ^ 2, and that the algebras are unitary. All tensor products we consider are over the field K. We fix the notation we shall use in the sequel. Let X = {x\,X2,. } be a set of symbols, and denote K(X} the free associative algebra (with unit denoted by 1) freely generated over K by the set X. The elements of K ( X ) are called polynomials. If A is an algebra then the polynomial f ( x \ , .. . ,x n ) e K ( X ) is a polynomial identity of A if f(o,\.... ,an) = 0 for every o.j A. The set T(A) of all polynomial identities of A is an ideal in K ( X ) . This ideal is closed under endomorphisms of K(X); it is the T-ideal of A. It is well known that every ideal / in K(X) that is closed under the endomorphisms of the algebra K ( X ) is the T-ideal of some algebra, for example of the quotient algebra K(X)/I. The class of all algebras that satisfy given set S of polynomial identities is the variety var(S) generated by 5. We shall use the notation var(A) for the variety generated by the T-ideal T(A) of A. Let / be a T-ideal. The algebra K(X)/I is the relatively free algebra in the variety var(I); every algebra B var(I) is a homomorphic image of it provided that B can be generated by some countable set of its elements. If /) .9 ^ K ( X ) are two polynomials then g is consequence of / (or g follows from / as an identity) if g (f)T where (/) T is the least T-ideal in K ( X ) that contains /. This means that g belongs to the ideal generated by all polynomials f ( g i , . . . , g n ) for g, K ( X ) . The T-ideal / is finitely based if it is generated as T-ideal by a finite set of its elements; / is Spechtian if it is finitely based and all T-ideals J such that / C J are finitely based, too. We denote by [a, 6] = abba the commutator of a, 6; the commutators are left normed that is [a, 6, d = [[a, b], c] and so on. Set aob= (1/2) (0,6 + ba) the Jordan product of a and b. Let L(X) be the free Lie algebra freely generated by the set, X. It is canonically isomorphic to the subalgebra of
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the adjoint Lie algebra of K(X) generated by X. Recall that the adjoint Lie algebra of an associative algebra A is the vector space of A equipped with the bracket [a, b] = ab ba instead of the usual multiplication ab. Therefore we may identify L(X) with the above subalgebra. Choose a basis of the vector space L(X); let x\, x%, . . . , uj, U2, be such a basis where all Ui are commutators of length > 2. Then, according to Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt Theorem the elements of the set Ki - xZyth U5' *!<<*. 31 < < 3m, m, n > 0}
form a basis of K(X). Here we suppose that the element corresponding to m = n 0 is 1. Denote as B(X) the subalgebra of K(X) generated by the commutators u-\_, 1/2, ... Hence the elements of B(X) are linearcombinations of products of commutators. We call the polynomials from B(X} proper (or commutator) polynomials. Since the field K is infinite every polynomial identity is equivalent (as identity) to its multihomogeneous components (see for example [17]). Note that if char K = 0 then every multihomogeneous identity is equivalent to a multilinear one. If char K = p > 0 then this need not be the case. Furthermore, when K is infinite and the algebras we consider are unitary, every T-ideal / is generated by the intersection / n B ( X ) . Combining this with the previous observation we have that every T-ideal is generated by its proper and multihomogeneous elements. Weak identities are an important tool in the study of the identities satisfied by given algebra. Let A be an (associative) algebra and S a subspace of A that generates A as an algebra. Then f(xi,..., xn) K ( X ) is a weak identity for the pair (A, S) if /(si,..., sn) = 0 in A for every Sj S. One defines ideals of weak identities, consequence of a weak identity, and so on, accordingly. See for example [17, 29, 30] for further properties of weak identities as well as for further reference. Let G be a group and A an algebra. Then A is G-graded if A = gcAg where Ag are vector subspaces of A, and AgAh C Agh for every g, h G. Sometimes we shall use additive groups, then the definition of a graded algebra has to be modified accordingly. Typical examples of graded algebras are the following. The free associative algebra K(X) is Z-graded with respect to the usual degree of polynomials. The Grassmann algebra E is Z2-graded (or simply 2-graded) in a natural way, E = EQ E\. Here E is the Grassmann algebra of an infinite dimensional vector space V. If e\, 62, ... is a basis of V then 1 and the elements eê,^ ... ej n , i\ < i 0, form a basis of E; the multiplication in E is given by e^Cj = CjCi when i ^ j and 0 otherwise. In this situation EQ is the span of 1 and all basic elements with n even while E\ is the span of those with n odd. It is immediate that EQ is the centre of E. Now let G be a group and let
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X = (Jg^cXg be a union of disjoint countable sets. The free associative algebra K(X] is G-graded in the following way. Let Xg = { z i g , X 2 g , . . .}, then we set Vg to be the span of all monomials Xj i3j .x^. . . . Ximgjm with 9]i9h - - 9 j m = 9- Hence K(X) = gecVg and VgVh C Vgh. This algebra is the free G-graded algebra. A polynomial in it is a graded identity for the G-graded algebra A = gec^g if it vanishes whenever one substitutes the variables of / for homogeneous elements of A of the corresponding homogeneous degree. In analogy with the case of T-ideals one verifies that the set of all graded identities for A is an ideal Idc(A) that, is closed undergraded endomorphisms. Accordingly one defines consequences of a graded identity, varieties of graded algebras, and so on. If A is a 2-graded algebra, A = AQ&AI then the Grassmann hull G(A) of A is the algebra G(A) = Ao<8>EoAi<g>Ei. The 2-graded finitely generated simple algebras over an algebraically closed field K of characteristic 7^ 2 are the following (see [56]). 1. Mn(K) with the trivial grading Mn(K) = Mn(K) 0; 2. Mn(L) where L is the commutative algebra L = KtK, t2 = 1, and grading Mn(L) = Mn (K} t.Mn(K) ; 3. Mn(K] with the following grading. Let a + b = n, and split the into four blocks
1 where A Ma(K), \ L L> / D e Mb(K), B is a x fc-matrix, and C is b x o.-matrix. Then the 2-grading on Mn(K) is defined as
matrices of Mn(K)
o
In the gradings above, first come the 0 components, and second the 1 components. According to Kemer's theory, the T-prime algebras over a field of characteristic 0 are Mn(K), Mn(E). Ma,b(E). The last algebra is defined as the algebra in item (3) above with A, D having entries in EQ and B, C in E\. Observe that these algebras are precisely the Grassmann hulls of the respective simple 2-graded algebras. The T-ideal T(A) (and the algebra A, and the variety varA) is called semiprime if /2 C T(A) implies / C T(A) for every T-ideal /. This means that, there do not exist nilpotent T-ideals that, contain T(A). THEOREM 1 [25, Chapter 1.3, pp. 21-25] Let charK = 0. Then: 1. If V is a nontrivial variety, then V = Nk\V where NI-: is the variety of all nilpotent of class < k algebras, W is the largest semiprime variety
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contained in V, and the product of two varieties MN consists of all algebras A having an ideal I that belongs to N, and whose quotient A/I lies in M. 2. The T-ideal I is T-semiprime if and only if I = I\ D ... fl Iq where the T-ideals Ij are T-prime. 3. The only T-prime ideals are the T-ideals of the algebras Mn(K], Mn(E), Ma,b(E). All this comes to show that the description of the T-prime ideals is extremely important. In characteristic 0, the theory of Kemer gives such a description in terms of the identities satisfied by some concrete and "nice" algebras. On the other hand, when char K = p > 0, there is no such good description. The theory is relatively well developed for finitely generated algebras only. See for example [27] for future reference. The T-prime T-ideals that arise in characteristic 0, remain T-prime in positive characteristic but there appear new ones, the so-called irregular T-prime ideals. Their description is still far from our understanding, and the picture is quite unclear, see [28]. We recall that every associative algebra over a field of positive characteristic p > 0 satisfies some standard identity sn(xi, x-i, , xn) ([26]). Here the standard polynomial sn is the polynomial
a(n)
0-eSn
for a running over the symmetric group Sn acting on {1, 2 , . . . , n}; ( l) a is the sign of the permutation a. Therefore sn is multilinear (i.e. multihomogeneous and linear in every variable), and skew symmetric. Thus every PI algebra over a field of positive characteristic satisfies some identities of a finite dimensional algebra. (Note that sn is an identity for every algebra of dimension n 1.) This phenomenon has no analogue when the field is of characteristic 0. It is well known that the Grassmann algebra E of an infinite dimensional vector space over a field of characteristic 0 satisfies no standard identities. On the other hand, the situation in characteristic p is different since E satisfies sp+\ and p+1 is the minimal degree of a standard identity that holds in E. Therefore the algebra E satisfies the identity sq if and only if q > p.
2 IDENTITIES IN MATRIX ALGEBRAS
The profound study of the polynomial identities satisfied by matrix algebras can be dated back to the famous Amitsur and Levitzki result. It states that the standard polynomial s^n is an identity for Mn(K); furthermore Mn(K] satisfies no identities of degree < In. Significant contribution was made by Formanek [19] and by Razmyslov [44] who proved independently the
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existence of central polynomials for the matrix algebra Mn(K). We refer to [17], Chapter 7, for further facts and reference concerning the polynomial identities of the matrix algebras. Although the matrix algebra Mn(K) is somewhat "standard" object its polynomial identities are very far from easy to describe. In fact there are descriptions of the polynomial identities satisfied by this algebra in two cases only, namely n = I (obvious since these are the identities of the field K), and n = 1. We note first that when K is a finite field, bases of the identities of Mn(K} are known for n < 4, see [37, 21, 22], respectively. It should be noted that the methods applied in the case of K finite are completely different from the ones when K is infinite. Now let us return to algebras over infinite fields. When char K = 0 it was proved by Razmyslov that the identities of M%(K) admit a finite basis, see [42, 44]. He proved even more, that the identities of the Lie algebra sl,2(K) of the 2x2 traceless matrices are finitely based as well, and that the variety of Lie algebras var(sl2(K)) is Spechtian. This means that in addition to being finitely based, every subvariety is as well. The results of Razmyslov were more general, he proved that if K is infinite and char K ^ 2 then all multilinear identities of M^(K) follow from a finite collection of such identities. Therefore over a field of characteristic 0, the identities of M-z(K} are finitely based. Later Tki [48] showed that the identities of Mz(K) follow from four of them. Finally Drensky in [15], proved that the standard identity 54 and the Hall identity [[a^,^] 2 ,- 7 ^] form a basis of the identities of M%(K} over a field of characteristic 0. The methods employed by Drensky rely heavily on the theory of representations of the symmetric and of the general linear group. These methods are one of the principal tools in study of polynomial identities in characteristic 0, see for example [17] for a variety of applications. Further in [18] it was shown that the identities of sl^(K} follow from single identity. The polynomial identities satisfied by the algebra M^(K} have been described tightly, including all possible numerical characteristics such as codimensions, Hilbert series, and so on. See for example [17, 41, 44, 32] for further results and reference concerning these identities and their numerical characteristics. When K is infinite and char K = 2 it was proved by Vaughan-Lee that the identities of M<z(K} considered as a Lie algebra, do not admit any finite basis of its identities, see [55]. Some further partial results concerning polynomial identities related to those of M%(K) in characteristic 2, can be found in [16] and in [31]. Now let us consider the remaining case when K is infinite and char K = p > 2. Since in this situation the multilinear identities may not determine the T-ideals one had to look for other methods. Such methods were provided by Doubilet, Rota and Stein in [11] and by De Concini and Procesi in
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[10], and further developed by Procesi in [41]. They are based on invariant theory of the classical groups which is independent of the characteristic of the base field. Using these methods Vasilovsky [51] proved that the identities of the Lie algebra sl2(K) admit a finite basis consisting of single identity
Vb - [y, z, [t, x],x} + [y, x, [z, x],t}= 0.
Furthermore, in [29] the weak identities of the pair (M2(K),sl2(K)) were dealt with. It, was shown in [29] that they follow from the weak identity [:r2,t/] = 0. (Note that if A is a traceless 2x2 matrix then its square is a scalar matrix which is central.) Further applications of the methods of invariant theory and generalisations can be found in [52, 30]. Finally, in [32] it was proved that the polynomial identities of M2(K) are finitely based. Furthermore, the following theorem was proved in [32]. THEOREM 2 Let K be an infinite field and charK = p ^ 2. Then the polynomial identities of the algebra M2(K) follow from the identities: 1. The standard identity 34 = s^(xi,x2,x^,x^); 2. The Hall identity h = [{xi,x<2\ [3,0:4], 5]; 3. v' 5 = [ x i , x 2 , [ x 3 , X 4 \ ] o[x5,x6] + [ x i , x 2 , [ x 3 , x 5 ] ] o [4,e]+ [zi, 4, [2,2:5]] o[x3,XQ\ + [ x i , x 5 , [ x 2 , X 4 \ ] o [x3,xe]; 4. r6 = [xi,x2]o(uov) - (l/8)([xi,u, v, x2] + [xi,v, u, x2] - [x2, u, xi,v][x2,v,xi,v]. Here in the last identity u = [3,24] and v = [0:5, rcg] are commutators of length 2. Note that we different form of the Hall identity; it is easy to verify that it is equivalent to the Hall identity [[xi, x2]2,x^} modulo 54. COROLLARY 3 // charK > 5 then the identities 54 and h$ form a (minimal) basis of the T-ideal of M2(K). The proof of the theorem above makes heavy use of invariant theory as well as methods developed in [41, 51, 29]. The validity of the corollary is immediate since all four identities in the basis are of degrees < 6. Hence if char K = p > 7 one may apply the methods and results in [15], and in particular, the decomposition of the regular Sg-module as a direct sum of irreducible ones. This means that the representation theory of the symmetric and general linear groups may be applied to this case in the same way as in characteristic 0.
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Note that, as in Razmyslov's proof of the finite basing of the identities of Mz(K), one uses essentially a similar approach in positive characteristic. It is based first on the existence of a finite basis of the identities for sli(K) (Vasilovsky's result), and on the description of the weak identities for (M<z(K}, sli(K}). Further one is led to "approximate" the T-ideal of M%(K) in several steps, and finally obtains a finite basis of the identities. Such a basis is rather large, and after significant reductions one obtains the final form. We give an idea of how such a reduction was done by means of the following example. We show that the identity v$ follows from 54 and ft,5 in any characteristic p ^ 2 (see for more detail [48, 23, 32]). t>5 = .54(2, y, x, tx) + xs 4 (z, y. x, t) - s4(.xz, y, x, t) - s(z, xy, x, t). This is an equality in the free associative algebra K ( X ) . Hence all Lie identities of M2(K] follow from 34 only. Note that the verification of the last equality is straightforward: one has to expand both sides of the equality and to cancel all terms thus obtained.(And if the calculations are correct, probably having spent half an hour, the proof would be over...) The following conjecture was proposed in [32]. CONJECTURE 4 1. When charK = 3, a 'minimal basis of the identities of M2(K) consists 0/54, h^, r. 2. When charK = 5, a minimal basis of the identities of M2(K) consists of 54 and ft, 5. Recall that in [23] it was shown that the identity rg does not belong to the T-ideal generated by 54 and h$ if ch&i K = 3. Furthermore this fact was used in [23] in order to answer in the negative the following question due to Kemer (see [28]). CONJECTURE 5 Does the Grassm.ann algebra E of an infinite dimensional vector space satisfy all polynomial identities of the matrix algebra M2(K) when charK = 3? The answer to this problem is "Not" since E does not satisfy the identity r. Since E satisfies h$ in any characteristic (E satisfies the identity [xi, X2,X3\), and in characteristic 3 it satisfies 54, it follows that rg is not a consequence of 54 and h in characteristic 3. Recently, in [9] minimal bases of the identities of M2(K) were found in the remaining cases for the characteristic p = 3 and p = 5. The following theorem was proved in [9], THEOREM 6 1. When charK = 3, the identities 54, h$, rg form a minimal basis of the identities of M2(K}.
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2. When charK = 5 the identities 34 and h form a minimal basis of the identities of MI (K). The methods of proof for the above theorem are somewhat similar to the one used above to show that the Lie identity v$ follows from 54. Since the computations are indeed very heavy we omit them here. Still in positive characteristic there remain lots of open questions concerning the polynomial identities of the algebra M^(K}. Some of them follow. 1. Find a basis of the identities of this algebra when char K 2. Is this basis finite? (We do not make any guess for the answer.) 2. Describe the subvarieties of the variety var(M^(K}~) when char K = p > 2. Is it true that every proper subvariety satisfies an identity of the type [xi, 2:2] [2:3, 4 ] . . . [^2fc-i ; ^2/t]? (This is the case when char K = 0. It seems to us that this fact has no direct analogue in positive characteristic.) 3. Is the variety var(M-2(K}} Spechtian over an infinite field of characteristic p > 2? And what about p = 2? Probably the answer to the first question is "Yes"; and to the second is "No." 4. Describe the numerical invariants of the T-ideal of M%(K} such as codimensions, Hilbert series. (Hint: Probably some modification of the methods of [41, 32] would serve.) To this end we have not mentioned almost anything about the identities of the algebra Mn(K), n > 2. There are several general results such as the Amitsur and Levitzki theorem that we already discussed. Probably the most general theorem about the identities of M^K] is the description of the trace identities obtained independently by Procesi [40] and by Razmyslov [43, 44]. Regev in [46] computed the asymptotic behaviour of the codimensions of Mn(K}. All this was done when char.R' = 0. Still the picture for the identities of Mn(K), n > 2, is quite incomplete even in characteristic 0. Even for n 3 it is unclear what a basis of the identities might look like. It is only known that there must be at least 3 identities in such basis, see [17] for further reference. We already mentioned that there exist central polynomials for the matrix algebra Mn(K] (see [19, 44]. These are polynomials from the free associative algebra K(X] that are not identities for Mn(K) and all their values on Mn(K] are central. Observe that the set CPn of all central polynomials for Mn(K) is not an ideal in K(X] but it is a vector subspace. Furthermore it is closed under algebra endomorphisms of K ( X } . Such subspaces of K(X]
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are called T-spaces. The structure of CP2 was described in detail by Formanek in [20], and Okhitin in [38]; both in characteristic 0. When the field is infinite and char^T = p ^ 2, a finite generating set of the T-space CP<i was described in [9], see an announcement in [8].
3 GRADED IDENTITIES
We already mentioned that graded polynomial identities played an extremely important role in Kernel's structure theory of T-ideals in characteristic 0. Shortly afterwards they attracted the attention of many researchers and became an object of independent study as well. Graded identities have various applications in PI theory. We discuss briefly some of the keystone results concerning graded identities. It was proved in [2, 7] that if G is a finite abelian group and A a G-graded algebra then A is PI if and only if its neutral component is. Numerical characteristics of graded identities can be defined in analogy with the ungraded case, this was done, and lots of properties of graded codimensions. cocharacters, Hilbert series and so on, were obtained. See for example [3] for more detailed description of such results, and for further reference. Concerning bases for the graded identities satisfied by concrete algebras, we mention the result of Di Vincenzo. He found in [12] bases of the 2-graded identities for the matrix algebra M2(K) and for the algebra Miti(E) over a field of characteristic 0. The gradings he considered were the natural ones:
for a, b, c, d K;
for a. d . EQ and b, c 6 E\ ;
E E = (EQ EQ EI EI) (EQ EIEI EO).

When we consider 2-graded identities it is more convenient (and traditional) to consider the cyclic group as additive. Furthermore, in order to avoid multiple indices, in the free 2-graded algebra, we shall write y, for the even variables (i.e., the variables that correspond to the neutral part of the grading), and z, for the odd variables (the ones that correspond to the 1-part of it). Thus Di Vincenzo showed that the graded identities of M2(K] follow from the graded identities
(i)
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Furthermore the graded identities of M\}i(E} follow from

yi 2/2 -J/22/1, ziz2zs + z3z2zi. (2)
Then using these two results together with a theorem of Popov [39] describing a basis of the ordinary polynomial identities satisfied by E E, Di Vincenzo obtained a new proof of the PI equivalence of M\^(E} and E E. Otherwise this fact follows from Kemer's classification of the prime T-ideals in characteristic 0, see [25]. Note that in [12] the cocharacters of M\f\(E) were computed as well. The case when char K = p > 2 and K being an infinite field was dealt with in [33]. It was proved in [33] that the graded identities of M2(K) admit the same basis (1) as in characteristic 0. The same holds for the algebra MI I I('); its identities follow from (2). In order to obtain these results one constructs models for the corresponding relatively free algebras, and uses a version of the Specht reduction to commutator polynomials. Recall that we consider unitary algebras. PROPOSITION 7 Suppose that 1 e K(X}Q. If f ( y l t . . . , ym, 21, . . . , zn) K ( X ) is a multihomogeneous polynomial then it is equivalent as graded identity to a finite collection of graded identities such that the even variables 7/1 , . . . , ym appear in any one of them in commutators only. Proof. The proof repeats verbatim that of [17], Proposition 4.3.3. Note that one can substitute Xi + 1 for Xi only in the cases Xi Y since 1 K(X) belongs to K(X)o. In order to obtain suitable models for the corresponding relatively free algebras, one considered in [33] a modification of the generic matrices. Let Gen(M2(K)) be the generic matrix algebra of order 2 generated / x (i) x(?)\ l by some countable set of matrices Ai = I ';3\ (4\ \xx ~.\ i V t I1. Here x? , i > 1, i î ' 1 < J < 4 are commuting variables. It is well known that Gen(M2(K)) is isomorphic to the relatively free algebra in the variety of algebras determined by the matrix algebra of order two. Denote by F(M2(K)) the subalgebra of M2(K[y^\ z\j] \ i > 1, j = 1, 2]) generated by the matrices
<
/o
r o
4"
where K[y\f , z\ \ i > 1, j = 1, 2] is the polynomial algebra generated by the variables y. , z\ . The algebra F(M2(K}) possesses 2-grading in a
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natural manner. Namely its matrices of the type I part, while those of the type I ) form the odd part.
1 form the even
Denote by T^M^) the ideal of the graded identities for Mi(K). Then it is easy to show that the relatively free 2-graded algebra K(X}/T^(M'2) is isomorphic to the algebra F ( M 2 ( K ) ) . The algebra F(M2(K)) is rather convenient to work. One proves the following proposition. PROPOSITION 8 a) The relatively free 2-graded algebra #(X)/T 2 (M 2 ) is spanned over K by 1 and by the following monomials:
Here 01 < 02 < . . . < a^, b\ < 62 < . . . < bi, c\ < 02 < . < cm and d\ < d<2 < . . . < dm, k > 0, I, > Q, m, > 0. In the second type of monomials k + I > 1; in the fourth if k I = 0 its degree is > 2, and the "hat" over a variable means that it can be missing. b) The monom.ials of (a) are linearly independent modulo An immediate consequence of this proposition is Di Vincenzo's result in characteristic p > 2. COROLLARY 9 (cf. [12], Lemma 2) If K is an infinite field, charK = p ^ 2 then the 2-graded identities of the algebra Mi(K] are consequences of the identities y\yi yiy\ and In order to describe the 2-graded identities satisfied by M\^(E], one uses somewhat similar methods. The difference is that, one considers matrices over the free supercommutative algebra instead of the standard generic matrices. See [6] for more details about such constructions. Then one is able to prove the analogue of Proposition 8 in the case of Mit\(E). Note that even the linear basis of the relatively free 2-graded algebra in this case is the same as for M2(K). The following theorem was proved in [12], Theorem 1, in the case of characteristic 0. THEOREM 10 ([33] Let K be an infinite field, charK ^ 2. Then the 2graded identities of the algebra M\ i(E) follow from the two identities of
(2).
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Now we discuss the 2-graded identities of the algebra E E in positive characteristic. Let char K p ^ 2. Denote by F the algebra generated by all elements of the form
Z, = c
TT Here
+c >
1 1
() , b\ J) , c\ (0) , a\ j() are commuting * ui J ) , cC ), eQ ^(!) a^ variables and5 a\(!) , o> are anticommuting ones, i = I, 2, . . . , and F is a subalgebra of the free supercommutative algebra generated by the latter elements. Then F FQ@F\ is 2-graded algebra and the grading on it is the natural one i.e., we consider YJ; as even and Zi as odd variables. It is easy to show that F is isomorphic to the relatively free 2-graded algebra of E E. But the description of the basis of the 2-graded identities for E <S> E is not that straightforward as for Mi(K} or M\^(E}. One needs some further combinatorics. Let (ii, i-2, . . . , in) be a permutation of the symbols {1,2, ...,n}, and assume that
It is convenient to consider colouring of these symbols in the colours A and B. A pair (ia,ip), 1 < cc, /?<",, forms a coloured inversion with respect to the partition A, B if 1 < a < /3 < n, ia > ip and either a, j3 6 A or a, /3 B. If q is the number of all coloured inversions in (11,^2, . . . ,in) then ( I)9 is the coloured sign of this permutation with respect to the partition A, B. Note that we consider the partition (A, B) as an unordered pair i.e. (A, B) and (B, A) is the same partition. The following property of the coloured sign of a permutation holds. PROPOSITION 11 Let i = (11,12, ..., in) be a permutation of ( 1 , 2 , . . . , n). Then the coloured sign of i equals either 1 for all partitions, or 1 for all partitions, or else 1 for 2 n ~ 2 partitions and 1 for the rest 2 n ~ 2 partitions. The proof of the proposition consists of an elementary induction on n based on the fact that the transpositions (t, t + 2) change the coloured sign of a permutation. Hence one may consider permutations i such that il < ''3 < and ii < 14 < . . . . A corollary of this proposition is what we need for the graded identities of E <8> E. COROLLARY 12 Let i = (ii,i<2, ,in) be a permutation of the symbols ( 1 , 2 , . . . , n) and suppose i\ < 23 < ... and i% <i< .... Ifi^(l,2,...,n) then the coloured sign of i equals 1 for 2 n ~ 2 partitions and 1 for the rest 2"~2 partitions of {1, 2 , . . . , n}.
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Based on the last two statement one can give an alternative description of the linear structure of the meson algebras, see for example [24], pp. 115 and 264-272. Now let us consider the multilinear monomials
where ii < i2 < ... < im, ji < h < < jm-i < jm', if the degree of the monomial is odd. zjm is missing. We show that they are linearly independent modulo the graded identities of the algebra E E. Indeed consider a nontrivial linear combination of such monomials with a nonzero coefficient a, of the monomial z\ z-2 . . . z^ . Choose a partition A U B of the set {1.2,..., k 1. k] and let Z{ ^> e% <8> 1 whenever i 6 A, z3 i> 1 <g> ej, j 6 B. Here GI, 62, ... are the standard generators of the Grassmann algebra E. The evaluation of the combination will be 0. Now sum up all such evaluations for all partitions (A, B) of ( 1 , 2 , . . . , k 1, A;) and obtain that 2ta = 0, a contradiction. THEOREM 13 The ideal of the 2-graded identities of the algebra E E is generated by the polynomials y\yi y^yi, ziz^zj, + z^z^zi, and if charK = p>2, by REMARK 14 The polynomial [yp,z] is not a 2-graded identity M\ti(E) (Here y is an even variable, z is odd one, and p charK .) Choose for instance y = en + 2e22, z Q&\1 + 9^21 where e.{j are the matrix units and g ^ 0 is an arbitrary element of E\. Then yp = e\\ + 2PC22 and since 2P ^ 1 in K we have [yP, z] = g ( ( l - 2P)el2 + (2? - I)e 2 i) + 0. Hence if char A' = p > 2 then the 2-graded identities of M\t\(E} are contained (strictly) in those of E E. And when char/C = 0 we obtain once again Kemer's theorem. THEOREM 15 The algebras MH (E) and E E are PI equivalent over a field of characteristic 0. Later on we return to the polynomial identities of M\,\(E] and E E. For a while we shall consider algebras over finite fields. Suppose K is a finite field with q = p" elements, char A" = p ^ 2. The 2-graded identities of M^(K) were described in [35]. Moreover it was shown in [35] that up to a 2-graded isomorphism there are only two 2-gradings on M%(K}. First we have the "usual" grading as described above. The second type of grading is the following: M2(K) = Af} Af where
a. d \ . _.] , } a, d K L ad a )
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{( b tn Af = }[ V ac
c b
Now if a is a perfect square in K this grading is isomorphic to the first one; if a is not a square in K then the grading thus obtained is not isomorphic to the first. Furthermore one proves the following theorem. THEOREM 16 ([35]) 1. Let a be a square in K. Then the 2-graded identities of M2(K) follow from the identities y\ = y\ and
(y\ + *i- (yi + zi)q)(y2 + z2- (y2 + z2)q2)(i - [y\ + *i, y2 + ^l*'1) = o.
2. If a is not a square in K then the 2-graded identities of M2(K) follow q2 2(71 from y\ -yi, zf = z\ andj
f
(yi + z\- (yi + zi)q)(y2 + z2- (3/2 + z2}q2}(l - [yi + zi,y 2 + Z2]9'1) = 0. In particular the two types of nonisomorphic gradings satisfy different graded identities. (Hence we get an alternative proof of the fact that these two gradings are not isomorphic.) Now we mention briefly some further results concerning graded identities in matrix and related algebras. The algebra Mn(K) has a natural Zngrading defined as follows. Set Mn(K] = ^~Âi where Ai is the span of all matrix units ers such that s r = i (mod n) . Here we suppose that the cyclic group of order n is additive, and use the term n-graded identities. When char K 0, Vasilovsky in [54] described a basis of the n-graded identities of Mn(K). Later on this result was extended to any infinite field K by Azevedo [1]. The basis of the n-graded identities of Mn(K] consists of the following graded identities, see [54, 1].
Here Zn is the additive group {0, 1, . . . , n 1}, and Xj)7; belongs to the i-th homogeneous component with respect to the grading. The n-graded identities of the matrix algebra Mn(K] were studied as well in [4] where they were related to the so-called elementary and fine gradings, see below. The algebra Mn(K) possesses a Z-grading where the i-th homogeneous component is the span of the matrix units ers with s r = i. The Z- graded identities of Mn(K) were described by Vasilovsky in [53] when char 1C = 0. The gradings on the algebra UTn(K) of the upper triangular matrices of order n were studied as well. In [49] a detailed description of the 2-graded identities of UT2(K] was given in the case char^ = 0. Further in [50], a basis of the n-graded identities of UTn(K) over any infinite field was described.
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Recently elementary gradings attracted the interest of researchers. We refer to [4] for further information and reference about this topic. Recall that a G-grading on Mn(K) is called elementary if all matrix units are homogeneous. See for example [4] for the importance of such gradings. A description the identities for the elementary gradings of Mn(K) was given in [4] under the assumption that the neutral component coincides with the main diagonal of the matrices. The elementary gradings and the respective graded identities on UTn(K) were described in [36]. Graded identities in other important algebras were studied in [13], we discuss some of their results in the next section. 4 IDENTITIES IN TENSOR PRODUCTS
One important result in PI theory is Regev's theorem about the tensor products. It states that the tensor product of two PI algebras is again PI, see [45]. Regev's theorem does not provide much information about the concrete identities in A <8> B in terms of those of the algebras A and B. It follows from Kemer's theory that the only T-prime algebras (i.e. whose T-ideals are T-prime) over a field of characteristic 0, are Mn(K), Mn(E) and Ma.b(E}. One important corollary of the classification of T-ideals was the description of the identities in tensor products of T-prime algebras. THEOREM 17 (see [25]) Let charK = 0. Then T(Ma,b(E)E)=T(Ma+b(E)).
T(Maib(E) MrtS(E)) = T(Mar+bs,as+br(E)).
These PI equivalences follow from the structure theory developed by Kemer. Later, Regev provided alternative proofs of all of them without using the structure theory, see [47]. The PI equivalence of Mi^\(E) and E E was obtained as well in [12], without extensive use of Kemer's theory. It was already noted that a completely elementary proof of this PI equivalence was given in [33]. Furthermore in this direction, in [13], the graded identities of A <g> E were studied in terms of those of A, for some algebra A. More precisely if A is G-graded algebra then A E is naturally G x Z2-graded. In [13] the G x Z2-graded identities of A E were related to the G-graded identities of A when the algebras are over a field of characteristic 0. Furthermore, using Vasilovsky's result, a concrete finite basis of the Zra x Z'^-graded identities of the algebra Mn(E) was found in [13], Corollary 4.1. Here the grading on Mn(E) is the induced one by the usual n-grading on Mn(K) and by the usual grading on E. As a corollary of this,
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in [13] it was obtained once again Kemer's result about the PI equivalence of Miî(E) E and M2(E) in characteristic 0. Now we discuss the analogue of Kemer's tensor product theorem in positive characteristic. Razmyslov showed that if char K p > 3 then there exist "new" prime T-ideals i.e. prime T-ideals that are not the T-ideals of either one of the algebras Mn(K), Mn(E), Map(E), see for example [44], Chapter 4, Theorem 33.3. Further results in this direction can be found in [26, 27, 28]. The results we discuss here are mainly based on [34]. We start with the identities satisfied by Miti(E) and by E E. Denote by E' the Grassmann algebra without unit. If A is an algebra, set A# the algebra A K where (a, r).(b, s) = (ab + as + br, rs). Then A& has a unit (0, 1) and A is an ideal of A& . Observe that E' is nil, it satisfies xp = 0, p char K while E is not. We give the main steps in our reasoning. 1. The algebra MI)I(") is 2-graded with the same grading as M\t\(E}. Its 2-graded identities follow from
[yi,y2\,
Ziz2z3 + z3z2zi,
[yp,z].
2. The algebras (E' <8> ')# and E <g> E satisfy the same identities since they satisfy the same 2-graded identities. 3. The graded identities satisfied by the above two algebras are the same as these of MI]I(")*. In order to check this one needs the description of the corresponding relatively free 2-graded algebras given in [33]. Observe that when considering 2-graded identities one may deal with the identities where the neutral variables appear in commutators only. Thus adjoining a unit externally to the latter algebra will not change these identities. 4. Hence T((E' E'}#] = T(E E} = T(MM (')*) 5. The algebras M\ti(E} and M\^(E'}tt do not satisfy the same polynomial identities. More precisely, ' one has the proper inclusion T(M\ i(E~)} C In order to prove the last assertion it is sufficient to observe that the polynomial [3^,0:2] is a polynomial identity for Miti(E') and hence for EE. We already know that this polynomial is not an identity for Miti(E). THEOREM 18 Let K be an infinite field of characteristic p > 2. Then T(Mi_i(E}) C T(E E), a proper inclusion. Observe that since char K = p one can write
with p entries in the commutator that are equal to x\. The above theorem does not contribute much to the description of the T-prime ideals in characteristic p but it confirms that such a description should be quite complicated. We give some further results in this direction.
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THEOREM 19 Let K 6e infinite and charK = p^1. Matb(E) E and Ma+b(E); Mria(E) and Mar+bSias+br(E); andEE, do satisfy the same multilinear polynomial identities.
Then the algebras:
THEOREM 20 Let charK = p > 2. Then the algebras Mî(E] E and do not satisfy the same Z2 Z2-<?ra<ie<i identities. Hence the following conjecture comes. CONJECTURE 21 Is it true that Kemer's tensor product theorem holds in characteristic 0 only? More precisely, is it true that
T(Mn<b(E}E})^T(Ma+b(E),
and T(Ma.jb(E) M r , s (E)) + T(Mar+bs,as+br(E)) whenever charK = p > 2, K an infinite field. Our feeling is that the answer should, be "Yes. " Of course one may ask what the difference between the above two pairs of T-ideals is. In the case of M\t\(E) and E E it is reasonable to suggest that the only difference is the identity [x^, x%] i.e. T(E E) is generated as a T-ideal, modulo the identities of Miti(E), by the latter polynomial. The description of the identities (graded and ordinary) satisfied by the algebras Mn(K], n > 3; Mn(E), n > 2; Ma,b(E), a+b > 3, is of importance. But even in characteristic 0 the difficulties that arise are enormous. And there is no idea how one may attack and resolve such a problem. That is why the following open problem could help in providing some initial step to resolving the above. Problem Determine the weak polynomial identities for the algebras Mn(K) and Ma<b(E). Recall that, the weak identities for Mn(K) are the polynomials from K ( X ) that vanish when evaluated on sln(K), the Lie algebra of the traceless matrices in Mn(K). Their description is known for n = 2 only, see [42, 44] for the case when charK = 0. and [29, 30] for the case char K = p > 2. The weak identities for A4atb(E) are denned in slightly different manner. If M = ( ^ ^ )
is a matrix of M
a,b(), A e Ma(EQ), D e Mb(EQ),
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B Maxb(Ei), C 6 Mbxa(Ei) then M has supertrace 0, str(M) = 0, if tr(A) tr(D) = 0 where tr is the usual trace of a matrix. The subspace Laj,(E) of all matrices of Ma(E] with supertrace 0 is a Lie superalgebra of the superalgebra Ma^(E). Then a weak identity of Maj,(E) is a polynomial that vanishes on La^(E}. We mention that the weak identities for the algebra M\^ were described in a recent paper of Di Vincenzo and La Scala [14]. They showed that the weak identities of M\t\(E~) follow from [3:1,3:2,3:3] =0, [2:1,3:2] [3:1,0:3] [3:1,0:4] =0
if chai K = 0. Very recently the same authors extended their result to infinite fields of characteristic p > 2 (private communication). On the other hand, the influence of the weak identities on the ordinary ones in the case Ma<b(E) seems to be less decisive compared to that of Mn(K). This might be a consequence of the fact that the scalar matrices have supertrace 0 which is not always the case of Mn(K}. But without any doubt the description of the weak identities for Mn(K) and for Maj,(E) would represent a significant step towards the better understanding of the nature of the ordinary identities. The same must be true for the graded identities in these algebras. REFERENCES [1] S. S. Azevedo, Graded identities for the matrix algebra of order n over an infinite field, Commun. Algebra, to appear, 2002. [2] Yu. Bahturin, A Giambruno, D. Riley, Group graded algebras satisfying a polynomial identity, Israel J. Math. 104, 145-155 (1998). [3] Yu. Bahturin, A. Giambruno, M. Zaicev, Codimension growth and graded identities, Algebra (Moscow, 1998), 57-76, de Gruyter, Berlin, 2000. [4] Yu. Bahturin, V. Drensky, Graded polynomial identities of matrices, Linear Algebra Appl., to appear, 2002. [5] A. Berele, Magnum PI, Israel J. Math. 51, no. 1-2, 13-19 (1985). [6] A. Berele, Generic verbally prime Pi-algebras and their GK-dimensions, Commun. Algebra 21, No. 5, 1487-1504 (1993). [7] J. Bergen, M. Cohen, Actions of commutative Hopf algebras Bull. London Math. Soc. 18, No. 2, 159-164 (1986).
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Varieties of linear algebras with almost polynomial growth

S. P. MISHCHENKO Department of Algebra and Geometric Computations, Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics, UTyanovsk State University, Ulianovsk, 432700, Russia. E-mail: msp@mishch.ulsu.ru
ABSTRACT We study the behaviour of the codimension sequence of the polynomial identities of linear algebras over a field of characteristic 0. We give known and new results about varieties of linear algebras with almost polynomial growth in the case of associative (with or without involution, Z2-graded), Lie and Leibniz algebras.
INTRODUCTION
Throughout the characteristic of the ground field F is zero. A linear algebra over F is a Leibniz algebra if the right multiplication by any element is a derivation. In particular any Lie algebra is a Leibniz algebra. It is easy to prove that any polynomial in Leibniz algebra is a linear combination of left-normed monomials. We omit the Lie or Leibniz brackets in the monomials if the product is left-normed, i.e. abc ((ab}c). We use the same notation ab for the product of two elements in an associative algebra. In this case as usual [a, b] denotes the commutator of the elements a and b i.e., [a,b] = ab ba. Let V be a variety of algebras (associative, Lie or Leibniz) over a field F. Denote by F = F(X, V) the relatively free algebra of the variety V with a countable set of generators X = {xi, x%,...}. Denote also by Pn(V) the set of all multilinear polynomials in x\,..., xn in F (left-normed in the Lie or Leibniz case). The action a(xi) = xa^ of the symmetric group Sn can be naturally extended to the vector space Pn. The structure of Pn(V)
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as an Sn-module is an important characteristic of V and gives a lot of information about V. Denote by \x the irreducible character of the symmetric group Sn corresponding to the partition A of n and, for a variety V, consider the decomposition of the character x(P n (V)) into the sum of irreducible components
(1)
Ahn,
The integer c n (V) = dimP n (V) is called the n-th codimension of V. The total number of summands
\\-n,
in the sum (1) is called the n-th colength of the variety V. Important numerical characteristics of V are also the multiplicities m\ in the sum (1). Denote by d\ the dimension of the irreducible 5^-module corresponding to A. Then for the numerical characteristics defined above the following relation holds: c n (V) = dimP n (V) = ^mxdx.
X\-n,
If the sequence of codimensions c n (V) is exponentially bounded then one naturally defines the exponent of the variety exp(V) = limsup n _ >00 \/cn(~V), exp(V) = liminfrc-ôo \/c n (V) and. in case of equality, exp(V) = exp(V). Recall that a variety V has almost polynomial growth if V has exponential growth but any proper subvariety has polynomial growth. Let now A be an associative algebra with involution *. We can consider the involution * as a new unary operation on the algebra A. On the other hand it is well known that any associative superalgebra A can be viewed as an algebra with ^-action where 0 Aut(A) is an automorphism of order 2. In fact if A = A0 + A\ a Z2-grading on A then d) : A > A such that <j)(ao) = O.Q and c/>(o.i) = o,\ is an automorphism; conversely, if A is any algebra with an automorphism <# satisfying (f)2 = 1 then by setting AQ = A^ = {a. e A\c/)(a,) = a} and AI = {a, <E A\<p(a) = -a} we get A = A0 + Ai, a Z2-grading on A. We can also consider an automorphism as a new unary operation on the algebra A. Let V" be a variety of algebras with involution or with faction over the field F. If X = {xi,x%, . . . , } is a countable set of indeterminates we denote by F(X, V") = F(xi,x\,X2,x^, -) the relatively free algebra with involution or action of automorphism freely generated by X over F where (I is * or d>. The {(-identities of V^ form a verbal ideal denoted
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Jd(V"). Let P n (V") be the space of all multilinear polynomials of degree n H H in xi, x\,..., xn, Xn- We would like to remind that a multilinear monomial depends on any Xi or x\ and does not depend on Xi and x\ simultaneously. We say that c^V") = dim jF P ri (V ti ) is the n-th jj-codimension of V*. Since charF = 0, it is well known that V or V" is completely determined by its multilinear polynomials. While in the theory of associative, Lie or Leibniz algebras the space of multilinear identities of degree n is studied through the ordinary representation theory of the symmetric group Sn, in case of algebras with involution or with action of automorphism we exploit the representation theory of Hn = Z2wrSn, the hyperoctahedral group of degree n (see [6] and [5]). The space P n (V) has a natural structure of left Jfn-module and x n (V) is its character, known as the n-th ft-cocharacter of V". We decompose Xn(V) = ^"=o S AHr m^,f*X\,n where A and fj, are /^l~n r partitions of r and n r respectively, x\,n is the irreducible #n-character associated to the pair (A, //) and rn,\^ > 0 is the corresponding multiplicity.
ASSOCIATIVE ALGEBRAS
In the theory of associative algebras a basic role in this area is played by the infinite dimensional Grassmann algebra A and the algebra of 2 x 2 upper triangular matrices UT^. It is well known that there are only two varieties of associative algebras with almost polynomial growth. They are generated by the algebras A and UT% respectively. For convenience we give more information about the varieties generated by these algebras. Let Xn(UT-2) = ZÂi-n m AXA be the n-th cocharacter of UT-2. Then m^ 1 and ^(Ai,A 2 ,A 3 ) = AI A2 +1 if A2 > 1 and AS = 0 or AS = 1. Also m\ = 0 if A4 ^ 0 or A3 > 2. The identity [#1,0:2][0:3, 4] = 0 is a basis of Id(UT2). The variety generated by UT<2 has almost polynomial growth. The result about a basis of identities belongs to Yu. Malcev (see [9]). The description of the structure of the multilinear part follows, for example, from [1], The variety generated by the infinite dimensional Grassmann algebra is known better (see for example [8]). The n-th cocharacter of A has the following form Xn(A) = ^"=0 X(n-r,ir) i- e - m\ = 1 if A2 < 1 and m\ = 0 if A2 > 2. The identity [[x\, X2\, x^} = 0 forms a basis of Id(A). The variety generated by A has almost polynomial growth. Also, a basis of the multilinear part Pn(A.) consists of the following set of elements
#il ' ' ' Xir \Xjl,
Xj2\ [
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for any r > 0 and s > 0 such that n s + r and i\ < ... < ir, ji < ... < js. Hence, the codimension is c n (A) = 2 n ~ 1 . The following characterization of varieties of polynomial growth follows from [7]. THEOREM 1 Let V be a variety of associative algebras. The following conditions are equivalent
1) A 0 V and UT2 V;
2) V has the polynomial growth. We recall that var(A) and var(C7T2) are the only varieties with almost polynomial growth and there are no associative varieties with intermediate growth. Also, the exponent of each variety from the previous theorem is equal to 2.
ASSOCIATIVE ALGEBRAS WITH INVOLUTION
Following the paper [3] we introduce an algebra, denoted A2, which plays in the involution case the same role as the infinite dimensional Grassmann algebra in the ordinary P.I. theory. The algebra A2 has a very simple structure, A 3 = F F with exchange involution (a, 6)* = (6, a). For any n > I we have Xn(^2, *) = " =0 X(r),(n-r)A basis of Id(A.2,*) is given by the *-polynomials [2/1,2/2]; [yi, zi] and [zi, z^} (y\, y% are symmetric variables and z\, z-2 are skew variables). The star-variety generated by A2 has almost polynomial growth. We remark that c n (A2, *) = 2". Our next example is the four-dimensional algebra M = Span^ja, b, c, c*} with the following multiplication table
a a 0 0 c* b c c 0 0 0
a b c c*
0 6 c 0
c* 0 c* 0 0
Notice that a* = a, b* = b and M+ = Spanja, b, c+c*}, M~ = Span{c-c*}. This algebra was studied in [10]. For star- varieties M plays the same role as the algebra of 2 x 2 upper triangular matrices UT^ in the ordinary P.I. theory. Ahr m Let Xn(M, *) = " = A X A i be the n-th *-cocharacter of M. Then rn,\^ = q + 1 if either
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1) A = (p + q,p), v = (I), for all p > 0,q > 0, or
2) A = (p + <?,p),^ = 0 for all p > 1 , < ? > 0 , or 3) A= (p + g , p , l ) , / i = 0 f o r a J l p > 0 , g > 0 . In all other cases m\^ = 0, except the case m^), = 1. The identity z\z^ = 0 is a basis of Id(M, *) where z\, z% are skew variables. Moreover the variety V generated by the algebra M has almost polynomial growth, exp(V*) = 2 and for all n > 1
, (.f , ( ^^ ln(M, *) = I l 4 i 3n L
if n is odd . tf n 1S even.
The following result was obtained in [4]. THEOREM 2 Let V be a star-variety. The following conditions are equivalent
1) A2 g V and M 0 V;
,2j V /ias polynomial growth. We repeat that var(A2, *) and var(M, *) are the only star-varieties with almost polynomial growth and moreover there are no star-varieties with intermediate growth. The exponent of the two mentioned above varieties is equal to 2.
ASSOCIATIVE ALGEBRAS WITH ÂCTION
It is well known that there is a duality between the Z2-gradings of an algebra A and the automorphisms of A of order 2 (see Section 1). In case of Z2-graded varieties there are only five varieties with almost polynomial growth. As in the previous paragraphs the basic role is played by the infinite dimensional Grassmann algebra A and the algebra UT^ of 2 x 2 upper triangular matrices. Let {ei,62,...} be the countable set of generators of the Grassmann algebra A satisfying the relations e,;ej = eje,; for all i,j. It is well known that A has a natural Z2-grading A = AQ AI where AQ is the span of all monomials in the e,; s of even length and AI is the span of all monomials odd length. A has also the trivial grading, A = AQ. In order to distinguish between these two graded algebras we write A9r for A with the grading A = AQ AI described above.
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Also in the case of UT2, this algebra has a natural grading UT-z = (UT-2)Q (UT<2)i where (UTô = Fe\i+Feyi, the subspace of diagonal matrices, and (UT-2)i Fe\2 (here eij are the usual matrix units). We write in this case (UT2)9'r for the superalgebra UT? with the described grading. If we give the trivial grading to A and UT<2 then supvar(K) = var(A) and supva.r(UT2) var(UTz). In this case (see Section 2 for usual associative algebras) both varieties have almost polynomial growth. One more example is obtained by considering the commutative algebra A = F t.F where t2 = 1 with grading AQ = F, A\ = tF. In this case the corresponding automorphism 0 is an involution on A and by [3] (see Section 3 for algebras with involution) supvar(A) has almost polynomial growth. If we introduce the natural non-trivial grading on A and on UTi then we get two new varieties with almost polynomial growth, denoted supvar(A9T) and supvar(UTjr). Recall some facts about these two varieties. We start with snpvor(LrT|r). Let X f t ( U T J r ) = ]Cr=o ^ Xhr rn\,nX\,n be the n-th graded cocharacter
^hn-r
of UT2 with canonical Z2-grading. Then 1) rn\,n = (]+ 1 if A = (p + q,p),/J. = (1);

2
) (n),0 = !;
3) rn-\,^ = 0 in all other cases. The identities ziz2 = 0 and [j/i,y 2 ] = 0 generate Id9r(UTjr) as a T2ideal, where the y,'s are variables of even homogeneous degree and the 2,;'s are of odd homogeneous degree. This is a result of A. Valenti. Also from her paper (see [14]) we have the following formula for the colength. For all n > I one has
if n is odd
lfniseven.
From the results of [5] we can get the description of the supervariety supvar(A.gr}. We have the following formula
r=0
for the nth graded cocharacter of A with canonical Z2-grading and Id9T(A.3r) = ([yi,y2\,ziZ2 + Z 2 Z i , [ y i , z i ] ) T 2 where the j/j's are of even homogeneous degree and the z,;'s are of odd homogeneous degree. The main result of the paper [5] says that if a variety V does not contain any of the above 5 superalgebras then V has polynomial growth.
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THEOREM 3 Let V be a variety of superalgebras. tions are equivalent
The following condi-
1) A g V, Agr V, UT2 V, UT$r V and- A = F 8 tF V; 2) V has polynomial growth. We recall that there are only 5 examples of varieties of superalgebras with almost polynomial growth. Another consequence is that there are no supervarieties of intermediate growth. The exponent of any of the above mentioned five varieties is equal to two.
LIE ALGEBRAS
In the theory of varieties of Lie algebras a complete description of the solvable varieties with almost polynomial growth has been given by the author (see [12], [13]). So far only one example of a non-solvable variety with almost polynomial growth has been constructed: this is the variety generated by the 3-dimensional simple Lie algebra (see [2]). We denote this variety by VQ Recall that in this section ab means the Lie product of a and 6. Let Xn(Vo) be the Sn character of Pn(Vo) and consider the decomposition
\\-Tl
for all n > 4. Then for n > 5

777 \ "~~ \
f 1 if A = (p + q + r, p + q, p] where p + q ^ 0 and q or r is odd; [ 0 in all other cases
A basis of the identities consists of and (x2Xi)(xsxi)xi = 0. The latter identity means that the cube of an inner derivation is also a derivation. The exponent of this variety is equal to three, exp(Vo) = 3. We present some results concerning solvable varieties. There are only four varieties with almost polynomial growth. We denote them by Vi, V2, V3 and V4. The first one is N2A defined by the identity (xix<2)(x3X4)(x5X) = 0. More information can be obtained from the author's paper [11]. Let Xn(Vi) be the Sn character of P n (Vi) and consider the decomposition
Ahn
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for all n > 4. Then for n > 5 m(p,q) m(p,q) n,(p, g) 0 if A= (p + g + l , p + 1 , 1 , 1 ) or (p + g + 2,p + 2,2); if\(p + q,p), p > 2; if A = (p -+- q + l,p + 1,1); in all other cases.
Here m(p, <?) = <7/2 if p, q are even or m(p. <j) = [q/2] + 1 in all other cases and n(p, q) = [^y-] if p = 0 or n(p, g) = g + 1 if p 7^ 0. The next, variety V2 is the so-called Volichenko variety. This is the unique minimal variety without standard identities (see [15]). Recall that the standard Lie identity has the form
where ( l)p is the sign of the permutation p in the symmetric group Sn. We have XQ in contrast, with the associative or the Leibniz situation. Let Xn(V<2) be the S^-character of P n (Va) and let
Xn(V 2 ) =
AHn
be the decomposition for all n > 4. Then (I if A = (p, 1"-P), 2 < p < n - 1 mA = I or A = (p, 2, l n ~ p - 2 ), 2 3, c n (V 2 ) = (n - 2)2 n ~ 2 . The last two varieties can be define in a similar way. We give a description of the algebras N and M generating the varieties Va and V"4, respectively. Let R be the ring of polynomials in one variable t. We consider R as an algebra with trivial multiplication, R2 = 0. We use the following notation. Let, M2 be the two-dimensional metabelian Lie algebra with basis e, h and multiplication he = h. Let, also iVa be the three-dimensional nilpotent algebra spanned by a,b.c with multiplication ba c, ac be = 0.
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We turn R into an Ma-module by setting
and also into an A^-module by setting /(*) ' a = /'(*), /(*) ' b = t f ( t ) , f ( t ) c = f ( t ) . As usual, /' denotes the derivative of / with respect to t. The algebras we need are obtained as semidirect products: M = R\M2, N = RXNS.
We formulate the basic results of the paper [12]. THEOREM 4 Let V be a variety of solvable Lie algebras. The following conditions are equivalent
1) Vi g V, V2 g V, V3 g V and V4 g V,
2) V has polynomial growth. We give also the exponents of these varieties: exp(Vi) expi^f^} exp(V] = 2, exp(V3) = 3. We repeat that there exist only 4 examples of solvable Lie varieties with almost polynomial growth. Also, only one example is known of non-solvable variety with almost polynomial growth. Moreover there are no varieties with intermediate growth. We remark that the existence of new examples of non-soluble varieties with almost polynomial growth is an interesting and hard problem in the theory of varieties of Lie algebras. Also we remark that the structure of the multilinear part and bases of the identities of the varieties Vs and V4 are unknown. 6 LEIBNIZ ALGEBRAS
By definition an algebra is a Leibniz algebra if the right multiplication is a derivation. The corresponding identity has the form
(xy)z = (xz)y + x(yz)
Recall that in this section ab is the Leibniz product of a and b. If a Leibniz algebra satisfies also the anti-commutative identity then this algebra is a Lie algebra. Thus any Lie algebra is a Leibniz algebra.
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There are four new examples of varieties with almost polynomial growth which were found by the author, A. Valenti and L. Abanina recently. Here we announce these results. The first one looks like Vi and is defined by the identity
Xl(x2X3)(x4X5) = 0.
Denote thisjvariety by Vi. Let x n (Vi) be the 5n-character of P n (Vi) and let
\'rn
be its decomposition, for all n > 4. Then

q+l 2q + 2 2q + l 3<7 + 3 n-1 1 0 if A = (p + q+l,p + l,l,l) or (p + q + 2,p + 2, 2); if A= (p + q,p),p> 2; if A = ( g + l , 1,1); if A = (p + <7 + l,p + l , l ) , p > 0 ; ifA = (ra-l,l); ifA = (n); in all other cases.
The properties of next variety are close to the properties of the Lie variety V2- This variety can be generated by the following algebra. Let A be the infinite dimensional Grassmann algebra with zero multiplication. Consider the direct product of vector spaces A and A. Define the product as (gi+gi) (92+92) 9i 92 + [ffi > 92} where [91,92] is the commutator in the associative Grassmann algebra. Now denote by V"2 the variety generated by this algebra. Let Xn( v 2) be the 5n-character of P n (V 2 ) and let
Ahn
be its decomposition, for all n > 4. Then 2 if A = (r, ln~r), where n > 2 and r = 2, . . . , n - 1; = { I if A = (n), (1") or (r, 2, l n - r - 2 ), where r = 2 , . . . , n - 4 ; 0 in all other cases. Also, let us give the formula of the colength: ln(^2) = 3n 5 for n > 3. We conjecture that a basis of the identities consists of the following two relations: x(y(zt)) = 0 and .ôCî^Xî- 7 ^) = 0.
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We next give some information about the next two varieties. The construction of these varieties is similar to that of Vs and V"4. Denote by M<2 = {h,e\he = h} the two-dimensional metabelian Lie algebra and by N3 = {a, b, c\ba = c, ac = be = 0} the three-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebra. Let R be the polynomial ring in one variable t considered as an algebra with zero multiplication. We turn R into a right M2-module by setting
and an Aâ-module by setting
where /^ denotes the derivative of / with respect to t. Let M be the direct product of the vector spaces R and M2 and let N be the direct product of the vector spaces R and N$. Define a multiplication as (/l where /i, /2 R, m\,mi MI or mi, m<i 6 N%. It is easy to prove that M and N are Leibniz algebras but not Lie algebras. Note that in contrast with the Lie case mf(t) = 0 for any f ( t ) R where 77i M<2 for the algebra M and m N$ for the algebra N. ^ Let Vs be the variety generated by the algebra N and let V4 be the variety generated by the algebra M . THEOREM 5 The varieties Vi, V2) Va and V^ have almost polynomial growth. Note that the exponents of the varieties V], V2 and V4 are equal to two. The exponent of Va is equal to three. The existence of new examples of varieties of almost polynomial growth in the class of Leibniz algebras is an open problem. This project was partially supported by RFBR, grants 01-01-00728, 02-01-00219 and by the scientific program "Universities of Russia" REFERENCES [1] A.Berele and A.Regev, Codimensions of products and of intersections of verbally prime T-ideals, Izrael J.Math., 103 (1998), 17-28.
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[2] V.Drensky, Representations of the symmetric group and varieties of linear algebras, Mat.Sb.(N.S.) 115 (1980), 98-115. Math.USSR-Sb.43 (1981), 85-100. [3] A. Giambruno and S. Mishchenko, Polynomial growth of the *-codimensions and Young diagrams, Communication in Algebra 29:1 (2001), 277-284. [4] A. Giambruno and S. Mishchenko, On star-varieties with almost polynomial growth, Algebra Colloquium 8:1 (2001), 32-42. [5] A. Giambruno, S. Mishchenko, M. Zaicev, Polynomial identities on superalgebras and almost polynomial growth, Communications in Algebra, 2001, 29:9 (2001), 3787-3800. [6] A. Giambruno and A. Regev, Wreath products and P.I. algebras , J. Pure Applied Algebra, 35 (1985), 133-149. [7] A. Kemer. T-ideals with power growth of the codimensions are Specht (Russian), Sibirskii Matematicheskii Zhurnal, 19 (1978), 54-69; English translation: Siberian Math. J.. 19 (1978), 37-48. [8] A. Krakowsky and A. Regev, The polynomial identities of the Grassman n algebra, Trans. Arner. Math. Soc., 181 (1973), 429-438. [9] Yu. N. Mal'cev, A basis of identities of the algebra of upper triangular matrices, Algebra i Logika, 10 (1971), 393-400 (Russian); English translation: Algebra and Logic, 10 (1971), 242-247. [10] S. Mishchenko and A. Valenti, A star-variety with almost polynomial growth, Journal of Algebra 223 (2000), 66-84. [11] S. Mishchenko, Varieties of Lie algebras with two-step nilpotent cornmutant, Russian. English summary Izv. Akad. Nauk BSSR, Ser. Fiz.Mat. Nauk 1987, No.6, 39-43. [12] S. Mishchenko, On varieties of solvable Lie algebras, English. Russian original Sov. Math., Dokl., 42:1 (1991(, 202-205 (1991); translation from Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR, 313:6 (1990), 1345-1348. [13] S. Mishchenko, Growth in varieties of Lie algebras, English. Russian original Russ. Math. Surv. 45:6 (1990), 27-52; translation from Usp. Mat. Nauk 45:6 (1990), 25-45. [14] A. Valenti, The graded identities of upper triangular matrices of size two, J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 172 (2002), 325-335.
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[15] I.Volichenko A variety of Lie algebras connected with standard identities, Russian. English summary Izv. Akad. Nauk BSSR, Ser. Fiz.-Mat. Nauk 1980, No.1,23-30; No.2,22-27.
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Algebras with involution, superalgebras and proper subvarieties

VINCENZO NARDOZZA Dipartimento di Matematica, Universita degli Studi della Basilicata, C.da Macchia Romana, 85100 Potenza, Italy. E-mail: vickkk@tiscalinet.it
ABSTRACT Let K be a field of characteristic zero. The algebra of 2 x 2-matrices over K can be viewed as a non-trivial superalgebra or as an algebra with involution in a fairly natural way. We describe the proper subvarieties of the varieties of superalgebras and algebras with involution it generates, via the notions of proper polynomials and asymptotic equivalence. Then we apply this method to describe the proper subvarieties of a variety of algebras with involution with almost polynomial growth of *-codimensions.
1. INTRODUCTION Let IK be a field of characteristic zero, and K(X) the free associative (unitary) algebra over IK generated by a countable set of variables X. A polynomial /(.TI, . . . , xn) K{X) is a polynomial identity for an associative K-algebra A if / ( a i , . . . , a n ) = 0 V a , i , . . . , a n A. The set T(A) of all polynomial identities for A is an ideal of IK(X) which is invariant under all endomorphisms of the free algebra. It is called the T-ideal of the polynomial identities of A. If T(A) ^ 0 then A is said to be a Pi-algebra. The class of Pi-algebras is very big. For instance, it includes all commutative algebras and all matrix algebras. By the way, this class has nice structure properties, and its study is very interesting also to the aim of a partial classification on associative algebras. The truly central objects in Pi-theory are the T-ideals. Every ideal of IK(X) fully invariant for endomorphisms of the free algebra gives rise to a Pi-algebra. However, one often uses the equivalent notion of variety
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generated by a given algebra A\
Var(A) := {R K-algebra | T(A) C T(R)}.

One of the main point of the Pi-theory is the structure theory developed by Kemer [11]. The building blocks of Kemer's theory are the so-called prime varieties, i.e. the trivial varieties generated by (0) and K(X), and the varieties generated by the algebras
Mn(K)
Mn(E)
MU(E)
for n N, where E is the Grassmann algebra of an infinite-dimensional vector space and M k j ( E ) (k + I = n} is a certain subalgebra of Mn(E). Another central notion in Kemer's theory is the notion of superalgebra. A superalgebra is an (associative, unitary) K-algebra A which can be decomposed into the sum AQ + A\ of two vector subspaces AQ, A\ satisfying AiAj C Ai+j (mod 2).
A noteworthy instance of superalgebra is the Grassmann algebra E. One of the intriguing point of Pi-theory is to describe the proper subvarieties of the prime varieties. Kemer in [12] gave a description of the proper subvarieties of the variety generated by M2(K) by mean of the notion of proper polynomials and asymptotic equivalence, which I shall briefly illustrate. DEFINITION 1. A polynomial f K{X) is proper if all the formal partial derivatives df / d x , j , defined by dxi/dxj : = < 5 ? j (Kronecker delta), vanish for all i N. Equivalently, / is proper if the variables participate in / in (higher) commutators only. For convenience of the reader, I recall that one defines (higher) commutators inductively in the following way: [xh ,..., xin] := [Xil , . . . , x^J-T,;,, - xin [xn , . . . , xin_^} if n > 3. B denotes the subalgebra of K(X} of proper polynomials, and B^ the space of proper polynomials of degree n. Proper polynomials were introduced for the first time by Malcev in [15] and Specht in [19]; Drensky developed their usefulness and used their properties in several works (see [3], also for further references). Here I shall remark just, the fact that any T-ideal U is generated, as a T-ideal. by the set U n B. With other words, the proper polynomials in a T-ideal determine the whole T-ideal. The following definition is due to Kemer [12]. DEFINITION 2. The T -ideals C/i, C72 are asymptotically equivalent if there exists 77,0 G N such that
ul n B (n) = u-2 n B(n)

for all n > HQ. In this case, we write U\ ~ C/2. The description provided by Kemer in [12] is the following:
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THEOREM 1. Let il be a proper subvariety of the variety U12 generated by the full 2x2 matrix algebra M 2 (K). Then
T(lt)
for suitable k e N, where illfc = Var(UTk) is the variety generated by the upper triangular matrices over K of order k. There is the following alternative description, due to Drensky [4]. THEOREM 2. Let il be a proper subvariety of the variety 9712 generated by the full 2x2 matrix algebra M 2 (K). Let Ck := K [ t ] / ( t k ) , for k = 1, 2, . . . , and set
c Sk
'-=tck
tCk\ ,- -i/r m \
Then for suitable q N. As one can notice, the algebra M2(K) has a natural non-trivial structure of superalgebra, setting (M 2 (K)) 0 := =Kei2+Ke 2 1 , and it generates a variety of superalgebras. In section 2 we shall describe its proper subvarieties in the same spirit of Theorem 2. We may also consider M 2 (K) as an algebra with involution (the transpose involution). Then (M 2 (K),i) generates a variety of algebras with involution, and in section 3 we shall describe its proper subvarieties. In the last section, we shall describe the proper subvarieties of another variety of algebras with involution. In order to bring this variety up, I need a brief digression. If il is a variety of Pi-algebras, a plenty of information about il is carried out by a sequence of non-negative integers, called the codimension sequence of the variety, (c n (il)) ne pj. This sequence was introduced for the first time by Regev in [18]. One can introduce a similar notion in the case of a variety of algebras with involution. Roughly speaking, this sequence affords a kind of measure on how "big" the variety is: the faster grows the sequence, the bigger is the variety. From this point of view, one is interested in varieties which are minimal with respect to this growth. The smaller varieties are the varieties with polynomial growth of the codimensions. These varieties have been characterized by Kemer in [14] for the ordinary case, and by Giambruno, Mishchenko and Zaicev in [7], [10], for varieties of algebras with involution. The following step is to characterize those varieties of algebras with involution which have not polynomial growth of codimension, but such that every proper subvariety has polynomial growth. These are the so called varieties with almost polynomial growth, and were characterized in [8]. We shall describe the proper subvarieties of one of the two varieties
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of algebras with involution with almost polynomial growth, in the spirit of Theorem 2.
2. PROPER SUB VARIETIES OF Var 2 (M 2 (K))

Let K be a field of characteristic zero. An associative unitary K-algebra A is a superalgebra, if there exist two vector subspaces AQ, A\ of A such that A AQ + AI and AÂj C A1+j (mod 2). The typical instance of superalgebra is the Grassmann (exterior) algebra of an infinite dimensional vector space. We recall its definition. DEFINITION 3. Let V be an infinite dimensional ^-vector space and let {BI | i N} be a basis for V. The ^-algebra E = E(V) generated by {ei | i 6 N} with relations &i&j + eje,;(anticommutativity) is the Grassmann (or exterior) algebra over V. PROPOSITION 1. Let E be the Grassmann algebra over an infinite dimensional vector space V, as in Definition 3. The set := {e,:iej2 ... ein n E N, ii < i2 < < in} is aK-basis of E. Moreover, setting EQ := span^(m E m, has even length] E\ := span^(m E m has odd length], we get that EQ is the center of E, and E EQ E\ is a superalgebra. A key role in Kemer's theory about the structure of T-ideals is owned by super algebras. For instance, he proved in [13] that if A is any Pi-algebra, then T(A) = T(G(B}) for a suitable finite dimensional superalgebra B = BQ + BI, where G(B) := (Eo <8> -Bo) (Ei BI} is the so called Grassmann envelope of B. We may define a free object in the class of superalgebras in the following way. Let Y, Z be two disjoint countable sets, and consider the free algebra K{Y, Z) := K(Y U Z). It has a natural superalgebra structure, with the variables in Y and Z being homogeneous of degrees 0 and 1 respectively. A polynomial / E K(F, Z) is a Z2-graded polynomial identity for the superalgebra A if / is zero under all substitutions of y's by elements in AQ and of z's by elements in A\. The set Tz(A) of all graded identities of A is called a T2-ideal of K(Y, Z). The class of all superalgebras satisfying the Z2-graded polynomial identities from T 2 (A) is called the variety of superalgebras generated by A or defined by the Tb-ideal T^(A} of K(Y,Z), and we shall denote it by Var 2 (A). DEFINITION 4. A polynomial f E K(Y, Z) is Y'-proper if all the formal partial derivatives d f / d y , are zero for all i E N. We shall denote by By the subalgebra of ~K(Y, Z) of y-proper polynomials, and by By the set of y-proper polynomials of degree n.
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It is noteworthy that, since we are dealing with unitary algebras, the whole T2-ideal is generated by its V-proper polynomials (see [6], Lemma 2.1). In order to list the V-proper polynomials in T2(M2(K)), we may use the powerful tools of representation theory of the general linear groups. For general references on Pi-algebras and applications of representation theory of groups, see for instance [3]. Here, we shall give a very brief account on it. Let U be the K- vector space spanned by {yi, . . . ,yp}, and V the one spanned by [z\, . . . , zq}. The group GLpxGLq acts on U@V by (g, h)(yi) := g(yi} and (g,h)(zj) := h(zj) for all (g,h) GLp x GLq and i ^ p, j ^ q. We may extend diagonally this action to K(j/i, . . . , yp, zi, . . . , zq). This action induces an action of GLP x GLq on the subalgebra Bp^q := By nK{yi, . . . , j/p, zi, . . . , zq). The irreducible GLp x GLg-modules are in a bijective correspondence with the pairs (A, ^) of partitions of non-negative integers in not more than p and q parts respectively. The GLp x GXg-decomposition of Bp^q is
P,I=
n, 777,^0 X\-n,n\-m
E E ^wp(x)wg(i2)
where a h r means that a is a partition of r, m\^ are the multiplicities and by Wr(a) we mean the irreducible GLr-module corresponding to the partition a. If A is a superalgebra, its T2-ideal of identities is stable under this action of GLP x GLq, hence the factor algebra
is endowed with the induced left GLP x GLg-module structure. Using a result of Di Vincenzo [2], and a general result connecting the representations of Sn x Sm to the representations of GLP x GLq ([6], Theorem 2.1), we obtain the following decomposition for the superalgebra M 2 (X) =("
\ U
f) (
0I \
^V a,b,c,de K (cf. [6], Lemma 3.2).

/
LEMMA 1. Form > 0, the (n, m)-th homogeneous component o is
where the sum is on all partitions /j, of m in not more than two parts. Now set Ck : K[t}/(tk) and let us consider the following algebras: 7fc = Cke + tCka. + Ckb + tCkc, Sk = Cke + Cka- + tCkb + tCkc, where
e=
A (A 0 1
a=
A 0\ 0 -1
b=
A) 1\ 1 0
C=
/ 0 1 -1 0
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and with the superalgebra structure inherited by that of Ma (EC). By Lemma 1 it, will be enough to work in K(j/, zi, z2) to describe the proper polynomial identities of 7^ and 5/t (see [6], Lemma 4.6-4.8). PROPOSITION 2. Let W = W(n-^,n2) ^ VFi((n)) ^((//i, jU 2 )) ^ the irreducible GL\ x GL2-rn,odul,e associated with the pair ((n), (^ti,/^)), where (/î,/^) l~~ m, and /ei VF participates in 5i,2(M2(K)). (i) W is m -Bi. 2 (7?.fc) z/ and on/y z/n + /i2 < &; (ii) W is in Bi^(Sk) if and only if m + /i2 < k. In order to describe the asymptotic behaviour of the subvarieties of the variety of superalgebras generated by M 2 (K) we need sufficiently many Yproper consequences of high degree of the irreducible submodules occurring in 5i i 2(M2(K)). More precisely, every irreducible submodule occurring in -Bi,2(M2(IC)) is generated by a unique element, called the highest weight vector of the submodule. If W = W(n; ^1,^2) occurs in .Bi,2(M2(K)), we shall denote its highest weight vector by w(n; m, 1^2), and say that W(a;fi. "2) is a higher consequence of W if w(a; vi, v-i) is in the T2-ideal generated by w(n: /ii, fj,%). It is immediate to see that in this case w(a\ v\, 1/2) has degree higher than iu(n;/ii, ^2)We can summarize the information as in the following proposition (cf. [6], Lemma 5.9-5.14). PROPOSITIONS. Let us denote by W(k; m,^) the irreducible GLi x GL-2.- submodule of Bi^(M^ (K)) isomorphic to W\(k} W^(^,\. ^2), and let w be its highest weight, vector. Let 11 be a subvariety of the variety of superalgebras generated by M2(K). If w G 72 (ii). then all the polynomials in W(n\ 1^1, 1/2), for (n; 1/1,1/2) = (k+ l;fj,i,fj.2),(k;{J.i + lâ), (k; ^1,^2 + 1). (n; 1/1,^2) = ( f c + l ; / / i + l , / L t 2 - l ) , ( A : + l;Ati - 1, fj.2 + 1), (k ~ 1; m + 1, ^2 are in T^(^} as well. We restate for the case of T2-ideals the Definition 2 given by Kemer in [12] for ordinary T-ideals. DEFINITIONS. The T2-ideals Ui, U 2 o f K ( Y , Z ) equivalent if there exists no G N such that are Z2-asymptotically
for all n > JIQ. In this case, we write U\ ^z2 U2Then we obtain the following description for the proper subvarieties of Var2(AI2(K)) (cf. [6], Theorem 6.2). THEOREM 3. Let U be the T2-ideal of a proper subvariety of the variety generated by the superalgebra M2(1K.). Then for suitable p and q.
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Sketch of Proof. Let U be a T2-ideal properly containing T2(M2(K)) . By Lemma 1 it is enough to consider Y- proper polynomials in BI$. We may consider the submodule U := (U n Bi!2)/(T2(M2(K)} n #1,2) of the GL\ x GL2-module -Bi i2 (M 2 (IC)). It describes all F-proper identities in U n B\$, which do not hold for M 2 (K). Since U ^ T2(M2(K)) and U is generated by its V-proper polynomials , we obtain that U is not zero. With the same notation, we may consider the factors T2(7fc) and T2(<5fc) for any k E N. If the unique irreducible submodule W of B i ^ 2 ( M 2 ( K ) ) associated to (a; b, c) occurs in the decomposition of U, then all its higher consequences occur in the decomposition of U, as well. So, let X be the set of the irreducible submodules (a;/3, 7) occurring in 7, and choose in X (ai'bi, c\) minimal with respect to the numbers 01 + 7 then /3 + 7 (in this order). Set p\ := ai + b\ and qi := bi + c\\ (a2; b2, c^) minimal with respect to the numbers (5 + 7 then a + 7 (in this order). Set p2 := a2 + 62 and q2 '.= b2 + c2. Note that p\ ^ p2 and q\ ^ q2. Finally, set p:=P\\ no := max{2(ai + bi + GI), 2(a 2 + b2 + c 2 ),K + 9i}. By the choice made for p,q any submodule in X occurs both in and Ti(Sq}. Conversely, if (a;/3, 7) occurs in both T^(R,P} and T2(5g) and a + /3 + 7 ^ no then, as a consequence of Proposition 3 (see [6], Lemma 15), it is a higher consequence of (a\;b\, c\) or (02; 62,C 2)> hence it is in X. CD The Grassmann envelope of the superalgebra Af2 (K) is the superalgebra
q = Q2;
Theorem 3 yields the asymptotic description of the T2-ideals properly containing T 2 (Mi,i()) (see [6], Corollary 6.1). COROLLARY 1. Let U be aT2-ideal ofK(Y, Z) properly containing T2(Mi:i(E)) . Then for suitable p and q
3. PROPER SUBVARIETIES OF Var*(M 2 (K),*)

Let K be a field of characteristic zero. An associative unitary algebra A has an involution * if * : A >+ A is an additive unary operator such that *2 = id,A and (aia 2 )* = aâ* for all GI, a,2 e A. Here we consider involutions of the first kind only, i.e. such that (cm)* = era* for all a e K and a A. If (^4, *) is an algebra with involution, A is the direct sum of its symmetric part A+ := {a e A | a* = a} and its skew-symmetric part A" := {a A \ o* = -a}. In order to define a free object in the class of algebras with involution, let Y, Z be disjoint countable sets of variables, and let * be the involution on the free algebra K(Y, Z} := K(Y U Z) defined by y* = y and z* = -z,
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for all y E Y and z 6 Z. We call Y the set of symmetric variables, and Z the set of skew-symmetric variables. A polynomial / K(y, Z) is called a * -polynomial identity for the algebra with involution (A, *) if it vanishes under all substitutions of the symmetric variables by symmetric elements of A and of the skew-symmetric variables by skew-symmetric elements of A. The set of all it-polynomial identities of A forms a so-called Tf-ideal of K{y, Z), denoted by T*(A). As for superalgebras, there is a generalization of the notion of variety for the case of algebras with involution. More precisely, the class of all algebras with involution satisfying the it-polynomial identities of an assigned algebra with involution A is called the variety of algebras with involution generated by A, or defined by the T*-ideal T*(A). In this note, we shall denote it by Var*(A). The notion of y-proper polynomials Definition 4 can be used within this context, as well. Once again we shall denote by By the subalgebra of y-proper polynomials, and by By the space of y-proper polynomials of degree n. Moreover, by [5], Lemma 2.1, any T*-ideal in the free algebra with involution is generated by the y-proper polynomials it contains. Now. let A be an algebra with involution. Then the T*-ideal T*(A) of the it-polynomial identities of A is stable under the GLr x GLr-action on Br>r =: Br. Hence we may consider the left GLr x GL r -module
Br(A) := -
For the case A = M2(K), endowed with the natural transpose involution
a c b\ * __ fa c d) = \b d
the decomposition of this module is known (see [5]. Theorem 3.4). THEOREM 4. Let (M 2 (K),*) be the 2 x 1-matrix algebra over K endowed with the transpose involution. The (n,rn)-th homogeneous component of Br(M2(K)}, for r ^ 2, is
( n ' m >(M 2 (K)) = W r (A) Wr((m))

where the sum. is on all partitions A = (Ai,A2) of n in not m.ore than two parts and A 2 j^ 0 if m = 0. With the same notation of the previous section, set Ck '= K[t]/(tk) for k G N and consider the algebras 7^fc = Cke + t.Cka + tCkb + Ckc and Sk, endowed with the inherited transpose involution. The following analogous of Proposition 2 holds (cf. [I], Lemma 4.3). PROPOSITION 4. Let r > 2, let W = W(Ai,A 2 ;m) = W r ((A 1 ,A 2 )) Wr((m)) be the 'irreducible GLr x GLr-module associated with the pair ((AI, A 2 ), (m-)), where (Ai, A2) 1- n, and let W participate in S r (M 2 (K)). (i) W is in Br(lZk) if and only if A] + A2 < k; (ii) W is in Br(Sk) if and, only if A2 + m, < k.
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In order to describe the asymptotic behaviour of the subvarieties of the variety of algebras with involution generated by M2(K) we need sufficiently many y-proper consequences of high degree of the irreducible submodules of r (M 2 (K)). The following proposition is the analogous of Proposition 3 (cf. [1], Lemma 5. 3-5. 10). PROPOSITION 5. Let r ^ 2, let us denote by W(\i, A2; k) the irreducible submodule o/J3 r (M 2 (IK)) isomorphic to W r ((Ai, A 2 )) <8> WT((k}}, and let w be its highest weight vector. Let il* be a subvariety of the variety of algebras with involution generated by M 2 (K). I f w E T* (il* ) , then all the polynomials in W(y\, 2/2; m), for (j/i,f 2 ;m) = (A t , A 2 ; k + 1), (Ai + 1, A 2 ;fc), (A 1 ; A 2 + 1; k),
(vi,vz;m) = (Ai + l , A 2 + l ; f c - 1),(A 1 + 1,A 2 - 1; k + 1), (A! - 1, A2 + 1; k + 1)

are in T*(il*) as well. Finally, we restate Definition 5 as follows DEFINITION 6. The Tf -ideals Ui, U2 ofK(Y,Z) alent if there exists HQ N such that are *- asymptotically equiv-
Ui n B = t/2 n 4n)
for all n > HQ. In this case, we write U\ si* t/2. Then we obtain the following description for the proper subvarieties of Var(M 2 (K)) (cf. [1], Theorem 6.1). THEOREM 5. Let U be the T*-ideal of a proper subvariety of the variety generated by the algebra M 2 (K) endowed with the transpose involution. Then
for suitable p and q. Sketch of Proof. The proof of this Theorem follows the main ideas in the proof of Theorem 3. The key fact is Proposition 5, which provides sufficiently many higher consequences for a fixed irreducible submodule of ' " . D
4. PROPER SUBVARIETIES OF A VARIETY WITH ALMOST POLYNOMIAL GROWTH OF *-CODIMENSIONS

Set Vn(*) :~ spanK(toCT(i) . . . ^(n) | n 6 N, a Sn, Wi e {yi, Zi} Vi ^ n). We call Vn(*) the space of ^-multilinear polynomials. The wreath product Hn '= Z2 I Sn acts on Vn(*) by the action defined as follows.
h o yi := yCT(i) h o Zj := z
t ) }
for all
h = (01, . . . , a n ; a] H n .
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The space Vn(*) becomes a left /fn-module under this action. If 11 is a variety of algebras with involution, the T*-ideal U = T*(il) is stable under this action, and the factor space
inherits the left Hn-module structure. DEFINITION 7. The number c n (il,*) is called the n.-th *-codimension of Id, and the sequence (cn(il, *)) n gN ?<5 called the *-codimension sequence of the variety H. It has been proved in [9] that the sequence (cn(il, *)) n eN is exponentially bounded, i.e. there exist constants a, (3 such that cn(il, *) ^ a,3n, as soon as T*(il, *) is not, trivial. Roughly speaking, the *-codimension sequence affords a kind of measure on how "big" the variety is the greater cn(il*,*) is, the bigger is il*, because the smaller is T*(il*,*). Clearly from this point of view one is interested in the minimal varieties with respect to this "measure" . The smallest varieties from this point of view are the varieties with polynomial growth of *-codim,ensions. These are the varieties such that there exist constants a,t with c n (il*,*) < cm* for all n G N. These varieties are characterized in [7] and in [10]. The following step is to pay attention to the varieties with exponential growth such that every proper subvariety has polynomial growth. Following [8] we call these ones varieties with almost polynomial growth. In [7] the authors constructed an algebra, denoted by G%, which generates a variety with almost polynomial growth of *-codimensions. Another algebra with this property was recently constructed by Mishchenko and Valenti in their work [16]. They denoted this algebra by M. In this section we shall give an alternative proof that M has almost polynomial growth, and describe the proper subvarieties of the variety generated by M , by the method of proper polynomials and consequences. For convenience, we shall recall the definition of M. Consider the subalgebra MQ of the algebra of 3 x 3 upper triangular matrices with entries in K, consisting of matrices of kind with r, s, t, u, v e K,
?/,y
endowed with the involution
Let us notice that I := Ke^s is a two sided ideal stable under this involution, hence * induces an involution on the factor algebra M : MO/I. The symmetric and skew-symmetric parts of M are M+ = span K (l, b, c + c*) M~ = spanK(c - c*}.
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where
a := (en + 633) + /
b := 622 + /
c := 612 + / and c* = 623 + /.
The decomposition of the GLT x GLr-module Br(M] is the following (cf. [17], Theorem 6.1.7). THEOREM 6. For n ^ 2, the n-th homogeneous component of Br(M) is
= Wr((n - 1, 1)) W r (0) Wr((n - 1)) W

This fact, together with [5], Theorem 2.3, which relates the GLr x GLrmodule structure of Br(M) to the //^-structure of Vn,(Var*(M), *), yields COROLLARY 2. ([17], Corollary 6.1.9) The n-th *-codimension of Var*(M), n N, is cn( Vfer.(M), *) = 1 +
k-i ^ '' Therefore Varif(M} has not polynomial growth.
k
>
Now set Ck := K [ t ] / ( t h ) , and define Hk := tCka + tCkb + Ckc + Ckc* . Then (cf. [17], Lemma 6.2.7) LEMMA 2. The proper parts ofT*(Jlk) are
n 2. (7^ f c ) =Qifn>k. The information about proper subvarieties can be summarized as follows (cf. [17], Lemma 6.2.2-6.2.4). LEMMA 3. Let ii* be a proper *-subvariety of the variety of algebras with involution generated by M, and let U := r*(U*). Let n$ be the minimal integer such that J5^n)(il*) ^ B(^\M). Then the polynomials of B(fn\M) are in U for any n ^ no + 1. In particular we get (see [17], Corollary 6.2.5) COROLLARY 3. Every proper *-subvariety of the ^-variety generated by M has polynomial growth. As a consequence of Lemmas 2 and 3 we may give the following description of the proper subvarieties: COROLLARY 4. ([17], Corollary 6.2.8) Let il* be a proper subvariety of Var*(M). Then r*(iU) * T*(Tlm) for a suitable m N.
REFERENCES
[1] F. Benanti, O. M. Di Vincenzo, V. Nardozza, *- Subvarieties of the variety generated by ( M 2 ( K ) , t ) , Can. .1. Math. (2002) (to appear). [2] O. M. Di Vincenzo, On the graded identities ofA4lti(E), Isr. J. Math. 80(3) (1992), 323-335. [3] V. Drensky, Free Algebras and Pi-Algebras, Springer- Verlag, Berlin-HeidelbergSingapore (2000).
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[4] V. Drensky, Polynomial identities of finite dimensional algebras, Serdica 12 (1986),209-216. [5] V. Drensky. A. Giambruno, Cocharacters. codimensions and Hilbert series of the polynomial identities for 2x2 m.atnces with involution, Can. ,1. Math. 46 (1994). 718-733. [6] O. M. Di Vincenzo, V. Drensky. V. Nardozza Subvarieties of the varieties generated by the superalgebra Miti(E) or M2(K). Comm. Algebra (2002) (to appear). [7] A. Giambruno, S. Mishchenko, Polynomial growth of the *- codimensions and Young diagrams, Comm. Algebra 29(1) (2001), 277-284. [8] A. Giambruno, S. Mishchenko, Star-varieties with almost polynomial growth, Algebra Coll. 8 (2001), 33-42. [9j A. Giambruno, A. Regev, Wreath products and P.I. algebras, J. Pure Appl. Algebra 35(1985), 133-149. [10] A. Giambruno. M. Zaicev, A characterization of algebras with polynomial growth of the codimensions, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 129 (2001), 59-67. [11] A. R. Kerner, Ideals of identities of associative algebras, AMS Trans, of Math. Monographs 87 (1991). [12] A. R. Kemer, Asymptotic basis of identities of algebras with unit from the variety V'ar(Af 2 (K)). Sov. Math. 33 No. 6,(1990), 71-76. :13] A. R. Kemer, Varieties and Z2-graded algebras, Math. USSRIzv. 25 (1985), 359-374. [14] A. R. Kemer, T-ideals with power growth of codimensions are Specht (Russian), Sibirskii Maternaticheskii Zhurnal 19, 54-69 (1978). English translation: Siberian Math. ,]. 19, 37-48 (1978). [15] A. I. Malcev, On algebras defined by identities (Russian) Mat Sb. 26 (1950), 19-33. [16] S. Mishchenko, A. Valenti, A star-variety with almost polynomial growth, J. Algebra 223(2000), 66-84. [17] V. Nardozza, Polynomial identities for graded algebras and algebras with involution, Ph. D. Thesis, XTII Ciclo,(2002), Universita degli Studi di Palermo. [18] A. Regev, Existence of identities in A B, Israel J. Math. 11 (1972), 131-152. [19j W. Specht. Gesetze in Rmgcn. I, Math. Z. 52 (1950), 557-589.
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Gradings and graded identities of the algebra of n x n upper triangular matrices

ANGELA VALENTI Dipartimento di Matematica ed Applicazioni, Universita di Palermo, Via Archirafi 34, 90123 Palermo, Italy. E-mail: avalenti@math.unipa.it
INTRODUCTION
One of the reasons for studying the graded identities of algebras is the relationship between graded and ordinary polynomial identities which is one of the key components in the structure theory of T-ideals developed by Kemer in characteristic zero (see for an account [23]). In his approach he used Z2-graded algebras in an essential way showing also the importance of Z2-graded identities. Later Razmyslov in [26] and Berele in [9] established the superanalogue of the results on ordinary matrix trace identities and Berele in [10] developed the superversion of the invariant theory of matrices. Shortly afterwards graded identities became an object of independent study with various applications. In [8, 3, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15], several numerical characteristics of T-ideals were transferred to the graded case and several of their properties were deduced. Let Mk(F) denote the algebra of k x k matrices over the field F and let E be the infinite dimensional Grassmann algebra over F endowed with its canonical Z2-grading. In [13] Di Vincenzo described a basis of the 2-graded identities for the algebras M-z(F} and Mit\(E] when the base field is of characteristic zero. Here M\t\(E) is the algebra of 2 x 2 matrices over E whose main diagonal elements are even elements of E, and whose other diagonal elements are odd elements of E. Vasilovsky in [32, 33] extended [13] to the matrix algebra Mk(F), over a field of characteristic zero. He found an explicit basis for
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the graded identities of Mfc(F) equipped with some standard Z-grading and Zfc-grading. Recently Koshlukov and Azevedo in [24] extended the results of Di Vincenzo to algebras over an infinite field of characteristic different from 2. In particular they determined bases of the graded identities satisfied by Af 2 (F),M u (F),F F and they showed that, when charF > 2, EE satisfies some additional identity that, is not an identity for M\_\(E). Azevedo in [1] established that the main result of [32] holds for algebras over an infinite field. General results with explicit estimates of the graded codimensions were given by Bahturin, Giambruno and Riley [3]. It turns out that the behavior of the graded identities of a graded algebra A depends on the ordinary polynomial identities of the neutral component 'A\ of A. Recently Bahturin and Drensky [2] considered the G-graded identities of the matrix algebra M/t(F) graded by an arbitrary group G over a field of characteristic zero. They found a basis of the G-graded identities of Mfc(F) with a. so called, elementary grading induced by pairwise different elements. In this paper we survey some recent results about gradings and graded identities of the algebra [/Tjt(F) of k x k upper triangular matrices over the field F. Concerning the ordinary polynomial identities, it is well known that for every field F and every k the T-ideal if identities of UTk(F) is finitely generated as a T-ideal (see for example [34]). Moreover when F is infinite, such T-ideal is generated by the identity [xi, x^\ [0:3, 4] [X2n-i, X2n] where [a.b] = ab ba is the usual commutator. It is also well known that, the identities of UTk(F) are closely related to the problem of describing the subvarieties of the variety of associative algebras generated by A/2(F). In Section 1 we classify all possible G-gradings of UTk(F) when F is an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero and G is any finite abelian group. In Section 2 we give all necessary definitions and we recall some graded invariants as the n-th graded codimension. In Section 3 and in Section 4 we describe all gradings of UT^F) by any group G and we show that, when charF = 0, UT^F) regarded as a superalgebra has almost polynomial growth of the codimensions. In Section 5 we consider the algebra UTk(F) equipped with its usual Zfc-grading and we describe a basis of the ideal of the graded polynomial identities for this algebra in case F is infinite. 2 GRADINGS ON UPPER TRIANGULAR MATRICES
Let G be an arbitrary group. An algebra A over a field F is G-graded if A = eG Ag is the direct sum of subspaces Ag such that AgA/,, C Agh for all g, h e G. The subspace Ag is called the homogeneous component of degree g and its nonzero elements are called homogeneous of degree g.
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The grading is finite if the number of nonzero homogeneous components is finite. If 1 is the identity element of G, then A\ is called the neutral component of A. One of the basic steps in the theory of Kemer in characteristic zero, is the study of verbally prime varieties and this, in turn, is based on the description of all possible Z2-gradings on matrix algebras. On the otherhand the classification of all gradings on a given algebra A is of interest in its own. In several recent papers ([28], [29], [16], [5]) all possible gradings on various algebras were considered. Concerning matrices, the complete classification of all G-gradings on Mk(F), when G is abelian and F is an algebraically closed field, is due to Bahturin, Sehgal and Zaicev [5]. They distinguished two kinds of gradings: the elementary gradings, naturally induced from a grading of an fc-dimensional vector space by an arbitrary group, and the fine gradings defined when G is abelian and characterized by dim(Mfc(F)) 5 < 1, for any 9 G. Recall that given an arbitrary group G and an &-tuple = (gi,. . , Qk) Gk, we say that Mfc(F) is equipped with the elementary grading induced by g 6 G if, for all 1 < i,j < k, the matrix units &ij are homogeneous of degree g~lgj According to [16], a grading of Mk(F) is elementary if and only if all matrix units aj are homogeneous. The description in [5] is the following THEOREM 1. Let G be an abelian group and let F be an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. For any G-grading of the matrix algebra Mk(F) there exists a decomposition k = pq, a subgroup H ofG and a q-tuple g = (0i, . . . ,gq) e Gq such that Mk(F) is isomorphic to MP(F) Mq(F] as a G -graded algebra, where Mp(F) is an H -graded algebra with a fine Upgrading and Mq(F] has an elementary grading defined by g = (g\, . . . , gq) A natural extension of the class of matrix algebras is that of blocktriangular matrix algebras. As it was shown in [21], block-triangular matrices play an important role in the theory of codimension growth. The simplest block-triangular matrix algebras are the full matrix algebras Mk(F) and the upper triangular matrix algebras UT^ = UTk(F). Besides, upper triangular matrices of size two and their Z2-gradings are very important in the study of varieties of Z2-graded algebras having Zs-codimension growth polynomially bounded [17]. All possible gradings of the algebra UT^F) where considered in [30] . The description of all G-gradings of UT], (F) provided F is algebraically closed of characteristic zero, for any finite abelian group G, was obtained by Valenti and Zaicev [31].
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Obviously, if we consider the algebra Mk(F) endowed with an elementary G-grading, then UTk is a homogeneous subalgebra. Hence, if G is any group and g = (gi, . . . , g^) E Gk, we say that UTk is equipped with the elementary G-grading induced by g if each homogeneous component (UTk)h is spanned by all matrix units e^, 1 < i,j < k, such that g~lgj = h. Concerning the classification of all G-gradings of UTk for G a finite abelian group and F algebraically closed of characteristic zero, the result in [31] is the following. THEOREM 2. Let F be an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero and suppose that UTk(F) is graded by a finite abelian group G. Then UTk(F), as a G -graded algebra, is isomorphic to UTk(F) with some elementary G-grading. 3 FREE GRADED ALGEBRAS AND GRADED IDENTITIES
Let F(X} be the free associative algebra over F generated by a countable infinite set X, and let G be a finite group. We can give to F ( X ) a structure of free G-graded algebra in the following way: write X in the form
where Xg = {x^ , x^ , } are disjoint sets. The indeterminates from Xg are said to be of homogeneous degree g. The homogeneous degree of a monomial x^ xft in F ( X ) is defined to be g\g^ 9t- Denote by J-g the subspace of the algebra F ( X ) generated by all the monomials having homogeneous degree g. Notice that FgJ-'h <= Fgh fr every g, h in G. Consequently, F(X) = ggc^g is a direct G-grading, and F(X) is the free G-graded algebra generated by the sets Xg, g 6 G. This algebra is the free G-graded algebra of countable rank on X since it has the following universal property: given a G-graded algebra A 96G"49, every map (p: X > A such that <p(xf } C Ag can be extended uniquely to a graded homomorphism $: F(X) > A. The notion of graded identity is the obvious one. Let A = 0aec- Ag be a G-graded algebra. A is said to satisfy the graded identity
_
~(9l)
(9l)
(S2)
(32)
(9s)
(9s)x _
where / is a nonzero element of F(X), A9i, 1 rti
r(9i)
!ri
(92)
)---irt2 ''ri
(92)
(gs)
i--->rts
(g s )\ _
1v
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is satisfied in A. We denote by Id(A)9T the set of all polynomials / F ( X ) such that the graded identity / = 0 is satisfied by A. In other words, Id(A)9T is the ideal of G-graded identities of A and this ideal is stable under all graded endomorphisms of F ( X ) . We shall say that it is a To-ideal of F(X). If the ground field F is infinite, from a standard Vandermonde argument it follows that a polynomial / is a G-graded polynomial identity for A if and only if its homogeneous components are identities as well. Moreover, in characteristic zero the well known multilinearization process shows that the To-ideal of identities of a G-graded algebra A is determined by its multilinear polynomials. If for each i > I, we set Xi ^q^Gxi then, the set Id(A) of polynomials in the :r,;s vanishing in A, coincides with the T-ideal of (ordinary) polynomial identities of A. Hence Id(A) C Id(A}9T . For each n > 1, define a subspace of F(X] by the following Pn = SpanF{xcr(1) xa(n)\a Sn}. Then Pn is the space of multilinear polynomials of degree n in the variables xi,... ,xn. For each g = (gi, . . . ,gn) in Gn define P% = SpanF{.-r(7(1) xa(n)\a Sn, Xi = x}9 1) for each i}. Notice that P% is the space of multilinear polynomials of degree n in the variables x[9l\ . . . ,x(n) . Then define
G
From the remark above, since we can think of Xi as the formal sum
x ff)
! > ^
follows tnat p
n C P and
pn n id9* (A) = Pn n id(A).

Observe as well that dimpPn = n\ and dimFP^ = \G\nn\ The integers
and c
are called the nth codimension and the nth G-graded codimension of A, respectively. The relation between these two codimensions is well known and easy to determine. In fact we have that for all n > 1, cn(A) < c^
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Notice that A satisfies an (ordinary) multilinear polynomial identity of degree n precisely when cn(A) < n\. Therefore, since cn(A) < c^(A), in order to prove that, A satisfies an identity, it suffices to show that c^ (A) < n\ for some n. It is well known, that, if A is an associative algebra over an algebraically closed field F of characteristic zero and G is a finite abelian group acting on A as a group of automorphisms, then G induces on A a G-grading A = @gcAg. This process can be reversed and, so, there is a well understood duality between group actions and group gradings on A. In this duality graded polynomials can also be written as G-polynomials i.e.. polynomials on which the group of automorphisms acts formally. In [17] the authors studied the G-identities of the algebra A through the representation theory of the wreath product G I Sn where Sn is the symmetric group of degree n. For multilinear G-polynomial identities this group plays the same role as the one played by Sn for the ordinary identities and we shall apply this action in the next sections.
GRADINGS AND GRADED IDENTITIES OF UT2
In this section we shall first give a complete description of all gradings on UT2, the algebra of 2 x 2 upper triangular matrices over F by any group G. It turns out that, up to isomorphism, there is only one non-trivial grading. Then we shall study the graded polynomial identities for such algebra. If G is an arbitrary group, we say that UT2 has the canonical or natural G-grading if there exists g G,g + 1 such that UT2 = (UT2)i (UT2)g, where (UT2)i = Fen+Fe22 and (UT2}g = Fei2. Also, recall that a grading on an algebra A is trivial if A\ = A and Ag 0, for all g G. The following theorem ([30]) holds for any field F and any group G (finite or infinite). We present its proof here since it uses only elementary facts about UT2. Notice that, in case G is a finite abelian group and F is algebraically closed of characteristic zero, this result follows from Theorem 2. THEOREM 3. Any G-grading on UT2(F) is. up to isomorphism, either trivial or canonical. Proof. Write A = UT2. If dim A\ = 3 then A has trivial grading and we are done. Hence we may assume that dim A\ < 2. Suppose first that dim A\ = 2. We may clearly assume that e\\ + e22 and ae\i + be\'2 form a basis of A\ over -F, for some a, b F. Then there exists g (E G such that dim Ag = 1 and write Ag = F(a'e\i -\-b'' &\i + c'e22). In case a = 0, then the inclusions AgA\ C Ag and A\Ag C Ag lead to a' = c' = 0. Hence Ag = Fe^ C AI, a contradiction. Thus a, ^ 0. It follows that the
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elements en + bei2 and 622 be\2 span A\ over F '. Suppose first that 6 ^ 0 . Since (a'e\\ + b'e^ + c'e^}(en + 6612) a'(eu + be\i] G Ag n A\ = 0 we obtain that a' = 0. Similarly, by multiplying b'e\z + c'^22 on the left by 22 - &ei2, we obtain c' 0. Hence Ag = Fe^, A\ = F(e\i + 22) + F(en + hew) and A\ 0 Ag is isomorphic to UT% with the canonical G-grading. In case b = 0, A\ = Feu + Fe^2 and it easily follows that Ag = Fe\2 and we are done in this case too. Suppose now that dim A\ = 1, that is, A\= F(e\\ + 6612). So, either UT<2 = AI Ag ffi Ah where dim Ag = dim Ah = 1 or UT2 = A\ Ag with dim Ag = 2. Let UT-i = ^! A9 Ah and suppose first that gh^l. Then ^^ =0 2 2 and, in case g ^ 1 and /i 7^ 1 we get that .A9 yl/j is a 2-dimensional nilpotent ideal of UTz, contradicting the fact that dim J = 1, where J is the Jacobson radical of UTz. Hence either g2 = 1, h2 = 1 or g2 = h? = I. In the first case one easily gets that Ag = J and let Ah F(aen + be\2 + ce^}From AgAh = AhAg = 0 we obtain a = c = 0. Hence Ah Ag, a contradiction. In case g2 = h2 = 1, since Ag = Fu,Ah = Fv where n2 = v2 1, we get 0 / uv AgAh, a contradiction. Suppose now that gh = 1. If g3 ^ 1 then g2 ^ g~l, ( g ~ l ) ^ g hence (Ag)2 = (Ah)2 = 0, a contradiction. In case g3 = I we obtain that Ag = Fa where a = ae\\ + 622 with a a third root of the unity. Then we would get that dim(Fa + Fa2 + Fe) = 2, a contradiction. We are left with UT<2 = AI Ag and dim Ag = 2. If g2 ^ 1 it follows that Ag is a nilpotent ideal, hence Ag C J, and this is a contradiction. Thus g2 I. Since AgAg C A\ we easily obtain a contradiction also in this case. D In the next theorem we exhibit a set of generators for Id9T(UT-2), the ideal of graded identities of UT% with canonical grading over an infinite field. This result has a generalization to upper triangular matrices of bigger size that we shall present in the next sections. In order to simplify the notation, we write Z2 as the multiplicative group {!,!} and we change name to the variables by setting, for all i > 1, yi := x\ and z, := x~ in the free superalgebra F ( X ) = F(Y UZ). We also write T2 in place of Tz2. It is easy to see that [2/1,2/2] = 0 and z\z^ = 0 are graded identities for the superalgebra UT<2- It can be easily proved that they generate the T2-ideal of graded identities. We have the following [30]. THEOREM 4. If F is an infinite field, the identities z\z^ = 0 and [y\, y^} = 0 generate Idgr(UT2(F)) as a T2-ideal.
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GRADED COCHARACTERS OF UT2
In general, if A is an algebra satisfying a polynomial identity, one can study the sequence of codimensions cn(A), n = 1 , 2 , . . . . of A. In [27] Regev proved that such sequence is exponentially bounded and its asymptotic behavior has become an important invariant of the algebra. As a consequence of a theorem of Kemer [22] it follows that if A is an algebra over a field of characteristic zero and Id(A) is its T-ideal of ordinary identities, then cn(A) is polynomially bounded if and only if Id(A] < Id{UT2} and Id(A) 2 Id(E) where E is the infinite dimensional Grassmann algebra. It follows that UT-2 has almost polynomial growth of the codimensions, i.e., cn(UT2) grows exponentially but for every T-ideal /d( J B)D/d(7T 2 ), cn(B) is polynomially bounded. Now a similar result holds for UT2 regarded as a Z2-graded algebra and we shall present it here. Throughout we shall assume that F is of characteristic zero. We shall give a complete description of the space of multilinear graded identities of any degree of UT? in the language of Young diagrams through the representation theory of the hyperoctahedral group. As a consequence we shall get a result concerning the rate of growth of the identities for such an algebra. It will follow that its sequence of graded codimensions has almost polynomial growth. Let Hn be the hyperoctahedral group of degree n. Recall that if Z2 = {1, 1} is the multiplicative group of order 2, then Hn is the wreath product Hn = TLi I Sn = {(i,. . . , an; a) \ a,; Z2, a G Sn} and the multiplication in Hn is given by (ai, .. . ,an;a}(bi,. . . ,6 n ;r) The space P7?r has a natural structure of left, .H^-module induced by defining for h= ( a i , . . . ,(!,; cr) Hn, % = ya^, hzi = za^ or -ZCT(,;), according as a0.(,) = 1 or 1. respectively (see [17]). Let Id3r(A) be the T-ideal of graded-identities of a superalgebra. A useful property of this action is that P%r r\Id9r(A) is an invariant subspace of Pn '; hence we can view P^r(A) = p9rr]f^Sri^)^ the space of all multilinear elements of degree n in the relatively free algebra F(X)/Id9T(A), as an Hnmodule. The ff n -character of the module P%r(A}, denoted X r i ( A ) , is called the n-th graded cocharacter of A. Recall that there is a one-to-one correspondence between irreducible Hncharacters and pairs of partitions (A,/u), where A H r, JJL h n r, for all
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r = 0,1,... , n. If x\,n denotes the irreducible ffn-character corresponding to (A, IJL) then we can write
r=0
Ahr-
fj.\-nr
where rn\^ > 0 are the corresponding multiplicities. We can now write the explicit decomposition of the n-th graded cocharacter of UT% into irreducibles [30].
n
THEOREM 5. Let Xn(UT?,(F)} = ]T ^

r=0 xi-r /j,hnr
rnx^xx^ be the n-th graded
cocharacter of the algebra UT2(F) endowed with the canonical "L^-grading. Then
= q+l if\= (p + q,p),/J,= (1);
3) m-x^ = 0 m all other cases. From this description we can easily determine the asymptotic behaviour of the sequence of graded codimensions. This can also be deduced now from [6]. There the authors proved that for any finite dimensional superalgebra A, supexp(yl) = lim \ c%(A) exists and is a non negative integer called n>oo V the super-exponent of A. Another numerical sequence that can be attached to a superalgebra is given by the sequence of colengths: the n-th graded colenght of A is defined as \^(A) = ^"_0X] AI-T- fnx,fj.- The result is the following.
fj.\nr
COROLLARY 1.
1) supexp(t/T2(F)) = 2.
( n 2 -2n+9
2
-t
2) For all n > 1, ln(UT2(F)) =
4 ( n, 2n + 84
JJ
if n is even.
In the next theorem we shall see that UT% with the canonical Z2-grading, is a superalgebra with almost polynomial growth of the corresponding codimensions [30]. THEOREM 6. Let A be a Z^-graded algebra. If Id9r(A)Dld9T(UT-2(F}) then there exists a constant N such that for all n and A | + /x | = n we have that m\^(A} < N. Moreover c(A) is polynomially bounded.
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Giambruno, Mishenko and Zaicev in [18] characterized the varieties of Z2-graded algebra of polynomial growth. They proved that if A is a Z2graded algebra, then the sequence c^r(A] of graded codimensions of A is polynomially bounded if and only if Id9T(A) g Idgr(B) where B is any of the following Z2-graded algebras: 1) the infinite dimensional Grassmann algebra E, with trivial or canonical grading. 2) J7T2(.F), with trivial or canonical grading. 3) The 2-dimensional algebra A = F tF where t2 = I with grading (F,tF). As a corollary one obtains that the Ta-ideals of the above five algebras are the only ones whose corresponding sequence of graded codimensions has almost polynomial growth. It follows that there is no Z2-graded algebra with intermediate growth of the graded codimensions.
GRADED IDENTITIES OF UTk OVER AN INFINITE FIELD
Throughout this section F is an infinite field of arbitrary characteristic and = UTk(F). We consider UTk with its natural Z^-grading
where Vt = {ai,i+iei,i +1 +a 2) i +2 e 2i7 ; +2 H-----\-ak_iikek^k \ ar,s F}, 0 k, then VjVj = 0. It is clear from the definition of section 2 that this is the elementary grading of UTk induced by the A:-tuple (0. 1, ... , k 1) where for simplicity we write (UTk)i = (UTk)i. In this section we describe a basis of the graded polynomial identities of UTk(F) with its natural Z^grading and we compute the asymptotics for the sequence of its graded codimensions (see [25]). We start with the following easy lemma LEMMA 1. The algebra UTk(F) satisfies the graded identities
x
_(0)
(0) _
(0) (0)
^ 1 -'
x^x = 0 whenever i\ + i? > k.
(2)
Moreover it can be proved that these identities are a basis for the T%kideal of graded identities of UTk. This follows from the structure of the
TM
relatively free fc-graded algebra F(X)/Id9r(UTk) in the variety determined by UTjf. In the sequel we shall simply write T%k = TV Consider the set, of monomials of F ( X } of the type
U = WQX^ ni 'Wl . . . Wt-ix}f ffit 'Wt fn\ (3)
where mi + + mt < k and WQ, ... , wt are (possibly empty) monomials in the variables x\ of homogeneous degree 0 and in each Wi these variables are written in increasing order from left to right. The next theorem gives the multilinear structure of the relatively free fcgraded algebra. If S is a set of polynomials, we write (S)xn for the Tn-ideal of the free algebra generated by the set 5. THEOREM 7. // F is an infinite field, the monomials (3) are a basis of F ( X ) modulo Id3r(UTk(F}}. Moreover Id9T(UTk(F}} = ([x(\ x(}], x(f x^ i + j>k)Tn. As an application of the previous result we have the following THEOREM 8. The Z^-graded codimensions of the algebra UTk(F] are
M
g =0
x /, n\ I k - r1
where M = min{n,k I}. As a consequence of Theorem 8 we can now compute the precise asymptotics of the sequence of graded codimensions c Recall that if f ( x ) and g(x) are two functions of a natural argument then f ( x ) and g(x) are asymptotically equal, and we write f ( x ) ~ g(x) if COROLLARY 2. For all n, <%(UTk(F}} ~ ptX"1^REFERENCES [1] S. S. Azevedo, Graded identities for the matrix algebra of order n over an infinite field, Comm. Algebra , 2002, to appear. [2] Yu. Bahturin, V. Drensky, Graded polynomial identities of matrices, Linear Algebra Applications (2002) to appear.
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[3] Yu. Bahturin, A. Giambruno, D. Riley, Group graded algebras satisfying a polynomial identity, Israel J. Math. 104 (1998), 145-155. [4] Yu. Bahturin. A. Giambruno, M. Zaicev, Codimension growth and graded identities, in Algebra (Moscow, 1998), 57-76, de Gruyter, Berlin, 2000. [5] Bahturin Yu.A., Sehgal S.K., Zaicev M.V., Group Gradings on Associative Algebras, J. Algebra, 241 (2001), 677-698. [6] F. Benanti, A. Giambruno and M. Pipitone, Polynomial identities on superalgebras and exponential growth, preprint. [7] A. Berele, Magnum PI, Israel J. Math. 51 (1985), no. 1-2, 13-19. [8] A. Berele. Cocharacteris of Z/2Z-graded algebras, Israel J. Math. 61 (1988), 225-234. [9] A. Berele, Trace identities and 'L/1'L-graded invariants, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 309, no. 2 (1988), 581-589. [10] A. Berele, Supertraces and matrices over Grassm.ann algebras, Adv. Math. 108 (1994), 77-90. [11] A. Berele, L. Rowen. T-ideals and super- Azumaya algebras, J. Algebra 212 (1999), 703-720; Article ID jabr.1998.7633. [12] J. Bergen. M. Cohen, Actions of commutative Hopf algebras, Bull. London Math. Soc. 18 (1986), no. 2, 159-164. [13] O. M. Di Vincenzo, On the graded identities ofMi^(E), Israel J. Math. 80, no. 3 (1992), 323-335. [14] O. M. Di Vincenzo, Cocharacters ofG-graded algebras, Comm. Algebra 24 (10)(1996), 323-335. [15] O. M. Di Vincenzo, V. Nardozza, Graded polynomial identities for tensor products by the Grassmann algebra, preprint. [16] Dascalescu S., Ion B., Nastasescu C., J. Rios Montes J., Group gradings on full matrix rings, J. Algebra, 220(1999), 709-728. [17] Giambruno A., Mishchenko S., Zaicev M., Group actions and asymptotic behavior of graded polynomial identities, J. London Math. Soc. (to appear).
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[18] Giambruno A., Mishchenko S., Zaicev M., Polynomial identities on superalgebras and almost polynomial growth, Comm. Algebra 29 (2001), 3787-3800. [19] A. Giambruno, M. Zaicev, On codimension growth of finitely generated associative algebras, Adv. Math. 140, no. 2 (1998), 145-155. [20] A. Giambruno, M. Zaicev, Exponential codimension growth of PI algebras: an exact estimate, Adv. Math. 142, no. 2 (1999), 221-243. [21] A. Giambruno, M. Zaicev, Minimal varieties of algebras and exponential growth, Adv. Math., to appear. [22] A. Kemer, T-ideals with power growth of the codimensions are Specht, Sibirskii Mat. Z. 19 (1978), 54-69 (Russian); English translation: Siberian Math. J. 19 (1978), 37-48. [23] A. Kemer, Ideals of identities of associative algebras, Translations of Mathematical Monographs 87, American Mathematical Society, 1991. [24] P. Koshlukov, S. Azevedo, Graded identities for T-prime algebras over fields of positive characteristic, Israel J. Math., to appear, 2001. [25] P. Koshlukov, A. Valenti, Graded identities for the algebra of n x n upper triangular matrices over an infinite field, preprint [26] Yu.P. Razmyslov, Trace identities and central polynomials in matrix superalgebra M n)fc (Russian)Mat. Sb. 128 (1985), 194-215. Translation. Math.USSR-Sb56 (1987), 187-206. [27] A. Regev, Existence of identities in AB, 131-152. Israel J. Math. 11 (1972),
[28] O.N. Smirnov , Simple associative algebras with finite Z-grading, J. Algebra, 196(1997), 171-184. [29] O.N. Smirnov , Finite "L-grading on Lie algebras and symplectic involution, J. Algebra, 218(1999), 246-275. [30] A. Valenti, The, graded identities of upper triangular matrices of size two, J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 172(2002), 325-335. [31] A. Valenti, M. Zaicev Abelian gradings on upper-triangular matrices, Arch. Math. (2002), to appear. [32] S. Yu. Vasilovsky, Z n -graded polynomial identities of the full matrix algebra of order n, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 127(12) (1999), 35173524.
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[33] S. Yu. Vasilovsky, Z-graded polynomial identities of the full matrix algebra, Comm. Algebra 26(2) (1998), 601-612. [34] S. M. Vovsi, Triangular products of group representations and their applications. Progress in Mathematics 17, Birkhauser. Boston, Ma., 1981.
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Polynomial Identities and Combinatorial Methods

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Polynomial Identities and Combinatorial Methods

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Polynomial Identities and Combinatorial Methods

MARCEL DEKKER, INC.

NEW YORK BASEL

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PURE AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS

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LECTURE NOTES IN PURE AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS

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Additional Volumes in Preparation

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Linearization method of computing Z2 codimensions of identities of the Grassmann algebra

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then the mapping defined on the generators by the formula

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Zs-IDENTITIES OF THE GRASSMANN ALGEBRA

then for any basic monomials a^. . . . , a,;fc 6

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Since aJ:J + X1 1=2 av I = "? 1 < "? therefore by induction

T/ien Id n (A,vj) ^ I d n ( A , ^ ) > ^A ^) N = c (A, / A ^)x = < /4 n -3, c n (A, !' n

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9 (n) V7 ' X xa(n) " '

(gi, ,gn) is defined by the equation

and may be computed by the formula

In [4] it was proved that (r/) Id n (A, (^) if and only if

for all (cr,p) 6 5n x Zg, all I Z and all J = (ji,...,jn)

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Ml) a(l) ' ' '

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Hence we may continue Equation (11) as follows:

= m-0 E j=0 Y,(-V

i<%-J =j=0 Y. rs=0 (

for ? ? , > / , proved in [4], completes the proof.

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then for any basic monomials a^,..., a,;fc 6

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ij\ = m, I < m therefore by induction

-C_! + 2" J] C^_! < c n (A ; ^) = c n (A, W) < 2" J] C^,

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Substitute this expression in / ( o - i , . . . . an):

E (?>=1 <>,; = = 9>^ (^-1)

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Comparing equalities (17), (18) and (19) we have

THE STRUCTURE OF GRADED AUTOMORPHISM OF ORDER TWO WITH dimL_i = 1

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Write the elements t, c, y and o. as a sum of Z-graded elements of A.

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- ^ (a,) = e^p(y) - eittp(y) - ap(y) - </?(a).

-2a m+1 = S+1 -

^' + E" <*

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(c(-i +5t81) (tSl+S?)(yr + Sry)-cktSl . . . tsiyr] -