On the Simplicity of Lie Algebras Associated to Leavitt Algebras

For any field 𝕂 and integer n ≥ 2, we consider the Leavitt algebra L _𝕂(n); for any integer d ≥ 1, we form the matrix ring S = M _d (L _𝕂(n)). S is an associative algebra, but we view S as a Lie algebra using the bracket [a, b] = ab ? ba for a, b ∈ S. We denote this Lie algebra as S ^?, and consider its Lie subalgebra [S ^?, S ^?]. In our main result, we show that [S ^?, S ^?] is a simple Lie algebra if and only if char(𝕂) divides n ? 1 and char(𝕂) does not divide d. In particular, when d = 1, we get that [L _𝕂(n)^?, L _𝕂(n)^?] is a simple Lie algebra if and only if char(𝕂) divides n ? 1.     

Power Values of Derivations with Annihilator Conditions on Lie Ideals in Prime Rings

Let R be a prime ring of char R ≠ 2, d a nonzero derivation of R, U a noncentral Lie ideal of R, and a ∈ R. If au ^{n ₁} d(u) ^{n ₂} u ^{n ₃} d(u) ^{n ₄} u ^{n ₅} … d(u) ^{n _k?1} u ^{n _k}  = 0 for all u ∈ U, where n ₁, n ₂,…,n _k are fixed non-negative integers not all zero, then a = 0 and if a(u ^s d(u)u ^t ) ⁿ  ∈ Z(R) for all u ∈ U, where s ≥ 0, t ≥ 0, n ≥ 1 are some fixed integers, then either a = 0 or R satisfies S ₄, the standard identity in four variables.