On the semigroup nilpotency and the Lie nilpotency of associative algebras

To each associative ringR we can assign the adjoint Lie ringR ⁽⁻⁾ (with the operation(a,b)=ab−ba) and two semigroups, the multiplicative semigroupM(R) and the associated semigroupA(R) (with the operationaob=ab+a+b). It is clear that a Lie ringR ⁽⁻⁾ is commutative if and only if the semigroupM(R) (orA(R)) is commutative. In the present paper we try to generalize this observation to the case in whichR ⁽⁻⁾ is a nilpotent Lie ring. It is proved that ifR is an associative algebra with identity element over an infinite fieldF, then the algebraR ⁽⁻⁾ is nilpotent of lengthc if and only if the semigroupM(R) (orA(R)) is nilpotent of lengthc (in the sense of A. I. Mal'tsev or B. Neumann and T. Taylor). For the case in whichR is an algebra without identity element overF, this assertion remains valid forA(R), but fails forM(R). Another similar results are obtained. Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 510–519, October, 1997. Translated by A. I. Shtern