Invariant Theory for Non-Associative Real Two-Dimensional Algebras and Its Applications

The set ${\mathcal A}$ of all non-associative algebra structures on a fixed 2-dimensional real vector space $A$ is naturally a ${\mbox{\rm GL}}(2,{\mbox{\bf R}})$-module. We compute the ring of ${\mbox{\rm SL}}(2,{\mbox{\bf R}})$-invariants in the ring of polynomial functions, ${\mathcal P}$, on ${\mathcal A}$. We use invariant theory to compute the exact number of nonzero idempotents of an arbitrary 2-dimensional real division algebra. We show that the absolute invariants (i.e.,the ${\mbox{\rm GL}}(2, {\mbox{\bf R}})$-invariants in the field of fractions of ${\mathcal P}$) distinguish the isomorphism classes of 2-dimensional non-associative real division algebras. We show that the (open) set $\Omega^+\subset{\mathcal A}$ of all division algebra structures on $A$ has four connected components. A similar result is proved for another class of regular 2-dimensional real algebras (the principal isotopes of the algebra ${\mbox{\bf R}}\oplus{\mbox{\bf R}}$).