The p-Modular Descent Algebra of the Symmetric Group

The descent algebra of the symmetric group, over a field ofnon-zero characteristic p, is studied. A homomorphism into thealgebra of generalised p-modular characters of the symmetricgroup is defined. This is then used to determine the radical,and its nilpotency index. It also allows the irreducible representationsof the descent algebra to be described. 1991 Mathematics SubjectClassification 20F32.     

Group Actions and Asymptotic Behavior of Graded Polynomial Identities

Let F be an algebraically closed field of characteristic 0,and let A be a G-graded algebra over F for some finite abeliangroup G. Through G being regarded as a group of automorphismsof A, the duality between graded identities and G-identitiesof A is exploited. In this framework, the space of multilinearG-polynomials is introduced, and the asymptotic behavior ofthe sequence of G-codimensions of A is studied. Two characterizations are given of the ideal of G-graded identitiesof such algebra in the case in which the sequence of G-codimensionsis polynomially bounded. While the first gives a list of G-identitiessatisfied by A, the second is expressed in the language of therepresentation theory of the wreath product G S_n, where S_nis the symmetric group of degree n. As a consequence, it is proved that the sequence of G-codimensionsof an algebra satisfying a polynomial identity either is polynomiallybounded or grows exponentially.     

Strong Operator Modules and the Haagerup Tensor Product

Strong operator modules over a von Neumann algebra R are introducedand the so-called extended Haagerup tensor product over R ofstrong modules is studied. In the case R=C and the spaces areweak* closed this product agrees with the weak* Haagerup tensorproduct of Blecher and Smith. If C is the center of R, the extendedHaagerup tensor product R is a Banach algebra containing thecentral tensor product of Chatterjee and Smith and has very nice properties concerningslice maps and the relative commutants of subalgebras. It isshown that R is a dual Banach space, and all weak* closed two-sidedideals of the algebra R are determined. 1991 Mathematics SubjectClassification: 46L05     

Approximately Local Derivations

Certain linear operators from a Banach algebra A into a BanachA-bimodule X, which are called approximately local derivations,are studied. It is shown that when A is a C^*-algebra, a Banachalgebra generated by idempotents, a semisimple annihilator Banachalgebra, or the group algebra of a SIN or a totally disconnectedgroup, bounded approximately local derivations from A into Xare derivations. This, in particular, extends a result of B.E. Johnson that ‘local derivations on C^*-algebras arederivations’ and provides an alternative proof of it.     

The Amenability of Measure Algebras

In this paper we shall prove that the measure algebra M(G) ofa locally compact group G is amenable as a Banach algebra ifand only if G is discrete and amenable as a group. Our contributionis to resolve a conjecture by proving that M(G) is not amenablein the case where the group G is not discrete. Indeed, we shallprove a much stronger result: the measure algebra of a non-discrete,locally compact group has a non-zero, continuous point derivationat a certain character on the algebra.     

A Version of the Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt Theorem

In this note I shall prove that if L is a finite-dimensionalLie algebra over a field F of characteristic zero which is generatedas an algebra by a set of elements {e₁, e₂,...,e_k}, then theuniversal enveloping algebra U(L) of L is linearly generatedby monomials spanned by the elements {e_i} of an a priori boundedwidth. As an application, a criterion of Kostant for a leftideal of U(L) to be of finite codimension is proved by purelyalgebraic means.     

Characterization of the Mod 3 Cohomology of the Compact, Connected, Simple, Exceptional Lie Groups of Rank 6

It is shown that the mod 3 cohomology of a 1-connected, homotopyassociative mod 3 H-space that is rationally equivalent to theLie group E₆ is isomorphic to that of E₆ as an algebra. Moreover,it is shown that the mod 3 cohomology of a nilpotent, homotopy-associativemod 3 H-space that is rationally equivalent to E₆, and whosefundamental group localized at 3 is non-trivial, is isomorphicto that of the Lie group Ad E₆ as a Hopf algebra over the mod3 Steenrod algebra. It is also shown that the mod 3 cohomologyof the universal cover of such an H-space is isomorphic to thatof E₆ as a Hopf algebra over the mod 3 Steenrod algebra. 2000Mathematics Subject Classification 57T05, 57T10, 57T25.     

Poincare Series of Multi-Filtered Algebras and Partitivity

It is proved that if an algebra R over a field can be endowedwith a pointed and finite-dimensional Nⁿ-filtration such thatthe associated Nⁿ-graded algebra T is semi-commutative, thenR is left and right finitely partitive. In order to do this,a multi-variable Poincaré series for every finitely generatedgraded T-module is considered and it is shown that this Poincaréseries is a rational function. The methods apply to some iteratedOre extensions such as quantum matrices and quantum Weyl algebrasas well as to the quantized enveloping algebra of sl(+1).     

CARTAN DETERMINANTS OF CELLULAR ALGEBRAS

Let A be a finite-dimensional cellular algebra over a field.It is shown that the Cartan determinant of A is a positive integer;furthermore, the Cartan determinant of value 1 is equivalentto the condition that A is quasi-hereditary. In this article,we establish a formula for expressing the Cartan determinantsof cellular algebras. By applying this formula, we obtain anecessary and sufficient condition for a cellular algebra withCartan determinant 2 to be standardly stratified. Moreover,we provide a sufficient condition for an arbitrary cellularalgebra to be standardly stratified and an inductive constructionof standardly stratified cellular algebras.     

Cluster-tilted algebras as trivial extensions

Given a finite-dimensional algebra C (over an algebraicallyclosed field) of global dimension at most two, we define itsrelation-extension algebra to be the trivial extension C Ext(DC,C) of C by the C–C-bimoduleExt(DC,C). We give a constructionfor the quiver of the relation-extension algebra in case thequiver of C has no oriented cycles. Our main result says thatan algebra is cluster-tilted if and only if there exists a tilted algebra C such that is isomorphic to the relation-extensionof C.     

A Matrix Setting for the q-Schur Algebra

The Schur algebra S(n, r) has a basis (described in [6, 2.3])consisting of certain elements _i,j, where i, jI(n, r), the setof all ordered r-tuples of elements from the set n={1, 2, ...,n}. The multiplication of two such basis elements is given bya formula known as Schur's product rule. In recent years, aq-analogue S_q(n, r) of the Schur algebra has been investigatedby a number of authors, particularly Dipper and James [3, 4].The main result of the present paper, Theorem 3.6, shows howto embed the q-Schur algebra in the rth tensor power T^r(M_n)of the nxn matrix ring. This embedding allows products in theq-Schur algebra to be computed in a straightforward manner,and gives a method for generalising results on S(n, r) to S_q(n,r). In particular we shall make use of this embedding in subsequentwork to prove a straightening formula in S_q(n, r) which generalisesthe straightening formula for codeterminants due to Woodcock[12]. We shall be working mainly with three types of algebra: thequantized enveloping algebra U(gl_n) corresponding to the Liealgebra gl_n, the q-Schur algebra S_q(n, r), and the Hecke algebra,H(A_r–1). It is often convenient, in the case of the q-Schuralgebra and the Hecke algebra, to introduce a square root ofthe usual parameter q which will be denoted by v, as in [5].This corresponds to the parameter v in U(gl_n). We shall denotethis ‘extended’ version of the q-Schur algebra byS_v(n, r), and we shall usually refer to it as the v-Schur algebra.All three algebras are associative and have multiplicative identities,and the base field will be the field of rational functions,Q(v), unless otherwise stated. The symbols n and r shall bereserved for the integers given in the definitions of thesethree algebras.     

Banach Spaces Whose Algebras of Operators are Unitary: A Holomorphic Approach

An element u of a norm-unital Banach algebra A is said to beunitary if u is invertible in A and satisfies ||u|| = ||u^–1||= 1. The norm-unital Banach algebra A is called unitary if theconvex hull of the set of its unitary elements is norm-densein the closed unit ball of A. If X is a complex Hilbert space,then the algebra BL(X) of all bounded linear operators on Xis unitary by the Russo–Dye theorem. The question of whetherthis property characterizes complex Hilbert spaces among complexBanach spaces seems to be open. Some partial affirmative answersto this question are proved here. In particular, a complex Banachspace X is a Hilbert space if (and only if) BL(X) is unitaryand, for Y equal to X, X* or X** there exists a biholomorphicautomorphism of the open unit ball of Y that cannot be extendedto a surjective linear isometry on Y. 2000 Mathematics SubjectClassification 46B04, 46B10, 46B20.     

The (Q, q)-Schur Algebra

In this paper we use the Hecke algebra of type B to define anew algebra S which is an analogue of the q-Schur algebra. Weshow that S has ‘generic’ basis which is independentof the choice of ring and the parameters q and Q. We then constructWeyl modules for S and obtain, as factor modules, a family ofirreducible S-modules defined over any field. 1991 MathematicsSubject Classification: 16G99, 20C20, 20G05.     

On the Algebra of Operations for Hopf Cohomology

In his thesis (Mem. Amer. Math. Soc. 42 (1962)) A. Liuleviciusdefined Steenrod squaring operations Sq^k on the cohomology ringof any cocommutative Hopf algebra over Z/2. Later, J. P. Mayshowed that these operations satisfy Adem relations, interpretedso that Sq⁰ is not the unit but an independent operation. Thus,these Adem relations are homogeneous of length two in the generators.This paper is concerned with the bigraded algebra B that isgenerated by elements Sq^k and subject to Adem relations; itshows that the Cartan formula gives a well-defined coproducton B. Also, it is shown that B with both multiplication andcomultiplication should be considered neither a Hopf algebranor a bialgebra, but another kind of structure, for which thename ‘algebra with coproducts’ is proposed in thepaper. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 55S10 (primary),55T15 (secondary).     

Controlled Wild Algebras

The controlled wild algebra is introduced, a covering criterionfor a finite-dimensional algebra to be controlled wild is given,and this criterion is applied to the algebras with radical squarezero, algebras with zero relations, local algebras and finitep-group algebras. 2000 Mathematical Subject Classification:16G20, 16G60.     

Property A, partial translation structures, and uniform embeddings in groups

We define the concept of a partial translation structure ona metric space X and show that there is a natural C*-algebraC*() associated with it, which is a subalgebra of the uniformRoe algebra C*_u(X). We introduce a coarse invariant of the metricwhich provides an obstruction to embedding the space in a group.When the space is sufficiently group-like, as determined byour invariant, properties of the Roe algebra can be deducedfrom those of C*(). We also give a proof of the fact that theuniform Roe algebra of a metric space is a coarse invariantup to Morita equivalence.     

Embedding Properties of Metabelian Lie Algebras and Metabelian Discrete Groups

We show that for every natural number m a finitely generatedmetabelian group G embeds in a quotient of a metabelian groupof type FP_m. Furthermore, if m 4, the group G can be embeddedin a metabelian group of type FP_m. For L a finitely generatedmetabelian Lie algebra over a field K and a natural number mwe show that, provided the characteristic p of K is 0 or p >m, then L can be embedded in a metabelian Lie algebra of typeFP_m. This result is the best possible as for 0 < p m everymetabelian Lie algebra over K of type FP_m is finite dimensionalas a vector space.     

Quasitriangular Hopf Algebras of Dimension pq

Let p and q be odd prime numbers. It is shown that all quasitriangularHopf algebras of dimension pq over an algebraically closed fieldk of characteristic zero are semisimple and therefore isomorphicto a group algebra.     

Kazhdan-Lusztig Cells and the Murphy Basis

Let H be the Iwahori–Hecke algebra associated with S_n,the symmetric group on n symbols. This algebra has two importantbases: the Kazhdan–Lusztig basis and the Murphy basis.We establish a precise connection between the two bases, allowingus to give, for the first time, purely algebraic proofs fora number of fundamental properties of the Kazhdan–Lusztigbasis and Lusztig's results on the a-function. 2000 MathematicsSubject Classification 20C08.