Noetherian semigroup algebras. (Q873949)

Within the last decade, semigroup theoretical methods have occurred naturally in many aspects of ring theory, algebraic combinatorics, representation theory and their applications. In particular, motivated by noncommutative geometry and the theory of quantum groups, there is a growing interest in the class of semigroup algebras and their deformations. The theory of Noetherian algebras can reasonably be viewed as completing a picture which already contains the two rich well-developed bodies of results concerning commutative Noetherian algebras and noncommutative Artinian algebras. Semigroup algebras can offer abundant examples for Noetherian semigroup algebras satisfying some important conditions [\textit{J. Okniński}, Semigroup algebras. Pure Appl. Math. 138. New York: Marcel Dekker (1990; Zbl 0725.16001) and Semigroups of matrices. Series in Algebra 6. Singapore: World Scientific (1998; Zbl 0911.20042)]. This is the reason why in this book Noetherian semigroup algebras are studied systematically. The other characteristic of this book is to give some relations between semigroup theory and mathematical physics via the Yang-Baxter equation. This work presents a comprehensive treatment of the main results and methods of the theory of Noetherian semigroup algebras. These general results are then applied and illustrated in the context of important classes of algebras that arise in a variety of areas and have been recently intensively studied. Several concrete constructions are described in full detail, in particular intriguing classes of quadratic algebras and algebras related to group rings of polycyclic-by-finite groups. These give new classes of Noetherian algebras of small Gelfand-Kirillov dimension. The focus is on the interplay between their combinatorics and the algebraic structure. This yields a rich resource of examples that are of interest not only for the noncommutative ring theorists, but also for researchers in semigroup theory and certain aspects of group and group ring theory. Mathematical physicists will find this work of interest owing to the attention given to applications to the Yang-Baxter equation. The main subject in this book is to present when some semigroup algebras are Noetherian and how they are under the Noetherian condition. The authors reach this aim through the methods of polycyclic-by-finite groups [\textit{D. S. Passman}, The algebraic structure of group rings. New York: John Wiley \& Sons (1977; Zbl 0368.16003); \textit{D. Segal}, Polycyclic groups. Cambridge Tracts in Mathematics 82. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1983; Zbl 0516.20001)] and Gelfand-Kirillov dimension [\textit{G. R. Krause} and \textit{T. H. Lenagan}, Growth of algebras and Gelfand-Kirillov dimension. Revised ed., Graduate Studies in Mathematics 22. Providence, RI: AMS (2000; Zbl 0957.16001); \textit{J. C. McConnell} and \textit{J. C. Robson}, Noncommutative Noetherian rings. With the cooperation of \textit{L. W. Small}. Pure and Applied Mathematics. A Wiley-Interscience Publication. Chichester: John Wiley \& Sons (1987; Zbl 0644.16008)] in the most. This is comprehensible first from the fact as explained in Section 3.3, that group algebras of polycyclic-by-finite groups are the only known examples of Noetherian group algebras. Usually, the problem of describing when a semigroup algebra is right Noetherian is very difficult. However, for Abelian monoids, there is a very satisfactory solution, that is, an Abelian monoid algebra over a field is Noetherian if and only if the Abelian monoid is finitely generated, [see \textit{R. Gilmer}, Commutative semigroup rings. Chicago Lectures in Mathematics. Chicago-London: The University of Chicago Press (1984; Zbl 0566.20050)]. So, one has only to discuss the problem in the non-Abelian case. It is much harder even if the monoid is contained in a group. But, when the monoid is in a polycyclic-by-finite group, the monoid algebra is right Noetherian if and only if the monoid satisfies the ascending chain condition on right ideals, see Theorem 4.1.6. Thus, one might hope for a structural characterization of a semigroup algebra in terms of the underlying monoid. It is obtained that when a monoid is in a polycyclic-by-finite group, the monoid is finitely generated if the monoid algebra is right Noetherian, while the monoid algebra is a Jacobson ring. In Chapter 5, the authors first show that for a right Noetherian semigroup algebra, in many important cases, the semigroup is finitely generated. These cases include: 1. the semigroup satisfies the ascending chain condition on principal left ideals; 2. every cancellative subsemigroup of each homomorphic image of the semigroup has a locally nilpotent-by-finite group of quotients; 3. the semigroup is Malcev nilpotent; 4. the Gelfand-Kirillov dimension of the semigroup algebra is finite; 5. the semigroup algebra satisfies a polynomial identity. This extends the observation made in Theorem 4.1.7 for submonoids of polycyclic-by-finite groups. Basic information on the Gelfand-Kirillov dimension of a semigroup algebra is obtained when the algebra is a Noetherian algebra. The main idea is to show that in some sense the dimension of the algebra is determined by the dimensions of subalgebras \(K[T]\) for cancellative subsemigroups \(T\) of the semigroup. Moreover, it is shown surprisingly that right Noetherian algebras of finite Gelfand-Kirillov dimension that are defined by a homogeneous monoid presentation must satisfy a polynomial identity. In Chapter 6, the authors study semigroup algebras that are principal right ideal rings. First, they show that these are finitely generated PI algebras of Gelfand-Kirillov dimension at most 1 and completely characterize finite semigroups for which the semigroup algebras are principal right ideal rings. It follows that a semigroup algebra is a semiprime principal right ideal ring if and only if it is a principal right ideal ring. The results show that in many cases principal ideal semigroup algebras are built of blocks that are matrix rings over algebras of the type \(K[T']\), where \(T'\) is a homomorphic image of a cancellative monoid \(T\) so that \(K[T]\) is a principal ideal ring. It remains an unsolved problem to characterize when a semigroup algebra is a prime Noetherian maximal order. In Chapter 7, the authors describe when a semigroup algebra is a Noetherian PI domain which is a maximal order. This result is useful in the context of concrete classes of algebras considered in Chapter 8. The main result in this part is that for a submonoid \(S\) of a torsion free finitely generated Abelian-by-finite group, the semigroup algebra \(K[S]\) is a Noetherian maximal order if and only if the following conditions are satisfied: 1. \(S\) is a maximal order in its group of quotients and satisfies the ascending chain condition on right and left ideals; 2. for each minimal prime \(P\) in \(S\) the semigroup \(S_P\) has only one minimal prime ideal. The research in Chapter 8 shows the trait of this book. It relies on the so-called `monoids of I-type' which were introduced by \textit{T. Gateva-Ivanova} and \textit{M. Van den Bergh} [J. Algebra 206, No. 1, 97-112 (1998; Zbl 0944.20049)] inspired by earlier work on Sklyanin algebras. First, monoids \(S\) of I-type supply an important class of Noetherian semigroup algebras \(K[S]\) which satisfy polynomial identities and \(\text{clKdim}(K[S])=\text{GK}(K[S])=n\). The other interesting aspect is that this kind of monoids is intimately related with other mathematical notions that are currently of interest, such as set-theoretic solutions of the quantum Yang-Baxter equation and Bieberbach groups. As well-known, the (quantum) Yang-Baxter equation is important in mathematical physics. \textit{V. G. Drinfeld} [Lect. Notes Math. 1510, 1-8 (1992; Zbl 0765.17014)] put forward the problem of finding all set-theoretical solutions of the Yang-Baxter equation. In recent years, many set-theoretical solutions have been found when the set is some groups, as by \textit{J.-H. Lu, M. Yan} and \textit{Y.-C. Zhu} [Duke Math. J. 104, No. 1, 1-18 (2000; Zbl 0960.16043)], \textit{P. Etingof, T. Schedler} and \textit{A. Soloviev} [Duke Math. J. 100, No. 2, 169-209 (1999; Zbl 0969.81030)], \textit{T. Gateva-Ivanova} [J. Math. Phys. 45, No. 10, 3828-3858 (2004; Zbl 1065.16037)], etc. In this part, the authors prove that for \(X=\{x_1,\dots,x_n\}\) and \(S=\langle x_1,\dots,x_n\rangle\) a monoid of left I-type, the mapping \(r\colon X^2\to X^2\), defined by \(r(x_{f_{u_i}(j)},x_{f_1(i)})=(x_{f_{u_j}(i)},x_{f_1(j)})\), is a set-theoretical solution of the Yang-Baxter equation. The authors describe monoids of right I-type as submonoids of semidirect product \(FaM_n\rtimes\text{Sym}_n\) so that the projection on the first component is bijective. It follows that a monoid is of left I-type if and only if it is of right I-type. A group is called a Bieberbach group if it is finitely generated torsion free and Abelian-by-finite. It is shown that a group of I-type is solvable and Bieberbach. A class of intriguing finitely presented algebras defined by quadratic relations, called algebras of skew type, is considered in Chapter 9, which provides one with many examples of Noetherian PI algebras. It is proved that right non-degenerate monoids of skew type satisfy the ascending chain condition on right ideals. An important tool in the proof is the ideal chain obtained from left and right divisibility by generators. It turns out that such monoids contain an ideal that is a cancellative semigroup. This ideal plays a crucial role in the investigations. Moreover, it is given that the algebras of non-degenerate monoids of skew type are examples of Noetherian algebras of finite Gelfand-Kirillov dimension that satisfy a polynomial identity. In the last part of this chapter, it is given a description of the least cancellative congruence on a non-degenerate monoid of skew type and the prime radical of the semigroup algebra of the monoid. In the last part, i.e. Chapter 10, several examples of monoids of skew type and their algebras are given so as to illustrate the theory developed in the preceding chapters. For example, if a non-degenerate monoid of skew type satisfies the cyclic condition but is not a cyclic monoid, then \(2\leq\text{GK}(K[S])\leq n\) and furthermore, the upper bound is reached precisely when the monoid is of I-type, or equivalently, is cancellative. This tells us that the Gelfand-Kirillov dimension reflects some properties of the monoid and its semigroup algebras. And, all four-generated non-degenerate monoids of skew type are described and an example is given of a four-generated monoid of skew type that satisfies the cyclic condition and such that its Gelfand-Kirillov dimension is two. Some examples are given of non-degenerate monoids of skew type generated by \(4^n\) elements for any positive integer \(n\) so that \(\text{GK}(K[S])=1\) and the semigroup monoid is semiprime. In the end, they give several examples of cancellative monoids which are maximal orders and satisfy the ascending chain condition on one-sided ideals. These illustrate that the algebraic structure of the localizations \(S_P\) with respect to a minimal prime ideal is much more complicated than in the commutative setting. This book is a good reference for researchers who are interested in non-commutative algebra and non-commutative geometry through the method of semigroups.