Jacobson radical algebras with Gelfand-Kirillov dimension two over countable fields. (Q872192)

The paper is concerned with rings of Gelfand-Kirillov dimension two. \textit{J. P. Bell} constructed examples of prime affine algebras with Gelfand-Kirillov dimension two and a non-zero locally nilpotent Jacobson radical [J. Algebra 263, No. 1, 159-175 (2003; Zbl 1028.16012)]. In the same paper he asked whether the Jacobson radical in algebras with Gelfand-Kirillov dimension two is always locally nilpotent. \textit{L. Bartholdi} obtained counterexamples to this question by constructing examples of finitely generated Jacobson radical algebras of Gelfand-Kirillov dimension two over algebraic extensions of finite fields of characteristic 2 [``Branch rings, thinned rings, tree enveloping rings'', Isr. J. Math. 154, 93-139 (2006)]. The goal of the paper is to show that the answer to Bell's question is negative for algebras over countable fields. The main results of the paper are as follows. Theorem 1. Let \(K\) be a countable field. Then there exists a prime finitely generated graded \(K\)-algebra of Gelfand-Kirillov dimension two which is Jacobson radical but not nilpotent. As a corollary the following theorem is obtained. Theorem 2. Let \(K\) be a countable field. Then there exists a finitely generated prime \(K\)-algebra of Gelfand-Kirillov dimension two which is graded nil but not nilpotent. A similar result concerning graded algebras is derived. Theorem 3. Let \(K\) be a countable field. Then there exists a finitely generated prime graded \(K\)-algebra of Gelfand-Kirillov dimension two which is Jacobson radical. In its methods and constructions, the paper is closely related to the following works [\textit{A. Smoktunowicz}, J. Algebra 233, No. 2, 427-436 (2000; Zbl 0969.16006); \textit{T. H. Lenagan} and \textit{A. Smoktunowicz}, J. Am. Math. Soc. 20, No. 4, 989-1001 (2007; Zbl 1127.16017)].