Weakly periodic rings with conditions on commutators (Q1917169)

Let \(R\) be a ring; and for \(x,y\in R\) define extended commutators \([x,y]_k\), \(k \geq 1\), by letting \([x,y]_1=[x,y]=xy-yx\) and \([x,y]_{n+1}=[[x,y]_n,y]\). Call the ring \(R\) weakly periodic if each element of \(R\) is the sum of a potent element and a nilpotent element. It is known that every periodic ring is weakly periodic; whether the converse holds is an open question. The authors prove the following results: (I) If \(R\) is weakly periodic and for each \(x,y\in R\) there exists a word \(w=w(x,y)\) and a positive integer \(k\) for which \(w[x,y]_k=0\), then \(R\) is periodic and its commutator ideal is nil; (II) If \(R\) is a weakly periodic ring in which commutators of nilpotent elements are potent, and if for each \(x,y\in R\) there exist words \(u=u(x,y)\) and \(w=w(x,y)\) and positive integers \(j\), \(k\) for which \(u[x,y]_j=[x,y]_k w=0\), then \(R\) is commutative. These results are, respectively, generalizations of earlier results on periodic rings due to the reviewer [Acta Math. Acad. Sci. Hung. 28, 279-283 (1976; Zbl 0335.16035)] and \textit{M. S. Putcha} and \textit{A. Yaqub} [Stud. Sci. Math. Hung. 12, 193-197 (1977; Zbl 0437.16021)].