Quasi-primeness of lower central terms of an ideal in a free Lie algebra (Q1085261)

Let I and J be two ideals in a Lie algebra L over a field with J contained in I. We say that J is quasi-prime in I if for every a,b in L with \(b\not\in I\) and [a,b]\(\in J\), then either \(a\in J\) or a and b are linearly dependent modulo J. It is proved that if I is an ideal in a free Lie algebra L and \(n\geq 2\) then \(I_ n\) (the n-th term in the lower central series of I) is quasi-prime in I. This extends the case \(n=2\) proved by \textit{B. Baumslag} [J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 4, 523-532 (1972; Zbl 0249.17014)]. Two consequences are obtained: (1) With L, I and n as above, the nilpotent subalgebras of \(L/I_ n\) are either one dimensional or contained in \(I/I_ n\). (2) If I and J are nonzero ideals in a free Lie algebra L of rank \(\geq 2\), m,n\(\geq 2\) and \(I_ n\) contained in \(J_ m\), then I is contained in J.