The embeddability of affine PI-algebras in rings of matrices (Q1087621)

\textit{R. S. Irving} [J. Algebra 82, 94-101 (1983; Zbl 0508.16015)] has given an example of an affine PI-algebra over a field K with a.c.c. on left and right annihilator ideals and satisfying all identities of \(M_ n(K)\) for some positive integer n which is not embeddable in matrices i.e. in \(M_ k(C)\) for any commutative K-algebra C and for any positive integer k. The algebra in this example has proper chains of arbitrary length of left or right annihilator ideals. This suggests a question as noted in the above paper: does the boundedness of the lengths of proper chains of the left and right annihilators imply embeddability of such algebras in matrices? The following main result of the paper reviewed answers this question negatively: Let K be an arbitrary field. Then there exists an affine K-algebra satisfying the identities of \(M_ 4(K)\) with Jacobson radical J with \(J^ 3=(0)\) and with proper chains of left and right annihilator ideals of length greater than 4, which is not embeddable in matrices. Another interesting result of this paper asserts that if R is an affine noetherian semiprime PI-algebra over a countable field K then there are only countably many isomorphism classes of affine, noetherian K-algebras with R as image modulo the radical.