Generators for the divided powers algebra of an algebra and trace identities (Q1095223)

Let A be an associative algebra with unity over a commutative ring R, and let \(\Gamma_ i(A)\) denote the module of symmetric contravariant tensors of rank i for the R-module A. The direct product of the \(\Gamma_ i(A)\) is an algebra under a componentwise multiplication induced by the multiplication of A. For \(a\in A\) and each nonnegative integer j, \(a^{<j>}\) denotes the element of this direct product whose component in \(\Gamma_ i(A)\) is the sum of the \(\left( \begin{matrix} i\\ j\end{matrix} \right)\) tensors formed with j factors equal to a and i-j factors equal to the unity 1 of A. The author considers a subalgebra \({\tilde \Gamma}\)(A) which he shows to be generated by the \(a^{<j>}\), \(a\in A\). Among many identities derived in this paper, it is shown that \[ \sum^{m}_{i=0}(-1)^{m-i}a^{<i>}(a^{m- i+1})^{<1>}=(m+1)a^{<m+1>}. \] If R is a field of characteristic 0, then \({\tilde \Gamma}\)(A) is generated by the \(a^{<1>}\), \(a\in A\), and the author shows that \({\tilde \Gamma}\)(A) is isomorphic to the universal enveloping algebra of the Lie algebra A with Lie product \([a,b]=ab-ba\). The meaning of a related statement for fields of characteristic \(p\neq 0\) (Proposition 6.6) is obscured by an apparent typographical error.