Third power associative composition algebras (Q1340223)

A nonassociative algebra \(A\) with multiplication over a field \(F\) is a composition algebra if there is a nondegenerate symmetric bilinear form \((x,y)\) satisfying \((xy,xy) = (x,y)(y,y)\) for all \(x,y \in A\). Any composition algebra with unit element over a field \(F\) of characteristic \(\neq 2\) is of dimension 1, 2, 4, or 8 and is isomorphic to one of the algebras \(F\), \(F\oplus F\), a quadratic field extension of \(F\), a generalized quaternion algebra, or a Cayley-Dickson algebra. Such algebras are called Hurwitz algebras. Besides the Hurwitz algebras, there are many new algebras if composition algebras without unit element are considered. The authors investigate finite-dimensional composition algebras over algebraically closed fields of characteristic \(\neq 2,3\) in which third powers of any element are associative. Under this condition only the known flexible composition algebras arise. To prove this, the authors proceed in several steps. First they demonstrate that the subalgebra \(\text{alg} (x)\) generated by an element \(x\) of a third power associative composition algebra \(A\) is commutative. Then they show that \(\text{alg} (x) = F \langle x,x^ 2 \rangle\) for any \(x \in A\), where \(A\) satisfies one of the following conditions: (a) \((x,x^ 2)^ 2 = (x,x)^ 3\) for any \(x \in A\), (b) \(x^ 3 = (x,x)x\) for any \(x \in A\), (c) \(A\) is strictly power associative. This theorem is used to obtain the following result: Any finite- dimensional composition algebra \(A\) over a field of characteristic not two satisfying \(x^ 2x = xx^ 2\) and \(x^ 2x^ 2 = (x^ 2x)x\) for all \(x \in A\) is a Hurwitz algebra. Now a discussion of the cases (a), (b), and (c) completes the proof. An important tool in the argumentation is the Zariski topology on a finite dimensional vector space over an algebraically closed field.