On the classification of real semi-simple Lie algebras (Q1825940)

As the author states, this paper is not devoted to new results but to new proofs. His classification of real semisimple Lie algebras begins with the introduction of notation and terminology along with the statement of many of the basic theorems of the theory of complex semisimple Lie algebras. It continues by presenting the relevant results on the automorphisms of such algebras. Then the classification is shown to be equivalent to describing the set of equivalence classes of conjugations of \(\Lambda\) (conjugate linear mappings B: \(\Lambda\) \(\to \Lambda\) with \(B^ 2=I\) which preserve the Lie bracket) for all complex semisimple Lie algebras \(\Lambda\). It is further shown that each such class contains a conjugation associated with a scheme (S,g) for S a subset of a simple set of roots and g a symmetry of the Dynkin diagram of \(\Lambda\), where S and g satisfy certain additional conditions. In the final section the author proves the classification of real simple Lie algebras to be (a) those Lie algebras which have simple complexification and (b) the complex simple Lie algebras (after ``forgetting'' the product by nonreal scalars). He then uses the approach he has developed in a case-by-case computation of the schemes associated with the real simple Lie algebras.