When is a smash product semiprime? A partial answer. (Q1881124)

It is a famous open question whether the smash product of a semisimple Hopf algebra and a semiprime module algebra is semiprime. The aim of this paper is to answer this question partially. The main result is that the smash product of a commutative semiprime module algebra over a semisimple cosemisimple Hopf algebra is semiprime. On the other hand, it is proved that for a semiprime Goldie PI \(H\)-module algebra \(A\) with central invariants, \(A\#H\) is semiprime if and only if the \(H\)-action can be extended to the classical ring of quotients of \(A\), and if and only if every non-trivial \(H\)-stable ideal of \(A\) contains a non-zero \(H\)-invariant element. In the last section, it is shown that the class of strongly semisimple Hopf algebras is closed under taking Drinfeld twists. Applying some recent results of \textit{P. Etingof} and \textit{S. Gelaki} [see Int. Math. Res. Not. 1998, No. 16, 851-861 (1998; Zbl 0918.16027); ibid. 2000, No. 5, 223-234 (2000; Zbl 0957.16029)], it is concluded that every semisimple cosemisimple triangular Hopf algebra over a field is strongly semisimple.