The socle of a nondegenerate Lie algebra (Q2474276)

The main goal of this paper is to develop a socle theory for nondegenerate Lie algebras based on the notion of minimal inner ideal. For a nondegenerate Lie algebra, the socle is introduced as the sum of all its minimal inner ideals. With this definition, which extends previous one given by the authors in [J. Algebra 280, No. 2, 635--654 (2004; Zbl 1104.17019)], it is proved that the socle turns out to be an ideal and decomposes as direct sum of simple components. The paper ended with a description of simple nondegenerate Lie algebras containing abelian minimal inner ideals and, among them, those which are finitary central simple over a field of characteristic zero are characterized as those whose division Jordan algebra associated is a PI-algebra (a Jordan algebra satisfying an identity that is not satisfied by all special Jordan algebras). As a consequence, it is proved that over algebraically closed fields of characteristic zero, simple finitary Lie algebras are exactly the simple nondegenerate Lie algebras containing an inner ideal of dimension one.