Additive operators preserving idempotent matrices over fields and applications (Q2564940)

Suppose \(F\) is a field of characteristic not 2. Let \(M_n (F)\) be the algebra of all \(n \times n\) matrices over \(F\), and let \(A_2\), \(A_3\), \(A_{-1}\), and \(A_\#\) be the semigroups of all additive operators on \(M_n (F)\) that preserve idempotence, preserve tripotence, preserve inverses of matrices, and preserve group inverses of matrices, respectively. The main result in this paper is that the semigroup \(A_2\) is generated by transposition, similarity, the operators \(X\to X^t\) for fixed arbitrary injective endomorphisms \(t\) on \(F\), and the operators \(X \to s(\text{tr} X)\) for fixed arbitrary additive maps \(s\) from \(F\) to \(M_n (F)\) with \(s(1) = 0\). As applications, the structures of \(A_3\), \(A_{-1}\) and \(A_\#\) when the characteristic of \(F\) is also not 3 are determined.