Central units in alternative loop rings. (Q2574895)

Let \(\mathbb{Z} L\) be the integral loop ring of a loop \(L\) which is alternative but not associative (loops with this property are called RA loops). The authors establish for \(\mathbb{Z} L\) analogues of the main results about central units known for integral group rings. More precisely, they show that a central unit \(\mu\) in \(\mathbb{Z} L\) can be factored as \(\mu=\mu_0l=l\mu_0\) with \(l\in L\) and \(\mu_0\in\mathbb{Z} T\), where \(T\) is the torsion part of \(L\). This result is then used to prove that all central units in \(\mathbb{Z} L\) are trivial if and only if \(T/L'\) and \({\mathcal Z}(L)\cap T\) each have exponent \(2\), \(3\), \(4,\) or \(6\). It is also shown that the latter condition is equivalent to the following one: for all \(t\in T\) and all integers \(j\) relatively prime to the order of \(t\), the element \(t^j\) is conjugate in \(L\) to \(t\) or \(t^{-1}\).