Zassenhaus varieties of general linear Lie algebras (Q2581393)

Let \(\mathfrak g\) be a Lie algebra over an algebraically closed field of characteristic \(p>0\) and let \(U(\mathfrak g)\) be the universal enveloping of \(\mathfrak g\). As a main result the authors prove the following: Theorem. Let \(\mathfrak g=\mathfrak{gl}_n\) or \(\mathfrak g=\mathfrak{sl}_n\) and in the second case additionally assume that \(p\nmid n\). Then two statements hold: a) the center of \(U(\mathfrak g)\) is a unique factorization domain, b) the field of fractions of \(U(\mathfrak g)\) is \(K\)-isomorphic to the field of rational functions \(K(X_1,\dots,X_m)\), where \(m=\dim\mathfrak g\). The first claim confirms a recent conjecture of A. Braun and C. Hajarnavis while the second answers a question of J. Alev. The second claim is also known as the commutative Gelfand-Kirillov conjecture because it is implied by the Gelfand-Kirillov conjecture on isomorphism of the fraction field of \(U(\mathfrak g)\) and a Weyl skew field \(D_n(L)\) over a purely transcendental extension \(L\) of \(K\).