Jordan centroids (Q4237129)

With the aim of extending Zelmanov's classification of Jordan triples and pairs of Clifford type to arbitrary characteristic, the author computes in this paper the centroids of the basic simple Jordan systems (algebras, triples and pairs), except for simple outer ideals in quadratic form algebras. A powerful tool is the so-called Eigenvalue Lemma which states that a centroidal transformation of a prime Jordan system over a ring of scalars \(\Phi\) which has an eigenvalue \(\alpha\) in \(\Phi\) must actually be the scalar multiplication by \(\alpha\). An important consequence of this result is the Reduced Centroid Theorem: A prime Jordan system over \(\Phi\) with reduced elements (or which grows reduced elements under controlled conditions) must already be central, i.e., its centroid is \(\Phi\). Reviewer's remarks. Previous versions of the Reduced Centroid Theorem were considered by this reviewer and applied to the classification of strongly prime Banach Jordan triples (resp. *-triples) with minimal inner ideals in two papers [J. Lond. Math. Soc. (2) 42, 32-48 (1990; Zbl 0671.17002) and Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. (3) 68, 380-398 (1994; Zbl 0792.46036)]. The first one jointly written with \textit{E. García Rus} and \textit{E. Sánchez Campos}, and the second one with \textit{K. Bouhya}. The reader is also referred to the recent paper by \textit{F. Montaner} [``Local PI theory of Jordan systems'', J. Algebra 216, 302-327 (1999)], where the extended centroid of a Jordan system is studied.