Jacobson's refinement of Engel's theorem for Leibniz algebras (Q444564)

In the paper under review the authors consider finite-dimensional Leibniz algebras \(A\) over an arbitrary field of any characteristic. There are several proofs of the Engel theorem for Leibniz algebras: the Ph.D. Thesis of \textit{P. Higgins} [Leibniz algebras, Oxford Univ., 1995], [\textit{Sh. A. Ayupov} and \textit{B. A. Omirov}, Algebra and operator theory. Proceedings of the colloquium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, September 29--October 5, 1997. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1--12 (1998; Zbl 0928.17001)], \textit{A. Patsourakos}, [Commun. Algebra 35, No. 12, 3828--3834 (2007; Zbl 1130.17002)], \textit{D. W. Barnes}, [Commun. Algebra 39, No. 7, 2463--2472 (2011; Zbl 1268.17001)]. In the present paper the authors establish a result which is a Leibniz analogue of the Jacobson refinement of the Engel theorem. Let \(C\) be a subset of the algebra \(A\) which is closed under multiplication and generates \(A\) and let \(M\) be a finite dimensional \(A\)-bimodule. If the left action \(T_c\) of \(c\in A\) on \(M\) is nilpotent for each \(c\in C\), then the associative algebra generated by \(T_a\) and the right action \(S_a\) on \(M\) for all \(a\in A\) is nilpotent. There exists a nonzero \(m\in M\) such that \(am=ma=0\) for all \(a\in A\). The authors give two proofs. The first is short and uses the Jacobson result for Lie algebras. The second, a bit longer, is direct and does not use Lie algebras. As consequences the authors obtain, for Leibniz algebras, the usual version of the Engel theorem and several other consequences which are analogues of results in [\textit{N. Jacobson}, Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 6, 281--283 (1955; Zbl 0064.27002)]: (1) If an automorphism of prime order of \(A\) has no fixed nonzero points, then \(A\) is nilpotent; (2) If, in characteristic zero, \(A\) has a nonsingular derivation, then \(A\) is nilpotent; (3) If \(B\) and \(C\) are nilpotent ideals of \(A\), then the ideal \(B+C\) is also nilpotent.