Valuations on finite-dimensional division algebras and their value groups (Q581515)

Let \(D\) be a finite-dimensional division algebra with centre \(K\) and let \(v\) be a (noninvariant) valuation on \(D\) with value set \(W_ v\) (i.e. \(v: D\to W_ v\) such that (i) \(v(x)=0\Leftrightarrow x=0\); (ii) \(v(x+y)\leq \max \{v(x),v(y)\}\); (iii) \(v(x)\leq v(y)\Rightarrow v(zx)\leq v(zy)\) holds for all \(x,y,z\in D)\) and valuation ring \(B_ v\) (i.e. \(B_ v=\{x\in D\mid v(x)\leq v(1)\})\). Each nonzero \(x\in D\) induces an order-preserving bijection \(\tilde x: W_ v\to W_ v\) via \(\tilde x(v(y))=v(xy)\). The group \(G_ v=\{\tilde x\mid x\in D\setminus \{0\}\}\) is called the value group of \(v\). \(G_ v\) possesses a canonical order and \(G_ v\) is a lattice-ordered group relative to this order. It is shown that the centre \(Z(G_ v)\) of \(G_ v\) is isomorphic to the group of all invertible two-sided ideals of \(B_ v\). Furthermore, a ``noncommutative version'' of the fundamental inequality \(\sum e_ if_ i\leq [D:K]\) for valuations of finite-dimensional division algebras is proved to find an upper bound for \(| Z(G_ v)/G_ w|\) where \(w\) denotes the restriction of \(v\) to \(K\). Finally, we get a new proof for the theorem that a (usual) valuation on \(K\) has at most \(\sqrt{[D:K]}\) distinct extensions to \(D\).