Remarks on the prime varieties (Q677415)

Let \(F\) be a field and let \(F\langle X\rangle\) denote the free associative algebra over \(F\) generated by a countable set \(X\). An ideal of \(F\langle X\rangle\) is called a \(T\)-ideal if it is invariant under all endomorphisms of \(F\langle X\rangle\). A \(T\)-ideal \(U\) is called \(T\)-prime if, for any \(T\)-ideals \(U_1,U_2\) in \(F\langle X\rangle\), the inclusion \(U_1U_2\subseteq U\) implies either \(U_1\subseteq U\) or \(U_2\subseteq U\). A variety of associative \(F\)-algebras is called prime if the \(T\)-ideal of all its identities is \(T\)-prime. Prime varieties over a field of characteristic 0 have been completely described by the author [see his book Ideals of identities of associative algebras (1991; Zbl 0732.16001)]. The paper under review deals with the still open problem of describing prime varieties over an infinite field of characteristic \(p>0\). The author [Int. J. Algebra Comput. 5, No. 2, 189-197 (1995; Zbl 0835.16019)] has proved that every proper \(T\)-ideal \(U\) contains, for a suitable \(k\), all multilinear polynomials being identities of the algebra \(M_k(F)\) of all \(k\times k\)-matrices over the field \(F\). The least number \(k\) with this property is called the matrix type of \(U\). A \(T\)-ideal \(U\) of matrix type \(k\) is called regular if there exist multilinear polynomials \(h(x_1,\ldots,x_m)\notin U\) and \(g(x_1,\ldots,x_m,x_{m+1})\) such that the algebra \(M_k(F)\) satisfies the trace identity \(g(x_1,\ldots,x_m,x_{m+1})+\text{Tr}(x_{m+1})h(x_1,\ldots,x_m)=0\). In the case of characteristic 0 all \(T\)-prime \(T\)-ideals are regular. The author shows that the study of regular \(T\)-prime \(T\)-ideals reduces to the study of two-sided ideals of the group algebra \(FS(n)\) of the symmetric group \(S(n)\) (Theorem 1). He also describes all prime subvarieties of the variety satisfying all identities of the algebra \(M_2(F)\) and the identity \(x^p=0\) provided that the characteristic \(p\) is greater than 3 (Theorem 2). For the case \(p=3\), the description is reduced to the following open question: does the Grassmann algebra of an infinite-dimensional space over a field \(F\) of characteristic 3 satisfy all identities of the algebra \(M_2(F)\)?