Baer chains of alternative PI-algebras (Q795912)

For an alternative algebra \(A\), let \(L_1(A)\) be the sum of all nilpotent ideals of \(A\). One defines inductively the Baer chain of ideals \(L_1(A)\subset L_2(A)\subset\cdots\), where \(L_{k+1}(A)/L_k(A)=L_1(A/L_k(A))\). The purpose of this paper is to establish the following result: Let \(A\) be an alternative algebra with a polynomial identity over a ring \(F\) and \(1/6\in F\). Then \(L_2(A)=L_3(A)=\cdots\), i.e. \(L_2(A)=\mathrm{Nil}(A)\), the upper nilradical of \(A\). This is an analogue of the well known Levitzki-Amitsur theorem for associative PI-algebras. The proof is based on the following result which is of independent interest: For any alternative PI-algebra \(A\) (with \(1/6\in F)\) there exists an integer \(k\) such that \((\mathrm{Nil}(A)\cap D(A))^k\subset L_1(A),\) where \(D(A)ẞ) is the ideal generated by \((ab)c - a(bc)\), \(a,b,c\in A\).