On two letter identities in Lie rings

Abstract: Let

L = L (a, b)

be a free Lie ring on two letters

a, b .

We investigate the kernel

I

of the map

L o p l u s L o L

given by

(A, B) m a p s t o [A, a] + [B, b] .

Any homogeneous element of

L

of degree

g e q 2

can be presented as

[A, a] + [B, b] .

Then

I

measures how far such a presentation from being unique. Elements of

I

can be interpreted as identities

[A (a, b), a] = [B (a, b), b]

in Lie rings. The kernel

I

can be decomposed into a direct sum

where elements of

I_{n, m}

correspond to identities on commutators of weight

n + m,

where the letter

a

occurs

n

times and the letter

b

occurs

m

times. We give a full description of

I_{2, m};

describe the rank of

I_{3, m};

and present a concrete non-trivial element in

I_{3, 3 n}

for

n g e q 1.

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