Associative algebra

en.wikipedia.org

This article is about a particular kind of algebra over a commutative ring. For other uses of the term algebra, see
Algebra (disambiguation).

In mathematics, an associative algebra is an algebraic structure with compatible operations of addition, multiplica-
tion (assumed to be associative), and a scalar multiplication by elements in some eld. The addition and multiplication
operations together give A the structure of a ring; the addition and scalar multiplication operations together give A the
structure of a vector space over K. In this article we will also use the term K-algebra to mean an associative algebra
over the eld K. A standard rst example of a K-algebra is a ring of square matrices over a eld K, with the usual
matrix multiplication.
In this article associative algebras are assumed to have a multiplicative unit, denoted 1; they are sometimes called
unital associative algebras for clarication. In some areas of mathematics this assumption is not made, and we
will call such structures non-unital associative algebras. We will also assume that all rings are unital, and all ring
homomorphisms are unital.
Many authors consider the more general concept of an associative algebra over a commutative ring R, instead of a eld:
An R-algebra is an R-module with an associative R-bilinear binary operation, which also contains a multiplicative
identity. For examples of this concept, if S is any ring with center C, then S is an associative C-algebra.

1 Denition
Let R be a xed commutative ring (so R could be a eld). An associative R-algebra (or more simply, an R-algebra)
is an additive abelian group A which has the structure of both a ring and an R-module in such a way that the scalar
multiplication satises

r (xy) = (r x)y = x(r y)

for all r R and x, y A. Furthermore, A is assumed to be unital, which is to say it contains an element 1 such that

1x = x = x1

for all x A. Note that such an element 1 must be unique.

In other words, A is an R-module together with (1) an R-bilinear map A A A, called the multiplication, and (2)
the multiplicative identity, such that the multiplication is associative:

x(yz) = (xy)z

for all x, y, and z in A. (Technical note: the multiplicative identity is a datum,[1] while associativity is a property. By
the uniqueness of the multiplicative identity, unitarity is often treated like a property.) If one drops the requirement
for the associativity, then one obtains a non-associative algebra.
If A itself is commutative (as a ring) then it is called a commutative R-algebra.

1
2 2 ALGEBRA HOMOMORPHISMS

1.1 As a monoid object in the category of modules

The denition is equivalent to saying that a unital associative R-algebra is a monoid object in R-Mod (the monoidal
category of R-modules). By denition, a ring is a monoid object in the category of abelian groups; thus, the notion
of an associative algebra is obtained by replacing the category of abelian groups with the category of modules.
Pushing this idea further, some authors have introduced a generalized ring as a monoid object in some other cate-
gory that behaves like the category of modules. Indeed, this reinterpretation allows one to avoid making an explicit
reference to elements of an algebra A. For example, the associativity can be expressed as follows. By the universal
property of a tensor product of modules, the multiplication (the R-bilinear map) corresponds to a unique R-linear
map

m : A R A A
The associativity then refers to the identity:

m (id m) = m (m id).

1.2 From ring homomorphisms

An associative algebra amounts to a ring homomorphism whose image lies in the center. Indeed, starting with a ring
A and a ring homomorphism : R A whose image lies in the center of A, we can make A an R-algebra by dening

r x = (r)x
for all r R and x A. If A is an R-algebra, taking x = 1, the same formula in turn denes a ring homomorphism
: R A whose image lies in the center.
If A is commutative then the center of A is equal to A, so that a commutative R-algebra can be dened simply as a
homomorphism : R A of commutative rings.
The ring homomorphism appearing in the above is often called a structure map. In the commutative case, one
can consider the category whose objects are ring homomorphisms R A; i.e., commutative R-algebras and whose
morphisms are ring homomorphisms A A' that are under R; i.e., R A A' is R A' (i.e., the coslice category of
the category of commutative rings under R.) The prime spectrum functor Spec then determines an anti-equivalence
of this category to the category of ane schemes over Spec R.
How to weaken the commutativity assumption is a subject matter of noncommutative algebraic geometry and, more
recently, of derived algebraic geometry. See also: generic matrix ring.

2 Algebra homomorphisms
A homomorphism between two R-algebras is an R-linear ring homomorphism. Explicitly, : A1 A2 is an
associative algebra homomorphism if

(r x) = r (x)
(x + y) = (x) + (y)
(xy) = (x)(y)
(1) = 1
The class of all R-algebras together with algebra homomorphisms between them form a category, sometimes denoted
R-Alg.
The subcategory of commutative R-algebras can be characterized as the coslice category R/CRing where CRing is
the category of commutative rings.
 3

3 Examples
The most basic example is a ring itself; it is an algebra over its center or any subring lying in the center. In particular,
any commutative ring is an algebra over any of its subrings. Other examples abound both from algebra and other
elds of mathematics.
Algebra

Any ring A can be considered as a Z-algebra. The unique ring homomorphism from Z to A is determined by
the fact that it must send 1 to the identity in A. Therefore, rings and Z-algebras are equivalent concepts, in the
same way that abelian groups and Z-modules are equivalent.
Any ring of characteristic n is a (Z/nZ)-algebra in the same way.
Given an R-module M, the endomorphism ring of M, denoted EndR(M) is an R-algebra by dening (r)(x) =
r(x).
Any ring of matrices with coecients in a commutative ring R forms an R-algebra under matrix addition and
multiplication. This coincides with the previous example when M is a nitely-generated, free R-module.
The square n-by-n matrices with entries from the eld K form an associative algebra over K. In particular, the
2 2 real matrices form an associative algebra useful in plane mapping.
The complex numbers form a 2-dimensional associative algebra over the real numbers.
The quaternions form a 4-dimensional associative algebra over the reals (but not an algebra over the complex
numbers, since the complex numbers are not in the center of the quaternions).
The polynomials with real coecients form an associative algebra over the reals.
Every polynomial ring R[x1 , ..., xn] is a commutative R-algebra. In fact, this is the free commutative R-algebra
on the set {x1 , ..., xn}.
The free R-algebra on a set E is an algebra of polynomials with coecients in R and noncommuting indeter-
minates taken from the set E.
The tensor algebra of an R-module is naturally an R-algebra. The same is true for quotients such as the exterior
and symmetric algebras. Categorically speaking, the functor which maps an R-module to its tensor algebra is
left adjoint to the functor which sends an R-algebra to its underlying R-module (forgetting the ring structure).
Given a commutative ring R and any ring A the tensor product RZA can be given the structure of an R-algebra
by dening r(sa) = (rsa). The functor which sends A to RZA is left adjoint to the functor which sends an
R-algebra to its underlying ring (forgetting the module structure).

Representation theory

The universal enveloping algebra of a Lie algebra is an associative algebra that can be used to study the given
Lie algebra.
If G is a group and R is a commutative ring, the set of all functions from G to R with nite support form an
R-algebra with the convolution as multiplication. It is called the group algebra of G. The construction is the
starting point for the application to the study of (discrete) groups.
If G is an algebraic group (e.g., semisimple complex Lie group), then the coordinate ring of G is the Hopf
algebra A corresponding to G. Many structures of G translate to those of A.

Analysis

Given any Banach space X, the continuous linear operators A : X X form an associative algebra (using
composition of operators as multiplication); this is a Banach algebra.
Given any topological space X, the continuous real- or complex-valued functions on X form a real or complex
associative algebra; here the functions are added and multiplied pointwise.
4 6 REPRESENTATIONS

The set of semimartingales dened on the ltered probability space (,F,(Ft)t ,P) forms a ring under
stochastic integration.

The Weyl algebra

Geometry and combinatorics

The Cliord algebras, which are useful in geometry and physics.

Incidence algebras of locally nite partially ordered sets are associative algebras considered in combinatorics.

4 Constructions
Subalgebras A subalgebra of an R-algebra A is a subset of A which is both a subring and a submodule of A. That
is, it must be closed under addition, ring multiplication, scalar multiplication, and it must contain the identity
element of A.

Quotient algebras Let A be an R-algebra. Any ring-theoretic ideal I in A is automatically an R-module since rx =
(r1A)x. This gives the quotient ring A/I the structure of an R-module and, in fact, an R-algebra. It follows that
any ring homomorphic image of A is also an R-algebra.

Direct products The direct product of a family of R-algebras is the ring-theoretic direct product. This becomes an
R-algebra with the obvious scalar multiplication.

Free products One can form a free product of R-algebras in a manner similar to the free product of groups. The
free product is the coproduct in the category of R-algebras.

Tensor products The tensor product of two R-algebras is also an R-algebra in a natural way. See tensor product of
algebras for more details.

5 Coalgebras
Main article: Coalgebra

An associative algebra over K is given by a K-vector space A endowed with a bilinear map AAA having 2 inputs
(multiplicator and multiplicand) and one output (product), as well as a morphism KA identifying the scalar multiples
of the multiplicative identity. If the bilinear map AAA is reinterpreted as a linear map (i. e., morphism in
the category of K-vector spaces) AAA (by the universal property of the tensor product), then we can view an
associative algebra over K as a K-vector space A endowed with two morphisms (one of the form AAA and one
of the form KA) satisfying certain conditions which boil down to the algebra axioms. These two morphisms can
be dualized using categorial duality by reversing all arrows in the commutative diagrams which describe the algebra
axioms; this denes the structure of a coalgebra.
There is also an abstract notion of F-coalgebra, where F is a functor. This is vaguely related to the notion of coalgebra
discussed above.

6 Representations
Main article: Algebra representation

A representation of an algebra A is an algebra homomorphism : A End(V) from A to the endomorphism algebra

of some vector space (or module) V. The property of being an algebra homomorphism means that preserves the
multiplicative operation (that is, (xy)=(x)(y) for all x and y in A), and that sends the unity of A to the unity of
End(V) (that is, to the identity endomorphism of V).
6.1 Motivation for a Hopf algebra 5

If A and B are two algebras, and : A End(V) and : B End(W) are two representations, then there is a
(canonical) representation A B End(V W) of the tensor product algebra A B on the vector space V W.
However, there is no natural way of dening a tensor product of two representations of a single associative algebra in
such a way that the result is still a representation of that same algebra (not of its tensor product with itself), without
somehow imposing additional conditions. Here, by tensor product of representations, the usual meaning is intended:
the result should be a linear representation of the same algebra on the product vector space. Imposing such additional
structure typically leads to the idea of a Hopf algebra or a Lie algebra, as demonstrated below.

6.1 Motivation for a Hopf algebra

Consider, for example, two representations : A End(V ) and : A End(W ) . One might try to form a tensor
product representation : x 7 (x) (x) according to how it acts on the product vector space, so that

(x)(v w) = ((x)(v)) ( (x)(w)).

However, such a map would not be linear, since one would have

(kx) = (kx) (kx) = k(x) k (x) = k 2 ((x) (x)) = k 2 (x)

for k K. One can rescue this attempt and restore linearity by imposing additional structure, by dening an algebra
homomorphism : A A A, and dening the tensor product representation as

= ( ) .
Such a homomorphism is called a comultiplication if it satises certain axioms. The resulting structure is called a
bialgebra. To be consistent with the denitions of the associative algebra, the coalgebra must be co-associative, and,
if the algebra is unital, then the co-algebra must be co-unital as well. A Hopf algebra is a bialgebra with an additional
piece of structure (the so-called antipode), which allows not only to dene the tensor product of two representations,
but also the Hom module of two representations (again, similarly to how it is done in the representation theory of
groups).

6.2 Motivation for a Lie algebra

See also: Lie algebra representation

One can try to be more clever in dening a tensor product. Consider, for example,

x 7 (x) = (x) IdW + IdV (x)

so that the action on the tensor product space is given by

(x)(v w) = ((x)v) w + v ( (x)w)

This map is clearly linear in x, and so it does not have the problem of the earlier denition. However, it fails to
preserve multiplication:

(xy) = (x)(y) IdW + IdV (x) (y)

But, in general, this does not equal

(x)(y) = (x)(y) IdW + (x) (y) + (y) (x) + IdV (x) (y)
This shows that this denition of a tensor product is too naive; the obvious x is to dene it such that it is antisymmetric,
so that the middle two terms cancel. This leads to the concept of a Lie algebra.
6 10 REFERENCES

7 Non-unital algebras
Some authors use the term associative algebra to refer to structures which do not necessarily have a multiplicative
identity, and hence consider homomorphisms which are not necessarily unital.
An example of a non-unital associative algebra is given by the set of all functions f: R R whose limit as x nears
innity is zero.

8 See also
Abstract algebra

Algebraic structure
Algebra over a eld

9 Notes
[1] Put in another way, there is the forgetful functor from the category of unital associative algebras to the category of possibly
non-unital associative algebras.

10 References
Bourbaki, N. (1989). Algebra I. Springer. ISBN 3-540-64243-9.

James Byrnie Shaw (1907) A Synopsis of Linear Associative Algebra, link from Cornell University Historical
Math Monographs.

Ross Street (1998) Quantum Groups: an entre to modern algebra, an overview of index-free notation.
 7

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