On the simplicity of Lie algebras associated to Leavitt algebras

Abstract

For any field $\K$ and integer $n\geq 2$ we consider the Leavitt algebra $L_\K(n)$; for any integer $d\geq 1$ we form the matrix ring $S = M_d(L_\K(n))$. $S$ is an associative algebra, but we view $S$ as a Lie algebra using the bracket $[a,b]=ab-ba$ for $a,b \in S$. We denote this Lie algebra as $S^-$, and consider its Lie subalgebra $[S^-,S^-]$. In our main result, we show that $[S^-,S^-]$ is a simple Lie algebra if and only if char$(\K)$ divides $n-1$ and char$(\K)$ does not divide $d$. In particular, when $d=1$ we get that $[L_\K(n)^-,L_\K(n)^-]$ is a simple Lie algebra if and only if char$(\K)$ divides $n-1$.