I~ENDICONT1DEL CIRCOLOMATEMATICOOl PALERMO

Serie II, Tomo XXXIV (1985), pp. 122-126

DERIVATIONS ON LIE IDEALS IN SEMIPRIME RINGS

LUISA CARINI

We prove that if R is a semiprime 2-torsion free ring with a derivation d and

U a Lie ideal of R such that dT(U)=0, then d(U)cZ(R), the center of R.

The objective of this note is to extend, to a more general situation, a result

proved in [2]. Let R be an associative ring. Recall that an additive mapping
of R into itself is a derivation if d ( x y ) = d ( x ) y + x d ( y ) for all x, y E R .
A well-known result states that if d is a derivation of a semiprime 2-torsion
free ring, such that d2=0, then d = 0 . It was shown in [2] that if R is a
semiprime 2-torsion free ring, U a Lie ideal of R and t an element of R that
commutes with all t u - u t, u E U, then t commutes with all the elements of U.
Put another way, if dt is the inner derivation of R induced by t and ~ ( U ) = 0 ,
then d , ( U ) = 0 . One would naturally wonder if this result is peculiar to inner
derivations or if it holds for any derivation d of a semiprime ring. For prime
rings of characteristic not 2 the question has been completely solved in Theo-
rem 1 of [1]. On the other hand, as Giambruno has pointed out, one cannot
expect this same conclusion to hold in a semiprime ring as the following example
shows:

Example. Let S be a non commutative prime ring and let A [X] be the
polynomial ring over the commutative domain A. If R = S @ A [X], then R is

Research performed within the G.N.S.A.G.A. of C.N.R. and supported by a grant

from r Ministero P.I. ~.
 DERIVATIONS ON LIE IDEALS IN SEMIPRIME RINGS 123

a semiprime ring. Let d be the derivation defined on R as follows: d is the

usual derivation on the polynomial ring A [X] and d = 0 on S. Then, if V C A [X]
is the set of polynomials in x of U=S@V
degree <1,
is a Lie
ideal of R and d(U)~O. But d2(U)=O and d ( U ) c Z ( R ) , the center of R.

In this note we will prove that in case R is a semiprime 2-torsion free

ring with a derivation d and U is a Lie ideal such that d 2 ( U ) = 0 , then
d ( U ) c Z ( R ) . As a consequence, we will show that, if I is a non zero ideal
of a semiprime 2-torsion free ring such that d ~ ( I ) = 0 , then d ( I ) = 0 1
For a, bf:R set [ a , b ] = a b - b a and for subsets U, V c R , let [U,V] be
the additive subgroup generated by all [u,v] for uf:U and v~.V. We recall
that a Lie ideal, U, of R is an additive subgroup of R such that [ U , R ] c U .
In what follows, unless otherwise stated, R will be a semiprime 2-torsion
free ring, U will be a Lie ideal of R and d a derivation of R such
that d2(U)=O. Our aim is to prove that d ( U ) c Z ( R ) . We remark that under
these hypotheses U+d(U) is a Lie ideal of R stable under d. Moreover
d2(U+d(U))=O. Therefore without lost of generalityl we may assume that
d (U)cU.
We start with the following

LEMMA 1. d([U,R])=O.

Proo/. If U, V E U then d~ (u) = d ~ (v) = 0 and

O=~(uv-vu)=

= ~ (u) v + 2 d (u) d (v) + u d ~( v ) - - ~ (v) u-- 2 d (v) d (u) - v ~ ( u ) =

= 2 (d (u) d (v) -- d (v) d (u)).

As a consequence we get

d (u) d (v) = d (v) d (u)

i.e. d(U) is commutative. For any r'ER, let v = u r - - r u . Since v, u v E U

0 = d2 (u v) = d 2 (u) v + 2 d (u) d (v) + u d 2 (v) resulting in 2 d (u) d (v) = O, therefore
d (u) d (v) = 0 and so

d(u)d(ur-ru)=O for all r<R, uEU.

124 LUISA CARINI

Linearizing on u we get

d (u) (w x--x w) +d (w) (u x - - x u) = 0 .

Multiplying this last equality from the left by d (w) and recalling that d (U)
is commutative, we get

(1) d(w)2d([U,R])=O.

Since (ux--xu) uE[U, R], (1) gives: 0 = d ( w ) 2d((ux--xu) u)=d(w) z (ux--xu) cl(u)
and so linearizing on u, we get

d (w) 2 (u x--x u) d (v) +d (w) =(v x - - x v) d (u) =0.

Now, by multiplying from the right by d (u) and using the previous relations,
this last equality reduces to d (w) ~(v x - - x v) d (u)2=0.
Thus we have proved that, if W = [U,R],

d(u)2Wd(v)2=O for all u, vf:U.

Since d(W) c W , this gives d(w) 2 ( u r d ( w ) - r d ( w ) u ) d ( w ) 2 = 0 , for all

u, wE W, r ER. Since by (1) d ( w ) 3 = 0, this last equality reduces to
d(w)2rd(w)ud(w)2=O and so,

d (~11) 2 R d (w) W d (w)2= 0.

Since R is semiprime, this implies that d ( w ) W d ( w ) 2 = O. In particular,

d(w) (d(w) r-rd(w)) d(w)2=0. Again, using d(w)3=0, we get d (w) 2R d (w)2=0.
Hence

d(w)2=0 for any wf:W.

Now, if wl, wz~.W, d(w~ + w9 ~ = 0; so, since d(U) is commutative,

we get 2d(wl)d(w2)=O. But R is 2-torsion free hence d(wl)d(w2)=O. We
have proved that

(2) d (W) 2= 0.

Let now P be a prime ideal of R. If d(P)cP, then R = R / P is a prime

ring with induced derivation d" and ~ ( U ) = 0 . So, if d ~ 0 (i.e. if d(R)qs
 DERIVATIONS ON LIE IDEALS IN SEMIPRIME RINGS 125

by Theorem 1 of [1] it follows that U c Z ( R ) . This implies that [ U , R ] = 0

and so [ U , R ] c P . On the other hand, if d(P)qtP, then P + d ( P ) is an ideal
of R and in R / P = R , P + d ( P ) = d ( P ) ~ O is an ideal. By (2), if a, b E W , we get

0 = d (a) d (d (b) r - r d (b)) = d (a) d (R) d (b).

This implies that d (a)d (P)d (a)=0 in R. Since R is prime we get that d (W)= 0
and so d ( W ) c P . In any case, d ( W ) [ U , R ] c P for all prime ideals P of R.
Since R is semiprime, this implies that

d ( W ) [U, R] = 0 .

Recalling that d ( W ) c W , for wE W and rE R, we get 0 = d (w)(d ( w ) r +

--rd(w)) and, since d(w)~=0, d ( w ) r d ( w ) = O . Since R is semiprime, this
forces d (w)=0. Therefore d ( W ) = 0 . This finishes the proof of the lemma.

We remark that by applying the proof of Lemma 2 in [2] step by step to

a derivation d we easily get the following

LEMMA 2. d (R) [U, R] =0.

We can now state the main result of this note namely

THEOREM 1. Let R be a semiprime 2-torsion free ring with a derivation d

and let U be a Lie ideal of R. If dZ(U)=0 then d(U)c-Z(R).

Proof. As we remarked above we may assume that d ( U ) c U ; so by Lem-

ma 1 and 2 d(U)[d(U), R ] = 0 . Now, by Lemma 1.1.4 of [3] d(U) must be
central in R.

As a consequence of Theorem 1 we deduce the following

COROLLARY 1. Let R be a semiprime 2-torsion free ring with a derivation d.

I/ I is an ideal o[ R such that d2 (I)=0, then d (I)=0.

ProoL By Theorem 1 we obtain d ( I ) c Z (R).

Now, if x E l , d~(x2)=2d(x)2=0 and, since R is semiprime 2-torsion free,
d(x)=0.
 126 LUISA CARIN1

Another consequence of Theorem 1 is the following Corollary (Theorem 1

of [2])

"OROLLARY 2. Let R be a semiprime 2-torsion /ree ring and U a Lie ideal

ol R. I! d is an inner derivation o! R such that d2(U)=0, then d ( U ) = 0 .

Proo/. If d is inner, then for u6. U, d(u)2Ed(U) [U,R] =0. On the other
hand d(u)EZ (R). Since R is semiprime Z (R) has no nilpotent elements; thus
d(u)=0.

REFERENCES

[1] Bergen l., Herstein I.N., Kerr l.W., Lie ideals and derivations o! prime rings, I.
Algebra, 71 (1981), 259-267.
[2] Herstein I. N., On the Lie structure o / a n associative ring, I. Algebra, 14 (1970), 561-571.
[3] Herstein I.N., Rings with involution, Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1976.

Pervenuto il 7 Mugno1984

Dipartimento di Matematica
Un~versit~z di Messina
Via C. Battisti 90
98100 Messina
Italy