Talk:Universal enveloping algebra

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the first sentence of the section which i renamed "Alternate Construction", namely "Noting that any associative K-algebra becomes a Lie algebra with the bracket [a,b] = a.b-b.a, a construction and precise..." i added this sentence to some stuff i put at the top in some explanatory stuff. if this stuff stays at the top, then this sentence should be removed from the "alternate Construction" section, because it would be redundant. i didn't remove it myself, because i couldn't figure out how to start the paragraph without it. need help of the author (i assume this is you, Charles?) - Lethe

I've been through this again, mainly format matters, but some moves of material.

Charles Matthews 14:45, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

Charles, do we have the ability to make commutative diagrams?

There are some examples (Clifford algebra, IIRC correctly). Mostly from the old days, and not very nice. Or, people make little graphics to upload.

My taste is to use words, anyway. This really isn't a mathematics text, from the point of view of exposition.

Charles Matthews 21:24, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

OK then. another question: i put the universal construction on top of the less abstract construction, but looking around a bit (e.g. Tensor product) it seems that the preference is to start with the less abstract, and save the universal property for later. what do you think?

Not a big deal, either way. In this case, relying on tensor algebra, it's kind of clear what to do. Charles Matthews 11:37, 14 May 2004 (UTC)