Bol loop

In mathematics and abstract algebra, a Bol loop is an algebraic structure generalizing the notion of group. Bol loops are named for the Dutch mathematician Gerrit Bol who introduced them in (Bol 1937).

A loop, L, is said to be a left Bol loop if it satisfies the identity

, for every a,b,c in L,

while L is said to be a right Bol loop if it satisfies

, for every a,b,c in L.

These identities can be seen as weakened forms of associativity.

A loop is both left Bol and right Bol if and only if it is a Moufang loop. Different authors use the term "Bol loop" to refer to either a left Bol or a right Bol loop.

Bruck loops

A Bol loop satisfying the automorphic inverse property, (ab)1 = a1 b1 for all a,b in L, is known as a (left or right) Bruck loop or K-loop (named for the American mathematician Richard Bruck). The example in the following section is a Bruck loop.

Bruck loops have applications in special relativity; see Ungar (2002). Left Bruck loops are equivalent to Ungar's (2002) gyrocommutative gyrogroups, even though the two structures are defined differently.

Example

Let L denote the set of n x n positive definite, Hermitian matrices over the complex numbers. It is generally not true that the matrix product AB of matrices A, B in L is Hermitian, let alone positive definite. However, there exists a unique P in L and a unique unitary matrix U such that AB = PU; this is the polar decomposition of AB. Define a binary operation * on L by A * B = P. Then (L, *) is a left Bruck loop. An explicit formula for * is given by A * B = (A B2 A)1/2, where the superscript 1/2 indicates the unique positive definite Hermitian square root.

Bol algebra

A (left) Bol algebra is a vector space equipped with a binary operation and a ternary operation that satisfies the following identities:[1]

and

and

and

If A is a left or right alternative algebra then it has an associated Bol algebra Ab, where is the commutator and is the Jordan associator.

References

  1. Irvin R. Hentzel, Luiz A. Peresi, "Special identities for Bol algebras",  Linear Algebra and its Applications 436(7) · April 2012


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