Lie Algebras, by Nathan Jacobson.

Interscience T r a c t s in Pure
and Applied Mathematics, Number 10. John Wiley and Son, Inc.
New York, 1962

This is the first systematic account of the algebraic theory of

Lie algebras in textbook form. It has a r i s e n out of lectures to
graduate students. In the author' s own words, f the subject of Lie
algebras has much to recommend it as a subject for study immediately
following courses on general abstract algebra and linear algebra, both
because of the beauty of its results and its structure, and because of
its many contacts with other branches of mathematics. r Add to this
the author' s gift for p r e c i s e , but always lucid and exciting presentation
- - i n this book in particular, the author 1 s enthusiasm and his enjoyment
of the subject is felt all the way through--and it is clear that the book
is a must for students of algebra of all ages.

As indicated by the quotation above, the book builds on a general

knowledge of algebra; but, for example, the a u t h o r ' s ' L e c t u r e s on
abstract algebra 1 a r e ample preparation. There is no attempt to
include the ' contacts with other branches' in any detail, though the
relevance of concepts and situations under discussion to other
mathematical disciplines is frequently pointed out, or hinted at;
and the pointer will often be more explicit when the parent subject
of Lie groups is concerned.

The first four chapters contain the structure theory. ' B a s i c

concepts 1 (Chapter I) include the derivations, the centre and the
derived algebra, representations and modules, and the definition
and elementary properties of nilpotency and solvability. The explicit
determination of all Lie algebras of dimension at most three is
particularly welcome at this stage.' Chapter II exploits the relation
between Lie algebras and associative algebras to deal more closely
with nilpotent and solvable algebras, deriving in particular the
theorems of Lie and Engel and the decomposition into weight spaces
of the vector space of certain nilpotent Lie algebras of linear t r a n s -
formations. Chapter III brings the study of Cartan subalgebras and
of Cartan 1 s criteria for solvability and semi-simplicity, leading to
the structure theorems for finite dimensional semi-simple Lie
algebras in the case of characteristic zero and to conditions for the
complete reducibility of finite dimensional representations in this
c a s e . Chapter IV achieves the complete classification of simple Lie
algebras over an algebraically closed field in t e r m s of the Dynkin
diagrams associated with the Cartan m a t r i c e s . Linear representations
for the split simple Lie algebras corresponding to all but two of the
connected Dynkin diagrams a r e constructed explicitly. The next
chapter p r e p a r e s for the representation theory of Lie algebras by
introducing the universal enveloping algebra and its p r o p e r t i e s ; in
particular we find here the discussion of free Lie algebras, the

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 C a m p b e l l - H a u s d o r f f f o r m u l a f o r e x p o n e n t i a l s , and an i n t r o d u c t i o n to
t h e c o h o m o l o g y t h e o r y of L i e a l g e b r a s . F i n a l l y , t h e ! r e s t r i c t e d 1 L i e
a l g e b r a s a r i s i n g in the c a s e of p r i m e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a r e d i s c u s s e d in
s o m e d e t a i l . Now follow t h e p r o o f s of the e x i s t e n c e of a faithful finite
d i m e n s i o n a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n for e v e r y finite d i m e n s i o n a l L i e a l g e b r a ,
both for c h a r a c t e r i s t i c z e r o and for p r i m e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c ( C h a p t e r VI),
the c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of the i r r e d u c i b l e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s by m e a n s of
C a r t a n 1 s d o m i n a n t i n t e g r a l functions a n d , a s a b y - p r o d u c t , i n d e p e n d e n t
p r o o f s for the e x i s t e n c e of s p l i t s i m p l e L i e a l g e b r a s c o r r e s p o n d i n g to
e v e r y c o n n e c t e d Dynkin d i a g r a m ( C h a p t e r VII), and Weyl 1 s f o r m u l a
for the s i m p l e c h a r a c t e r s d e r i v e d by m e a n s of F r e u d e n t h a l ' s p u r e l y
a l g e b r a i c a p p r o a c h ( C h a p t e r VIII). T h e two final c h a p t e r s a r e d e v o t e d
to the d e t e r m i n a t i o n of the a u t o m o r p h i s m g r o u p s of the n o n - e x c e p t i o n a l
s p l i t s i m p l e Lie a l g e b r a s o v e r an a l g e b r a i c a l l y c l o s e d field of c h a r a c -
t e r i s t i c z e r o and to a p p l i c a t i o n s of the r e s u l t s : the split s i m p l e L i e
a l g e b r a s o b t a i n e d b e f o r e a r e now shown to be n o n - i s o m o r p h i c , and
t h e r e e m e r g e m e t h o d s to obtain c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of finite d i m e n s i o n a l
s i m p l e Lie a l g e b r a s o v e r a r b i t r a r y fields of z e r o c h a r a c t e r i s t i c . In
both c h a p t e r s , the p o s s i b i l i t y of e x t e n d i n g the r e s u l t s to the c a s e of
p r i m e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i s m e n t i o n e d , but the r e a d e r i s r e f e r r e d to the
literature.

E a c h c h a p t e r e n d s with a c o l l e c t i o n of i n t e r e s t i n g e x a m p l e s ,
m a n y of t h e m highly n o n - t r i v i a l , d e s i g n e d to s u p p l e m e n t the t e x t in
various ways.

The b i b l i o g r a p h y of a b o u t 150 i t e m s is m e a n t to p r o v i d e the

p r i n c i p a l r e f e r e n c e s for the t e x t and f u r t h e r r e a d i n g on t h e v a r i o u s
a p p l i c a t i o n s and r e l a t e d s u b j e c t s . It i s full, but i s n o t - - a n d i s not
i n t e n d e d to b e - - e x h a u s t i v e .

Hanna Neumann

E l e m e n t a r y D i f f e r e n t i a l E q u a t i o n s , by W i l l i a m T e d M a r t i n and
E r i c R e i s s n e r . Second e d i t i o n . A d d i s o n - W e s l e y , R e a d i n g ,
M a s s a c h u s e t t s , 1 9 6 1 . x i i i + 331 p a g e s . $ 6 . 7 5 .

The f i r s t e d i t i o n of t h i s book w a s p u b l i s h e d in 1956 and r e v i e w e d

by J . K o r e v a a r in the A m e r i c a n M a t h e m a t i c a l M o n t h l y , V o l . 6 5 , No. 6,
J u n e - J u l y 1958, p p . 4 5 7 - 9 . T h e s e c o n d e d i t i o n c o n t a i n s m a n y new
e x e r c i s e s b u t i s not e s s e n t i a l l y d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h e f i r s t . Consequently,
the c i t e d r e v i e w i s e q u a l l y p e r t i n e n t to the s e c o n d e d i t i o n , and t h i s
review will be brief.

The book i s d e s i g n e d a s a t e x t for an i n t r o d u c t o r y c o u r s e and

d e s e r v e s to b e r e c o m m e n d e d for t h i s p u r p o s e . T h e i n t r o d u c t o r y
c h a p t e r on the n a t u r e and o r i g i n of d i f f e r e n t i a l e q u a t i o n s c o n t a i n s

298

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