Lably
Skip to content

Hopf algebra

Construction in algebra

  • 11 min read
  • 6 chapters

Related on Lably

Through Mathematics, Algebra over a field and Commutative property

Hopf algebras occur naturally in algebraic topology, where they originated and are related to the H-space concept, in group scheme theory, in group theory (via the concept of a group ring), and in numerous other places, making them probably the most familiar type of bialgebra. Hopf algebras are also studied in their own right, with much work on specific classes of examples on the one hand and classification problems on the other. They have diverse applications ranging from condensed matter physics and quantum field theory to string theory and LHC phenomenology.

Formal definition

Let (H,∇,η,Δ,ε) be an (associative and coassociative) bialgebra over a field K. One can consider the convolution algebra HomK⁡(H,H) of K-linear maps with product given by: (f⋆g)(h)=∇∘(f⊗g)∘Δ(h). The identity of the convolution algebra is η∘ε.

The bialgebra H is said to be a Hopf algebra if the identity of H, idH∈HomK⁡(H,H) has a convolutive inverse S∈HomK⁡(H,H) (called the antipode). The statement that S is the inverse of idH is equivalent to the commutativity of the following diagram :

In the sumless Sweedler notation, this property can also be expressed as

S(c(1))c(2)=c(1)S(c(2))=ε(c)1 for all c∈H.

As for algebras, one can replace the underlying field K with a commutative ring R in the above definition.

The definition of Hopf algebra is self-dual (as reflected in the symmetry of the above diagram), so if one can define a dual of H (which is always possible if H is finite-dimensional), then it is automatically a Hopf algebra.

Structure constants

Fixing a basis {ek} for the underlying vector space, one may define the algebra in terms of structure constants for multiplication:

ei∇ej=∑kμijkek

for co-multiplication:

Δei=∑j,kνijkej⊗ek

and the antipode:

Sei=∑jτijej

Associativity then requires that

μijkμknm=μjnkμikm

while co-associativity requires that

νkijνimn=νkmiνinj

The connecting axiom requires that

νkijτjmμimn=νkjmτjiμimn

Properties of the antipode

The antipode S is sometimes required to have a K-linear inverse, which is automatic in the finite-dimensional case, or if H is commutative or cocommutative (or more generally quasitriangular).

In general, S is an antihomomorphism, so S2 is a homomorphism, which is therefore an automorphism if S was invertible (as may be required).

If S2 = idH, then the Hopf algebra is said to be involutive (and the underlying algebra with involution is a *-algebra). If H is finite-dimensional semisimple over a field of characteristic zero, commutative, or cocommutative, then it is involutive.

If a bialgebra B admits an antipode S, then S is unique ("a bialgebra admits at most 1 Hopf algebra structure"). Thus, the antipode does not pose any extra structure which we can choose: Being a Hopf algebra is a property of a bialgebra.

The antipode is an analog to the inversion map on a group that sends g to g−1.

Hopf subalgebras

A subalgebra A of a Hopf algebra H is a Hopf subalgebra if it is a subcoalgebra of H and the antipode S maps A into A. In other words, a Hopf subalgebra A is a Hopf algebra in its own right when the multiplication, comultiplication, counit and antipode of H are restricted to A (and additionally the identity 1 of H is required to be in A). The Nichols–Zoeller freeness theorem of Warren Nichols and Bettina Zoeller (1989) established that the natural A-module H is free of finite rank if H is finite-dimensional: a generalization of Lagrange's theorem for subgroups. As a corollary of this and integral theory, a Hopf subalgebra of a semisimple finite-dimensional Hopf algebra is automatically semisimple.

A Hopf subalgebra A is said to be right normal in a Hopf algebra H if it satisfies the condition of stability, adr(h)(A) ⊆ A for all h in H, where the right adjoint mapping adr is defined by adr(h)(a) = S(h(1))ah(2) for all a in A, h in H. Similarly, a Hopf subalgebra A is left normal in H if it is stable under the left adjoint mapping defined by adl(h)(a) = h(1)aS(h(2)). The two conditions of normality are equivalent if the antipode S is bijective, in which case A is said to be a normal Hopf subalgebra.

A normal Hopf subalgebra A in H satisfies the condition (of equality of subsets of H): HA+ = A+H where A+ denotes the kernel of the counit on A. This normality condition implies that HA+ is a Hopf ideal of H (i.e. an algebra ideal in the kernel of the counit, a coalgebra coideal and stable under the antipode). As a consequence one has a quotient Hopf algebra H/HA+ and epimorphism H → H/A+H, a theory analogous to that of normal subgroups and quotient groups in group theory.

Hopf orders

A Hopf order O over an integral domain R with field of fractions K is an order in a Hopf algebra H over K which is closed under the algebra and coalgebra operations: in particular, the comultiplication Δ maps O to O⊗O.

Group-like elements

A group-like element is a nonzero element x such that Δ(x) = x⊗x. The group-like elements form a group with inverse given by the antipode. A primitive element x satisfies Δ(x) = x⊗1 + 1⊗x.

Sign in to keep reading

5 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Algebra