English

A characterization of the quaternions using commutators

Rings and Algebras 2021-07-26 v3

Abstract

Let RR be an associative ring with 1{\bf 1} which is not commutative. Assume that any non-zero commutator vRv\in R satisfies: v2v^2 is in the center of RR and vv is not a zero-divisor. (Note that our assumptions do not include finite dimensionality.) We prove that RR has no zero divisors, and that if char(R)2,{\rm char(R)}\ne 2, then the localization of RR at its center is a quaternion division algebra.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2107.09933,
  title  = {A characterization of the quaternions using commutators},
  author = {Erwin Kleinfeld and Yoav Segev},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2107.09933},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

4 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-24T04:23:20.825Z