English

The relationship between two commutators

Rings and Algebras 2008-02-03 v1

Abstract

We clarify the relationship between the linear commutator and the ordinary commutator by showing that in any variety satisfying a nontrivial idempotent Mal'cev condition the linear commutator is definable in terms of the centralizer relation. We derive from this that abelian algebras are quasi-affine in such varieties. We refine this by showing that if A is an abelian algebra and V(A) satifies an idempotent Mal'cev condition which fails to hold in the variety of semilattices, then A is affine.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.math/9604246,
  title  = {The relationship between two commutators},
  author = {Keith A. Kearnes and Ågnes Szendrei},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/9604246},
  year   = {2008}
}