English

Trichotomy for positive cones and a maximality counterexample

Rings and Algebras 2022-04-14 v3

Abstract

In [4] we developed the theory of positive cones on finite-dimensional simple algebras with involution, inspired by the classical Artin-Schreier theory of orderings on fields, and based on the notion of signatures of hermitian forms [1]. In a subsequent paper [3], we developed the associated "valuation theory", based on Tignol-Wadsworth gauges [7, 8, 9]. In this short note, we present the following two additional results: (1) Whereas positive cones on fields correspond to total order relations, positive cones on algebras with involution only give rise to partial order relations. We show that the order relation defined by a positive cone is as close to total as possible, cf. Theorem 2.5. (2) Positive cones are maximal prepositive cones, which begs the question if there are prepositive cones that are not maximal. We answer this question in the affirmative in Section 3, using techniques that illustrate the interplay between positive cones and gauges.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2109.09805,
  title  = {Trichotomy for positive cones and a maximality counterexample},
  author = {Vincent Astier and Thomas Unger},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2109.09805},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

Section 3 contains an error that invalidates the example. We think this particular example cannot be made to work at all

R2 v1 2026-06-24T06:09:31.142Z