Notes on semisimple algebras

§1. Semisimple rings

(1.1) Definition A ring R with 1 is semisimple, or left semisimple to be precise, if the free
left R-module underlying R is a sum of simple R-module.

(1.2) Definition A ring R with 1 is simple, or left simple to be precise, if R is semisimple

and any two simple left ideals (i.e. any two simple left submodules of R) are isomorphic.

(1.3) Proposition A ring R is semisimple if and only if there exists a ring S and a semisim-
ple S-module M of finite length such that R ∼
= EndS (M )

(1.4) Corollary Every semisimple ring is Artinian.

(1.5) Proposition
Qs Let R be a semisimple ring. Then R is isomorphic to a finite direct
product i=1 Ri , where each Ri is a simple ring.

(1.6) Proposition Let R be a simple ring. Then there exists a division ring D and a positive
integer n such that R ∼
= Mn (D).

(1.7) Definition Let R be a ring with 1. Define the radical of R to be the intersection of
all maximal left ideals of R. The above definitions uses left R-modules. When we want to
emphasize that, we say that n is the left radical of R.

(1.8) Proposition The radical of a semisimple ring is zero.

(1.9) Proposition Let R be a simple ring. Then R has no non-trivial two-sided ideals, and
its radical is zero.

(1.10) Proposition Let R be an Artinian ring whose radical is zero. Then R is semisimple.
In particular, if R has no non-trivial two-sided ideal, then R is simple.

(1.11) Remark In non-commutative ring theory, the standard definition for a ring to be
semisimple is that its radical is zero. This definition is different from Definition 1.1, For
instance, Z is not a semisimple ring in the sense of Def. 1.1, while the radical of Z is zero. In
fact the converse of Prop. 1.10 holds; see Cor. 1.4 below.

(1.12) Exercise. Let R be a ring with 1. Let n be the radical of R

(i) Show that there exists a maximal left ideal in R. Deduce that the radical of R is a
proper left ideal of R. (Hint: Use Zorn’s Lemma.)

(ii) Show that n · M = (0) for every simple left R-module M . (Hint: Show that for every
0 6= x ∈ M , the set of all elements y ∈ R such that y · x = 0 is a maximal left ideal of
R.)

(iv) Suppose that I is a left ideal of R such that I · M = (0) for every simple left R-module
M . Prove that I ⊆ n.

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 (v) Show that n is a two-sided ideal of R. (Hint: Use (iv).)

(vi) Let I be a left ideal of R such that I n = (0) for some positive integer n. Show that
I ⊆ n.

(vi) Show that the radical of R/n is zero.

(1.13) Exercise. Let R be a ring with 1 and let n be the (left) radical of R.

(i) Let x ∈ n. Show that R · (1 + x) = R, i.e. there exists an element z ∈ R such that
z · (1 + x) = 1.

(ii) Suppose that J is a left ideal of R such that R · (1 + x) = R for every x ∈ J. Show that
J ⊆ n. (Hint: If not, then there exists a maximal left ideal m of R such that J + m 3 1.)

(iii) Let x ∈ n, and let z be an element of R such that z · (1 + x) = 1. Show that z − 1 ∈ n.

Conclude that 1 + n ⊂ R× .

(iv) Show that the n is equal to the right radical of R. (Hint: Use the analogue of (i)–(iii)
for the right radical.)

§2. Simple algebras

(2.1) Proposition Let K be a field. Let A be a central simple algebra over K, and let B be
simple K-algebra. Then A ⊗K B is a simple K-algebra. Moreover Z(A ⊗K B) = Z(B), i.e.
every element of the center of A ⊗K B has the form 1 ⊗ b for a unique element b ∈ Z(B). In
particular, A ⊗K B is a central simple algebra over K if both A and B are.
Proof. We assume for simplicity of exposition that dimK (B) < ∞; the proof works for the
infinite dimensional case as well. Let b1 , . . . , br be a K-basis of B. Define the length of an
element x = ri=1 ai ⊗ bi ∈ A ⊗ B, ai ∈ A for i = 1, . . . , r, to be Card{i | ai 6= 0}.
P

Let I be a non-zero ideal in A ⊗K B. Let x be a non-zero element of I of minimal length.

After relabelling the bi ’s, we may and do assume that x has the form
r
X
x = 1 ⊗ b1 + ai .
i=2

Consider the element [a ⊗ 1, x] ∈ I with a ∈ A, whose length is less than the length of x.
Therefore [a ⊗ 1, x] = 0 for all a ∈ A, i.e. [a, ai ] = 0 for all a ∈ A and all i = 2, . . . , r. In
other words, ai ∈ K for all i = 2, . . . , r. Write ai = λi ∈ K, and x = 1 ⊗ b ∈ I, where
b = b1 + λ2 b2 + · · · λr br ∈ B, b 6= 0. So 1 ⊗ BbB ⊆ I. Since B is simple, we have BbB = B
and hence I = A ⊗K B. We have shown that A ⊗K B is simple.
Let x = ni=1 ai ⊗ bi be any element of Z(A ⊗K B), with a1 , . . . , ar ∈ A. We have
P

r
X
0 = [a ⊗ 1, x] = [a, ai ] ⊗ bi
i=1

for all a ∈ A. Hence ai ∈ Z(A) = K for each i = 1, . . . , r, and x = 1 ⊗ b for some b ∈ B. The
condition that 0 = [1 ⊗ y, x] for all y ∈ B implies that b ∈ Z(B) and hence x ∈ 1 ⊗ Z(B).

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(2.2) Corollary Let A be a finite dimensional algebra over a field K, and let n = dimK (A).
If A is a central simple algebra over K, then
∼
→ EndK (A) ∼
A ⊗K Aopp − = Mn (K) .

Conversely, if A ⊗K Aopp  EndK (A), then A is a central simple algebra over K.

Proof. Suppose that A is a central simple algebra over K. By Prop. 2.1, A ⊗K Aopp is a
central simple algebra over K. Consider the map

α : A ⊗K Aopp → EndK (A)

which sends x ⊗ y to the element u 7→ xuy ∈ EndK (A). The source of α is simple by Prop.
2.1, so α is injective because it is clearly non-trivial. Hence it is an isomorphism because the
source and the target have the same dimension over K.
Conversely, suppose that A ⊗K Aopp  EndK (A) and I is a proper ideal of A. Then the
image of I ⊗ Aopp in EndK (A) is an ideal of EndK (A) which does not contain IdA . so A
is a simple K-algebra. Let L := Z(A), then the image of the canonical map A ⊗K Aopp in
EndK (A) lies in the subalgebra EndL (A), hence L = K.

(2.3) Lemma Let D be a finite dimensional central division algebra over an algebraically
closed field K. Then D = K.

(2.4) Corollary The dimension of any central simple algebra over a field is a perfect square.

(2.5) Lemma Let A be a finite dimensional central simple algebra over a field K. Let F ⊂ A
be an overfield of K contained in A. Then [F : K] | [A : K]1/2 . In particular if [F : K]2 =
[A : K], then F is a maximal subfield of A.
Proof. Write [A : K] = n2 , [F : K] = d. Multiplication on the left defines an embedding
A ⊗K F ,→ EndF (A). By Lemma 3.1, n2 = [A⊗K : F ] divides [EndF (A) : F ] = (n2 /d)2 , i.e.
d2 | n2 . So d divides n.

(2.6) Lemma Let A be a finite dimensional central simple algebra over a field K. If F is a
subfield of A containing K, and [F : K]2 = [A : K], then F is a maximal subfield of K and
A ⊗K F ∼ = Mn (F ), where n = [A : K]1/2 .
Proof. We have seen in Lemma 2.5 that F is a maximal subfield of A. Consider the natural
map α : A ⊗K F → EndK (A), which is injective because A ⊗K F is simple and α is non-
trivial. Since the dimension of the source and the target of α are both equal to n2 , α is an
isomorphism.

(2.7) Proposition Let A be a central simple algebra over a field K. Then there exists a
finite separable field extension F/K such that A ⊗K F ∼
= Mn (F ), where n = [A : K]1/2 .

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Proof. It suffices to show that A ⊗K K sep ∼ = Mn (K sep ). Changing notation, we may assume
that K = K . By Wedderburn’s theorem, we know that A ∼
sep
= Mm (D), where D is a central
division algebra over K = K sep . Write n = md and [D : K] = d2 , d ∈ N. Suppose that
D 6= K, i.e. d > 1. Then char(K) = p > 0, and every element of D is purely inseparable
over K. There exists a power q of p such that xq ∈ K for every element x ∈ D. Then for
the central simple algebra B := D ⊗K K alg ∼ = Mn (K alg ), we have y q ∈ K alg for every element
y∈B∼ = Md (K alg ). The last statement is clearly false, since d > 1.

(2.8) Theorem (Noether-Skolem) Let B be a finite dimensional central simple algebra

∼
over a field K. Let A1 , A2 be simple K-subalgebras of B. Let φ : A1 −→ A2 be a K-linear
isomorphism of K-algebras. Then there exists an element x ∈ B × such that φ(y) = x−1 yx for
all y ∈ A1 .
Proof. Consider the simple K-algebra R := B ⊗K Aopp 1 , and two R-module structures on the
K-vector space V underlying B: an element u ⊗ a with u ∈ B and a ∈ Aopp 1 operates either
as b 7→ uba for all b ∈ V , or as b 7→ ubφ(a) for all b ∈ V . Hence there exists a ψ ∈ GLK (V )
such that
ψ(uba) = uψ(b)φ(a)
for all u, b ∈ B and all a ∈ A1 . One checks easily that ψ(1) ∈ B × : if u ∈ B and u · ψ(1) = 0,
then ψ(u) = 0, hence u = 0. Then φ(a) = ψ(1)−1 · a · ψ(1) for every a ∈ A1 .

(2.9) Theorem Let B be a K-algebra and let A be a finite dimensional central simple K-
subalgebra of B. Then the natural homomorphism α : A ⊗K ZB (A) → B is an isomorphism.
Proof. Passing from K to K alg , we may and do assume that A ∼
= Mn (K), and we fix an
∼
isomorphism A −
→ Mn (K).
First we show that α is surjective. Given an element b ∈ B, define elements bij ∈ B for
1 ≤ i, j ≤ n by
n
X
bij := eki b ejk ,
k=1

where eki ∈ Mn (K) is the n × n matrix whose (k, i)-entry is equal to 1 and all other entries
equal to 0. One checks that each bij commutes with all elements of A = Mn (K). The following
computation
Xn X X
bij eij = eki b ejk eij = eii b ejj = b
i,j=1 i,j,k i,j

shows that α is surjective.

Suppose that 0 = ni,j=1 bij eij , bij ∈ ZB (A) for all 1 ≤ i, j ≤ n. Then
P

 
n
X X n
X
0= ekl  bij eij  emk = blm ekk = blm
k=1 i,j k=1

for all 0 ≤ l, m ≤ n. Hence α is injective.

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(2.10) Theorem Let B be a finite dimensional central simple algebra over a field K, and let
A be a simple K-subalgebra of B. Then ZB (A) is simple, and ZB (ZB (A)) = A.
Proof. Let C = EndK (A) ∼ = Mn (K), where n = [A : K]. Inside the central simple K-algebra
B ⊗K C we have two simple K-subalgebras, A ⊗K K and K ⊗K A. Here the right factor of
K ⊗K A is the image of A in C = EndK (A) under left multiplication. Clearly these two simple
K-subalgebras of B ⊗K C are isomorphic, since both are isomorphic to A as a K-algebra.
By Noether-Skolem, these two subalgebras are conjugate in B ⊗K C by a suitable element of
(B ⊗K C)× , therefore their centralizers (resp. double centralizers) in B ⊗K C are conjugate,
hence isomorphic.
Let’s compute the centralizers first:

ZB⊗K C (A ⊗K K) = ZB (A) ⊗K C ,

while
ZB⊗K C (K ⊗K A) = B ⊗K Aopp .
Since B ⊗K Aopp is central simple over K, so is ZB (A) ⊗K C. Hence ZB (A) is simple.
We compute the double centralizers:

ZB⊗K C (ZB⊗K C (A ⊗K K)) = ZB⊗K C (ZB (A) ⊗K C) = ZB (ZB (A) ⊗K K ,

while
ZB⊗K C (ZB⊗K C (K ⊗K A)) = ZB⊗K C (B ⊗K Aopp ) = K ⊗K A
So ZB (ZB (A)) is isomorphic to A as K-algebras. Since A ⊆ ZB (ZB (A)), the inclusion is an
equality.

§3. Some invariants

(3.1) Lemma Let K be a field and let A be a finite dimensional simple K-algebra. Let M
be an (A, A)-bimodule. Then M is free as a left A-module.

(3.2) Definition Let K be a field, B be a K-algebra, and let A be a finite dimensional

simple K-subalgebra of B. Then B is a free left A-module by Lemma 3.1. We define the
rank of B over A, denoted [B : A], to be the rank of B as a free left A-module. Clearly
[B : A] = dimK (B)/dimK (A) if dimK (A) < ∞.

(3.3) Definition Let K be a field. Let B be a finite dimensional simple K-algebra, and let
A be a simple K-subalgebra of A. Let N be a left simple B-module, and let M be a left simple
A-module.
(i) Define i(B, A) := lengthB (B ⊗A M ), called the index of A in B.

(ii) Define h(B, A) := lengthA (N ), called the height of B over A.

Recall that [B : A] is the A-rank of Bs , where Bs is the free left A-module underlying B.

(3.4) Lemma Notation as in Def. 3.3.

(i) lengthB (B ⊗A U ) = i(B, A) lengthA (U ) for every left A-module U .

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 (ii) lengthA (V ) = h(B, A) · lengthB (V ) for every left B-module V .

(iii) lengthB (Bs ) = i(B, A) · lengthA (As ).

(iv) lengthA (B ⊗A U ) = [B : A] · lengthA (U )

(v) [B : A] = h(B, A) · i(B, A)

Proof. Statement (iii) follows from (iv) and the fact that Bs ∼
= B ⊗A As . To show (v), we
apply (i) a simple A-module M and get

[B : A] = lengthA (B ⊗A M ) = h(B, A) lengthB (B ⊗A M ) = h(B, A) i(B, A) .

Another proof of (iv) is to use the A-module As instead of a simple A-module M :

[B : A] lengthA (As ) = lengthA (Bs ) = lengthB (Bs ) h(B, A) = h(B, A) i(B, A) lengthA (As ) .

The last equality follows from (iii).

(3.5) Lemma Let A ⊂ B ⊂ C be inclusion of simple algebras over a field K. Then i(C, A) =
i(C, B) · i(B, A), h(C, A) = h(C, B) · h(B, A), and [C : A] = [C : B] · [B : A].

(3.6) Lemma Let K be an algebraically closed field. Let B be a finite dimensional simple
K-algebra, and let A be a semisimple K-subalgebra of B. Let M be a simple A-module, and
let N be a simple B-module.

(i) N contains M as a left A-module.

(ii) The following equalities hold.

dimK (HomB (B ⊗A M, N )) = dimK (HomA (M, N )) = dimK (HomA (N, M ))

= dimK (HomB (N, HomA (B, M )))

(iii) Assume in addition that A is simple. Then i(B, A) = h(B, A).

Proof. Statements (i), (ii) are easy and left as exercises. The statement (iii) follows from
the first equality in (ii).

(3.7) Lemma Let A be a simple algebra over a field K. Let M be a non-trivial finitely
generated left A-module, and let A0 := EndA (M ). Then lengthA (M ) = lengthA0 (A0s ), where
A0s is the left A0s -module underlying A0 .
Proof. Write M ∼ = U n , where U is a simple A-module. Then A0 ∼ = Mn (D), where D :=
0
EndA (U ) is a division algebra. So lengthA0 (A s) = n = lengthA (M ).

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(3.8) Proposition Let K be a field, B be a finite dimensional simple K-algebra, and let A
be a simple K-subalgebra of B. Let N be a non-trivial B-module. Then

(i) A0 := EndA (N ) is a simple K-algebra, and B 0 := EndB (N ) is a simple K-subalgebra of

A0 .

(ii) i(A0 , B 0 ) = h(B, A), and h(A0 , B 0 ) = i(B, A).

Proof. The statement (i) is easy and omitted. To prove (ii), we have

lengthA (N ) = lengthA0 (A0 s) = i(A0 , B 0 ) lengthB 0 (B 0 s) ,

where the first equality follows from Lemma 3.7 and the second equality follows from Lemma
3.4 (iii). We also have

lengthA (N ) = h(B, A) lengthA (N ) = h(B, A) lengthB 0 (Bs0 )

where the last equality follows from Lemma 3.7. So we get i(A0 , B 0 ) = h(B, A). Replacing
(B, A) by (A0 , B 0 ), we get i(B, A) = h(A0 , B 0 ).

§4. Centralizers
(4.1) Theorem Let K be a field. Let B be a finite dimensional central simple algebra over
K. Let A be a simple K-subalgebra of B, and let A0 := ZB (A). Let L = Z(A) = Z(A0 ). Then
the following holds.

(i) A0 is a simple K-algebra.

(ii) A := ZB (ZB (A)).

(iii) [B : A0 ] = [A : K], [B : A] = [A0 : K], [B : K] = [A : K] · [A0 : K].

(iv) A and A0 are linearly disjoint over L.

∼
(v) If A is a central simple algebras over K, then A ⊗ A0 −
→ B.

Proof. Let N be a simple B-module. Let D := EndB (V ). We have D ⊆ EndK (N ) ⊇ B,

∼
and Z(D) = Z(B) = K. So D ⊗K A is a simple K-algebra, and we have D ⊗K A − →D·A⊆
EndK (N ) =: C, where D · A is the subalgebra of EndK (N ) generated by D and A. So

ZC (D · A) = ZC (D) ∩ ZC (A) = B ∩ ZC (A) = A0 .

Hence A0 = EndD·A (N ) is simple, because D · A) is simple. We have proved (i).

Apply Prop. 3.8 (ii) to the pair (D · A, D) and the D · A-module N . We get

[A : K] = [D · A : D] = [B : A0 ]

since ZC (D) = B. On the other hand, we have

[B : A] · [A : K] = [B : K] = [B : A0 ] · [A0 : K] = [A : K] · [A0 : K]

so [B : A] = [A0 : K]. We have proved (iii).

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 Apply (i) and (iii) to the simple K-subalgebra A0 ⊆ B, we see that A ⊂ ZB (A0 ) and
[A : K] = [A0 : K], so A = ZB (ZB (A)). We have proved (ii).
Let L := A ∩ A0 = Z(A) ⊆ Z(A0 ) = Z(A). The last equality follows from (i). The tensor
product A ⊗L A0 is a central simple algebra over L since A and A0 are central simple over L.
So the canonical homomorphism A ⊗L A0 → B is an injection. We have prove (iv). The above
inclusion is an equality if and only if L = K, because dimL (B) = [L : K] · [A : L] · [A0 : L].

Remark (1) Statements (i) and (ii) of Thm. 4.1 is the content of Thm. 2.10. The proof
in 2.10 uses Noether-Skolem and the fact that the double centralizer of any K-algebra A in
EndK (A) is equal to itself. The proof in 4.1 relies on Prop. 3.8.
(2) Statement (v) of Thm. 4.1 is a special case of Thm. 2.9.

(4.2) Corollary Let A be a finite dimensional central simple algebra over a field K, and let
F be a subfield of A which contains K. Then F is a maximal subfield of A if and only if
[F : K]2 = [A : K].
Proof. Immediate from Thm. 4.1 (iii).

(4.3) Proposition Let A be a finite dimensional central simple algebra over K. Let F be an
extension field of K such that [F : K] = n := [A : K]1/2 . Then there exists a K-linear ring
homomorphism F ,→ A if and only if A ⊗K F ∼ = Mn (F ).
Proof. The “only if” part is contained in Lemma 2.6. It remains to show the “if” part.
Suppse that A ⊗K F ∼ = Mn (F ). Choose a K-linear embedding α : F ,→ Mn (K). The central
simple algebra B := A ⊗K Mn (K) over K contains C1 := A ⊗K α(F ) as a subalgebra, whose
centralizer in B is K ⊗K α(F ). Since C1 ∼
= Mn (F ) by assumption, C1 contains a subalgebra
C2 which is isomorphic to Mn (K). By Noether-Skolem, ZB (C2 ) is isomorphic to A over K.
So we get F ∼ = ZB (C1 ) ⊂ ZB (C2 ) ∼
= A.

(4.4) Theorem Let K be a field and let B be a finite dimensional central simple algebra over
K. Let N be a non-trivial B-module of finite length. Let A be a simple K-subalgebra of B.
Let A0 := ZB (A) be the centralizer of A in B. Then we have a natural isomorphism
∼
EndB (N ) ⊗K A0 −
→ EndA (N ) .
Proof. We know that A0 is a simple K-algebra, and R := EndB (N ) is a central simple K-
algebra. So R ⊗K A0 is a simple K-algebra. Let C be the image of R ⊗K A0 in EndA (N );
∼
clearly we have R ⊗K A0 −
→ C. Let S := EndK (N ). Let C 0 := EndC (N ). We have
C 0 = EndR (N ) ∩ EndA0 (N ) = B ∩ ZS (A0 ) = ZB (A0 ) = A ;
the second and the fourth equality follows from the double centralizer theorem. Hence C =
EndA (N ), again by the double centralizer theorem.

(4.5) Corollary Notation as in Prop. 4.4. Let L := Z(A) = Z(A0 ). Then [A ⊗L ZB (A)] and
[B ⊗K L] are equal as elements of Br(L).
Proof. Take N = B, the left regular representation of B, in Thm. 4.4.