In
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
, a Hopf algebra, named after
Heinz Hopf, is a structure that is simultaneously a (
unital associative)
algebra
Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...
and a (counital coassociative)
coalgebra, with these structures' compatibility making it a
bialgebra
In mathematics, a bialgebra over a Field (mathematics), field ''K'' is a vector space over ''K'' which is both a unital algebra, unital associative algebra and a coalgebra, counital coassociative coalgebra. The algebraic and coalgebraic structure ...
, and that moreover is equipped with an
antihomomorphism satisfying a certain property. The
representation theory
Representation theory is a branch of mathematics that studies abstract algebra, abstract algebraic structures by ''representing'' their element (set theory), elements as linear transformations of vector spaces, and studies Module (mathematics), ...
of a Hopf algebra is particularly nice, since the existence of compatible comultiplication, counit, and antipode allows for the construction of tensor products of representations, trivial representations, and dual representations.
Hopf algebras occur naturally in
algebraic topology
Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics that uses tools from abstract algebra to study topological spaces. The basic goal is to find algebraic invariant (mathematics), invariants that classification theorem, classify topological spaces up t ...
, where they originated and are related to the
H-space concept, in
group scheme
In mathematics, a group scheme is a type of object from algebraic geometry equipped with a composition law. Group schemes arise naturally as symmetries of schemes, and they generalize algebraic groups, in the sense that all algebraic groups hav ...
theory, in
group theory
In abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as group (mathematics), groups.
The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as ring (mathematics), rings, field ( ...
(via the concept of a
group ring
In algebra, a group ring is a free module and at the same time a ring, constructed in a natural way from any given ring and any given group. As a free module, its ring of scalars is the given ring, and its basis is the set of elements of the gi ...
), and in numerous other places, making them probably the most familiar type of
bialgebra
In mathematics, a bialgebra over a Field (mathematics), field ''K'' is a vector space over ''K'' which is both a unital algebra, unital associative algebra and a coalgebra, counital coassociative coalgebra. The algebraic and coalgebraic structure ...
. 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
Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid State of matter, phases, that arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms and elec ...
and
quantum field theory
In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines Field theory (physics), field theory and the principle of relativity with ideas behind quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct phy ...
to
string theory and
LHC phenomenology.
Formal definition
Formally, a Hopf algebra is an (associative and coassociative)
bialgebra
In mathematics, a bialgebra over a Field (mathematics), field ''K'' is a vector space over ''K'' which is both a unital algebra, unital associative algebra and a coalgebra, counital coassociative coalgebra. The algebraic and coalgebraic structure ...
''H'' over a
field ''K'' together with a
''K''-linear map ''S'': ''H'' → ''H'' (called the antipode) such that the following diagram
commutes:
Here Δ is the comultiplication of the bialgebra, ∇ its multiplication, η its unit and ε its counit. In the sumless
Sweedler notation, this property can also be expressed as
:
As for
algebra
Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...
s, one can replace the underlying field ''K'' with a
commutative ring
In mathematics, a commutative ring is a Ring (mathematics), ring in which the multiplication operation is commutative. The study of commutative rings is called commutative algebra. Complementarily, noncommutative algebra is the study of ring prope ...
''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
for the underlying vector space, one may define the algebra in terms of
structure constants for multiplication:
:
for co-multiplication:
:
and the antipode:
:
Associativity then requires that
:
while co-associativity requires that
:
The connecting axiom requires that
:
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
In mathematics, a binary operation is commutative if changing the order of the operands does not change the result. It is a fundamental property of many binary operations, and many mathematical proofs depend on it. Perhaps most familiar as a pr ...
or
cocommutative (or more generally
quasitriangular).
In general, ''S'' is an
antihomomorphism, so ''S''
2 is a
homomorphism
In algebra, a homomorphism is a morphism, structure-preserving map (mathematics), map between two algebraic structures of the same type (such as two group (mathematics), groups, two ring (mathematics), rings, or two vector spaces). The word ''homo ...
, which is therefore an automorphism if ''S'' was invertible (as may be required).
If ''S''
2 = id
''H'', 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, ''ad
r''(''h'')(''A'') ⊆ ''A'' for all ''h'' in ''H'', where the right adjoint mapping ''ad
r'' is defined by ''ad
r''(''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 ''ad
l''(''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
In abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as group (mathematics), groups.
The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as ring (mathematics), rings, field ( ...
.
Hopf orders
A Hopf order ''O'' over an
integral domain
In mathematics, an integral domain is a nonzero commutative ring in which the product of any two nonzero elements is nonzero. Integral domains are generalizations of the ring of integers and provide a natural setting for studying divisibilit ...
''R'' with
field of fractions
In abstract algebra, the field of fractions of an integral domain is the smallest field in which it can be embedded. The construction of the field of fractions is modeled on the relationship between the integral domain of integers and the fie ...
''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''.
Examples
Note that functions on a finite group can be identified with the group ring, though these are more naturally thought of as dual – the group ring consists of ''finite'' sums of elements, and thus pairs with functions on the group by evaluating the function on the summed elements.
Cohomology of Lie groups
The cohomology algebra (over a field
) of a Lie group
is a Hopf algebra: the multiplication is provided by the
cup product
In mathematics, specifically in algebraic topology, the cup product is a method of adjoining two cocycles of degree p and q to form a composite cocycle of degree p+q. This defines an associative (and distributive) graded commutative product opera ...
, and the comultiplication
:
by the group multiplication
. This observation was actually a source of the notion of Hopf algebra. Using this structure, Hopf proved a structure theorem for the cohomology algebra of Lie groups.
Theorem (Hopf)
Let
be a finite-dimensional,
graded commutative, graded cocommutative Hopf algebra over a field of characteristic 0. Then
(as an algebra) is a free exterior algebra with generators of odd degree.
Quantum groups and non-commutative geometry
Most examples above are either commutative (i.e. the multiplication is
commutative
In mathematics, a binary operation is commutative if changing the order of the operands does not change the result. It is a fundamental property of many binary operations, and many mathematical proofs depend on it. Perhaps most familiar as a pr ...
) or co-commutative (i.e.
Δ = ''T'' ∘ Δ where the ''twist map''
''T'': ''H'' ⊗ ''H'' → ''H'' ⊗ ''H'' is defined by ''T''(''x'' ⊗ ''y'') = ''y'' ⊗ ''x''). Other interesting Hopf algebras are certain "deformations" or "
quantizations" of those from example 3 which are neither commutative nor co-commutative. These Hopf algebras are often called ''
quantum groups'', a term that is so far only loosely defined. They are important in
noncommutative geometry, the idea being the following: a standard algebraic group is well described by its standard Hopf algebra of regular functions; we can then think of the deformed version of this Hopf algebra as describing a certain "non-standard" or "quantized" algebraic group (which is not an algebraic group at all). While there does not seem to be a direct way to define or manipulate these non-standard objects, one can still work with their Hopf algebras, and indeed one ''identifies'' them with their Hopf algebras. Hence the name "quantum group".
Representation theory
Let ''A'' be a Hopf algebra, and let ''M'' and ''N'' be ''A''-modules. Then, ''M'' ⊗ ''N'' is also an ''A''-module, with
:
for ''m'' ∈ ''M'', ''n'' ∈ ''N'' and Δ(''a'') = (''a''
1, ''a''
2). Furthermore, we can define the trivial representation as the base field ''K'' with
:
for ''m'' ∈ ''K''. Finally, the dual representation of ''A'' can be defined: if ''M'' is an ''A''-module and ''M*'' is its dual space, then
:
where ''f'' ∈ ''M*'' and ''m'' ∈ ''M''.
The relationship between Δ, ε, and ''S'' ensure that certain natural homomorphisms of vector spaces are indeed homomorphisms of ''A''-modules. For instance, the natural isomorphisms of vector spaces ''M'' → ''M'' ⊗ ''K'' and ''M'' → ''K'' ⊗ ''M'' are also isomorphisms of ''A''-modules. Also, the map of vector spaces ''M*'' ⊗ ''M'' → ''K'' with ''f'' ⊗ ''m'' → ''f''(''m'') is also a homomorphism of ''A''-modules. However, the map ''M'' ⊗ ''M*'' → ''K'' is not necessarily a homomorphism of ''A''-modules.
Related concepts
Graded Hopf algebras are often used in
algebraic topology
Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics that uses tools from abstract algebra to study topological spaces. The basic goal is to find algebraic invariant (mathematics), invariants that classification theorem, classify topological spaces up t ...
: they are the natural algebraic structure on the direct sum of all
homology or
cohomology
In mathematics, specifically in homology theory and algebraic topology, cohomology is a general term for a sequence of abelian groups, usually one associated with a topological space, often defined from a cochain complex. Cohomology can be viewed ...
groups of an
H-space.
Locally compact quantum groups generalize Hopf algebras and carry a
topology
Topology (from the Greek language, Greek words , and ) is the branch of mathematics concerned with the properties of a Mathematical object, geometric object that are preserved under Continuous function, continuous Deformation theory, deformat ...
. The algebra of all
continuous function
In mathematics, a continuous function is a function such that a small variation of the argument induces a small variation of the value of the function. This implies there are no abrupt changes in value, known as '' discontinuities''. More preci ...
s on a
Lie group
In mathematics, a Lie group (pronounced ) is a group (mathematics), group that is also a differentiable manifold, such that group multiplication and taking inverses are both differentiable.
A manifold is a space that locally resembles Eucli ...
is a locally compact quantum group.
Quasi-Hopf algebras are generalizations of Hopf algebras, where coassociativity only holds up to a twist. They have been used in the study of the
Knizhnik–Zamolodchikov equations.
Multiplier Hopf algebras introduced by Alfons Van Daele in 1994 are generalizations of Hopf algebras where comultiplication from an algebra (with or without unit) to the
multiplier algebra of tensor product algebra of the algebra with itself.
Hopf group-(co)algebras introduced by V. G. Turaev in 2000 are also generalizations of Hopf algebras.
Weak Hopf algebras
Weak Hopf algebras, or quantum groupoids, are generalizations of Hopf algebras. Like Hopf algebras, weak Hopf algebras form a self-dual class of algebras; i.e., if ''H'' is a (weak) Hopf algebra, so is ''H''*, the dual space of linear forms on ''H'' (with respect to the algebra-coalgebra structure obtained from the natural pairing with ''H'' and its coalgebra-algebra structure). A weak Hopf algebra ''H'' is usually taken to be a
*finite-dimensional algebra and coalgebra with coproduct Δ: ''H'' → ''H'' ⊗ ''H'' and counit ε: ''H'' → ''k'' satisfying all the axioms of Hopf algebra except possibly Δ(1) ≠ 1 ⊗ 1 or ε(''ab'') ≠ ε(''a'')ε(''b'') for some ''a,b'' in ''H''. Instead one requires the following:
::
::
:for all ''a'', ''b'', and ''c'' in ''H''.
* ''H'' has a weakened antipode ''S'': ''H'' → ''H'' satisfying the axioms:
#
for all ''a'' in ''H'' (the right-hand side is the interesting projection usually denoted by Π
''R''(''a'') or ε
''s''(''a'') with image a separable subalgebra denoted by ''H
R'' or ''H
s'');
#
for all ''a'' in ''H'' (another interesting projection usually denoted by Π
''R''(''a'') or ε
''t''(''a'') with image a separable algebra ''H
L'' or ''H
t'', anti-isomorphic to ''H
L'' via ''S'');
#
for all ''a'' in ''H''.
:Note that if Δ(1) = 1 ⊗ 1, these conditions reduce to the two usual conditions on the antipode of a Hopf algebra.
The axioms are partly chosen so that the category of ''H''-modules is a
rigid monoidal category. The unit ''H''-module is the separable algebra ''H
L'' mentioned above.
For example, a finite
groupoid
In mathematics, especially in category theory and homotopy theory, a groupoid (less often Brandt groupoid or virtual group) generalises the notion of group in several equivalent ways. A groupoid can be seen as a:
* '' Group'' with a partial fu ...
algebra is a weak Hopf algebra. In particular, the groupoid algebra on
with one pair of invertible arrows ''e
ij'' and ''e
ji'' between ''i'' and ''j'' in
'n''is isomorphic to the algebra ''H'' of ''n'' x ''n'' matrices. The weak Hopf algebra structure on this particular ''H'' is given by coproduct Δ(''e
ij'') = ''e
ij'' ⊗ ''e
ij'', counit ε(''e
ij'') = 1 and antipode ''S''(''e
ij'') = ''e
ji''. The separable subalgebras ''H
L'' and ''H
R'' coincide and are non-central commutative algebras in this particular case (the subalgebra of diagonal matrices).
Early theoretical contributions to weak Hopf algebras are to be found in as well as
Hopf algebroids
See
Hopf algebroid
Analogy with groups
Groups can be axiomatized by the same diagrams (equivalently, operations) as a Hopf algebra, where ''G'' is taken to be a set instead of a module. In this case:
* the field ''K'' is replaced by the 1-point set
* there is a natural counit (map to 1 point)
* there is a natural comultiplication (the diagonal map)
* the unit is the identity element of the group
* the multiplication is the multiplication in the group
* the antipode is the inverse
In this philosophy, a group can be thought of as a Hopf algebra over the "
field with one element".
Group = Hopf algebra « Secret Blogging Seminar
Group objects and Hopf algebras
video of Simon Willerton.
Hopf algebras in braided monoidal categories
The definition of Hopf algebra is naturally extended to arbitrary braided monoidal categories. A Hopf algebra in such a category is a sextuple where is an object in , and
: (multiplication),
: (unit),
: (comultiplication),
: (counit),
: (antipode)
— are morphisms in such that
:1) the triple is a monoid
In abstract algebra, a monoid is a set equipped with an associative binary operation and an identity element. For example, the nonnegative integers with addition form a monoid, the identity element being .
Monoids are semigroups with identity ...
in the monoidal category , i.e. the following diagrams are commutative:
:2) the triple is a comonoid in the monoidal category , i.e. the following diagrams are commutative:
:3) the structures of monoid and comonoid on are compatible: the multiplication and the unit are morphisms of comonoids, and (this is equivalent in this situation) at the same time the comultiplication and the counit are morphisms of monoids; this means that the following diagrams must be commutative:
: where is the left unit morphism in , and the natural transformation of functors which is unique in the class of natural transformations of functors composed from the structural transformations (associativity, left and right units, transposition, and their inverses) in the category .
The quintuple with the properties 1),2),3) is called a bialgebra in the category ;
:4) the diagram of antipode is commutative:
The typical examples are the following.
* Groups. In the monoidal category of sets (with the cartesian product
In mathematics, specifically set theory, the Cartesian product of two sets and , denoted , is the set of all ordered pairs where is an element of and is an element of . In terms of set-builder notation, that is
A\times B = \.
A table c ...
as the tensor product, and an arbitrary singletone, say, , as the unit object) a triple is a monoid in the categorical sense if and only if it is a monoid in the usual algebraic sense, i.e. if the operations and behave like usual multiplication and unit in (but possibly without the invertibility of elements ). At the same time, a triple is a comonoid in the categorical sense iff is the diagonal operation (and the operation is defined uniquely as well: ). And any such a structure of comonoid is compatible with any structure of monoid in the sense that the diagrams in the section 3 of the definition always commute. As a corollary, each monoid in can naturally be considered as a bialgebra in , and vice versa. The existence of the antipode for such a bialgebra means exactly that every element has an inverse element with respect to the multiplication . Thus, in the category of sets Hopf algebras are exactly groups in the usual algebraic sense.
* Classical Hopf algebras. In the special case when is the category of vector spaces over a given field , the Hopf algebras in are exactly the classical Hopf algebras described above.
* Functional algebras on groups. The standard functional algebras , , , (of continuous, smooth, holomorphic, regular functions) on groups are Hopf algebras in the category (Ste,) of stereotype spaces,
* Group algebras. The stereotype group algebras , , , (of measures, distributions, analytic functionals and currents) on groups are Hopf algebras in the category (Ste,) of stereotype spaces. These Hopf algebras are used in the duality theories for non-commutative groups.
See also
* Quasitriangular Hopf algebra
* Algebra/set analogy
* Representation theory of Hopf algebras
* Ribbon Hopf algebra
* Superalgebra
In mathematics and theoretical physics, a superalgebra is a Z2-graded algebra. That is, it is an algebra over a commutative ring or field with a decomposition into "even" and "odd" pieces and a multiplication operator that respects the grading.
T ...
* Supergroup
* Anyonic Lie algebra
* Sweedler's Hopf algebra
* Hopf algebra of permutations
* Milnor–Moore theorem
Notes and references
Notes
Citations
References
* .
*
*
* Heinz Hopf, Uber die Topologie der Gruppen-Mannigfaltigkeiten und ihrer Verallgemeinerungen, Annals of Mathematics
The ''Annals of Mathematics'' is a mathematical journal published every two months by Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study.
History
The journal was established as ''The Analyst'' in 1874 and with Joel E. Hendricks as t ...
42 (1941), 22–52. Reprinted in Selecta Heinz Hopf, pp. 119–151, Springer, Berlin (1964). ,
*
* .
*
*
* .
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopf Algebra
Monoidal categories
Representation theory