Free Lie Algebras (London Mathematical Society Monographs New Series)

This much-needed new book is the first to specifically detail free Lie algebras. Lie polynomials appeared at the turn of the century and were identified with the free Lie algebra by Magnus and Witt some thirty years later. Many recent, important developments have occurred in the field - especially from the point of view of representation theory - that have necessitated a thorough treatment of the subject. This timely book covers all aspects of the field, including characterization of Lie polynomials and Lie series, subalgebras and automorphisms, canonical projections, Hall bases, shuffles and subwords, circular words, Lie representations of the symmetric group, related symmetric functions, descent algebra, and quasisymmetric functions. With its emphasis on the algebraic and combinatorial point of view as well as representation theory, this book will be welcomed by students and researchers in mathematics and theoretical computer science. Cover Preface Acknowledgements Contents Notation 0. Introduction 1. Lie polynomials 2. Algebraic properties 3. Logarithms and exponentials 4. Hall bases 5. Applications of Hall sets 6. Shuffle algebra and subwords 7. Circular words 8. The action of the symmetric group 9. The Solomon descent algebra References Index Although Lie polynomials first appeared at the turn of the century, there have been many recent developments especially from the point of view of representation theory. This book covers all aspects, with emphasis on the algebraic and combinatorial point of view as well as representation theory.