Cartan criterion for semisimplicity

A finite-dimensional complex Lie algebra is semisimple if and only if its Killing form is nondegenerate.

For a finite-dimensional complex Lie algebra $L$, the radical $R$ of its Killing form is a Lie algebra ideal by invariance. For $x,y\in R$, their adjoint actions vanish on $L/R$, so $B_R(x,y)=B_L(x,y)=0$. The Cartan solvability criterion makes the image ${\mathrm{ad}}_R(R)$ solvable; its kernel is the abelian center, so $R$ is solvable. A semisimple Lie algebra has no nonzero solvable ideal, forcing its Killing radical to vanish.