Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2013 / iii / Paper 5 / 1 / Solution

We take algebras to be unital and modules to be unital. A finite-dimensional semisimple algebra over the complex numbers is one whose regular left module is a semisimple module, that is, a direct sum of simple modules. We use the basic finite-dimensional equivalences: this is equivalent to a zero Jacobson radical, and the Jacobson radical of any finite-dimensional algebra is a nilpotent ideal.

The Artin–Wedderburn theorem here says that there are positive integers $d_1,\dots ,d_r$ withThe nonisomorphic simple modules are the standard column modules of the factors, of dimensions $d_i$, and the factor sizes are unique up to reordering.

Here is a proof. Decompose the regular left module as ${}_{A}A={⨁}_{i=1}^r{S}_i^{\oplus n_i}$ with pairwise nonisomorphic simple modules $S_i$. These are all the simple modules: any simple module is generated by a nonzero vector and is therefore a quotient of the regular module. The Schur lemma gives ${\mathrm{Hom}}_A(S_i,S_j)=0$ for $i\ne j$ and ${\mathrm{End}}_A(S_i)=\mathbb{C}$. For the latter assertion, an endomorphism has an eigenvalue over $\mathbb{C}$, and the kernel of its difference from that scalar is a nonzero submodule, hence the whole simple module. ConsequentlyEvery regular-module endomorphism is right multiplication by its value at $1$, so ${\mathrm{End}}_A({}_{A}A)\cong A^{\mathrm{op}}$. Taking opposite algebras and using matrix transposition gives the asserted decomposition with $d_i=n_i$.

For a matrix algebra $M_d(\mathbb{C})$, the matrix units show that its only simple module is ${\mathbb{C}}^d$: the spaces $E_{jj}S$ are isomorphic through $E_{ij}$, and a nonzero vector in one of them generates one copy of the column module. Simplicity makes that copy all of $S$. In a product algebra, the mutually orthogonal central idempotents decompose every module into its factor modules; a simple module uses exactly one factor. This proves the module assertion and also uniqueness, since the primitive central idempotents and the dimensions of their simple modules determine the factors.