MATH Seminar

Title: Killing forms of Lie algebras
Dissertation defense: Algebra
Speaker: Audrey Malagon of Emory University
Contact: Skip Garibaldi, skip@mathcs.emory.edu
Date: 2009-03-25 at 4:00PM
Venue: MSC W201
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Abstract: One approach to the problem of classifying Lie Algebras is to find invariants. One such invariant is the Killing form. In this talk I will give a formula for computing the Killing form of an isotropic Lie algebra defined over an arbitrary field of characteristic zero, based on the Killing form of a subalgebra containing its anisotropic kernel. I will then explicitly compute the Killing form for several Lie algebras of exceptional type and give a general formula for the Killing form of all inner type Lie algebras of type E6, including the anisotropic ones.