This entry is about loops in algebra. For loops in topology see loop (topology).
In algebra a loop is a quasigroup with (two-sided) identity element.
A left loop is a unital magma equipped with a left division such that and . A right loop is a unital magma equipped with a right division such that and . A two-sided loop or just a loop is a unital magma that is both a left loop and a right loop.
Equivalently, one could speak of left and right inverse elements instead of left and right division:
A left loop is a unital magma equipped with a left inverse such that and . A right loop is a unital magma equipped with a right inverse such that and . A two-sided loop or just a loop is a unital magma that is both a left loop and a right loop. One then defines left division to be and right division to be .
There is another definition of a loop using only division and identity:
A left loop is a pointed magma such that:
A right loop is a pointed magma such that:
A loop is a left and right loop as defined above such that for all and in .
Loops are described by a Lawvere theory.
Note that, even in a loop, left and right inverses need not agree. See the discussion on the English Wikipedia for convenient inverse properties. A loop with a two-sided inverse is a nonassociative group.
Any group is a loop.
Any nonassociative group is a loop.
The nonzero elements of a (not necessarily associative) unital division algebra (such as the octonions) form a quasigroup; this fact is basically the definition of ‘division algebra’.
code loops are loops which are central extensions of abelian groups (actually vector spaces over the finite field ) by .
A Moufang loop is a loop.
Local analytic loops have interesting induced structure on the tangent space at the identity, generalizing the Lie algebra of a group, see Sabinin algebra. Sabinin algebras are closely related to the local study of affine connections on manifolds. They include some known important classes of nonassociative algebras, namely Lie algebras, Mal’cev algebras, Lie triple systems (related to the study of symmetric spaces), Bol algebras as simplest cases.
Kenneth Kunen, Quasigroups, loops, and associative laws, J. Algebra 185 (1) (1996), pp. 194–204
Péter T. Nagy, Karl Strambach, Loops as invariant sections in groups, and their geometry, Canad. J. Math. 46(1994), 1027-1056 doi
Lev Vasilʹevich Sabinin, Smooth quasigroups and loops: forty-five years of incredible growth, Commentationes Mathematicae Universitatis Carolinae 41 (2000), No. 2, 377–400 cdml pdf
See also:
Last revised on August 21, 2024 at 02:33:27. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.