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# The characteristic polynomial and determinant are not ad hoc constructions

## 1. The characteristic polynomial

In this section, we define the characteristic polynomial of an element $`a`$ in a finite-dimensional $`F`$-algebra $`A`$ (1.3) and give some of its basic properties (1.10).

###### Definition 1.1.

An $`F`$-algebra is a ring $`A`$ with a multiplicative identity $`10`$ such that $`A`$ is an $`F`$-vector space and $`\alpha (ab)=(\alpha a)b=a(\alpha b)`$ for all $`\alpha F`$ and $`a,bA`$. (Alternately, $`A`$ is a ring with identity such that there is a monomorphism $`FZ(A)`$ which maps the identity in $`F`$ to the identity in $`A`$.) All algebras that we consider will be finite-dimensional as vector spaces over $`F`$.

Principal examples of $`F`$-algebras are the $`n`$-by-$`n`$ matrices $`M_n(F)`$ and Hamilton’s quaternions, which form an $``$-algebra (see 3.1).

Note that the definition gives a copy of $`F`$ inside the center of $`A`$, but there is no requirement that $`F`$ is the entire center of $`A`$; for example, $`A`$ may be taken to be a finite-degree field extension of $`F`$.

We do require that $`A`$ is associative, e.g., $`A`$ cannot be the octonions. However, the definition of the characteristic polynomial given below also works for the much broader class of strictly power-associative $`F`$-algebras, which includes the octonions and Jordan algebras. Many of the properties of the characteristic polynomial proved here can also be proved in that more general setting, see \[Jacobson 68, Ch. VI\].

The only tool we need that is not always discussed in a first-year graduate algebra course is the tensor product $``$, for which we refer the reader to any good graduate algebra text. Heuristically, it allows one to make precise the notion of enlarging our base field $`F`$: if $`K`$ is any extension field of $`F`$, then $`M_n(F)_FK`$ is isomorphic to $`M_n(K)`$ as $`K`$-algebras. For $`A`$ an $`F`$-vector space, $`dim_FA=dim_K(A_FK)`$.

Let $`a_1,\mathrm{},a_m`$ be an $`F`$-basis for $`A`$. Let $`R=F[t_1,\mathrm{},t_m]`$ for $`t_1,\mathrm{},t_m`$ (commuting) indeterminates, and let $`K`$ be the quotient field of $`R`$. We call $`\gamma =_it_ia_iA_FK`$ a generic element. The $`K`$-span of $`1,\gamma ,\gamma ^2,\mathrm{}`$ is a subspace of $`AK`$, so it must be finite-dimensional over $`K`$. Hence there is a nonzero monic polynomial $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K}`$ in $`K[x]`$ of smallest degree such that $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K}(\gamma )=0`$, called the minimal polynomial for $`\gamma `$ over $`K`$.

Note that this polynomial is unique: If $`f(x)`$ and $`g(x)`$ are monic polynomials of minimal degree such that $`f(\gamma )=g(\gamma )=0`$, then $`h(x)=f(x)g(x)`$ is a polynomial of smaller degree such that $`h(\gamma )=0`$. This contradicts the minimality of $`f`$ and $`g`$ unless $`h(x)=0`$.

###### Lemma 1.2.

The minimal polynomial $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K}`$ is in $`R[x]`$, not just $`K[x]`$.

###### Proof.

Consider the $`R`$-submodules $`A_j`$ of $`AR`$ generated by $`\{1,\gamma ,\gamma ^2,\mathrm{},\gamma ^j\}`$. They form an ascending chain $`A_1A_2\mathrm{}`$. Since $`R`$ is noetherian (Hilbert’s Basis Theorem) and $`AR`$ is a finitely-generated $`R`$-module, this chain must stabilize. That is, $`\gamma _{j+1}`$ is in $`A_j`$ for some $`j`$, so $`\gamma `$ satisfies a monic polynomial $`f`$ in $`R[x]`$.222A more direct argument would be: $`R[\gamma ]`$ is an $`R`$-submodule of $`AR`$ and $`AR`$ is a finitely-generated $`R`$-module. Hence $`\gamma `$ is integral over $`R`$ \[Hu 80, Thm. VIII.5.3\]. Unfortunately, the typical proof of this implication invokes determinants, so we use instead that $`R`$ is noetherian. Since $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K}`$ divides $`f`$ in $`K[x]`$ and both are monic, $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K}`$ lies in $`R[x]`$ by Gauss’ Lemma. ∎

###### Definition 1.3.

Write $`aA`$ with respect to the basis $`a_1,\mathrm{},a_m`$ above as $`a=_i\alpha _ia_i`$ for $`\alpha _iF`$. The substitution $`t_i\alpha _i`$ defines a map $`R[x]F[x]`$. We call the image of $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K}`$ in $`F[x]`$ the characteristic polynomial of $`a`$ and denote it by $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{a,A/F}`$ or simply $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$.

###### Remark 1.4.

It is immediate from the definition that

$$\mathrm{deg}(\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{a,A/F})dim_FA$$

and that $`\mathrm{deg}(\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{a,A/F})`$ is the same for all $`aA`$.

###### Example 1.5 (Upper-triangular matrices).

Let $`A`$ be the algebra of $`n`$-by-$`n`$ upper triangular matrices over $`F`$. Write $`E_{ij}`$ for the matrix whose only nonzero entry is a 1 in the $`(i,j)`$-position. Fix a basis $`a_1`$, $`\mathrm{}`$, $`a_m`$ for $`A`$ over $`F`$ consisting of $`E_{ij}`$’s with $`a_i=E_{ii}`$ for $`1in`$. Let $`\gamma `$ be the generic element defined above.

Let $`I_n`$ denote the $`n`$-by-$`n`$ identity matrix. For each $`1in`$, the matrix $`\gamma t_iI_n`$ has $`n1`$ pivot columns — equivalently, $`n1`$ leading 1’s — in its row-reduced form, hence it has a nonzero kernel. That is, $`\gamma `$ has an eigenvector in $`K^n`$ with eigenvalue $`t_i`$. Since the $`t_i`$ are distinct elements of $`K`$, these eigenvectors form a basis for $`K^n`$ and $`\gamma `$ is similar in $`M_n(K)`$ to the diagonal matrix with diagonal entries $`t_1`$, $`t_2`$, $`\mathrm{}`$, $`t_n`$. The minimal polynomial of $`\gamma `$ is $`_{i=1}^n(xt_i)`$, since similar matrices have the same minimal polynomials.333This argument may appear to be excessively long. It is included here to illustrate that we are not making use of determinants.

By substitution, an upper triangular matrix $`bA`$ has characteristic polynomial $`_{i=1}^n(xb_{ii})`$.

###### Proposition 1.6.

The characteristic polynomial $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{a,A/F}`$ depends only on $`a`$, $`A`$, and $`F`$ (and not on the choice of basis for $`A`$).

###### Proof.

Suppose that we have another $`F`$-basis $`b_1,\mathrm{},b_m`$ of $`A`$ with a corresponding generic element $`\epsilon =_it_ib_i`$. We may write $`b_i=_jg_{ij}a_j`$ for $`g`$ an invertible $`m`$-by-$`m`$ matrix in $`M_m(F)`$. Let $`f:RR`$ be the $`F`$-algebra automorphism defined by

$$f(t_j)=\underset{i}{}t_ig_{ij}.$$

Write $`aA`$ in terms of both bases as

(1.7)
$$a=\underset{j}{}\alpha _ja_j=\underset{i}{}\beta _ib_i.$$

We have a diagram

$$\begin{array}{ccc}R[x]& \stackrel{t_j\alpha _j}{}& F[x]\\ f& & & & \\ R[x]& \stackrel{t_i\beta _i}{}& F[x]\end{array}$$

with horizontal arrows the substitution maps. Equation (1.7) gives that $`\alpha _j=_i\beta _ig_{ij}`$ for all $`j`$, hence the diagram commutes.

If we begin with $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K}`$ in the upper left, substitution gives $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$ computed with respect to the basis $`a_1,\mathrm{},a_m`$ in $`F[x]`$. On the other hand, $`f`$ extends in an obvious way to an automorphism of $`AR`$ such that

$$f(\gamma )=\underset{j}{}f(t_j)a_j=\underset{j}{}\left(\underset{i}{}t_ig_{ij}\right)a_j=\underset{i}{}t_i\left(\underset{j}{}g_{ij}a_j\right)=\epsilon .$$

Hence $`f(\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K})=\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\epsilon /K}`$. The image of this in $`F[x]`$ is $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$ computed with respect to the basis $`b_1,\mathrm{},b_m`$. The commutativity of the diagram gives the claim. ∎

###### Lemma 1.8.

Let $`E`$ be a field containing $`F`$ and fix $`aA`$. The minimal polynomial and characteristic polynomial of $`a`$ is the same over $`F`$ and over $`E`$.

The following precise statement of the lemma and its proof are technical and are best skipped by the casual reader.

###### Proof.

More precisely we want to prove:

$$\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{a/F}=\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{(a1)/E}$$

and

$$\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{a,A/F}=\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{(a1),(AE)/E}.$$

Since $`F`$ is a field, $`a`$ generates a free submodule $`B`$ of $`A`$ with basis $`1`$, $`a`$, $`a^2`$, $`\mathrm{}`$, $`a^{d1}`$ for $`d`$ the degree of $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{a/F}`$. Then $`BE`$ is a free $`E`$-module with the same basis, hence the degree of $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{(a1)/E}`$ is $`d`$. Since this polynomial divides $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{a/F}`$, they are the same.444This paragraph may be replaced by the sentence: Field extensions are “faithfully flat”. See \[AM 69, pp. 45, 46\] for a definition.

The $`F`$-basis $`a_1`$, $`\mathrm{}`$, $`a_m`$ of $`A`$ gives an $`E`$-basis $`a_11`$, $`\mathrm{}`$, $`a_m1`$ of $`AE`$, and the generic element constructed from this $`E`$-basis is $`\gamma 1E(t_1,\mathrm{},t_m)`$. Since the minimal polynomials of $`\gamma /K`$ and $`(\gamma 1)/E(t_1,\mathrm{},t_m)`$ are the same by the preceding paragraph, we get

$$\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{a,A/F}=\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{(a1),(AE)/E}$$

by substitution. ∎

In general, we write

(1.9)
$$\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a(x)=x^nc_1(a)x^{n1}+\mathrm{}\hfill \\ \hfill \mathrm{}+(1)^{n1}c_{n1}(a)x+(1)^nc_n(a).\end{array}$$

The elements $`c_1(a)`$ and $`c_n(a)`$ play the roles of the trace and determinant of $`a`$.

###### Proposition 1.10.

Let $`A`$ be a finite-dimensional $`F`$-algebra. Then:

1. (Cayley-Hamilton) $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a(a)=0`$ for all $`aA`$.
2. If $`f:AA`$ is a ring automorphism or anti-automorphism of $`A`$ which restricts to be an automorphism of $`F`$, then $`f(c_i(a))=c_i(f(a))`$ for all $`aA`$.
3. $`c_i(\alpha a)=\alpha ^ic_i(a)`$ for $`\alpha F`$ and $`aA`$.
4. $`c_1:AF`$ is $`F`$-linear.
5. If $`B`$ is a subalgebra of $`A`$ and $`b`$ is in $`B`$, then $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{b,B/F}`$ divides $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{b,A/F}`$ in $`F[x]`$.

We will observe in 2.3 below that our notion of characteristic polynomial on $`M_n(F)`$ is the same as the usual one. Then Prop. 1.10 contains many results that one typically proves in a linear algebra course. For example, (2) gives that $`\mathrm{det}(a^t)=\mathrm{det}(a)`$ for $`aM_n(F)`$ and that similar matrices have the same characteristic polynomial.

###### Proof.

(1): Write $`a=_i\alpha _ia_i`$. Then $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a(a)`$ is the image of $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K}(\gamma )AR`$ under the substitution map $`ARAF=A`$ given by $`t_i\alpha _i`$. Since $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K}(\gamma )=0`$ in $`AR`$, we have $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a(a)=0`$ in $`A`$.

(2): Suppose first that $`f`$ is an automorphism of $`A`$. The diagram

$$\begin{array}{ccc}AR& \stackrel{t_i\alpha _i}{}& F[x]\\ f\mathrm{Id}_R& & f& & \\ AR& \stackrel{t_if(\alpha _i)}{}& F[x]\end{array}$$

commutes. If we begin with $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K}`$ in the upper left, we obtain $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$ in the upper right $`F[x]`$, and then $`f(\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a)`$ in the lower right $`F[x]`$. On the other hand, we obtain $`f(\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K})=\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{f(\gamma )/K}`$ in the lower left and then $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{f(a)}`$ in the lower right. That is, we have the desired equality $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{f(a)}=f(\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a)`$.

The same argument works in the case where $`f`$ is a ring anti-automorphism, except that in the diagram we must replace $`AR`$ in the lower left corner with $`A^{\mathrm{op}}R`$ where $`A^{\mathrm{op}}`$ denotes the $`F`$-algebra $`A`$ with multiplication reversed.

(3) and (4): Suppose first that $`\alpha `$ is not 0. If we write the minimal polynomial of $`\gamma /K`$ as $`_{i=0}^nc_ix^i`$ for $`c_iR`$, then the minimal polynomial of $`\alpha \gamma /K`$ is $`_{i=0}^nc_i\alpha ^{ni}x^i`$. Thus

$$\alpha ^n\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K}(x)=\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\alpha \gamma /K}(\alpha x)\text{in }R[x]\text{,}$$

and

$$\alpha ^n\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a(x)=\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{\alpha a}(\alpha x)\text{in }F[x]\text{.}$$

Then we have $`\alpha ^nc_i(a)=\alpha ^{ni}c_i(\alpha a)`$ for $`0in`$, which proves (3) for $`\alpha 0`$. Since $`c_i:AF`$ is given by a polynomial in the coordinates of $`aA`$ with respect to some basis $`a_1,\mathrm{},a_m`$, this polynomial is homogeneous of degree $`i`$. This gives (4), as well as (3) for $`\alpha =0`$.

(5): Fix a basis $`b_1`$, $`\mathrm{}`$, $`b_r`$ of $`B`$ and extend it to a basis $`a_1`$, $`\mathrm{}`$, $`a_m`$ of $`A`$ with $`a_i=b_i`$ for $`1ir`$. By analogy, set $`S=F[t_1,\mathrm{},t_r]`$, let $`L`$ denote the quotient field of $`S`$, and let $`\epsilon `$ be the generic element $`_{i=1}^rt_ib_i`$ in $`AS`$.

Write $`b=_i\beta _ib_i`$ for $`\beta _iF`$. Let $`\varphi :RS`$ be given by sending $`t_j0`$ for $`r<jm`$. The image of $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K}`$ under the composition

$$\begin{array}{ccccc}R[x]& \stackrel{\varphi }{}& S[x]& \stackrel{t_i\beta _i}{}& F[x]\end{array}$$

is $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{b,A/F}`$. Similarly, the image of $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\epsilon /L}S[x]`$ is $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{b,B/F}F[x]`$.

The homomorphism $`\varphi `$ extends naturally to a map $`ARAS`$ such that $`\varphi (\gamma )=\epsilon `$. We have

$$0=\varphi (0)=\varphi (\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._\gamma (\gamma ))=\varphi (\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._\gamma )\varphi (\gamma ),$$

which is the polynomial $`\varphi (\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._\gamma )S[x]`$ evaluated at $`\varphi (\gamma )=\epsilon `$. Consequently, $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\epsilon /L}`$ divides $`\varphi (\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K})`$ in $`L[x]`$. Since $`S`$ is a UFD, $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\epsilon /L}`$ divides $`\varphi (\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K})`$ in $`S[x]`$. Consequently, the image $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{b,B/F}`$ of $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\epsilon ,L}`$ in $`F[x]`$ divides the image $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{b,A/F}`$ of $`\varphi (\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{\gamma /K})`$. ∎

## 2. Matrices

In this section, we observe that the characteristic polynomial as defined above agrees with the usual linear algebra notion of characteristic polynomial in the case where $`A=M_n(F)`$.

Everyone knows the next lemma, but maybe not the clean proof:

###### Lemma 2.1.

Let $`T`$ be a linear transformation of an $`F`$-vector space of dimension $`n1`$. Then $`T`$ satisfies a nonzero polynomial of degree $`n`$.

###### Proof.

We sketch the nice proof from \[Bu 73\]. Let $`v`$ be a nonzero vector in the vector space $`V`$. The $`n+1`$ vectors

$$v,T(v),T^2(v),\mathrm{},T^n(v)$$

must be linearly dependent, so there is a polynomial $`g(x)F[x]`$ of degree $`n`$ such that $`g(T)v=0`$.

Set $`U:=\mathrm{ker}g(T)`$. The linear transformations $`T`$ and $`g(T)`$ commute, so $`T(U)U`$ and $`T`$ induces a linear transformation $`T_{V/U}`$ on $`V/U`$. By induction, $`T|_U`$ satisfies a polynomial $`m_U(x)`$ of degree $`dimU`$ and $`T_{V/U}`$ satisfies a polynomial $`m_{V/U}(x)`$ of degree $`dimV/U`$. Then $`m_{V/U}(T)VU`$ and $`T`$ satisfies the polynomial $`m_U(x)m_{V/U}(x)`$. Moreover,

$$\mathrm{deg}(m_Um_{V/U})=\mathrm{deg}(m_U)+\mathrm{deg}(m_{V/U})dimU+dim(V/U)=dimV.\mathit{}$$

###### Corollary 2.2.

The characteristic polynomial (in our sense) of a matrix in $`M_n(F)`$ has degree $`n`$.

###### Proof.

Lemma 2.1 applies in particular to $`\gamma M_n(K)`$ as a linear transformation of $`K^n`$. Substitution gives the corollary. ∎

Fix an algebraic closure $`\overline{F}`$ of $`F`$. For $`aM_n(F)`$, we call $`\lambda \overline{F}`$ an eigenvalue of $`a`$ if the kernel of $`(\lambda I_na)`$ is nonzero. Let $`U_\lambda `$ denote the corresponding generalized eigenspace, i.e., the set of vectors $`v\overline{F}^n`$ lying in the kernel of $`(\lambda I_na)^r`$ for some natural number $`r`$. The multiplicity $`m(\lambda )`$ of an eigenvalue $`\lambda `$ is $`dim_FU_\lambda `$.

###### Theorem 2.3.

For $`aM_n(F)`$, the characteristic polynomial (as defined in 1.3) of $`a`$ factors in $`\overline{F}[x]`$ as

(2.4)
$$(x\lambda _1)^{m(\lambda _1)}(x\lambda _2)^{m(\lambda _2)}\mathrm{}(x\lambda _k)^{m(\lambda _k)},$$

where $`\lambda _1,\mathrm{},\lambda _k`$ are the distinct eigenvalues of $`a`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`B`$ be the subalgebra of $`M_n(F)`$ consisting of upper triangular matrices and let $`a^{}`$ be in $`B`$. The characteristic polynomial $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{a^{},B/F}`$ of $`a^{}`$ as an element of $`B`$ was computed in Example 1.5; it is of the form (2.4). By 1.10.5, $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{a^{},B/F}`$ divides the characteristic polynomial $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{a^{},M_n(F)/F}`$ of $`a^{}`$ as an element of $`M_n(F)`$. Since both polynomials are monic and have degree $`n`$ (by 1.5 and 2.2), the theorem holds for upper triangular matrices.

Since the characteristic polynomial of the given matrix $`a`$ is unchanged under scalar extension, we may assume that $`F`$ is algebraically closed, i.e., where $`F=\overline{F}`$. Here we need one somewhat sophisticated result from linear algebra: Since $`F`$ is algebraically closed, $`a`$ is similar to an upper triangular matrix $`a^{}`$ \[Ax 95, Thm. 6.2\]. But the theorem holds for $`a^{}`$ by the preceding paragraph. Since similarity changes neither the characteristic polynomial (1.10.2) nor the eigenvalues, the theorem holds for $`a`$. ∎

In \[Ax 95\], Axler develops many of the typical properties of matrices (e.g., the existence of eigenvalues and the decomposition with respect to generalized eigenspaces) over an algebraically closed field without use of the determinant. For example, in §5 of that paper he defines the characteristic polynomial to be exactly the product displayed in the theorem. Logically, one could insert the contents of this paper at that point in his.

###### Corollary 2.5.

For $`aM_n(F)`$, the minimal polynomial $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$ and the characteristic polynomial $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$ have the same irreducible factors in $`F[x]`$.

###### Proof.

Irreducible polynomials in $`F[x]`$ are determined (up to a scalar factor) by their roots in an algebraic closure $`\overline{F}`$. Thus we may assume that $`F`$ is algebraically closed.

As in the proof of Th. 2.3, $`a`$ is similar to an upper triangular matrix since $`F`$ is algebraically closed. Since conjugation changes neither the characteristic nor the minimal polynomial, we may also assume that $`a`$ is upper triangular.

By Th. 2.3, every irreducible factor of the characteristic polynomial is of the form $`(x\lambda _i)`$ where $`\lambda _i`$ is a diagonal entry in $`a`$, say $`\lambda _i=a_{ii}`$. The $`(i,i)`$-entry of $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._a(a)=0`$ is 0, but it is also $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._a(\lambda _i)`$. Therefore, $`(x\lambda _i)`$ divides $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$, and $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$ divides $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$.

Since $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$ divides $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$ by Cayley-Hamilton, the corollary is proved. ∎

###### Proposition 2.6.

For $`a`$ and $`a^{}`$ in $`M_n(F)`$, the following are true:

1. $`a`$ is invertible if and only if $`c_n(a)0`$.
2. (Jacobi formula) $`c_n(a)=_{\sigma S_n}(\mathrm{sign}\sigma )a_{1\sigma (1)}a_{2\sigma (2)}\mathrm{}a_{n\sigma (n)}`$.
3. $`c_n(aa^{})=c_n(a)c_n(a^{}).`$

###### Proof.

(1): The matrix $`a`$ is invertible if and only if the kernel of $`a`$ is trivial, if and only if $`0`$ is not an eigenvalue of $`A`$. By Theorem 2.3, this is true if and only if $`c_n(a)0`$.

We now follow \[Ax 95, §9\]. Write $`d(a)`$ for the right-hand side of (2). A straightforward rearrangement of terms as in \[BW 89, p. 179\] shows that $`d(aa^{})=d(a)d(a^{})`$. Therefore, (2) implies (3).

We now prove (2). Suppose first that $`a`$ is upper-triangular. Then both sides of (2) are just the product of the diagonal entries of $`a`$, hence (2) holds in this case.

Now consider the general case. Since $`c_n(a)`$ and $`d(a)`$ are unchanged if we enlarge our base field, we may assume that $`F`$ is algebraically closed and hence that $`a`$ is similar to an upper triangular matrix $`a^{}`$, i.e., $`a^{}=bab^1`$ for some $`bM_n(F)`$. Then

$$c_n(a^{})=d(a^{})=d(bab^1)=d(b)d(ab^1)=d(ab^1)d(b)=d(ab^1b)=d(a).$$

Since $`c_n(a)=c_n(a^{})`$ by 1.10.2, we have proved (2). ∎

###### Definition 2.7.

For $`a`$ an element of a finite-dimensional $`F`$-algebra $`A`$, we define the trace of $`a`$ to be

$$\mathrm{tr}_{A/F}(a):=c_1(a)$$

and the determinant of $`a`$ to be

$$\mathrm{det}_{A/F}(a):=c_n(a).$$

If there is no danger of ambiguity, we write simply $`\mathrm{det}_A`$ or $`\mathrm{det}`$ instead of $`\mathrm{det}_{A/F}`$ and similarly for the trace.

By Theorem 2.3, the trace $`\mathrm{tr}_{M_n(F)}`$ and determinant $`\mathrm{det}_{M_n(F)}`$ are the usual trace and determinant from linear algebra.

## 3. Quaternions

###### Example 3.1.

Hamilton’s quaternions — usually denoted by $``$ — are defined to be the ring constructed by taking the complex numbers $``$ and adjoining an element $`j`$ such that $`j^2=1`$, $`j`$ commutes with real numbers, and $`ij=ji`$. Note that $``$ is an $``$-algebra but not a $``$-algebra, since $``$ is not in the center of $``$. It has $``$-basis 1, $`i`$, $`j`$, $`k`$, where $`k=ij`$. A lot of interesting information about the quaternions can be found in \[Numbers, Ch. 7\].

Set $`\varphi `$ to be the $``$-linear map $`M_2()`$ defined by

$$1\left(\begin{array}{cc}1& 0\\ 0& 1\end{array}\right)\text{for }r\text{ real},i\left(\begin{array}{cc}i& 0\\ 0& i\end{array}\right),$$

$$j\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& 1\\ 1& 0\end{array}\right),\text{and}k\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& i\\ i& 0\end{array}\right).$$

This extends to an isomorphism $`\varphi :M_2()`$ (as $``$-algebras).

Every quaternion can be written as $`q=r+si+uj+vk=z+wj`$ for some real numbers $`r`$, $`s`$, $`u`$, $`v`$ and complex numbers $`z=r+si`$ and $`w=u+vi`$. We have

$$\varphi (q)=\left(\begin{array}{cc}z& w\\ \overline{w}& \overline{z}\end{array}\right).$$

Since the characteristic polynomial is unchanged when we enlarge our base field, we find that

$$\mathrm{tr}_{}(q)=\mathrm{tr}_{M_2()}(\varphi (q))=z+\overline{z}=2r$$

and

$$\mathrm{det}_{}(q)=\mathrm{det}_{M_2()}(\varphi (q))=z\overline{z}+w\overline{w}=r^2+s^2+u^2+v^2.$$

###### Example 3.2 (Matrices over the quaternions).

Write $`M_2()`$ for the set of 2-by-2 matrices with entries in $``$. The obvious addition and multiplication make it into a 16-dimensional $``$-algebra.

In \[Cay 1845\], Cayley defined a determinant

$$\mathrm{Cdet}:M_2()\text{by}\mathrm{Cdet}\left(\begin{array}{cc}q_{11}& q_{12}\\ q_{21}& q_{22}\end{array}\right)=q_{11}q_{22}q_{21}q_{22}$$

He noted that his determinant has some unsavory properties, for example that

$$\mathrm{Cdet}\left(\begin{array}{cc}q& q^{}\\ q& q^{}\end{array}\right)=0\text{for all }q\text{}q^{}\text{,}$$

but

$$\mathrm{Cdet}\left(\begin{array}{cc}i& i\\ j& j\end{array}\right)=ijji=2ij0.$$

Let us constrast this with the determinant that we have just defined. Just as for $``$ above, there is an isomorphism $`\varphi _2:M_2()M_4()`$ such that

$$\varphi _2\left(\begin{array}{cc}q_{11}& q_{12}\\ q_{21}& q_{22}\end{array}\right)=\left(\begin{array}{cc}\varphi (q_{11})& \varphi (q_{12})\\ \varphi (q_{21})& \varphi (q_{22})\end{array}\right).$$

(Recall that $`\varphi (q)`$ is a 2-by-2 complex matrices for every $`q`$.) If $`mM_2()`$ has a repeated row or column, then so does $`\varphi _2(m)`$, hence

$$\mathrm{det}_{M_2()}(m)=\mathrm{det}_{M_4()}(\varphi _2(m))=0.$$

More generally, our trace and determinant have the nice properties of the usual trace and determinant for matrices as given in 1.10.

For a more comprehensive discussion of various types of determinants for $`M_2()`$, see \[As 96\]. Aslaksen refers to our $`\mathrm{det}_{M_2()}`$ as the Study determinant.

###### Example 3.3 (Central simple algebras).

A typical topic for a first year graduate algebra course is Wedderburn’s description of simple artinian rings: they are isomorphic to $`M_r(D)`$ for $`D`$ a skew field. Write $`F`$ for the center of $`D`$ (which is necessarily a field), and suppose that $`D`$ is finite-dimensional over $`F`$. Such an algebra $`M_r(D)`$ is called central simple. We have just seen two examples of these, with $`F=`$, $`D=`$, and $`r=1`$, 2.

The trace $`\mathrm{tr}_{M_r(D)}`$ and determinant $`\mathrm{det}_{M_r(D)}`$ are called the reduced trace and reduced norm respectively. They are usually constructed by “Galois descent” as in \[Dr 83, p. 145\] or \[Pi 82\], but here we get them as a consequence of the existence of the characteristic polynomial, which is true for a much broader class of algebras.

## 4. More properties of the characteristic polynomial

Here we discuss the example of finite-dimensional field extensions (4.4) and prove some more nice properties of the characteristic polynomial (4.5).

Write $`\mathrm{End}_F(A)`$ for the set of $`F`$-linear maps $`AA`$. It is an $`F`$-algebra; its multiplication is function composition. It is isomorphic to $`M_m(F)`$.

For $`aA`$, write $`L_a`$ for the element of $`\mathrm{End}_F(A)`$ defined by

$$L_a(b)=ab\text{for }bA\text{.}$$

The map $`aL_a`$ defines an $`F`$-algebra homomorphism called the left regular representation of $`A`$. This homomorphism is injective: if $`L_a=0`$, then $`L_a(a^{})=0`$ for all $`a^{}A`$, hence $`0=L_a(1_A)=a1_A=a`$.

###### Example 4.1.

Let $`A`$ be $`M_n(F)`$ or more generally a simple ring with center $`F`$ such that $`dim_FA=n^2`$. One can show that

(4.2)
$$\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_a,\mathrm{End}_F(A)/F}=(\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{a,A/F})^n$$

for every $`aA`$, see e.g. \[Bo 48, Ch. VIII, §12.3\].

###### Proposition 4.3.

Let $`a`$ be an element in a finite-dimensional $`F`$-algebra $`A`$. The minimal polynomial $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{a/F}`$ divides the characteristic polynomial $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{a,A/F}`$ of $`a`$ which divides the characteristic polynomial $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_a,\mathrm{End}_F(A)/F}`$, all in $`F[x]`$. All three polynomials have the same irreducible factors in $`F[x]`$.

###### Proof.

Since $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a(a)=0`$ by Cayley-Hamilton (1.10.1), the minimal polynomial of $`a`$ divides the characteristic polynomial $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$. Since the left regular representation is injective, we have that $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$ divides $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_a}`$ by 1.10.5.

We are reduced to showing that $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_a}`$ and $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$ have the same irreducible factors. Since the left regular representation is injective, $`a`$ and $`L_a`$ have the same minimal polynomials. That is, we need only show that $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_a}`$ and $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_a}`$ have the same irreducible factors. Since $`\mathrm{End}_F(A)`$ is isomorphic to $`M_m(F)`$ for $`m=dim_FA`$, we are done by 2.5. ∎

The proposition gives us the power to handle another example.

###### Example 4.4 (Finite-degree field extensions).

Let $`A`$ be an extension field of $`F`$ of finite dimension $`m`$. Every element $`aA`$ gives an element $`L_a`$ in $`\mathrm{End}_F(A)M_m(F)`$, and the characteristic polynomial of $`a`$ divides the characteristic polynomial of $`L_a`$ by the proposition. The trace and norm of $`a`$ are typically defined to be the trace and determinant of $`L_a`$.

If $`A`$ is separable over $`F`$, then by the Theorem of the Primitive Element, $`A=F[\theta ]`$ for some $`\theta A`$. The minimal polynomial of $`\theta `$ has degree $`m`$. Since it divides the characteristic polynomial of $`L_\theta `$ by 4.3 and that polynomial has degree $`m`$, we find that

$$\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{\theta ,A/F}=\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_\theta }.$$

Since the characteristic polynomial has the same degree for all $`aA`$, we have

$$\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a=\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_a}\text{for all }aA\text{.}$$

In particular, for finite separable field extensions, our trace and determinant agree with the usual trace and norm.

If $`A`$ is not separable over $`F`$, there can be some disagreement. For example, let $`F=𝔽_2(u,v)`$ where $`𝔽_2`$ is the field with 2 elements and $`u`$, $`v`$ are indeterminates. The field $`A=F(\sqrt{u},\sqrt{v})`$ is a purely inseparable extension of degree 4 with $`F`$-basis $`1`$, $`\sqrt{u}`$, $`\sqrt{v}`$, $`\sqrt{uv}`$. The generic element

$$\gamma =t_11+t_2\sqrt{u}+t_3\sqrt{v}+t_4\sqrt{uv}$$

has minimal polynomial

$$\gamma ^2(t_1^2+t_2^2u+t_3^2v+t_4^2uv).$$

Here the characteristic polynomial of each element $`aA`$ divides but is not equal to the characteristic polynomial of $`L_a`$.

The proposition also allows us to prove that many nice properties of the characteristic polynomial of a matrix also hold for characteristic polynomials of elements of $`A`$.

Recall (1.4) that the characteristic polynomial has the same degree for every $`aA`$. We say that $`A`$ has degree $`n`$ if $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a`$ has degree $`n`$.

###### Corollary 4.5.

Let $`A`$ be a finite-dimensional $`F`$-algebra of degree $`n`$. For $`aA`$, we have:

1. $`c_i(1_A)=\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n}{i}\right)`$. In particular, $`\mathrm{tr}_A(1_A)=n`$ and $`\mathrm{det}_A(1_A)=1`$.
2. $`a`$ is invertible if and only if $`\mathrm{det}_A(a)0`$.
3. $`a`$ is nilpotent if and only if $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a=x^n`$.

###### Proof.

(1): The minimal polynomial of $`1_A`$ is $`x1`$, hence Proposition 4.3 gives that

$$\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{1_A}=(x1)^n.$$

(2, $``$): Define the adjoint of $`a`$, denoted by $`\mathrm{adj}a`$, to be

$$\mathrm{adj}a=(1)^{n+1}[a^{n1}c_1(a)a^{n2}+\mathrm{}+(1)^{n1}c_{n1}(a)].$$

Then

$$a\mathrm{adj}a=(1)^{n+1}[\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a(a)(1)^nc_n(a)]=\mathrm{det}_A(a)1_A.$$

hence, if $`\mathrm{det}_A(a)`$ is not zero, $`a`$ is invertible.

(2, $``$): If $`a`$ is invertible, then $`L_a`$ is invertible with inverse $`L_{a^1}`$. By 2.6.1, the constant term $`\mathrm{det}_{\mathrm{End}_F(A)}(L_a)`$ of $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_a}`$ is not zero. Since $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{a,A/F}`$ and $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_a,\mathrm{End}_F(A)/F}`$ have the same irreducible factors in $`F[x]`$, the constant term $`\mathrm{det}_A(a)`$ of $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{a,A/F}`$ is not zero.

(3): $`a`$ is nilpotent if and only if it satisfies $`x^r`$ for some natural number $`r`$, if and only if it has minimal polynomial $`x^p`$ for some natural number $`p`$. Since the minimal polynomial and characteristic polynomial have the same irreducible factors 4.3, this holds if and only if the characteristic polynomial of $`a`$ is $`x^n`$. ∎

###### Remark 4.6.

One might be tempted to accept the traditional definition of characteristic polynomial for matrices, and then define the characteristic polynomial of $`aA`$ as $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_a,\mathrm{End}_F(A)/F}`$. (This is logically equivalent to the usual definition of the norm and trace in the case where $`A`$ is a finite-degree field extension of $`F`$, see e.g. \[Lang 02, VI.5.6\].) However, Example 4.1 shows that in some cases one wants to take an $`n`$-th root of $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_a}`$. But there is a more serious problem: There is no strong mathematical reason to prefer the left regular representation over the right regular representation (defined in the obvious manner as $`aR_a`$), and the characteristic polynomials of $`L_a`$ and $`R_a`$ may differ. Adrian Wadsworth points out that the upper triangular matrices from Example 1.5 provide an example of this difficulty. In particular, the generic element $`\gamma `$ has

$$\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_a}(\gamma )=(xt_1)^n(xt_2)^{n1}\mathrm{}(xt_{n1})^2(xt_n)$$

and

$$\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{R_a}(\gamma )=(xt_1)(xt_2)^2\mathrm{}(xt_{n1})^{n1}(xt_n)^n.$$

## 5. The product formula for determinants

In this section, we prove that the usual product formula for determinants of matrices holds for an arbitrary finite-dimensional $`F`$-algebra $`A`$:

###### Theorem 5.1.

For every $`a`$, $`a^{}A`$, we have

$$\mathrm{det}_A(aa^{})=\mathrm{det}_A(a)\mathrm{det}_A(a^{}).$$

We postpone the proof until the end of the section. A somewhat different proof can be found in \[Jacobson 68, §VI.5\], but it is even more complicated and arcane than what you will find below.

5.2. Recall that $`\mathrm{det}_A`$ is both a function $`AF`$ and an element of $`R=F[t_1,\mathrm{},t_m]`$. To evaluate the function $`\mathrm{det}_A`$ on $`aA`$, we write $`a`$ in terms of our basis $`a_1`$, $`\mathrm{}`$, $`a_m`$ as $`a=_i\alpha _ia_i`$ and substitute $`t_i\alpha _i`$ in the polynomial $`\mathrm{det}_A`$. In this manner, we may view each polynomial in $`R`$ as a function $`AF`$.

###### Lemma 5.3.

Suppose that $`F`$ is infinite. Let $`fR`$ be such that

$$f(1_A)=1\text{and}f(aa^{})=f(a)f(a^{})\text{ for all }a,a^{}A\text{.}$$

If $`gR`$ divides $`f`$ and has $`g(1_A)=1`$, then

$$g(aa^{})=g(a)g(a^{})\text{for all }a\text{}a^{}A\text{.}$$

###### Proof.

Since $`f(1_A)=g(1_A)=1`$, we have $`f,g0`$ in $`R`$. Suppose that $`f`$ or $`g`$ is a unit in $`R`$, i.e., is in $`R^{}=F^{}`$. Then $`g`$ is a unit, hence $`g=1`$ and the lemma holds.

We may assume that $`f`$ and $`g`$ are nonzero nonunits. Since $`R`$ is a UFD, we may write $`f=f_1f_2\mathrm{}f_r`$ where $`f_k`$ is irreducible in $`R`$ for every $`k=1`$, $`\mathrm{}`$, $`r`$. By multiplying $`f_k`$ by an element of $`F^{}`$ if necessary, we may assume that $`f_k(1_A)=1`$ for every $`k`$. Since $`g`$ divides $`f`$ and $`g(1_A)=1`$, $`g`$ is a product

$$g=\underset{\mathrm{}L}{}f_{\mathrm{}}\text{for some }L[1,n]\text{.}$$

To prove the lemma, it suffices to prove that $`f_k(aa^{})=f_k(a)f_k(a^{})`$ for all $`k[1,n]`$ and $`a`$, $`a^{}A`$.

Set $`R^{}=F[u_1,\mathrm{},u_m,v_1,\mathrm{},v_m]`$ for $`u_1,\mathrm{},u_m`$, $`v_1,\mathrm{},v_m`$ independent indeterminates, and let $`F^{}`$ be the quotient field of $`R^{}`$. Set

$$\mu =\underset{i}{}u_ia_i\text{and}\nu =\underset{j}{}v_ja_j\text{in }AR^{}\text{.}$$

As in 5.1, every element of $`R`$ defines a map $`AR^{}R^{}`$. For example, to find $`f(\mu )`$, one takes $`f`$ and substitutes $`t_iu_i`$. Similarly, one gets $`f(\nu )`$ by substituting $`t_jv_j`$.

We claim that $`f(\mu \nu )=f(\mu )f(\nu )`$. Let $`\delta :=f(\mu \nu )f(\mu )f(\nu )`$ in $`R^{}`$. Every element of $`R^{}`$ defines a function $`F^{2m}F`$ by plugging in for the the $`u`$’s and $`v`$’s. Substituting $`u_i\alpha _i`$ and $`v_j\beta _j`$ into $`\delta `$ for $`\alpha _i`$, $`\beta _jF`$, we obtain

$$f(ab)f(a)f(b)\text{for }a=\alpha _ia_i\text{ and }b=\beta _ja_j\text{,}$$

which is 0 by hypothesis. That is, $`\delta `$ gives the map $`F^{2m}F`$ which is identically 0. Since $`F`$ is infinite, $`\delta =0`$, which proves the claim.

Thus

$$\underset{k=1}{\overset{r}{}}f_k(\mu \nu )=f(\mu \nu )=f(\mu )f(\nu )=\underset{k=1}{\overset{r}{}}f_i(\mu )f_i(\nu )\text{in }R^{}\text{.}$$

Recall that one obtains $`f_k(\mu )`$ and $`f_k(\nu )`$ by substituting one set of indeterminates for another in $`f_k`$. Hence, since $`f_k`$ is irreducible in $`R`$, the polynomials $`f_k(\mu )`$, $`f_k(\nu )`$ are irreducible in $`R^{}`$ for all $`k`$. Therefore the prime factorization of $`f_k(\mu \nu )`$ in the UFD $`R^{}`$ is a product of $`f_p(\mu )`$ and $`f_q(\nu )`$ for some $`p`$’s and $`q`$’s. Substituting in for the $`v_j`$’s so that $`\nu `$ is sent to $`1_A`$ maps

$$f_k(\mu \nu )f_k(\mu ),f_p(\mu )f_p(\mu ),\text{and}f_q(\nu )f_q(1_A)=1$$

for all $`p`$ and $`q`$. Hence the only irreducible factor of $`f_k(\mu \nu )`$ amongst the $`f_p(\mu )`$ terms is equal to $`f_k(\mu )`$. Similarly, substituting in for the $`u_i`$’s so that $`\mu 1_A`$, we have $`f_k(\mu \nu )f_k(\nu )`$, hence

$$f_k(\mu \nu )=f_k(\mu )f_k(\nu )\text{for }k=1,\mathrm{},n\text{.}$$

By substituting $`\mu a`$ and $`\nu a^{}`$, we obtain that $`f_k(aa^{})=f_k(a)f_k(a^{})`$ for all $`a`$, $`a^{}A`$. ∎

###### Proof of Theorem 5.1.

Since the determinant of an element of $`A`$ is unchanged when we enlarge the base field (1.8), we may assume that $`F`$ is infinite. Let $`\gamma =t_ia_i`$ be a generic element of $`A`$ as in §1, and consider the element $`L_\gamma `$ in $`\mathrm{End}_K(AK)`$.

The minimal polynomial $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._\gamma `$ divides $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_\gamma ,\mathrm{End}_K(AK)/K}`$ in $`K[x]`$ by 4.3. By 1.2, both polynomials actually lie in $`R[x]`$ for $`R=F[t_1,\mathrm{},t_m]`$, hence $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._\gamma `$ divides $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_\gamma }`$ in $`R[x]`$ by Gauss’ Lemma. Substituting $`x0`$ defines a surjection $`R[x]R`$ which sends $`\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._\gamma (1)^d\mathrm{det}_A`$ for $`d=\mathrm{deg}(\mathrm{min}.\mathrm{poly}._\gamma )`$ and $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{L_\gamma }`$ to the function $`a(1)^m\mathrm{det}_{\mathrm{End}_F(A)}(L_a)`$. Since substitution is a ring homomorphism, $`\mathrm{det}_A`$ divides $`a\mathrm{det}_{\mathrm{End}_F(A)}(L_a)`$ in $`R`$.

We have

$$\mathrm{det}_{\mathrm{End}_F(A)}(L_{aa^{}})=\mathrm{det}_{\mathrm{End}_F(A)}(L_aL_a^{})=\mathrm{det}_{\mathrm{End}_F(A)}(L_a)\mathrm{det}_{\mathrm{End}_F(A)}(L_a^{}),$$

where the last equality is by 2.6.3 since $`\mathrm{End}_F(A)M_m(F)`$. Note that

$$\mathrm{det}_{\mathrm{End}_F(A)}(L_{1_A})=\mathrm{det}_{M_m(F)}(1_{M_m(F)})=1$$

and $`\mathrm{det}_A(1_A)=1`$ by 4.5.1. Since $`F`$ is infinite, Lemma 5.3 gives:

$$\mathrm{det}_A(aa^{})=\mathrm{det}_A(a)\mathrm{det}_A(a^{})$$

as desired. ∎

To summarize, we defined the characteristic polynomial of an element in a finite-dimensional $`F`$-algebra in §1. We defined the determinant $`\mathrm{det}_A`$ to be the constant term of this polynomial (2.7). In the case $`A=M_n(F)`$, we found that $`\mathrm{det}_{M_n(F)}`$ is given by the Jacobi formula (2.6.2), hence the product formula holds for $`\mathrm{det}_{M_n(F)}`$ (2.6.3). Finally, we used Prop. 4.3 to prove the product formula for $`\mathrm{det}_A`$ (5.1).

## 6. Miscellaneous remarks

This section is a survey of other results. It is necessarily briefer and more technical than the rest of the paper.

6.1. The “usual” definition of the characteristic polynomial. For $`aA`$, I claim that the formula

(6.2)
$$\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._a=\mathrm{det}(x1_Aa)$$

holds in $`F[x]`$. But what does the expression “$`\mathrm{det}(x1_Aa)`$” mean? For matrices, the determinant is given by the Jacobi formula 2.6.2 involving the entries of a matrix; this formula makes sense whether the entries are elements of $`F`$ or polynomials in $`F[x]`$. The same reasoning holds for our more general notion of determinant.

One way to prove (6.2) is as follows. First prove it for $`A`$ the algebra of upper triangular matrices from Example 1.5. Then prove (6.2) for $`A=M_n(F)`$ by reducing to the upper triangular case as in the proof of Th. 2.3. This implies (6.2) for general $`A`$ by the arguments in \[Jacobson 68, p. 225\].

6.3. $`\mathrm{𝐜𝐡}.\mathrm{𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐲}._{ab}=\mathrm{𝐜𝐡}.\mathrm{𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐲}._{ba}`$. If $`a`$ and $`b`$ are $`n`$-by-$`n`$ matrices, it is well-known that $`\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{ab}=\mathrm{ch}.\mathrm{poly}._{ba}`$. We can prove it directly for general $`A`$. Let $`c_i`$ be one of the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial as in (1.9), so $`c_i:AF`$ and we want to show that $`c_i(ab)=c_i(ba)`$ for all $`i`$.

First assume that $`b`$ is invertible. Then

$$c_i(ab)=c_i(b(ab)b^1)=c_i(ba)$$

by 1.10.2.

Now the set $`U`$ of pairs $`(a,b)A\times A`$ such that $`b`$ is invertible is a nonempty open subset of $`A\times A`$ in the Zariski topology. The map $`A\times AF`$ defined by

$$(a,b)c_i(ab)c_i(ba)$$

is given by a polynomial in the coordinates of $`a`$ and $`b`$ and is zero on $`U`$, hence is identically zero on $`A\times A`$. This proves that $`c_i(ab)=c_i(ba)`$ for all $`a,bA`$ and all $`i`$.

6.4. The Pfaffian. Suppose that $`\mathrm{char}F2`$. Write $`\mathrm{Skew}_n(F)`$ for the vector space of skew-symmetric $`n`$-by-$`n`$ matrices, i.e., matrices $`a`$ such that $`a^t=a`$.

If $`n`$ is odd, then $`\mathrm{det}(a)=\mathrm{det}(a)`$ by 1.10.3. Since $`\mathrm{det}(a^t)=\mathrm{det}(a)`$ by 1.10.2, all $`n`$-by-$`n`$ skew-symmetric matrices have determinant 0.

Suppose that $`n`$ is even. There is a polynomial map

(6.5)
$$\mathrm{Pf}:\mathrm{Skew}_n(F)F\text{such that}(\mathrm{Pf}(a))^2=\mathrm{det}_{M_n(F)}(a)$$

called the Pfaffian, see e.g. \[Lang 02, §XV.9\]. It seems a bit mysterious!

(Note that Equation (6.5) only determines the Pfaffian up to sign; classically one chooses an invertible skew-symmetric matrix $`S`$ with $`\mathrm{det}(S)=1`$ and fixes the sign of $`\mathrm{Pf}`$ so that $`\mathrm{Pf}(S)=1`$.)

In fact, the Pfaffian exists as a consequence of the characteristic polynomial as defined in §1. Fix a matrix $`S`$ as in the preceding paragraph and define a multiplication $``$ on $`\mathrm{Skew}_n(F)`$ given by

$$ab=\frac{1}{2}(aS^1b+bS^1a).$$

This makes $`\mathrm{Skew}_n(F)`$ into a Jordan $`F`$-algebra with identity element $`S`$. These algebras arise naturally in the classification of central simple Jordan algebras555See \[Jacobson 68, §V.7\]. They correspond to Lie algebras of type C in the Killing-Cartan classification.; they are associated with a nondegenerate skew-symmetric bilinear form on $`F^n`$.

As mentioned in the introduction, the theory developed in §1 can be extended to give a characteristic polynomial and a determinant for this Jordan algebra. One finds that the determinant is the Pfaffian:

$$\mathrm{det}_{\mathrm{Skew}_n(F)}(a)=\mathrm{Pf}(a),$$

see \[Jacobson 68, pp. 230–232\].

6.6. Matrices over rings. Apparently, we have given a canonical construction of an analogue of the characteristic polynomial and hence the determinant for any algebra over a field $`F`$. But the characteristic polynomial and determinant are typically defined for $`M_n(R)`$ where $`R`$ is merely a commutative ring with 1; our definition also works in that case with some modification.

First, consider $`M_n()`$ as a $``$-algebra, i.e., the case $`A=M_n()`$ and $`F=`$. Since $``$ is a noetherian UFD and $`M_n()`$ is a free $``$-module of finite rank, the results in §1 hold with this $`A`$ and $`F`$.

Lemma 1.8 holds if we require $`E`$ to be a noetherian UFD containing $`F`$ so that we may define the characteristic polynomial over $`E`$. (Since $`A`$ is a free $`F`$-module, $`AE`$ is a free $`E`$-module.) Let $`L`$ be the field of rational functions in $`t_1`$, $`\mathrm{}`$, $`t_m`$ over the quotient field of $`E`$. The minimal polynomial for $`\gamma `$ over $`K`$ is also the minimal polynomial for $`\gamma `$ over $`L`$ by 1.8, hence characteristic polynomials are also unchanged by scalar extension in this more general setting. In particular, the characteristic polynomial of a matrix $`aM_n()`$ is the same as the characteristic polynomial of $`a`$ considered as a matrix in $`M_n()`$, which is the usual characteristic polynomial by Th. 2.3.

A coefficient $`c_i`$ of the characteristic polynomial as in (1.9) is given by a polynomial in $`[t_1,\mathrm{},t_m]`$, and it is evaluated on a matrix $`a`$ as described in 5.1. For example, undergraduates are taught how to evaluate $`c_n=\mathrm{det}`$, which is given by the Jacobi formula 2.6.2 with respect to the standard basis of $`M_n()`$. Just as for the determinant, one can evaluate $`c_i`$ on a matrix in $`M_n()R=M_n(R)`$ for $`R`$ any commutative ring with 1, and the resulting characteristic polynomial has the usual felicitous properties.


text:
# Effective action in a quantized metric

## 1 Introduction

The effective action is derived as a result of an integration over quantum fields with some classical sources. At the same time it can be given a meaning of the classical action whose tree approximation takes into account the quantum effects. It gives a useful illustration of the quantum corrections to classical phenomena. In this paper we show that the form of the effective action for fields interacting with gravity follows from the scaling properties of quantum gravity. We assume that quantum gravity is scale invariant at short distances with the scale dimension $`\gamma `$. When expressed in terms of the metric $`g`$ this means that $`\lambda ^{2\gamma }g^{\mu \nu }(\lambda x)`$ and $`g^{\mu \nu }(x)`$ have the same correlation functions. We calculate the 1-loop generating functional for matter fields in an external gravitational field. Then, the (quantum) correlation functions of the gravitational field are assumed to be scale invariant. An approximate evaluation of an average of the generating functional over the gravitational field leads (after the Legendre transformation) to an effective action which is substantially different from the perturbative one. The inverse propagator grows faster in momenta than the free one. Moreover, the 1-loop corrections to the effective action do not receive the logarithmic corrections characteristic to the renormalizable quantum field theories.

## 2 The scalar heat kernel

We repeat some steps of our ealier paper  where an interaction with a scale invariant gravity has been discussed. We express an average of the heat kernel of the Laplace-Beltrami operator $`2𝒜`$ over the metric $`g`$ by means of the path integral

$$\begin{array}{c}K_\tau (x,y)=(\mathrm{exp}\tau 𝒜)(x,y)=𝒟g\mathrm{exp}\left(𝑑x_g\left(g\left(x\right)\right)\right)\hfill \\ 𝒟q\mathrm{exp}(\frac{1}{2}g^{\mu \nu }\frac{dq_\mu }{dt}\frac{dq_\nu }{dt})\delta \left(q\left(0\right)x\right)\delta \left(q\left(\tau \right)y\right)\hfill \end{array}$$
(1)
where $`_g`$ is the gravitational Lagrangian. In order to obtain the behavior of $`K_\tau (x,y)`$ for a small $`\tau `$ it is sufficient to assume the scale invariance of the metric $`g`$ at short distances. We can also derive this short time asymptotics directly from the functional integral (1) assuming a scale invariance of the action

$$𝑑x_g\left(\lambda ^{2\gamma }g\left(\lambda x\right)\right)=𝑑x_g\left(g\left(x\right)\right)$$
(2)
In fact, introducing in eq.(1) a new functional integration variable $`\stackrel{~}{g}=\lambda ^{2\gamma }g\left(\lambda x\right)`$ and a new path $`\stackrel{~}{q}`$ defined on an interval $`[0,1]`$ by

$$q(\tau s)x=\tau ^\sigma (\stackrel{~}{q}(s)x)$$
(3)
where

$$\sigma =\frac{1}{2}(1+\gamma )^1$$

we can explicitly extract the $`\tau `$-dependence of $`K_\tau (x,y)`$

$$K_\tau (x,y)=E[\delta \left(yx\tau ^{\frac{1}{2}\sigma \gamma }\stackrel{~}{q}\left(1\right)\right)]$$
(4)
where $`E[.]`$ denotes an expectation value over the paths $`\stackrel{~}{q}`$. Then, an average over the propagator (in the proper time representation) behaves as

$$𝒜^1(x,y)=_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑\tau K_\tau (x,y)|xy|^{2+2\gamma }$$
(5)
For the effective action we need only the diagonal of the heat kernel. From eq.(4)

$$\begin{array}{c}K_\tau (x,x)=\tau ^{\frac{2}{1+\gamma }}E\left[\delta \left(\stackrel{~}{q}\left(1\right)\right)\right]\tau ^{\frac{2}{1+\gamma }}v(x)\hfill \end{array}$$
(6)
where the mean value $`v`$ depends only on x.

## 3 The electromagnetic heat kernel

For a calculation of the effective action we need the heat kernel of an operator arising from the electromagnetic Lagrangian

$$W=\frac{1}{4}d^4x\sqrt{g}g^{\mu \nu }g^{\sigma \rho }F_{\mu \sigma }F_{\nu \rho }$$
(7)
We choose the Feynman gauge which results from an addition to the action of the term

$$W_0=\frac{1}{2}d^4x(g^{\mu \nu }_\nu (\sqrt{g}A_\mu ))^2$$
(8)
We write $`\stackrel{~}{W}=W+W_0`$ as

$$\stackrel{~}{W}=\frac{1}{2}d^4x\widehat{A}_a(g^{\mu \nu }(_\mu \delta _{ac}+\omega _{\mu a}^c)(_\nu \delta _{cb}+\omega _{\nu c}^b)+R_{ab})\widehat{A}_b\frac{1}{2}\widehat{A}\mathrm{}_{EM}\widehat{A}$$
(9)
where $`g^{\mu \nu }=e_a^\mu e_a^\nu `$,$`\widehat{A}_a=e_a^\mu A_\mu `$ , $`R_{ab}`$ is the Ricci tensor and the spin connection $`\omega `$ is just a transformation of the Christoffel symbol to the fixed frame

$$\omega _{\mu c}^a=e_c^\nu \mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mu \nu }^\sigma l_\sigma ^a+l_\nu ^a_\mu e_c^\nu $$

where $`l`$ is the inverse matrix to $`e`$. We are interested in the heat equation

$$_\tau \widehat{A}=\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{}_{EM}\widehat{A}$$
(10)
The solution can be expressed in the form

$$\widehat{A}(\tau ,x)(T_\tau \widehat{A})(x)=E[𝒯(\tau )\widehat{A}(q_\tau (x))]$$
(11)
where $`𝒯(\tau )`$ is a solution of the equation

$$d𝒯_{ac}=\omega _{\mu a}^b𝒯_{bc}dq^\mu +\frac{1}{2}R_{ab}𝒯_{bc}d\tau $$
(12)
From eq.(11) (cp. with eq.(6))

$$K_\tau (x,x)=E[𝒯(\tau )\delta \left(q_\tau \right)]$$
(13)
We can apply now the scaling of sec.2 in order to conclude that

$$K_\tau (x,x)=\tau ^{\frac{2}{1+\gamma }}v(\tau ,x)$$
(14)
where $`v(\tau ,x)`$ is equal to (with the notation as in eq.(6))

$$v(\tau ,x)=E[𝒯(\tau )\delta \left(\stackrel{~}{q}\left(1\right)\right)]$$

It is a regular function of $`\tau `$.

## 4 The effective action for the $`\mathrm{\Phi }^4`$ scalar field

We wish to calculate the generating functional (where $`A`$ may denote either the gauge field or the scalar field)

$$Z[J,\mathrm{\Theta }]=𝒟A𝒟g\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{\mathrm{}}(L+JA+g\mathrm{\Theta })\right)$$
(15)
In the conventional approach we make a shift $`AA+B`$ and $`gg+h`$. We choose $`B`$ and $`h`$ as solutions of classical equations. Then, the linear terms in $`A`$ and $`g`$ vanish. The integration over the quadratic term in $`A`$ gives a determinant. We restrict ourselves to the effective action for the matter fields in the 1-loop approximation. Then, $`\mathrm{\Theta }=0`$ and $`h=0`$. The standard loop expansion is an expansion in the Planck constant $`\mathrm{}`$. We assume that $`\mathrm{}`$ is small but the gravitational coupling $`\kappa `$ is large and of the order $`\frac{1}{\mathrm{}}`$. This assumption is a mathematical trick which allows us to treat gravity beyond the one loop in order to see its non-perturbative effects. It can however have a physical interpretation. The parameters $`\kappa `$ and $`\mathrm{}`$ have a dimension. Hence, large and small depends on the physical context. A small length $`\sqrt{\mathrm{}}`$ (with small $`\mathrm{}`$ and large $`\kappa `$ )means that it is small in comparison to the Planck length $`\sqrt{\kappa \mathrm{}}`$.

We discuss first the scalar field Lagrangian (it is technically simpler and may be relvant for inflationary models). Let

$$L=\frac{1}{2}g^{\mu \nu }_\mu \mathrm{\Phi }_\nu \mathrm{\Phi }\frac{\alpha }{6}\mathrm{\Phi }^4$$

So, taking only diagrams with one scalar loop we obtain

$$Z[J]=\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{\mathrm{}}W(\varphi _c)\right)det^{\frac{1}{2}}$$
(16)
where

$$=𝒜+\alpha \varphi _c^2$$
(17)
and $`\varphi _c`$ is the solution of the classical equation

$$𝒜\varphi _c+\frac{1}{3}\alpha \varphi _c^3=\frac{1}{2}J$$
(18)
$`2𝒜`$ is the Laplace-Beltrami operator. $`W(\varphi _c)`$ denotes the classical action. Clearly, it is not simple to calculate the average in eq.(16) exactly. We can apply the cummulant expansion

$$\mathrm{exp}U=\mathrm{exp}\left(U+\frac{1}{2}(UU)(UU)+\mathrm{}\right)$$

The first order approximation in eq.(16) is

$$Z[J]=\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{\mathrm{}}W(\varphi _c)\frac{1}{2}Tr\mathrm{ln}\right)$$
(19)
We write

$$W_q=\frac{1}{2}Tr\mathrm{ln}=\frac{1}{2}𝑑x_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{d\tau }{\tau }(\mathrm{exp}\tau )(x,x)$$
(20)
Applying eq.(3) and (20) we obtain

$$W_q=\frac{1}{2}𝑑x_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{d\tau }{\tau }\tau ^{\frac{2}{1+\gamma }}E[\delta \left(\stackrel{~}{q}\left(1\right)\right)\mathrm{exp}\left(\tau _0^1𝑑s\alpha \varphi _c^2\left(x+\tau ^\sigma \left(\stackrel{~}{q}_sx\right)\right)\right)]$$
(21)
$`W_q`$ as written is infinite. In order to define a finite expression we make the $`\zeta `$-function regularization replacing $`\frac{d\tau }{\tau }`$ by $`\frac{d\tau }{\tau ^{1z}}`$. Then, $`\frac{d}{dz}_{|z=0}^z`$ which can be considered as a definition of $`Tr\mathrm{ln}`$ is well-defined . Up to a finite renormalization the $`\zeta `$-function definition is equivalent to a definition by a counterterm subtraction

$$\begin{array}{c}W_q=\frac{1}{2}dx_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{d\tau }{\tau }\tau ^{\frac{2}{1+\gamma }}E[\delta \left(\stackrel{~}{q}\left(1\right)\right)(\mathrm{exp}(\tau _0^1ds\alpha \varphi _c^2(x+\tau ^\sigma (\stackrel{~}{q}_sx)))\hfill \\ 1+\tau \alpha \varphi _c^2(x))]\hfill \end{array}$$
(22)
The behavior for a large $`\varphi `$ depends on a small $`\tau `$. Then, we can use the approximation $`\stackrel{~}{q}_sx0`$ in eq.(22). In such a case

$$\begin{array}{c}W_q𝑑xE[\delta \left(\stackrel{~}{q}\left(1\right)\right)]_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{d\tau }{\tau }\tau ^{\frac{2}{1+\gamma }}\left(\mathrm{exp}(\tau \alpha \varphi _c^2(x))1+\tau \alpha \varphi _c^2(x)\right)\hfill \\ 𝑑xv(x)|\varphi _c|^{\frac{4}{1+\gamma }}\hfill \end{array}$$
(23)
Note that with $`\gamma >0`$ the subtraction of the term $`\varphi _c^4(x)`$ in eq.(22) is unnecessary (there is no coupling constant renormalization) . The generating functional (23) has the same form as the one resulting from a $`\mathrm{\Phi }^4`$ theory in $`d=4/(1+\gamma )`$ dimensions. In principle, we can solve eq.(18) as a power series in $`J`$ and calculate the expectation value over the gravitational field again in a power series in $`J`$. In this way we obtain the generating functional $`Z[J]`$ for the correlation functions $`\mathrm{\Phi }(x_1)\mathrm{}..\mathrm{\Phi }(x_n)`$.

It is interesting to do it in the zeroth order in $`\alpha `$. Then,

$$Z[J]=\mathrm{exp}(\frac{1}{4}J𝒜^1J)\mathrm{exp}(\frac{1}{4}J𝒜^1J)$$
(24)
The r.h.s. of eq.(24) will give the correct two-point function for the scalar field in a quantum gravitational field but only an approximate formula for $`n`$-point correlation functions (although the short distance behavior will be the same).

The effective action $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is defined as

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }(\varphi )=\mathrm{ln}Z[J]J\varphi $$

where

$$\varphi (x)=\frac{\delta \mathrm{ln}Z[J]}{\delta J(x)}$$
(25)
Hence, in order to obtain the effective action from the generating functional $`Z[J]`$ we need to express $`J`$ by $`\varphi `$ from eq.(25). In the zeroth order in $`\alpha `$ with the approximation (24) we obtain

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }(\varphi )=\frac{1}{4}\varphi (𝒜^1)^1\varphi $$

where $`(𝒜^1)^1`$ denotes the kernel of an operator inverse to the operator determined by the kernel $`𝒜^1(x,y)`$ (in momentum space $`𝒜^1(k)k^{2+2\gamma }`$). When, $`\alpha >0`$ the inversion is more complicated even with the approximation (19). We have to express $`W(\varphi _c)`$ by $`J`$. In perturbation theory this is a sum of terms of the form

$$\begin{array}{c}W(\varphi _c)=dx_1\mathrm{}.dx_{2n}𝒜^1(x_1,x_2)\mathrm{}.𝒜^1(x_{2n1},x_{2n})_{k,l}\delta (x_kx_l)\hfill \\ J(x_1)\mathrm{}.J(x_r)\hfill \end{array}$$

where the number of $`\delta `$-functions and $`r`$ are adjusted so that we obtain $`2n`$ coordinates altogether. Then, we have to take the Legendre transform (25) of $`W(\varphi _c)`$ in order to obtain $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{tree}(\varphi )`$. The difference between $`W(\varphi )`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{tree}(\varphi )`$ is in the replacement of $`𝒜^1(x_1,x_2)\mathrm{}𝒜^1(x_{2n1},x_{2n})`$ by $`𝒜^1(x_1,x_2)\mathrm{}𝒜^1(x_{2n1},x_{2n})`$ (and an inversion of the averaged kernels). For the 1-loop term we make the following approximations

$$W_q(\varphi _c)W_q(\varphi _c)W_q(\frac{1}{2}𝒜^1J)W_q(\varphi )$$

where the last step follows from eq.(25) . Hence, with these approximations

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }(\varphi )=\mathrm{\Gamma }_{tree}(\varphi )+\mathrm{}W_q(\varphi )$$

In the inflationary models  we need the effective potential at finite temperature. We consider a time-independent (three-dimensional) perturbation of the classical expanding metric. In the comoving frame (moving with the speed of the expansion) we may treat the resulting metric as a static metric on a threedimensional manifold. A calculation of the effective potential for a static metric is a straightforward generalization of the one in eq.(20). We have just to replace $`(\mathrm{exp}\tau )(x,x)`$ by a sum over integer $`n`$ of $`(\mathrm{exp}\tau )(x_0+n\beta ,𝐱;x_0,𝐱)`$ (periodic boundary conditions in time, here $`\beta ^1=KT`$, where $`T`$ is the temperature and $`K`$ is the Boltzman constant). The part involving $`x_0`$ separates and gives just a factor $`(2\pi \tau )^{\frac{1}{2}}\mathrm{exp}(\frac{n^2\beta ^2}{2\tau })`$. The sum over $`n`$ leads to a formula resembling the standard one ( the summation method and the result are similar to the standard flat case )

$$W_{q,\beta }(\varphi )W_{q,\mathrm{}}+W_{q,\beta }^{(1)}=W_{q,\mathrm{}}+\beta ^1Tr\mathrm{ln}(1\mathrm{exp}(\beta M))$$
(26)
where $`W_{q,\mathrm{}}W_q`$ is defined in eq.(22) and

$$M^2=\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{}_3+\alpha \varphi ^2=\frac{1}{2}g^{kl}_k_l\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{\Gamma }^l_l+\alpha \varphi ^2$$

$`\mathrm{}_3`$ denotes the threedimensional Laplace-Beltrami operator and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the Christoffel symbol. We must take an average over the quantum gravitational field in eq.(26). We need some approximations in order to perform this difficult task. We set

$$Tr\mathrm{ln}(1\mathrm{exp}(\beta M))Tr\mathrm{ln}(1\mathrm{exp}(\beta M))$$
(27)
With this approximation a calculation of the effective potential at finite temperature is already simple. We may use the formula

$$\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{exp}(\beta M)=\frac{1}{\pi }dp\mathrm{exp}(ip\beta )\hfill \\ _0^{\mathrm{}}_0^{\mathrm{}}ds_1ds_2s_1^{\frac{3}{2}}\mathrm{exp}(s_2p^2)(\mathrm{exp}(s_1M^2)\mathrm{exp}(s_2M^2))\hfill \end{array}$$

As follows from eq.(6) the diagonal part of the heat kernel in quantum gravitational field in $`d`$ dimensions is the same as the one without the gravitational field but in $`d(1+\gamma )^1`$ dimensions. Applying the Dolan-Jackiw formula  to $`3(1+\gamma )^1`$ dimensions we obtain the following integral representation of the 1-loop effective action

$$W_{q,\beta }^{(1)}=2\beta ^{\frac{3}{1+\gamma }1}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑uu^{\frac{3}{1+\gamma }1}\mathrm{ln}\left(1\mathrm{exp}(\sqrt{u^2+\beta ^2\varphi ^2})\right)$$
(28)
It follows from eq.(28) that there is no logarithmic correction to the effective action characteristic of renormalizable models. As can be seen from eq.(28) the expansion for high temperature (and small values of the field) starts with the term

$$\beta ^{\frac{2\gamma }{1+\gamma }}\varphi ^2$$

The temperature dependence of the phase transition in inflationary models can be derived either from this expansion or from the formula for the correlation function at high and intermediate temperature

$$\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{\Phi }(t,𝐱)\mathrm{\Phi }(t,𝐲)\frac{1}{2}\left(M^1\mathrm{exp}(\beta M)\right)(𝐱,𝐲)\hfill \\ =\frac{1}{2\pi }_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑\tau 𝑑p\left(\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\tau }{2}p^2\frac{\tau }{2}M^2)\right)(𝐱,𝐲)\mathrm{exp}(ip\beta )\hfill \end{array}$$

To the r.h.s. we can apply the method of sec.2 which leads to the formula

$$\mathrm{\Phi }(t,𝐱)^2\beta ^{\frac{2\gamma }{1+\gamma }}$$

Let us note that also the temperature dependence of the energy-momentum tensor is modified by quantum gravity

$$T_{\mu \nu }\beta ^{\frac{4\gamma }{1+\gamma }}$$

The Planck spectrum of particles at temperature $`T`$ will be deformed to

$$\rho (E)E^{\frac{3}{1+\gamma }}(\mathrm{exp}(\beta E)1)^1$$

We can conclude that the temperature-dependence of the phase transition in inflationary models will be modified by an inclusion of quantum gravity .

## 5 The effective action for gauge fields

We consider next the non-Abelian gauge theory at zero temperature. With the same approximations as for the scalar field we obtain

$$Z[J]=\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{\mathrm{}}W(A_{cl})\frac{1}{2}Tr\mathrm{ln}+Tr\mathrm{ln}_{FP}\right)$$
(29)
where $`A_{cl}`$ is a solution of the Yang-Mills equations with an external source $`J`$ (we shall omit the index $`cl`$ furtheron), $`det_{FP}`$ is the Fadeev-Popov determinant (Feynman gauge) and

$$_{\mu \nu }^{ab}=g_{\mu \nu }g^{\sigma \rho }D_\sigma ^{ac}D_\rho ^{cb}+2f^{abc}F_{\mu \nu }^c+R_{\mu \nu }\delta _{ab}$$
(30)
where

$$D_\mu ^{ac}B_\nu ^c=_\mu B_\nu ^a+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mu \nu }^\sigma B_\sigma ^a+f^{abc}A_\mu ^bB_\nu ^c$$

We obtain a path integral representation as in secs.2-3

$$\begin{array}{c}W_q=\frac{1}{2}Tr\mathrm{ln}=\frac{1}{2}𝑑x_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{d\tau }{\tau }\tau ^{\frac{2}{1+\gamma }}\hfill \\ E[\delta (q_\tau )Tr(𝒯(\tau ,F))]\hfill \end{array}$$
(31)
where $`𝒯`$ is the solution of the equation

$$d𝒯_{ap;cr}=A_\mu ^mf_{psm}𝒯_{as;cr}dq^\mu +\omega _{\mu a}^b𝒯_{bp;cr}dq^\mu +\frac{1}{2}R_{ab}𝒯_{bp;cr}d\tau +f_{psm}F_{ab}^m𝒯_{bs;cr}d\tau $$
(32)
In order to perform the integral over the gravitational field in eq.(29) we need some rough approximations. First, in the stochastic representation of the trace (29) we apply the same method as in eq.(22) writing $`q_s=x+\tau ^\sigma (\stackrel{~}{q}_sx)`$. Then, for small $`\tau `$ we may assume that $`F(q_s)`$ depends only on $`x`$. Next, we assume that only one component of $`F`$ is different from zero (e.g. $`f_{psm}F^m=ϵ_{ps3}F^3`$ ). There remains the main difficulty to take an average of $`𝒯`$ over the gravitational field. In these computations we make the approximation $`\omega \omega 0`$ , $`q_\mu b_\mu `$ and set $`R_{\mu \nu }R_{\mu \nu }=Q\delta _{\mu \nu }`$. Then, we can calculate $`W_q`$ exactly

$$\begin{array}{c}W_q=\frac{1}{2}𝑑xv(x)_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{d\tau }{\tau }\tau ^{\frac{2}{1+\gamma }}\hfill \\ \left(\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\tau }{2}Q)\frac{u_+\tau }{\mathrm{sinh}u_+\tau }\frac{u_{}\tau }{\mathrm{sinh}u_{}\tau }\mathrm{cosh}(u_+\tau +u_{}\tau )\mathrm{cosh}(u_+\tau u_{}\tau )1+\frac{\tau }{2}Q\right)\hfill \end{array}$$
(33)
where

$$u_\pm =\frac{1}{4\sqrt{2}}\left((F_{\mu \nu }F_{\mu \nu }+F_{\mu \nu }^{}F_{\mu \nu })^{\frac{1}{2}}\pm (F_{\mu \nu }F_{\mu \nu }F_{\mu \nu }^{}F_{\mu \nu })^{\frac{1}{2}}\right)$$
(34)
It follows from the behavior of the integrand (33) for a small $`\tau `$ (assuming that the integral (33) is convergent for a large $`\tau `$) that for large $`F^2`$

$$W_qF^{\frac{2}{1+\gamma }}$$
(35)
In the tree approximation we have to perform the Legendre transform in order to obtain the effective action from the generating functional (see the discussion at the scalar field). In the Abelian case we would obtain

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_{tree}(A)\frac{1}{4}A(^1)^1A$$
(36)
Note that the behavior (5) for the $`AA`$ correlations means the behavior $`|k|^{2\gamma }`$ for the $`F(k)F(k)`$ correlations (the spectral function). This can lead to the simplest experimental check of the predictions of quantum gravity if the photon spectral density would be measured in astrophysical observations. Summarizing, for these values of the fields where the $`\tau `$ integral in eq.(33) is convergent the effective action consists of the tree part which grows quadratically for large fields $`F`$, and the 1-loop part with slower growth (35).

On the basis of the generating functional (24) we can give an argument for a finiteness of the electromagnetic energy. From eq.(5) in the static approximation it follows that the potential between point charges is $`V(r)r^{1+2\gamma }`$. Hence, the electric energy density $`ϵr^{4+4\gamma }`$ . The electromagnetic energy of the point charge (which includes the interaction energy between the charge and the gravitons) will be finite if $`\gamma >\frac{1}{4}`$.