GK-dimension of the Lie algebra of generic $2\times 2$ matrices

Abstract

Recently Machado and Koshlukov have computed the Gelfand-Kirillov dimension of the relatively free algebra $F_m=F_m(\text{var}(sl_2(K)))$ of rank $m$ in the variety of algebras generated by the three-dimensional simple Lie algebra $sl_2(K)$ over an infinite field $K$ of characteristic different from 2. They have shown that $\text{GKdim}(F_m)=3(m-1)$. The algebra $F_m$ is isomorphic to the Lie algebra generated by $m$ generic $2\times 2$ matrices. Now we give a new proof for $\text{GKdim}(F_m)$ using classical results of Procesi and Razmyslov combined with the observation that the commutator ideal of $F_m$ is a module of the center of the associative algebra generated by $m$ generic traceless $2\times 2$ matrices.