The structure of connected (graded) Hopf algebras

Abstract

In this paper, we establish a structure theorem for connected graded Hopf algebras over a field of characteristic $0$ by claiming the existence of a family of homogeneous generators and a total order on the index set that satisfy some desirable conditions. The approach to the structure theorem is constructive, based on the combinatorial properties of Lyndon words and the standard bracketing on words. As a surprising consequence of the structure theorem, we show that connected graded Hopf algebras of finite Gelfand-Kirillov dimension over a field of characteristic $0$ are all iterated Hopf Ore extensions of the base field. In addition, some keystone facts of connected Hopf algebras over a field of characteristic $0$ are observed as corollaries of the structure theorem, without the assumptions of having finite Gelfand-Kirillov dimension (or affineness) on Hopf algebras or of that the base field is algebraically closed.