A power Cayley-Hamilton identity for nxn matrices over a Lie nilpotent ring of index k

Abstract

For an nxn matrix A over a Lie nilpotent ring R of index k, we prove that an invariant "power" Cayley-Hamilton identity of degree (n^2)2^{k-2} holds. The right coefficients are not uniquely determined by A, and the cosets lambda_i+D, with D the double commutator ideal R[[R,R],R]R of R, appear in the so-called second right characteristic polynomial of the natural image of A in the nxn matrix ring M_{n}(R/D) over the factor ring R/D.