Central Invariants and Frobenius-Schur Indicators for Semisimple Quasi-Hopf Algebras

Abstract

In this paper, we obtain a canonical central element $ν_H$ for each semi-simple quasi-Hopf algebra $H$ over any field $k$ and prove that $ν_H$ is invariant under gauge transformations. We show that if $k$ is algebraically closed of characteristic zero then for any irreducible representation of $H$ which affords the character $χ$, $χ(ν_H)$ takes only the values 0, 1 or -1, moreover if $H$ is a Hopf algebra or a twisted quantum double of a finite group then $χ(ν_H)$ is the corresponding Frobenius-Schur Indicator. We also prove an analog of a Theorem of Larson-Radford for split semi-simple quasi-Hopf algebra over any field $k$. Using this result, we establish the relationship between the antipode $S$, the values of $χ(ν_H)$, and certain associated bilinear forms when the underlying field $k$ is algebraically closed of characteristic zero.

32 pages (version 3)