Character groups of Hopf algebras as infinite-dimensional Lie groups

Abstract: In this article character groups of Hopf algebras are studied from the perspective of infinite-dimensional Lie theory. For a graded and connected Hopf algebra we construct an infinite-dimensional Lie group structure on the character group with values in a locally convex algebra. This structure turns the character group into a Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff--Lie group which is regular in the sense of Milnor. Furthermore, we show that certain subgroups associated to Hopf ideals become closed Lie subgroups of the character group. If the Hopf algebra is not graded, its character group will in general not be a Lie group. However, we show that for any Hopf algebra the character group with values in a weakly complete algebra is a pro-Lie group in the sense of Hofmann and Morris.