We show that the Tits index $E_{8,1}^{133}$ cannot be obtained by means of the Tits construction over a field with no odd degree extensions. The proof uses a general method coming from the theory of symmetric spaces. We construct two cohomological invariants, in degrees $6$ and $8$ , of the Tits construction and the more symmetric Allison–Faulkner construction of Lie algebras of type $E_8$ and show that these invariants can be used to detect the isotropy rank.

We give a construction that takes a simple linear algebraic group G over a field and produces a commutative, unital, and simple non-associative algebra A over that field. Two attractions of this construction are that (1) when G has type $E_8$, the algebra A is obtained by adjoining a unit to the 3875-dimensional representation; and (2) it is effective, in that the product operation on A can be implemented on a computer. A description of the algebra in the $E_8$ case has been requested for some time, and interest has been increased by the recent proof that $E_8$ is the full automorphism group of that algebra. The algebras obtained by our construction have an unusual Peirce spectrum.

The exceptional simple Lie algebras of types E7 and E8 are endowed with optimal $\mathsf{SL}_2^n$ -structures, and are thus described in terms of the corresponding coordinate algebras. These are nonassociative algebras which much resemble the so-called code algebras.

Order three elements in the exceptional groups of type ${{G}_{2}}$ are classified up to conjugation over arbitrary fields. Their centralizers are computed, and the associated classification of idempotents in symmetric composition algebras is obtained. Idempotents have played a key role in the study and classification of these algebras.

Over an algebraically closed field, there are two conjugacy classes of order three elements in ${{G}_{2}}$ in characteristic not 3 and four of them in characteristic 3. The centralizers in characteristic 3 fail to be smooth for one of these classes.

The simple finite dimensional $(-1,-1)$ balanced Freudenthal Kantor triple systems over fields of characteristic zero are classified.

Lie algebras graded by finite reduced root systems have been classified up to isomorphism. In this paper we describe the derivation algebras of these Lie algebras and determine when they possess invariant bilinear forms. The results which we develop to do this are much more general and apply to Lie algebras that are completely reducible with respect to the adjoint action of a finite-dimensional subalgebra.

If R1 and R2 are root systems and there is a linear map which maps R1 ∪{0} onto R2∪{0} we write R1 —> R2. We determine all pairs (R1, R2) of irreducible root systems such that R1 —> R2.