THE BIRMAN-MURAKAMI-WENZL ALGEBRAS OF TYPE D-n

The Birman-Murakami-Wenzl algebra (BMW algebra) of type D-n is shown to be semisimple and free of rank (2(n)+1)n!! - (2(n-1)+1)n! over a specified commutative ring R, where n!! =13...(2n-1). We also show it is a cellular algebra over suitable ring extensions of R. The Brauer algebra of type D-n is the image of an R-equivariant homomorphism and is also semisimple and free of the same rank, but over the ring Z[(+/- 1)]. A rewrite system for the Brauer algebra is used in bounding the rank of the BMW algebra above. As a consequence of our results, the generalized Temperley-Lieb algebra of type D-n is a subalgebra of the BMW algebra of the same type.