LAUSR

Diagram algebras, in particular Brauer algebras, Birman–Murakami-Wenzl algebras and partition algebras, are used in representation theory and invariant theory of orthogonal and symplectic groups, in knot theory, in mathematical physics and elsewhere. Classifications are known when such algebras are semisimple, of finite global dimension or quasi-hereditary. We obtain a characterisation of the self-injective case, which is shown to coincide with the (previously also unknown) symmetric case. The main tool is to show that indecomposable self-injective algebras in general are derived simple, that is, their bounded derived module categories admit trivial recollements only. As a consequence, self-injective algebras are seen to satisfy a derived Jordan–Hölder theorem.