Sometimes we will only assume that some of these axioms for the

multiplication are satisfied. If they all apply then, precisely as for the
subtraction, a division is well-defined in A i.e. the equation ax = b
with a 6= 0 has the unique solution x = a
-1
b.
Finally, we always assume the distributive laws for A:
(D) a (b + c) = a b + a c and (a + b) c = a c + b c
Definition 1.1. A ring A is a set equipped with an addition and
a multiplication such that all the rules (A1) (A4) are satisfied and
furthermore (M1) and (D). If A also satisfies (M2) it is said to be a
commutative ring and if (M3) is fulfilled we say that the ring has a
unit. A ring that contains at least two elements and satisfies all the
rules (M1) (M4) for the multiplication is called a field.
Example 1.2. The rational numbers Q , the reals R and the complex
numbers C are important examples of fields, when equipped with
their standard addition and multiplication. The integers Z form a
commutative ring but are not a field since (M4) is not valid in Z .
Example 1.3. The set M2(R) of 2 2 real matrices forms a ring.
Here 0 is the zero matrix and 1 is the unit matrix. In M2(R) the
commutative law (M2) is not satisfied. The rule (M4) is not fulfilled
either, since there exist non-zero matrices that are not invertible. For
example we have

1 -2
-2 4 4 -2
2 -1

=

0 0
0 0
.
It follows from this relation that none of the two matrices on the lefthand
side are invertible.
Definition 1.4. Two elements a 6= 0 and b 6= 0 in a ring are called
zero divisors if a b = 0.
Example 1.5. The two matrices

1 -2
-2 4
and 
4 -2
2 -1

in Example 1.3 are zero divisors in the ring M2(R).
We shall now discuss, in more detail, a family of rings that will play
an important role in what follows. Let n = 2 be a given integer. We say1. BASIC
DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES 5
that two integers a and b are congruent modulo n if their difference a-b
is divisible by n. For this we simply write a = b (mod n). For example
we have 13 = 4 (mod 3). Denote by [a] the class of integers that are
a modulo n. We can then define an addition and a multiplication of
such congruence classes by
[a] + [b] = [a + b] and [a] [b] = [a b].
Here we must verify that these definitions do not depend on the choice
of representatives for each congruent class. So assume that a = a1
(mod n) and b = b1 (mod n). Then a1 = a + kn and b1 = b + ln for
some integers k and l. This implies that
a1 + b1 = a + b + (k + l)n and a1b1 = ab + (al + bk + kln)n,

hence a1+b1 is congruent with a+b and a1b1 with ab modulo n. Denote
by Zn the set of congruence classes modulo n i.e.
Zn = {[0], [1], [2], . . . , [n - 1]}.
It is easily checked that the above defined addition