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Algebraic structures
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Contents
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1 Definitions
2 Examples
3 Non-examples
4 Divisibility, prime elements, and irreducible elements
5 Properties
6 Field of fractions
7 Algebraic geometry
8 Characteristic and homomorphisms
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References
Definitions[edit]
There are a number of equivalent definitions of integral domain:
An integral domain is a nonzero commutative ring in which the product of any two nonzero
elements is nonzero.
An integral domain is a nonzero commutative ring with no nonzero zero divisors.
An integral domain is a commutative ring in which the zero ideal {0} is a prime ideal.
An integral domain is a commutative ring for which every non-zero element is cancellable
under multiplication.
An integral domain is a ring for which the set of nonzero elements is a
commutative monoid under multiplication (because the monoid is closed under
multiplication).
An integral domain is a ring that is (isomorphic to) a subring of a field. (This implies it is
a nonzero commutative ring.)
An integral domain is a nonzero commutative ring in which for every nonzero element r, the
function that maps each element x of the ring to the product xr is injective. Elements r with
this property are called regular, so it is equivalent to require that every nonzero element of
the ring be regular.
Examples[edit]
Rings of polynomials are integral domains if the coefficients come from an integral
domain. For instance, the ring Z[X] of all polynomials in one variable with integer
coefficients is an integral domain; so is the ring R[X,Y] of all polynomials in two variables
with real coefficients.
For each integer n > 1, the set of all real numbers of the
form a + bn with a and b integers is a subring of R and hence an integral domain.
For each integer n > 0 the set of all complex numbers of the
form a + bin with a and b integers is a subring of C and hence an integral domain. In
the case n = 1 this integral domain is called the Gaussian integers.
The ring of p-adic integers is an integral domain.
If U is a connected open subset of the complex plane C, then the ring H(U) consisting of
all holomorphic functions f : U C is an integral domain. The same is true for rings
ofanalytic functions on connected open subsets of analytic manifolds.
A regular local ring is an integral domain. In fact, a regular local ring is a UFD.[7][8]
Non-examples[edit]
The following rings are not integral domains.
(since, for
example,
).
divides
without dividing either factor). In a unique
factorization domain (or more generally, a GCD domain), an irreducible element is a prime
element.
While unique factorization does not hold in
of ideals. See LaskerNoether theorem.
Properties[edit]
A commutative ring R is an integral domain if and only if the ideal (0) of R is a prime
ideal.
If R is a commutative ring and P is an ideal in R, then the quotient ring R/P is an integral
domain if and only if P is a prime ideal.
Let R be an integral domain. Then there is an integral domain S such
that R S and S has an element which is transcendental over R.
The cancellation property holds in any integral domain: for any a, b, and c in an integral
domain, if a 0 and ab = ac then b = c. Another way to state this is that the
function x ax is injective for any nonzero a in the domain.
The cancellation property holds for ideals in any integral domain: if xI = xJ, then
either x is zero or I = J.
An integral domain is equal to the intersection of its localizations at maximal ideals.
An inductive limit of integral domains is an integral domain.
Field of fractions[edit]
Main article: Field of fractions
The field of fractions K of an integral domain R is the set of
fractions a/b with a and b in R and b 0 modulo an appropriate equivalence relation,
equipped with the usual addition and multiplication operations. It is "the smallest field
containing R" in the sense that there is an injective ring homomorphism R K such that
any injective ring homomorphism from R to a field factors through K. The field of fractions of
the ring of integers Z is the field of rational numbers Q. The field of fractions of a field
is isomorphic to the field itself.
Algebraic geometry[edit]
Integral domains are characterized by the condition that they are reduced (that is x2 = 0
implies x = 0) and irreducible (that is there is only one minimal prime ideal). The former
condition ensures that the nilradical of the ring is zero, so that the intersection of all the
ring's minimal primes is zero. The latter condition is that the ring have only one minimal
prime. It follows that the unique minimal prime ideal of a reduced and irreducible ring is the
zero ideal, so such rings are integral domains. The converse is clear: an integral domain has
no nonzero nilpotent elements, and the zero ideal is the unique minimal prime ideal.
This translates, in algebraic geometry, into the fact that the coordinate ring of an affine
algebraic set is an integral domain if and only if the algebraic set is an algebraic variety.
More generally, a commutative ring is an integral domain if and only if its spectrum is
an integral affine scheme.
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
1. Jump up^ Bourbaki, p. 116.
References[edit]
Adamson, Iain T. (1972). Elementary rings and modules. University Mathematical Texts.
Oliver and Boyd. ISBN 0-05-002192-3.
Bourbaki, Nicolas (1998). Algebra, Chapters 13. Berlin, New York: SpringerVerlag. ISBN 978-3-540-64243-5.
Mac Lane, Saunders; Birkhoff, Garrett (1967). Algebra. New York: The Macmillan
Co. ISBN 1-56881-068-7. MR 0214415.
Dummit, David S.; Foote, Richard M. (2004). Abstract Algebra (3rd ed.). New
York: Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-43334-7.
Hungerford, Thomas W. (1974). Algebra. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
Inc. ISBN 0-03-030558-6.
Lang, Serge (2002). Algebra. Graduate Texts in Mathematics 211. Berlin, New
York: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-0-387-95385-4. MR 1878556.
Sharpe, David (1987). Rings and factorization. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521-33718-6.
Rowen, Louis Halle (1994). Algebra: groups, rings, and fields. A K Peters. ISBN 156881-028-8.
Lanski, Charles (2005). Concepts in abstract algebra. AMS Bookstore. ISBN 0-53442323-X.
Milies, Csar Polcino; Sehgal, Sudarshan K. (2002). An introduction to group rings.
Springer. ISBN 1-4020-0238-6.
B.L. van der Waerden, Algebra, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 1966.