2023 EXAMINATIONS

MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS

PART II – Third Year
MATH322: Commutative Algebra 3 hours

You should answer ALL questions. There is a total of 100 marks. You may only use the calculator that
has been provided. Some useful information can be found attached to the end of this exam paper.

Questions start over the page

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 √ √
1. Let R = Z[ 3] = {x + y 3 : x, y ∈ Z}. You may assume without proof that R is a Euclidean
√
domain with Euclidean function v(x + y 3) = |x2 − 3y 2 |.
√ √
(a) Let a = 1 + 3 3 and let b = 2 − 4 3. Find gcd(a, b) in R and express it as an R-linear
combination of a and b. [10]
√
(b) Let u = 2 − 3 ∈ R. Prove that u is invertible. [2]
(c) Using (b) or otherwise, prove that the multiplicative group R× of invertible elements of R
is infinite. [5]

2. In each question below decide whether the given polynomial is irreducible in the given ring, and
prove your claim. You may use results from the lectures without proof, provided you state them
clearly.

(a) x4 + x2 + 1 ∈ R[x]. [2]

(b) 6x2 + 15 ∈ Z[x]. [2]
(c) 2x3 + x2 + 4x + 2 ∈ Z/7[x]. [5]
(d) 10x5 + 12x3 − 15x2 + 21x + 30 ∈ Q[x]. [5]
(e) 2ix5 + (−3 + 5i)x4 + (7 + 11i)x3 + (−1 + 13i)x − 2 + 9i ∈ Z[i]. [6]

3. Let f = x3 − 10x2 + 4 ∈ Z[x].

(a) Explain why you cannot use Eisenstein’s irreducibility criterion to show that f is irreducible. [2]
(b) Prove that f is irreducible. [4]

4. Solve the following system of modular equations in Q[x]. Give the full solution set.
(
x+2 (mod x4 + 1)
f≡
3 (mod x2 − x) [12]

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5. Let R = Q[x] and let f = x2 + x + 3 ∈ R. Consider the principal ideal I = f R generated by
f , and let π : R −→ R/I be the quotient map. You may use results from the lectures without
proof, provided you state them clearly.

(a) Prove that the quotient ring R/I is a field. [5]

−1
(b) Find π(x3 − 2) in R/I. [10]

6. Let R = Z/5[x], and let I be the principal ideal I = x4 R of R.

(a) Calculate the cardinality |R/I| of the quotient ring R/I. [5]
(b) Find all the elements α ∈ R/I such that there exists some integer n ≥ 1 with αn = 0 ∈ R/I. [7]

7. Let R and S be commutative rings, and let ϕ : R −→ S be a ring homomorphism. To show each
assertion below, you may use results from the lectures without proof, provided you state them
clearly.

(a) Suppose that S is an integral domain and that ϕ is surjective. Prove that ker(ϕ) is a prime
ideal of R. [4]
(b) Suppose that ϕ is injective and that ϕ(1R ) = 1S . Prove that R and S have the same
characteristic. [4]

8. Let R be a commutative ring, and let S be a multiplicative set of R. Let I be an ideal of R such
that I ∩ S = ∅, and suppose that I is maximal for this property. That is, if J is an ideal of R
such that I ⊂ J is a proper inclusion, then J ∩ S 6= ∅.

(a) Let a, b ∈ R such that a, b ∈

/ I. Prove that ab ∈
/ I. That is, the product of two elements
not in I cannot lie in I. Hint: consider the ideals aR + I and bR + I of R, and use the [8]
assumption on I.
(b) Deduce from (a) that I is a prime ideal of R. [2]

end of questions

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 Useful Information

A commutative ring is an abelian group (R, +) with a multiplication ‘·’ which is associative and
distributes over the addition. Moreover, R contains a multiplicative identity element, denoted 1 (or 1R )
which is different from 0, the additive identity element. All rings R we consider are commutative, that
is, ab = ba for all a, b ∈ R. R is an integral domain (or ID) if R doesn’t contain any (nonzero) zero
divisors, i.e. if a, b ∈ R are such that ab = 0, then at least one of a or b must be zero.

An ideal of R is an abelian subgroup I of (R, +) such that ab ∈ I for all a ∈ I and all b ∈ R. An
ideal I is principal if there exists a ∈ R such that I = aR := {ab : b ∈ R}. A principal ideal
domain (PID) is an ID R such that every ideal is principal. A Euclidean domain (ED) is an ID R
endowed with a Euclidean function, i.e. a function v : R \ {0} → N0 subject to (i) v(ab) ≥ v(a)
for all a, b ∈ R \ {0}; and (ii) for all a, b ∈ R with b 6= 0, there exist q, r ∈ R such that a = qb + r
with r = 0 or v(r) < v(b). R is a unique factorisation domain (UFD) if R is an ID such that every
nonzero noninvertible element can be written in an essentially unique way as a product of irreducible
elements. In a UFD, prime and irreducible elements coincide. A field is a commutative ring in which
every nonzero element is invertible. The prime subfield of a field F is the smallest subfield contained
in F as a subring. A field is a vector space over its prime subfield. A finite field F must have prime
characteristic and |F | is a prime power. The field of fractions of an ID R is { ab : a, b ∈ R, b 6= 0}.We
have the implications: field⇒ED⇒PID⇒UFD⇒ID. Moreover, R is a UFD ⇒ R[x] is a UFD.

An element p ∈ R is prime if p 6= 0 and p is not invertible, and whenever p | ab in R, then p divides at

least one of a or b. An element p ∈ R is irreducible if p 6= 0 and p is not invertible, and if whenever
p = ab in R, then either p ∼ a, or p ∼ b (not both). The notation ∼ means is associated to, i.e.
p ∼ a means that p | a and a | p.

An ideal I of R is prime if I 6= R and whenever a, b ∈ R are such that ab ∈ I, then at least one of a or
b lies in I. An ideal I of R is maximal if I 6= R and I is not properly contained in a proper ideal of R.

A multiplicative set in a commutative ring R is a subset S ⊂ R with 1 ∈ S, 0 ∈

/ S and with st ∈ S
for all s, t ∈ S.


The characteristic of R is the nonnegative integer n such that ker ρ : Z −→ R = nZ, where ρ is the
ring homomorphism defined by ρ(1Z ) = 1R . An ID has characteristic 0 or a prime number.

end of exam