Topics in Ring Theory

Contents

0.1 Rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
0.2 Subrings and Ideals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
0.3 Quotient Ring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
0.4 Ring Homomorphism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
0.5 Zero-divisors and Integral Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
0.6 More on Ideals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

0.1 Rings
Definition 1. A ring R is a set together with two binary operations called addition “ + ” and
multiplication “ · ”, which satisfy the following properties.

1. (R, +) is an abelian group.

2. R is a groupoid w.r.t. “ · ” (i.e., closure and associative laws hold w.r.t. “ · ”).

3. Distributive laws hold: a(b + c) = ab + ac, (a + b)c = ac + bc for all a, b, c ∈ R.

We denote a ring by the triplet (R, +, ·). The additive identity of R is denoted by 0.

Remark 1. Note that for a ring (R, +, ·)

1. The existence of multiplicative identity 1 is not required. However, if 1 ∈ R then we say that
R is a ring with unity.

2. The binary operation “ · ” is not required to be commutative. However, if it is commutative,

then R is called a commutative ring.

3. The existence of multiplicative inverse is not required. If every non-zero member of R has a
multiplicative inverse, then we say the R is a division ring.

4. An element which has a multiplicative inverse in R is called a unit. The set of all units of R
is denoted by R× . Observe that (R× , ·) is a group, called the group of units of R.

Example 1.

1. The set R = {0} is a ring (called zero-ring). In this ring, we have 0 = 1.

1
 2. The sets Zn , Z, Q, R and C are all rings.

3. Let R = Mn (R), the set of all n × n square matrices having entries from R. Then R is a ring
w.r.t. usual matrix addition and multiplication. More generally, if R is any ring then Mn (R)
is also a ring, called the ring of matrices over R.

4. Let R be any commutative ring. Then R[X], the set of all polynomials in X having coefficients
from R, is a ring called the ring of polynomials over R.

5. Let R and S be rings. Then R × S is a ring w.r.t. the following operations:

(r1 , s1 ) + (r2 , s2 ) := (r1 + r2 , s1 + s2 ),

(r1 , s1 ) · (r2 , s2 ) := (r1 · r2 , s1 · s2 ).

The ring R × S is called the direct product of the rings R and S. Inductively, one can define
the ring R1 × R2 × · · · × Rn for rings Ri .

6. Let H(R) = {a + bi + cj + dk : a, b, c, d ∈ R}, where i, j, k ∈ Q8 . The set H(R) forms a ring

w.r.t. componentwise addition and polynomial type multiplication. It is called the Hamilton
Quaternine ring. It is also called the Real Hamilton Quaternine ring. Similarly, one can
define Rational Hamilton Quaternine ring H(Q). It is a division ring. We have
a − bi − cj − dk
(a + bi + cj + dk)−1 = .
a2 + b2 + c2 + d2

Now we specify above examples according to the above additional properties that a ring may
carry, e.g., ring with unity, commutative property and multiplicative inverse property.

Ring Commutative 1∈R R× = R \ {0}

Mn (2Z) × × ×
Mn (Z), Mn (Z3 ) × X ×
H(R), H(Q) × X X
2Z, {0, 2, 4, 6} mod 8 X × ×
Z, Zn with n composite X X ×
Q, R, C, Zp X X X

0.2 Subrings and Ideals

Definition 2. Let (R, +, ·) be a ring. Then a subset S of R is called a subring of R if
1. For all a, b ∈ S, a − b ∈ S. In other words, (S, +) is a subgroup of (R, +).

2. For all a, b ∈ S, ab ∈ S.
Example 2.
1. For any ring R, the subsets {0} and R are subrings of R.

2. Let R = Z. Then nZ = {0, ±n, ±2n, . . .} is a subring of Z for any integer n.

2
 3. The sets Z, Q and R are all subrings of C.

4. Mn (Z) is a subring of Mn (R).

5. {0, 2, 4, 6} is a subring of Z8 .

6. Z[X] is a subring of Q[X] and Q[X] is a subring of R[X].

Subrings in a ring are analogous to the notion of subgroup in a group. As in groups we required
some special type of subgroup to form the quotient group, called normal subgroups. In rings, the
subrings analogous to normal subgroups are called ideals.
Definition 3. Let (R, +, ·) be a ring. A subset I of R is called a left ideal of R if

1. For all a, b ∈ I, a − b ∈ I. That means (I, +) is a subgroup of (R, +).

2. For all r ∈ R and a ∈ I, ra ∈ I. (Absorption Property).

Similarly, I is called a right ideal if in place of 2, we have: r ∈ R, a ∈ I implies ar ∈ I. Now I is

called an ideal if it is left as well as a right ideal of R.
Remark 2. Note that if R is commutative, then every left (resp. right) ideal is an ideal. In that
case, we use the definition of left ideal to define an ideal.

Not every subring is an ideal: Let R = Q. Then Z is a subring of Q but it is not an ideal of Q:
1
2
∈ Q, 3 ∈ Z does not imply that 12 · 3 ∈ Z.

Example 3. The sets {0} and R are always ideals of R. The set nZ is an ideal of Z for all n. We
can find more examples by the following construction:

Ideal generated by a subset:

Proposition 1. Let R be a commutative ring and a1 , a2 , . . . , an ∈ R. Then the set

ha1 , a2 , . . . , an i := {r1 a1 + r2 a2 + · · · + rn an : r1 , r2 , . . . , rn ∈ R}

is an ideal of R, called the ideal generated by a1 , a2 , . . . , an .

Proof. Exercise.
The other notations used for the above ideal are:

(a1 , a2 , . . . , an ) OR Ra1 + Ra2 + · · · + Ran .

Definition 4. The ideal hai is called a principal ideal.

Example 4.
1. {0} and R are ideals of R. Note that h0i = {0}. If 1 ∈ R, then R = h1i.

2. hni = nZ is an ideal of Z for any n. Verify that ha, bi = hgcd(a, b)i. Thus h2, 3i = h1i = Z.

3
 3. By construction hXi is an ideal of Z[X]. The set hXi = {f (X) ∈ Z[X] : f (0) = 0}, i.e., the
set of all polynomials whose constant term is zero.
4. h2i = {0, 2, 4, 6} is an ideal of Z8 .
Remark 3. Don’t confuse the notation of hai in a group G and in a ring R. For instance, if we
consider Z[X] as group, then the subgroup generated by X is

hXi = {mX : m ∈ Z}

and if consider Z[X] as a ring, then the ideal generated by X is

hXi = {f (X) · X : f (X) ∈ Z[X]}.

One may differ it by the use of notation: For instance, we may use hXi for subgroup generated by
X and for ideal we can use (X).

Exe: Verify that hXi is a proper ideal of h2, Xi. Note that both are ideals of Z[X].
Proposition 2. Let R be a ring with unity and I be an ideal of R. Then I = R if and only if I
contains a unit.
Proof. Let I = R. Then 1 ∈ I is a unit. Conversely, let a ∈ I is a unit. Then there exists b ∈ R
such that ab = ba = 1. Since b ∈ R and a ∈ I, we get ab = 1 ∈ I (absorption property). Thus for
any r ∈ R, we obtain from absorption property that:

r = r(1) ∈ I.

Thus we have R ⊂ I, which gives I = R.

Corollary 3. A field F has only two ideals, {0} and F .

Exe: Show that the converse to the above statement also holds.

0.3 Quotient Ring

Let R be a ring and I be an ideal. Then the set

R/I = {r + I : r ∈ R}

forms a ring w.r.t. the following operations:

(r + I) + (s + I) := (r + s) + I, (r + I) · (s + I) := rs + I.

The ring R/I is called the quotient ring of R. Note that R/I is the set of all left cosests of (I, +)
in (R, +). Since (R, +) is abelian, (I, +) is normal in (R, +). Thus (R/I, +) is an abelian group. In
particular, the operation + is well-defined (proved in group theory section). The multiplication is
well-defined if and only if I satisfies the absorption property. This means that

I is an ideal if and only if “ · ” is well-defined.

4
Example 5. Let R = Z and I = h4i = 4Z. Then R/I = Z/4Z = {0 + 4Z, 1 + 4Z, 2 + 4Z, 3 + 4Z}.
Example 6. Let R = R[X] and I = hXi. Then R/I = {r + I : r ∈ R}. Recall that

r+I =0+I if f r ∈ I.

Example 7. Let R = R[X] and I = hX 2 +1i. For simplicity, we may use bar notation, i.e., r = r+I.
Then
R/I = {a + b · X : a, b ∈ R}.
Note that X 2 + 1 = (X)2 + 1 = 0 as X 2 + 1 ∈ I. We may identify X by i and a by a ∈ R. Thus we
may identify the ring R[X]/hX 2 + 1i by C. We make this notion precise after defining the concept
of homomorphism in rings.

0.4 Ring Homomorphism

Definition 5. Let R and S be rings. A map ϕ : R −→ S is called a ring homomorphism if
1. ϕ(r1 + r2 ) = ϕ(r1 ) + ϕ(r2 )

2. ϕ(r1 r2 ) = ϕ(r1 )ϕ(r2 )

A bijective ring homomorphism is called an isomorphism. In this case, the rings R and S are called
isomorphic, denoted R ∼ = S.
The property 1 indicates that a ring homomorphism is a also group homomorphism between
(R, +) and (S, +). But not every group homomorphism is a ring homomorphism. For instance,

ϕ : R × R −→ C, ϕ(a, b) = a + bi

is a group isomorphism but it does not satisfy 2. Thus it is not a ring homomorphism. This means
that R × R is isomorphic to C like groups but not like rings. In fact their multiplication behaves
differently.
Example 8. We always have a homomorphism between any two rings R and S. Namely, the map
ϕ : R → S, ϕ(r) = 0 is a ring homomorphism, called zero homomorphism.
1. The map ϕ : R → R, ϕ(r) = r is a ring homomorphism (isomorphism).

2. The map ϕ : Z → Zn , ϕ(m) = m is a ring homomorphism.

3. The map ϕ : R[X] → R, ϕ(f (X)) = f (0) is a ring homomorphism.

4. The map ϕ : R[X] → C, ϕ(f (X)) = f (i) is a ring homomorphism.

Definition 6. Let ϕ : R −→ S be a ring homomorphism. Then the set

kerϕ := {r ∈ R : ϕ(r) = 0}

is called the kernel of homomorphism ϕ.

Exe: Show that kerϕ is an ideal of R and Imϕ is a subring of S.

5
Theorem 4 (First Isomorphism Theorem for rings). Let ϕ : R −→ S be a ring homomorphism.
Then kerϕ is an ideal of R and Imϕ is a subring of S. Moreover,

R/kerϕ ∼
= Imϕ.

Example 9. In Example 8(3), note that kerϕ = hXi and Imϕ = R. Thus R[X]/hXi ∼
= R. Similarly
for Example 8(4), kerϕ = hX 2 + 1i and Imϕ = C. Thus R[X]/hX 2 + 1i ∼
= C.

0.5 Zero-divisors and Integral Domain

Zero-divisor: Let R be a commutative ring. A non-zero element a ∈ R is called a zero-divisor if
there is a non-zero element b ∈ R such that ab = 0, i.e.,

a 6= 0, b 6= 0 =⇒ ab = 0.

For example in Z6 , we have 2 6= 0 and 3 6= 0 but 2 · 3 = 0. Thus 2 and 3 are zero-divisors in

Z6 . Similarly, 2 ∈ Z4 is a zero-divisor. More examples can be found in Z × Z: (1, 0) and (0, 1) are
non-zero members but
(1, 0) · (0, 1) = (0, 0).
Hence (1, 0) and (0, 1) are zero-divisors. Note that Z5 has no zero-divisor. More generally, Zp has
no zero divisors for any prime p. One justification to this can be provided by the following result.

Proposition 5. Let R be a ring with unity. Then a unit can never be zero divisor.

Proof. Let a ∈ R be a unit, i.e., a−1 ∈ R. Assume on contrary that a is a zero-divisor. Then there
exists a non-zero element b ∈ R such that ab = 0. By multiplying a−1 on both sides of the last
equation, we get:
b = 0,
which is a contradiction as b is non-zero. Hence the proof.

Corollary 6. A field has no zero-divisor.

We know that Zp is a field. Thus we can say that Zp has no zero-divisor. There are rings which
are not field but they have no zero-divisor. For instance, Z is not a field but it has no zero divisor.
Such rings are given special name:

Definition 7. A commutative ring with unity is called an integral domain (or simply a domain)
if it has no zero divisor.

Note that for an integral domain, the property “commutative with unity” is must. From the
above corollary and the remark mentioned after that, we can say that

Every field is an integral domain but the converse is not true.

However we have a beautiful result stating a special case where the converse is also true.

Proposition 7. Every finite integral domain is a field.

6
Proof. Let R = {a1 , a2 , . . . , an } be an integral domain. Since R is a commutative ring with 1, it
remains to show that every non-zero member of R is invertible. Let a ∈ R be a non-zero element.
Then
aa1 , aa2 , . . . , aan ∈ R.
Now if aai = aaj , then we have a(ai − aj ) = 0. Since a 6= 0 and R has no zero divisor, we get
ai − aj = 0, i.e., ai = aj . This shows that all members in the above list are distinct. Thus

R = {aa1 , aa2 , . . . , aan }.

Since 1 ∈ R, there exists ai ∈ R such that aai = 1. Thus a is invertible and hence the proof.
Remark 4. There is another remarkable result that Every finite division ring is a field. The
proof is not in our scope. However, it is worth noting that to prove this result, one has to show that
every finite division ring is necessarily commutative.

Some special domains:

Definition 8. A domain R is said to be a Euclidean Domain if for a, b ∈ R with b 6= 0, there
exists elements q, r ∈ R such that
a = bq + r,
where r = 0 or N (r) < N (b) for some map N : R −→ {0, 1, 2, . . .} satisfying N (0) = 0.
In simple words a Euclidean Domain ED is a domain where division algorithm holds. The map
N is called a norm on R. Its purpose is to define a kind of size relation between the elements of R.
Example 10. Every field F is a Euclidean Domain w.r.t. any norm. For a, b ∈ F with b 6= 0, we
may write:
a = bq + r
for q = b−1 a and r = 0.
Example 11. The domain Z is a ED w.r.t. the norm N (m) = |m|. For instance, if a = 4 and
b = −3, then we can write
4 = (−3)(−1) + 1.
Thus q = −1, r = 1 and N (r) = |1| = 1 < N (b) = | − 3| = 3.
Example 12. The domain F [X] is a ED for any field F w.r.t. the norm N (f ) = deg(f ). For
instance, if a = X 2 + 2 and b = X + 1, then we can write

X 2 + 2 = (X + 1)(X − 1) + 3.

Thus q = X − 1, r = 3 and N (r) = deg(3) = 0 < N (b) = deg(X + 1) = 1.

Definition 9. A domain R is said to be a Principal Ideal Domain if every ideal of R is principal,
i.e., every ideal of R can be generated by a single element.
Example 13. We have noticed that in Z: ha, bi = hgcd(a, b)i. Thus every ideal of Z can be generated
by a single member. Hence Z is a PID.
More generally, we can find more examples by using the following result:

7
Proposition 8. Every Euclidean Domain is a PID.

Thus Q[X] is a PID as it is a Euclidean Domain. Note that Z[X] is not a PID as the ideal h2, Xi
cannot be generated by a single polynomial. For instance, if

h2, Xi = hf i.

Then 2 ∈ hf i. This implies that f divides 2 in Z[X]. Hence f ∈ Z. Now X ∈ hf i implies that f
divides X. Thus f = ±1. But then h2, Xi = h±1i = Z[X], which is not the case as 3 ∈ / h2, Xi.
Hence Z[X] is not a PID and consequently by the above theorem, Z[X] is not a Euclidean Domain.

Exe: Find an example of a PID, which is not a ED.

0.6 More on Ideals

We first define some operations on ideals. Let I and J be two ideals of a commutative ring R. Then
the set
I + J = {a + b : a ∈ I, b ∈ J}
is defined to be the sum of ideals I and J. Note that I + J is an ideal of R. Moreover, it
is the smallest ideal of R containing both I and J. Further note that if I = ha1 , a2 , . . . , an i and
J = hb1 , b2 , . . . , bm i, then I + J = ha1 , a2 , . . . , an , b1 , b2 , . . . , bm i. Next the set
nX
n o
IJ = ai bi : ai ∈ I, bi ∈ J
i=1

is defined to be the product of ideals I and J. The set IJ is an ideal of R. Moreover, if I = hai
and J = hbi, then IJ = habi. Thus I n =< an >.
Remark 5. Note that the set
{ab : a ∈ I, b ∈ J}
may not be an ideal of R.

Exe: Let I and J be ideals of R. Show that I ∩J, I +J and IJ are ideals of R. Moreover, IJ ⊂ I ∩J.

After defining these operations on ideals, we can define the isomorphism theorems for rings analogous
to groups:

Theorem 9 (2nd Isomorphism Theorem). Let I and J be ideals of R. Then

(I + J)/J ∼
= I/I ∩ J.

Theorem 10 (3rd Isomorphism Theorem). Let I and J be ideals of R with I ⊂ J. Then

(R/I)/(J/I) ∼
= R/J.

8
Theorem 11 (4th Isomorphism Theorem). Let I be an ideal of R. There there is a bijection between
the subrings of R containing I and the subrings of R/I. Namely,

ψ : {A : I ⊂ A ⊂ R} −→ {X : X ⊂ R/I}, ψ(A) = A/I

is a bijection. Moreover, A is an ideal of R if and only if A/I is an ideal of R/I.

Now we discuss two special kind of ideals in a ring.
Definition 10. Let R be a commutative ring. An ideal P ( R is called a prime ideal if

whenever ab ∈ P =⇒ a ∈ P or b ∈ P.
Example 14. Let R be any domain. Then P = h0i is a prime ideal of R. For this, if ab ∈ h0i, then
ab = 0. Since R contains no zero divisor, either a = 0 or b = 0. This means either a ∈ P or b ∈ P .
Example 15. Let R = Z. Then P = h2i is a prime ideal as if ab ∈ h2i, then 2 divides ab. But being
prime number, 2 must divide either a or b. This means that either a ∈ h2i or b ∈ h2i. Hence h2i is a
prime ideal of Z. More generally, P = hpi is prime for any prime number p. On the other hand, h6i
is not a prime ideal. For this, consider 2 · 3 = 6 ∈ h6i but neither 2 ∈ h6i nor 3 ∈ h6i.
Example 16. Let R = Z[X]. On the same lines, we can say that hXi is a prime ideal in Z[X]
whereas hX 2 i is not. More generally, if p(X) is an irreducible polynomial in Z[X] (i.e., cannot
factorize into smaller polynomials in Z[X]), then hp(X)i is a prime ideal.
Proposition 12. Let R be a commutative ring. Then ideal P ( R is prime if and only if R/P is
an integral domain.
Proof. Let P ( R be a prime ideal. Assume on contrary that R/P is not a domain. Then there
exists a 6= 0 and b 6= 0 in R/P such that

ab = a · b = 0.

But this means a ∈

/ P and b ∈/ P but ab ∈ P , contradicting that P is prime. Conversely let R/P be
a domain and let ab ∈ P . Then
ab = a · b = 0.
Since R/P has no zero divisor, it gives either a = 0 or b = 0. This means either a ∈ P or b ∈ P ,
which completes the proof.
Observe that Z[X]/hXi is isomorphic to Z (a domain), showing that hXi is a prime ideal of Z[X].
On the other hand Z[X]/hX 2 i is not a domain as it contains zero divisors: X · X = X 2 = 0. Thus
hX 2 i is not a prime ideal of Z[X].
Definition 11. Let R be any ring. An ideal M ( R is called maximal if for any ideal I ⊂ R,

M ⊂ I ⊂ R =⇒ M = I or I = R.

Proposition 13. Let R be a commutative ring. Then M ( R is maximal iff R/M is a field.
Proof. Let I be an ideal of R such that M ⊂ I ⊂ R. From 4th Isomorphism theorem, there is a
bijection between the ideals of R containing M and the ideals of R/M . Thus M is maximal iff the
only ideals of R/M are M/M and R/M . Hence M is maximal iff R/M is a field.

9
Corollary 14. Every maximal ideal is prime.

Proof. Let M be a maximal ideal of R. Then R/M is a field and consequently R/M is a domain.
Hence by Proposition 12, M is a prime ideal of R.
Remark 6. Note that the converse to the above result does not hold in general, i.e., a prime ideal
need not to be maximal. For instance, hXi is prime in Z[X] but not maximal as

hXi ( h2, Xi ( Z[X].

Similarly, the ideal h0i in Z is prime but not maximal. However, the ideal hpi is maximal for any
prime p as Z/hpi = Z/pZ is a field. Thus every non-zero prime ideal of Z is also maximal. This is a
particular situation of a more general case:

Theorem 15. In a PID, every non-zero prime ideal is maximal.

Example 17.

1. Every field has a unique maximal ideal h0i.

2. From Example 9, we have R[X]/hXi ∼ = R and R[X]/hX 2 + 1i ∼ = C. Since both R and C are
fields, this means that the ideals hXi and hX 2 + 1i are maximal. Note that Z[X]/hXi ∼
= Z and
Z is not a field, therefore hXi is not a maximal ideal of Z[X].

3. h2, Xi is a maximal ideal of Z[X]. One can verify this by using 3rd Isomorphism Theorem for
I = hXi, J = h2, Xi and R = Z[X]. Thus

Z[X]/hXi ∼
= Z[X]/h2, Xi.
h2, Xi/hXi

Observe that Z[X]/hXi ∼

= Z. Thus if we identify Z[X]/hXi by Z, then h2, Xi/hXi = h2i = 2Z.
Hence we obtain that
Z[X]/h2, Xi ∼ = Z/2Z,
which is a field. Hence h2, Xi is a maximal ideal in Z[X].

10