Basic Ring Theory

Dipankar Ghosh
Department of Mathematics
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

January 5, 2022

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Introduction to rings

1 The study of groups is concerned with certain objects with a

single binary operation, while the study of rings is concerned
with objects possessing two binary operations (called addition
and multiplication), and these two operations are compatible with
each other, i.e., they satisfy the distributive laws.
2 The most familiar example of a ring is the set of all integers
Z = {. . . , −5, −4, −3, −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, . . .}.
3 The familiar properties for addition and multiplication of integers
serve as a model for the axioms for rings.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Formal definition of rings
A non-empty set R along with two binary operations ‘+’ (called
addition) and ‘·’ (called multiplication) is said to be a ring if
1 (R, +) is an abelian group, i.e.,
a a + b ∈ R for all a, b ∈ R (that is, R is closed under addition +).
b (a + b) + c = a + (b + c) for all a, b, c ∈ R (that is, + is associative).
c a + b = b + a for all a, b ∈ R (that is, + is commutative).
d There is an element 0 in R such that a + 0 = a for all a ∈ R (that is,
0 is the additive identity).
e For each a in R there exists an element (−a) in R such that
a + (−a) = 0 (that is, −a is the additive inverse of a).
2 (R, ·) is a semigroup, i.e.,
a a · b ∈ R for all a, b ∈ R (that is, R is closed under multiplication ·).
b (a · b) · c = a · (b · c) for all a, b, c ∈ R (that is, · is associative).
3 Both addition and multiplication are compatible in the sense that
distributive laws hold, i.e.,
a·(b+c) = a·b+a·c and (a+b)·c = a·c+b·c for all a, b, c ∈ R.
Example: The ring of integers.
Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory
Ring with identity element

1 If R has multiplicative identity, i.e., (R, ·) has identity, then we say

that R is a ring with identity.
2 We call this the identity element of R, and denote it by 1R or 1.
3 By definition of multiplicative identity, 1 · a = a · 1 = a for all a ∈ R.

Examples

1 With usual addition ‘+’ and multiplication ‘·’, the set Z of integers
is a ring with identity.
2 The set 2Z of all even integers with usual addition ‘+’ and
multiplication ‘·’ is a ring which does not have identity.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Commutative and Non-commutative rings
1 A ring R is called commutative if a · b = b · a for all a, b ∈ R.
2 A ring is called non-commutative if it is not commutative.

Examples

1 The set Z of integers is a commutative ring.

2 (Matrix rings). Let R be a ring. For every n > 2, let Mn (R) be the
set of all n × n matrices with entries from R.
With usual matrix addition ‘+’ and multiplication ‘×’,
Mn (R) is a non-commutative ring.
3 For example, M2 (R) is non-commutative as
! ! ! !
1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
× 6= × .
0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0

If R has 1, then the n × n identity matrix is the identity element of Mn (R).

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory
Division rings, fields and integral domains
1 A ring R with identity is called a division ring if every nonzero
element of R has a multiplicative inverse, i.e.,
for every a 6= 0, there is b such that a · b = b · a = 1.
2 A commutative division ring is called a field. Equivalently, a ring
(R, +, ·) is said to be a field if (R r {0}, ·) is also an abelian group.
3 A commutative ring R with identity is said to be an integral
domain if a · b = 0 implies that a = 0 or b = 0.
Examples

1 With usual addition ‘+’ and multiplication ‘·’, the sets Q (rational
numbers), R (real numbers) and C (complex numbers) are fields.
2 The set Z of integers is an integral domain, but it is not a field
(not a division ring also).
3 All fields are integral domains, but the converse is not
necessarily true, e.g., Z.
Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory
Integers modulo n

Example
1 For n > 1, the set Z /n Z = {0, 1, 2, . . . , n − 1} of integers modulo
n forms a ring, where addition and multiplication are defined
modulo n, i.e.,
a + b = (a + b) and a · b = ab.
2 Here m is the equivalence class of m under the relation p ∼ q if n
divides (p − q).
3 This ring, denoted Zn , is commutative with identity 1.

Remark
The ring Zn is a field if and only if Zn is an integral domain if and only
if n is a prime number.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Direct product of rings

Example
1 Let R and S be rings. It can be verified that the direct product
R × S := {(x, y) : x ∈ R and y ∈ S}.
is a ring under componentwise addition and multiplication.
2 Similarly, the direct product of any (finite or infinite) collection of
rings is again a ring.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Gaussian integers

Example
The subset Z[i] = {a + bi : a, b ∈ Z} of complex numbers form a
subring of C. The ring Z[i] is called the ring of Gaussian integers.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Polynomial rings

Example
Let R be any ring.
Then the set R[X] of all polynomials in X with coefficients in R is a ring
with usual polynomial addition and multiplication:

(a0 + a1 x + · · · + an xn )+(b0 + b1 x + · · · + bn xn )
= (a0 + b0 ) + (a1 + b1 )x + · · · + (an + bn )xn
(a0 + a1 x + · · · + am xm )×(b0 + b1 x + · · · + bn xn )
= (a0 b0 ) + (a0 b1 + a1 b0 )x + (a0 b2 + a1 b1 + a2 b0 )x2 + · · · + (am bn )xm+n

Remark
If R is an integral domain, then R[X] is also an integral domain.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Power series ring
Example
1 The set R[[x]] of formal power series in the variable x with
coefficients from R is the set of all formal infinite sums
P∞ n 2 3
n=0 an x = a0 + a1 x + a2 x + a3 x + · · · .
2 The term ‘formal’ means that the convergence is not considered.
3 Define addition and multiplication of power series as follows:
∞
X ∞
X ∞
X
an xn + bn xn = (an + bn )xn
n=0 n=0 n=0
∞
X ∞
X ∞
X n
X
an xn × bn xn = cn xn , where cn = ak bn−k .
n=0 n=0 n=0 k=0

4 Then R[[x]] is a ring, called the formal power series ring over R.
5 It is easy to verify that R[[x]] is commutative or integral domain or
it has 1 if and only if R is so.
Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory
Zero-divisors and units

Definition
1 A nonzero element a of R is called a zero-divisor if there is a
nonzero element b in R such! that either ab
! = 0 or ba = 0.
0 1 1 0
Example: In M2 (R), and are zero divisors.
0 0 0 0
2 Assume R has an identity 1 6= 0. An element u of R is called a
unit in R if u is invertible in R, i.e., there is some v in R such that
uv = vu = 1.
Example: In Z, ±1 are the only units.
3 The set of units in R is denoted by R× or R∗ or U(R).

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Nilpotent and idempotent elements

Definition

1 An element a ∈ R is said to be nilpotent if there is a positive

integer n (depending on a) such
! that an = 0.
0 1
Example: In M2 (R), is a nilpotent element.
0 0
2 be an idempotent if a2 = a.
An element a ∈ R is said to !
1 0
Example: In M2 (R), is an idempotent element.
0 0

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Subring
Definition
Let R be a ring.
1 A subset S ⊆ R is said to be a subring of R if S itself is a ring with
the same operations as in R.
2 Equivalently, a subring of R is a subgroup of R that is closed
under multiplication.

Remark
To show that a subset S of a ring R is a subring, it suffices to check
that it is nonempty and closed under subtraction and multiplication,
i.e., S ⊆ R is a subring if and only if

S 6= ∅ and a, b ∈ S implies that a − b ∈ S and ab ∈ S.

Example
Each containment in Z ⊂ Q ⊂ R ⊂ C provides a subring.
Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory
Ring homomorphisms

A ring homomorphism is a map between rings which preserves the

ring structures.

Definition
1 A ring homomorphism is a map ϕ : R → S which preserves
both addition and multiplication in R, i.e.,
1 ϕ(a + b) = ϕ(a) + ϕ(b) for all a, b ∈ R.
2 ϕ(ab) = ϕ(a)ϕ(b) for all a, b ∈ R.
2 The kernel of the ring homomorphism ϕ : R → S, denoted
Ker(ϕ), is the set of elements of R that map to 0 in S, i.e.,
Ker(ϕ) = {r ∈ R : ϕ(r) = 0}.
3 The image of the ring homomorphism ϕ : R → S, denoted
Image(ϕ), is the set of image points of ϕ, i.e.,
Image(ϕ) = {s ∈ S : ϕ(r) = s for some r ∈ R}.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Various ring homomorphisms

Definition
A ring homomorphism ϕ : R → S is called
1 a monomorphism if ϕ is injective.
2 an epimorphism if ϕ is surjective.
3 an isomorphism if ϕ is bijective.
Equivalently, if there exists a ring homomorphism ψ : S → R such
that ϕ ◦ ψ = idS and ψ ◦ ϕ = idR .
∼ S.
In this case, we say that ‘R is isomorphic to S’ and write R =
4 an endomorphism if R = S.
5 an automorphism if R = S and ϕ is bijective.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Examples of ring homomorphisms

Example
1 For any rings R and S, the zero map ϕ : R → S (i.e., ϕ(a) = 0 for
all a ∈ R) is a ring homomorphism, called the trivial ring
homomorphism.
2 The map ϕ : Z → Z /2 Z defined by sending even integers to 0
and odd integers to 1 is a ring homomorphism. It is ‘unitary’.
Moreover, Ker(ϕ) = 2 Z and Image(ϕ) = Z /2 Z.
In general, the map ϕ : Z → Z /n Z defined by sending integer m
to m (= m mod n) is a ring homomorphism.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

More examples of ring homomorphisms

Example
1 For a fixed integer n, the map ϕn : Z → Z defined by ϕn (x) = nx
for all x ∈ Z is an additive group homomorphism.
But ϕn (xy) = ϕn (x)ϕn (y) ⇐⇒ nxy = (nx)(ny) ⇐⇒ n = 0 or 1.
Thus ϕn is a ring homomorphism if and only if n = 0 or 1.
2 Let ϕ : Q[x] → Q be the map defined by ϕ(p(x)) = p(0) (i.e.,
mapping every polynomial to its constant term).
Clearly ϕ is a ring homomorphism.
Moreover, Ker(ϕ) = {p(x) ∈ Q[x] : p(0) = 0} (the set of all
polynomials with constant term 0) and Image(ϕ) = Q.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Introduction to ideals of rings
1 Let ϕ : R → S be a ring homomorphism.
2 Since 0 ∈ Ker(ϕ), Ker(ϕ) 6= ∅.
3 If a, b ∈ Ker(ϕ), then ϕ(a) = 0 = ϕ(b), hence ϕ(a − b) = 0 and
ϕ(ab) = 0, which implies that a − b ∈ Ker(ϕ) and ab ∈ Ker(ϕ).
4 Thus Ker(ϕ) is a subring of R, i.e., Ker(ϕ) is closed under
subtraction and multiplication.
5 In fact, Ker(ϕ) satisfies something more. It is closed under
multiplication by elements of R from both sides, i.e., if a ∈ Ker(ϕ)
and r ∈ R, then ra, ar ∈ Ker(ϕ) as ϕ(ra) = ϕ(r)ϕ(a) = ϕ(r)0 = 0
and ϕ(ar) = ϕ(a)ϕ(r) = 0ϕ(r) = 0.
6 An equivalent definition of ‘normal subgroup’ is the ‘kernel of a
group homomorphism’. Similarly, one defines ‘ideals’ as ‘kernels
of ring homomorphisms’.
7 An ideal of R is a special subset, something more than a subring
of R. Next we give the formal definition.
Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory
The formal definition of ideals
Definition (Ideals)

Let R be a ring. Let I be an additive subgroup of R, i.e., ∅ =

6 I ⊆ R and
a − b ∈ I for all a, b ∈ I. Then I is called
1 a left ideal if a ∈ I and r ∈ R =⇒ ra ∈ I. (ra is obtained by left
multiplying r to a).
2 a right ideal if a ∈ I and r ∈ R =⇒ ar ∈ I. (ar is obtained by right
multiplying r to a).
3 an ideal or 2-sided ideal if a ∈ I and r ∈ R =⇒ both ra, ar ∈ I.

Remark
To show a subset I of a ring R is an ideal, we need to verify
(i) I 6= ∅,
(ii) a − b ∈ I for all a, b ∈ I and
(iii) ra, ar ∈ I for all a ∈ I and r ∈ R.
Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory
Examples of ideals
Example
1 For any ring R, the subsets {0} and R are ideals of R.
2 For any ring homomorphism ϕ : R → S, the kernel Ker(ϕ) is an
ideal of R.
3 For every fixed integer n, the subset
n Z = {nx : x ∈ Z} is an ideal of Z.
4 A field F (e.g., Q, R and C) has only two ideals {0} and F.

Example
( ! )
a b
Let R be a ring. The sets I1 := : a, b ∈ R and
0 0
( ! )
a 0
I2 := : a, b ∈ R are respectively right and left ideals of
b 0
M2 (R), but these are not ideals of M2 (R).
Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory
Generators of subgroups, subrings and ideals

1 Let X be a subset of a group (resp., ring) R.

2 A ‘subgroup (resp., subring or ideal) of R generated by X’ is
defined to be the ‘smallest subgroup (resp., subring or ideal) of R
which contains X’.
3 Equivalently, it is the ‘intersection of all subgroups (resp.,
subrings or ideals) of R that contain X’. E.g., the subgroup of
Pfinite
(R, +) generated by X is equal to { i ni xi : ni ∈ Z and xi ∈ X}.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Generators of ideals

Definition
1 Let X ⊆ R. The ideal of R generated by X, denoted hXi, is equal
to
 

 


 


 finite finite finite finite


 X X X X 
ni xi + ri yi + zi si + ai wi bi .

 

 ni ∈ Z
 ri ∈ R si ∈ R ai , bi ∈ R 


 

xi ∈ X yi ∈ X zi ∈ X wi ∈ X
 

2 If X = {x1 , . . . , xn } is a finite set, then hXi is said to be a finitely

generated ideal.
3 The ideal hxi of R generated by a single element x ∈ R is called a
principal ideal.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Examples of ideal generation

Example
1 The ideal n Z of Z is principal as it is generated by n.
2 For an element a in a commutative ring R with identity, the
principal ideal hai = R

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Examples of ideal generation

Example
1 The ideal n Z of Z is principal as it is generated by n.
2 For an element a in a commutative ring R with identity, the
principal ideal hai = R if and only if a is a unit in R.
3 The ideal I = {a0 + a1 x + · · · + an xn ∈ Z[x] : a0 is even} of Z[x] is
finitely generated, but it is not principal. In fact,

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Examples of ideal generation

Example
1 The ideal n Z of Z is principal as it is generated by n.
2 For an element a in a commutative ring R with identity, the
principal ideal hai = R if and only if a is a unit in R.
3 The ideal I = {a0 + a1 x + · · · + an xn ∈ Z[x] : a0 is even} of Z[x] is
finitely generated, but it is not principal. In fact,
I = h2, xi.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Special ideals: Prime, Maximal
Definition

Let R be a ring.
1 An ideal I of R is said to be proper if I 6= R.
2 A proper ideal m of R is called maximal if the only ideals
containing m are m and R.
3 Let R be commutative. A proper ideal p of R is called a prime
ideal if for any a, b ∈ R, the product
ab ∈ p implies that either a ∈ p or b ∈ p.

Remark
1 The notion of a maximal ideal is fairly intuitive.
2 On the other hand, prime ideal is a natural generalization of the
notion of prime integer. Indeed, for a positive integer n, the ideal
n Z of Z is prime if and only if n is a prime number.
Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory
Examples of prime, maximal ideals

Example
1 The principal ideals p Z generated by primes p in Z are both
prime and maximal ideals.
2 The zero ideal of Z is prime but not maximal.
3 For a commutative ring F with identity, the following are
equivalent:
1 F is a field.
2 F has only two ideals {0} and F.
3 {0} is a maximal ideal of F.
4 The ideal hxi of Z[x] is prime, but not maximal as
hxi ( h2, xi ( Z[x].
The ideal h2, xi (consisting of polynomials with even constant
terms) is a maximal ideal of Z[x].

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Quotient groups

1 For a subgroup N of an additive group G, G/N is defined as the

collection of all left cosets g + N where g ∈ G.
2 The addition in G/N is well defined ⇐⇒ N is a normal subgroup
of G ⇐⇒ G/N is a group, called the quotient group.
3 In a similar way, by considering ring homomorphisms and ideals,
one defines quotient rings.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Quotient rings

Definition
1 Let R be a ring, and I be an ideal of R. Define

R/I := {a+I : a ∈ R}, the set of all additive cosets of I by elements of R

2 Recall that the additive coset of I by an element a is defined to be

a + I := {a + x : x ∈ I}.
3 Since (R, +) is an abelian group, I is a normal subgroup of
(R, +), hence R/I is an abelian group under addition
(a + I) + (b + I) = (a + b) + I for all a, b ∈ R.
4 Since I is a (2-sided) ideal of R, the multiplication
(a + I) · (b + I) = (a · b) + I is well defined.
5 Thus (R/I, +, ·) is a ring, called the quotient ring or residue
ring of R modulo I.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Examples of quotient rings

Example
1 The integers modulo n, denoted Zn is the quotient ring of Z
modulo the ideal n Z, i.e.,
Zn = Z /n Z = {0, 1, . . . , n − 1}.
2 Let S = R[x] and suppose I = (x), the ideal generated by x. Then
S/I = R[x]/(x) ∼= R.

Remark
1 Let I be an ideal of R. Then the map
π : R → R/I defined by π(r) = r + I
is a surjective ring homomorphism with kernel I.
2 Thus a subset I ⊆ R is an ideal of R if and only if it is the kernel of
some ring homomorphism from R.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

1st and 2nd isomorphism theorems for rings

Theorem
If ϕ : R → S is a ring homomorphism, then the quotient ring

R/ Ker(ϕ) ∼
= Image(ϕ).

Example: Consider the ideal I = hxi of R[x]. Then R[x]/hxi ∼

= R.
Proof. Define a map ϕ : R[x] → R by ϕ(p(x)) = p(0). Then
ϕ : R[x] → R is a ring homomorphism with the kernel hxi.

Theorem
Let S be a subring, and let I be an ideal of R. Then
1 S + I = {a + b : a ∈ S, b ∈ I} is a subring of R.
2 I is an ideal of S + I, and S ∩ I is an ideal of S.
3 (S + I)/I ∼
= S/(S ∩ I).

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

3rd and 4th isomorphism theorems for rings
Theorem
Let I and J be ideals of R such that I ⊆ J. Then

J/I is an ideal of R/I and (R/I)/(J/I) ∼

= R/J.

Theorem
Let I be an ideal of R. The correspondence

S ←→ S/I (resp., J ←→ J/I)

is an inclusion preserving bijection between the set of subrings S

(resp., ideals J) of R that contain I and the set of subrings (resp.,
ideals) of R/I. Particularly,
1 Every subring of R/I looks like S/I for some subring S of R that
contains I.
2 Every ideal of R/I looks like J/I for some ideal J of R that
contains I.
Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory
Prime/maximal ideals and the related quotient rings

Theorem

Let R be a commutative ring with identity.

1 An ideal p of R is prime if and only if R/p is an integral domain.
2 An ideal m of R is maximal if and only if R/m is a field.

Example
Since R[x]/hxi ∼
= R,
1 the ideal hxi of R[x] is prime if and only if R is an integral domain.
2 the ideal hxi of R[x] is maximal if and only if R is a field.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Special integral domains

1 There are special classes of rings with more algebraic structure:

2 rings with a division algorithm (Euclidean Domains, in short ED),
3 rings in which every ideal is principal (Principal Ideal Domains, in
short PID), and
4 rings in which elements have factorizations into primes (Unique
Factorization Domains, in short UFD).
5 The principal examples of such rings are the ring Z of integers
and polynomial rings F[x] over fields F.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Euclidean Domains (ED)

Definition
A function f : R → Z>0 with f (0) = 0 is called a norm on R.

Definition
An integral domain R is said to be a Euclidean Domain (in short, ED)
if it possesses a ‘Division Algorithm’ with respect to some norm on R,
i.e., if there is a norm N on R such that for any two elements a, b ∈ R
with b 6= 0, there exist elements q and r in R with

a = qb + r with r = 0 or N(r) < N(b). (1)

The element q is called the quotient, and r is called the remainder of

the division.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Examples of Euclidean Domains

Example
Fields are trivial examples of Euclidean domains, where any norm
satisfies the defining condition, for a, b with b 6= 0, there exists

q = ab−1 with a = qb + 0.

Example

The ring Z of integers is a Euclidean domain (w.r.t. the norm N given

by N(a) = |a|).

Example

The polynomial ring K[x] over a field K is a Euclidean domain

(w.r.t. the norm N given by N(p(x)) = deg(p(x))).

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Principal Ideal Domain (PID)
Definition
A Principal Ideal Domain (in short, PID) is an integral domain in which
every ideal is principal.

Examples
1 All fields are PID.
Indeed, a field K has only two ideals h0i and h1i.
2 The ring Z of integers is a PID.
3 A polynomial ring K[x] in one variable x over a field K is a PID.

Examples
1 The polynomial ring Z[x] is not a PID.
(Here Z[x] has a non-principal ideal h2, xi).
2 The polynomial rings R[x1 , . . . , xn ] in more than one variables
x1 , . . . , xn over any ring R are not PID.
Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory
Prime and irreducible elements

Definition
Let R be an integral domain.
1 Consider two elements x 6= 0 and y in R. We say that x divides y,
denoted x | y, if y = xz for some z ∈ R.
2 A nonzero non-unit element x ∈ R is said to be a prime element
if the ideal hxi generated by x is prime,
equivalently, if x | ab implies that either x | a or x | b.
3 Let x be a nonzero non-unit element of R. Then x is said to be
irreducible if x = ab for a, b ∈ R implies that at least one of a or b
must be a unit in R. If x is not irreducible, then it is called
reducible, i.e., x = ab for some non-units a and b in R.
4 Two elements a and b of R differing by a unit are said to be
associate in R, i.e., a = ub for some unit u in R.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Unique factorization domain (UFD)

Definition
An integral domain R is called a unique factorization domain (in
short, UFD) if
1 R is a factorization domain (in short, FD), i.e., every nonzero
non-unit element can be factored into a unit times a finite product
of irreducible elements, and
2 the factorization in (1) is unique upto order and associates, i.e., if
x is factored as

x = ua1 a2 · · · ar = vb1 b2 · · · bs

for some units u, v and irreducible elements ai and bj , then

r = s and
after rearrangements (if necessary) each ai is an associate of bi .

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Examples of UFDs

Example
Fields are trivial examples of UFD (as they have no nonzero
non-units).

Example
√ √ √
1 The elements 3, 2 + −5 and 2 − −5 are irreducible in Z[ −5].
√ √
2 Note that (2 + −5)(2 − −5) = 32 .
√ √ √
3 Since neither 2 + −5 nor 2 − −5 is divisible by 3 in Z[ −5],
√ √
the element 3 is not associate to 2 + −5 and 2 − −5.
√
4 Thus Z[ −5] is an integral domain which is not a UFD.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Relation between various integral domains

Remark
We have the following implications:

Fields =⇒ EDs =⇒ PIDs =⇒ UFDs =⇒ Integral domains.

The reverse implications are not true in general. For examples:

√
1 The quadratic integer ring Z[ −5] is an integral domain which is
not a UFD.
2 The polynomial rings Z[x] and K[x, y] both are UFDs but not PIDs,
where K is a field.
√
3 The ring Z[(1 + −19)/2] is a PID but not a Euclidean domain.
4 The rings Z and K[x] are Euclidean domains but not fields, where
K is a field.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Irreducibility of a polynomial over a UFD

Lemma (Gauss)
Let R be a UFD, and K = Q(R) be its field of fractions (for example, if
R = Z, then Q(R) = Q). Let f (x) ∈ R[x] be a nonzero polynomial such
that the gcd of its coefficients is 1. Then

f (x) is irreducible in R[x] ⇐⇒ f (x) is irreducible in K[x].

Theorem (Gauss)
The polynomial ring R[x] is a UFD ⇐⇒ R is a UFD.

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Eisenstein’s Criterion

Theorem (Eisenstein’s Criterion)

Let R be a UFD. Let f (x) = an xn + · · · + a1 x + a0 ∈ R[x], where an 6= 0,
be a polynomial whose coefficients have gcd 1.
Suppose there is a prime element p in R such that
(i) p | ai for all i = 0, 1, . . . , n − 1 and p 6 | an , i.e., p divides all but the
leading coefficient, and
(ii) p2 6 | a0 . Then

f (x) is irreducible in R[x].

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Eisenstein’s Criterion over Z

Corollary
Let f (x) = xn + an−1 xn−1 + · · · + a1 x + a0 ∈ Z[x] be a monic polynomial,
i.e., the leading coefficient of f (x) is 1. If there exists a prime number
p such that p | ai for all i = 0, 1, . . . , n − 1 and p2 6 | a0 , then

f (x) is irreducible in Z[x].

In this case, by Gauss Lemma, f (x) is also irreducible in Q[x].

Example
1 The polynomials xn − p, where n > 1 and p varies over prime
numbers, are examples of irreducible polynomials in Z[x] (hence
irreducible in Q[x]).
2 The polynomial x4 − 10x + 5 is irreducible in Z[x].

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

Reference

1. D. S. Dummit and R. M. Foote, Abstract Algebra, 3rd Edition,

2003.
2. C. Musili, Introduction to Rings and Modules, 2nd Revised
Edition, 1994.
3. https://www.wikipedia.org

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory

 Thank You!

Dipankar Ghosh (IIT Kharagpur) Basic Ring Theory