Integral domain

In mathematics, and specifically in abstract algebra, an integral domain is a nonzero commutative ring in which the product of any
two nonzero elements is nonzero.[1][2] Integral domains are generalizations of the ring of integers and provide a natural setting for
studying divisibility. In an integral domain, every nonzero element a has the cancellation property, that is, if a ≠ 0, an equality
ab = ac implies b = c.

"Integral domain" is defined almost universally as above, but there is some variation. This article follows the convention that rings
have a multiplicative identity, generally denoted 1, but some authors do not follow this, by not requiring integral domains to have a
multiplicative identity.[3][4] Noncommutative integral domains are sometimes admitted.[5] This article, however, follows the much
more usual convention of reserving the term "integral domain" for the commutative case and using "domain" for the general case
including noncommutative rings.

Some sources, notablyLang, use the term entire ring for integral domain.[6]

Some specific kinds of integral domains are given with the following chain of
class inclusions:

commutative rings ⊃ integral domains ⊃ integrally closed domains ⊃ GCD domains

⊃ unique factorization domains ⊃ principal ideal domains ⊃ Euclidean domains ⊃
fields ⊃ finite fields

Contents
1 Definition
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

Definition
An integral domain is basically defined as a nonzero commutative ring in which the product of any two nonzero elements is nonzero.
This definition may be reformulated in a number of equivalent definitions :

An integral domain is a nonzero commutative ring with no nonzerozero divisors.

An integral domain is a commutative ring in which thezero ideal {0} is a prime ideal.
An integral domain is a nonzero 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 a monoid must beclosed under multiplication).
 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 productxr is injective. Elements r with this property are calledregular, so it is equivalent
to require that every nonzero element of the ring be regular .
A fundamental property of integral domains is that every subring of a field is an integral domain, and that, conversely, given any
integral domain, one may construct a field that contains it as a subring, the field of fractions. This characterization may be viewed as
a further equivalent definition:

An integral domain is a ring that is i(somorphic to) a subring of a field.

Examples
The archetypical example is the ring of all integers.
Every field is an integral domain. For example, the field of all real numbers is an integral domain. Conversely,
every Artinian integral domain is a field. In particular, all finite integral domains arefinite fields (more generally, by
Wedderburn's little theorem, finite domains are finite fields). The ring of integers provides an example of a non-
Artinian infinite integral domain that is not a field, possessing infinite descending sequences of ideals such as:

Rings of polynomials are integral domains if the coefficients come from an integral domain. For instance, the ring
of all polynomials in one variable with integer coef
ficients is an integral domain; so is the ring
of all polynomials in n-variables with complex coefficients.

The previous example can be further exploited by taking quotients from prime ideals. For example, the ring
corresponding to a planeelliptic curve is an integral domain. Integrality can be
checked by showing is an irreducible polynomial.

The ring is an integral domain for any non-square integer . If then this ring is
always a subring of , otherwise, it is a subring of

The ring of p-adic integers is an integral domain.

If is a connected open subset of the complex plane , then the ring consisting of all holomorphic functions
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 aUFD.[7][8]

Non-examples
The following rings arenot integral domains.

The zero ring (the ring in which ).

The quotient ring when m is a composite number. Indeed, choose a proper factorization (meaning
that and are not equal to or ). Then and , but .

If R and S are commutative rings, then theproduct ring is never an integral domain, because
is the zero element.

When is a square, the ring is not an integral domain. Write , and note that there is a
factorization in . By the Chinese remainder theorem, there is an isomorphism

The ring of n × n matrices over any nonzero ring when n ≥ 2. If and are matrices such that the image of is
contained in the kernel of , then . For example, this happens for .
 A geometric non-example is thequotient ring for any field , since is not a prime ideal.
This is geometric because the underlyingtopological space of the affine scheme is
reducible, since it is the union of the closed subsets and .

The ring of continuous functions on the unit interval. Consider the functions

Neither nor is everywhere zero, but is.

The tensor product . This ring has two non-trivialidempotents, and

. They are orthogonal, meaning that , and hence is not a domain.
In fact, there is an isomorphism defined by . Its inverse is defined
by . This example shows that afiber product of irreducible affine schemes need not be
irreducible.

Divisibility, prime elements, and irreducible elements

In this section, R is an integral domain.

Given elements a and b of R, we say that a divides b, or that a is a divisor of b, or that b is a multiple of a, if there exists an element
x in R such that ax = b.

The elements that divide 1 are called theunits of R; these are precisely the invertible elements inR. Units divide all other elements.

If a divides b and b divides a, then we say a and b are associated elements or associates.[9] Equivalently, a and b are associates if a
= ub for some unit u.

If q is a nonzero non-unit, we say thatq is an irreducible element if q cannot be written as a product of two non-units.

If p is a nonzero non-unit, we say that p is a prime element if, whenever p divides a product ab, then p divides a or p divides b.
Equivalently, an element p is prime if and only if the principal ideal (p) is a nonzero prime ideal. The notion of prime element
generalizes the ordinary definition ofprime number in the ring except that it allows for negative prime elements.

Every prime element is irreducible. The converse is not true in general: for example, in the quadratic integer ring the
element 3 is irreducible (if it factored nontrivially, the factors would each have to have norm 3, but there are no norm 3 elements
since has no integer solutions), but not prime (since 3 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 , there is unique factorization ofideals. See Lasker–Noether theorem.

Properties
A commutative ring R is an integral domain if and only if the ideal (0) ofR is a prime ideal. This implies the
associated affine scheme is reduced and irreducible. If is graded then the associated projective scheme is also
reduced and irreducible.
If R is a commutative ring andP is an ideal in R, then the quotient ring R/P is an integral domain if and only ifP is a
prime ideal.
Let R be an integral domain. Then there is an integral domainS such that R ⊂ S and S has an element which is
transcendental over R.
The cancellation property holds in any integral domain: for anya, b, and c in an integral domain, ifa ≠ 0 and ab = ac
then b = c. Another way to state this is that the functionx ↦ ax is injective for any nonzeroa in the domain.
 The cancellation property holds for ideals in any integral domain: ifxI = xJ, then either x is zero or I = J.
An integral domain is equal to the intersection of itslocalizations at maximal ideals.
An inductive limit of integral domains is an integral domain.

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 is the field of rational numbers The field of fractions of a field is
isomorphic to the field itself.

Algebraic geometry
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 analgebraic variety.

More generally, a commutative ring is an integral domain if and only if itsspectrum is an integral affine scheme.

Characteristic and homomorphisms

The characteristic of an integral domain is either 0 or aprime number.

If R is an integral domain of prime characteristicp, then the Frobenius endomorphismf(x) = x p is injective.

See also
Dedekind–Hasse norm– the extra structure needed for an integral domain to be principal
Zero-product property

Notes
1. Bourbaki, p. 116.
2. Dummit and Foote, p. 228.
3. B.L. van der Waerden, Algebra Erster Teil, p. 36, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg 1966.
4. I.N. Herstein, Topics in Algebra, p. 88-90, Blaisdell Publishing Company, London 1964.
5. J.C. McConnel and J.C. Robson "Noncommutative Noetherian Rings"Graduate
( Studies in MathematicsVol. 30,
AMS)
6. Pages 91–92 of Lang, Serge (1993), Algebra (Third ed.), Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, ISBN 978-0-201-55540-
0, Zbl 0848.13001 (https://zbmath.org/?format=complete&q=an:0848.13001)
7. Auslander, Maurice; Buchsbaum, D. A. (1959). "Unique factorization in regular local rings"(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/pmc/articles/PMC222624). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 45 (5): 733–734. doi:10.1073/pnas.45.5.733(https://doi.o
rg/10.1073%2Fpnas.45.5.733). PMC 222624 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC222624) .
PMID 16590434 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16590434).
8. Masayoshi Nagata (1958). "A general theory of algebraic geometry over Dedekind domains. II".Amer. J. Math. The
Johns Hopkins University Press.80 (2): 382–420. doi:10.2307/2372791 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2372791).
 JSTOR 2372791 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2372791).
9. Durbin, John R. (1993).Modern Algebra: An Introduction(3rd ed.). John Wiley and Sons. p. 224.ISBN 0-471-51001-
7. "Elements a and b of [an integral domain] are calledassociates if a | b and b | a."

References
Adamson, Iain T. (1972). Elementary rings and modules. University Mathematical Texts. Oliver and Boyd. ISBN 0-05-
002192-3.
Bourbaki, Nicolas (1998). Algebra, Chapters 1–3. Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag. 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. (2013). Abstract Algebra: An Introduction(3rd ed.). Cengage Learning.ISBN 978-1-111-
56962-4.
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 0-521-33718-6.
Rowen, Louis Halle (1994).Algebra: groups, rings, and fields. A K Peters. ISBN 1-56881-028-8.
Lanski, Charles (2005).Concepts in abstract algebra. AMS Bookstore. ISBN 0-534-42323-X.
Milies, César 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.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Integral_domain&oldid=810368100

"

This page was last edited on 14 November 2017, at 20:55.

Text is available under theCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of theWikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.