W1 Lec 1 Ring

 Algebraic structures that are closed under addition, subtraction and multiplication.
 Examples: Z , R [ X ] , Z / n Z , M n ( R )

Definition: A ring R is a set with two laws of composition: addition +¿ , multiplication × which
satisfy the following axioms

and its identity is denoted by 0 . That is,

+¿ ¿
a) ¿ is an abelian group, which we denote by R
a+ b=b+a , a+0=a , ∀ a , b ∈ R
b) Multiplication × is associative and has an identity 1. That is,
a × ( b ×c )=( a× b ) ×c , a ×1=1 × a=a , ∀ a , b , c ∈ R
c) Distributive law
( a+ b ) × c=a× c +b ×c , a × ( b+ c )=a × b+a × c , ∀ a , b , c ∈ R
Definition: A subring S of a ring R is a subset S of R that is closed under addition, subtraction
and multiplication and contains 1.

Recall that a group requires to be

 Closed
 Associative
 Inverse
 Identity

A subring is a ring in its own right.

a) S is closed so it contains the identity and inverses. Equipped with the inherited addition
from R which is associative, S is also an abelian group.
b) S contains 1 and it inherits multiplication from R which is associative.
c) Distributive law is inherited from R

So, closure and inheritance of the binary functions already gives the subring almost everything.
The only thing remaining is the multiplicative identity which is why it is included in the
definition.

Example: Z ⊂Q is a subring.

From now on, we write ab in place of a × b.

Exercise:

1) Let R be a ring and a , b ∈ R . Show that

a) 0 a=a 0=0
b) a (−b )=(−a ) b=−( ab )
c) (−a )(−b )=ab

Proof:

a) 0 a=( a−a ) a=a2−a2=0 and similarly, a 0=a ( a−a ) =a2−a2=0

b) a (−b )+ ab=a (−b+b )=a 0=0 so a (−b )=−( ab )
c) Just using b)
 2) Let R be a ring. Show that if 0=1 then R consists of one element. That is, R is the zero
ring.
Proof:

Let a ∈ R . Then a 1=a 0 so a=0.

Definition: A ring R is commutative if multiplication is commutative.

Examples
1) Gauss integers
Z [ i ] ={ a+bi∨a , b∈ Z } ⊆C
2) Let α ∈ C .
Z [ α ] ={a n α n +an −1 α n−1+ …+a1 α + a0∨n ∈ N , a i ∈ Z } ⊂ C
3) R={ continuous functions R → R }
( f + g )( x )=f ( x )+ g ( x ) , ( fg )( x )=f ( x ) g ( x ) , f 0 ( x )=1 , ∀ x ∈ R
a b
4) H= {[− b́ á ]| }
a , b ∈C ⊂ M 2 ( C ) is a noncommutative ring called the quarternions.

5) Let R={ 0 ,2 , 4 } ⊂ Z / 6 Z with operations from Z / 6 Z . R is a commutative ring with

multiplicative identity 4 .

Definition: An element a ∈ R is a unit if there exists b ∈ R s.t. ab=1=ba. Note that if b exists, it
is unique. To see why, suppose another inverse exist c , say. Then

ab=ba=1 ,ac =ca=1cab=cb=c

The element b is called the multiplicative inverse of a , denoted by a−1.

Exercise: The set of units, together with multiplication, forms a group. This is the group of units,
denoted by R×.

Examples:

1) Units in Z are 1 ,−1

2) Units in Z [ i ] are 1 ,−1 , i,−i
3) Units in R [ x ] are { c ≠ 0|c ∈ R }

Definition: A nonzero ring R is called a division ring if all nonzero elements are units.

Definition: A field is a commutative division ring.

Definition: If a , b ∈ R are nonzero elements satisfying ab=0 then a , b are called zero-divisors.

Example: Z / 6 Z have zero-divisors 2 , 3 , 4.

Exercise: Show that a unit cannot be a zero divisor.

 A unit cannot be a divisor Let a ∈ R be a unit and suppose otherwise that it is also a zero
divisor. If b ∈ R is also a zero divisor then ba=0 and thus ( ba ) a−1=0. But b ( a a−1 )=b so
b=0 which contradicts the fact that b is a zero divisor.
 A zero divisor cannot be a unit Let a ∈ R be a zero divisor. Suppose otherwise that it is
also a unit. If b ∈ R is also a zero divisor then similarly to before, ba a−1=b=0, which is
a contradiction.