COURSE 3

Some important examples of rings

We remind that (R, +, ·) is a ring if (R, +) is an Abelian group, · is associative and the distributive
laws hold (that is, · is distributive with respect to +). The ring (R, +, ·) is a unitary ring if it
has a multiplicative identity element.

The polynomial ring over a field

Let (K, +, ·) be a field and let us denote by K N the set

K N = {f | f : N → K}.

If f : N → K then, denoting f (n) = an , we can write

f = (a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . ).

For f = (a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . ), g = (b0 , b1 , b2 , . . . ) ∈ K N one defines:

f + g = (a0 + b0 , a1 + b1 , a2 + b2 , . . . ) (1)

f · g = (c0 , c1 , c2 , . . . ) (2)

where

c 0 = a0 b 0 ,
c 1 = a0 b 1 + a 1 b 0 ,
..
.
�
cn = a0 bn + a1 bn−1 + · · · + an b0 = ai b j ,
i+j=n
..
.

Theorem 1. K N forms a commutative unitary ring with respect to the operations defined by (1)
and (2) called the ring of formal power series over K.

Proof. HOMEWORK

Let f = (a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . ) ∈ K N . The support of f is the subset of N defined by

supp f = {k ∈ N | ak �= 0}.

We denote by K (N) the subset consisting of all the sequences from K N with a finite support. Then

f ∈ K (N) ⇔ ∃ n ∈ N such that ai = 0 for i ≥ n ⇔ f = (a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . , an−1 , 0, 0, . . .).

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Theorem 2. i) K (N) is a subring of K N which contains the multiplicative identity element.
ii) The mapping ϕ : K → K (N) , ϕ(a) = (a, 0, 0, . . . ) is an injective unitary ring morphism.

Proof.

The ring (K (N) , +, ·) is called polynomial ring over K. How can we make this ring look like
the one we know from high school?

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 The injective morphism ϕ allows us to identify a ∈ K with (a, 0, 0, . . . ). This way K can be
seen as a subring of K (N) . The polynomial

X = (0, 1, 0, 0, . . . )

is called indeterminate or variable. From (2) one deduces that:

X 2 = (0, 0, 1, 0, 0, . . . )
X 3 = (0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, . . . )
..
.
X m = (0, 0, . . . , 0, 1, 0, 0, . . . )
� �� �
m ori
..
.

Since we identified a ∈ K with (a, 0, 0, . . . ), from (2) it follows:

aX m = (0, 0, . . . , 0, a, 0, 0, . . . ) (3)
� �� �
m ori

This way we have

Theorem 3. Any f ∈ K (N) which is not zero can be uniquely written as

f = a 0 + a1 X + a 2 X 2 + · · · + an X n (4)

where ai ∈ K, i ∈ {0, 1, . . . , n} and an �= 0.

We can rewrite
not
K (N) = {f = a0 + a1 X + · · · + an X n | a0 , a1 , . . . , an ∈ K, n ∈ N} = K[X].

The elements of K[X] are called polynomials over K, and if f = a0 + a1 X + · · · + an X n

then a0 , . . . , an ∈ K are the coefficients of f , a0 , a1 X . . . , an X n are called monomials, and a0
is the constant term of f . Now, we can rewrite the operations from (K[X], +, ·) as we did in
high school (during the seminar).
If f ∈ K[X], f �= 0 and f is given by (4), then n is called the degree of f , and if f = 0 we
say that the degree of f is −∞. We will denote the degree of f by deg f . Thus we have

deg f = 0 ⇔ f ∈ K ∗ .

By definition

−∞ + m = m + (−∞) = −∞, −∞ + (−∞) = −∞, −∞ < m, ∀ m ∈ N.

Therefore:
i) deg(f + g) ≤ max{deg f, grad g}, ∀f, g ∈ K[X];
ii) deg(f g) = deg f + deg g, ∀f, g ∈ K[X];
iii) K[X] is an integral domain (during the seminar);
iv) a polynomial f ∈ K[X] este is a unit in K[X] if and only if f ∈ K ∗ (during the seminar).

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 Here are some useful notions and results concerning polynomials:
If f, g ∈ K[X] then
f | g ⇔ ∃ h ∈ R, g = f h.
The divisibility | is reflexive and transitive. The polynomial 0 satisfies the following relations

f | 0, ∀f ∈ K[X] and �f ∈ K[X] \ {0} : 0 | f.

Two polynomials f, g ∈ K[X] are associates (we write f ∼ g) if

∃ a ∈ K ∗ : f = ag.

The relation ∼ is reflexive, transitive and symmetric.

A polynomial f ∈ K[X]∗ is irreducible if deg f ≥ 1 and

f = gh (g, h ∈ K[X]) ⇒ g ∈ K ∗ or h ∈ K ∗ .

The gcd and lcm are defined as for integers, the product of a gcm and lcma af two polynomials
f, g and the product f g are associates and the polynomials divisibility acts with respect to sum
and product in the way we are familiar with from the integers case.
If f = a0 + a1 X + a2 X 2 + · · · + an X n ∈ K[X] and c ∈ K, then

f (c) = a0 + a1 c + a2 cX 2 + · · · + an cn ∈ K

is called the evaluation of f at c. The element c ∈ K is a root of f if f (c) = 0.

Theorem 4. (The Division Algorithm in K[X]) For any polynomials f, g ∈ K[X], g �= 0, there
exist q, r ∈ K[X] uniquely determined such that

f = gq + r and deg r < deg g. (5)

Proof. (optional) Let a0 , . . . , an , b0 , . . . , bm ∈ K, bm �= 0 and

f = a0 + a1 X + · · · + an X n şi g = b0 + b1 X + · · · + bm X m .

The existence of q and r: If f = 0 then q = r = 0 satisfy (5).

For f �= 0 we prove by induction that that the property holds for any n = deg f . If n < m
(since m ≥ 0, there exist polynomials f which satisfy this condition), then (5) holds for q = 0 and
r = f.
Let us assume the statement proved for any polynomials with the degree n ≥ m. Since an X n
is the maximum degree monomial of the polynomial an b−1 m X
n−m
g, for h = f − an b−1
m X
n−m
g, we
�
have deg h < n and, according to ourassumption, there exist q , r ∈ R[X] such that

h = gq � + r and deg r < deg g.

Thus, we have f = h+an b−1m X

n−m
g = (an b−1
m X
n−m
+q � )g +r = gq +r where q = an b−1
m X
n−m
+q � .
Now, the existence of q and r from (5) is proved.
The uniqueness of q and r: If we also have

f = gq1 + r1 and deg r1 < deg g,

then gq + r = gq1 + r1 . It follows that r − r1 = g(q1 − q) and deg(r − r1 ) < deg g. Since g �= 0 we
have q1 − q = 0 and, consequently, r − r1 = 0, thus q1 = q and r1 = r.

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 We call the polynomials q and r from (5) the quotient and the remainder of f when dividing
by g, respectively.

Corollary 5. Let K be a field and c ∈ K. The remainder of a polynomial f ∈ K[X] when dividing
by X − c is f (c).

Indeed, from (5) one deduces that r ∈ K, and since f = (X − c)q + r, one finds that r = f (c).
For r = 0 we obtain:

Corollary 6. Let K be a field. The element c ∈ K is a root of f if and only if (X − c) | f .

Corollary 7. If K is a field and f ∈ K[X] has the degree k ∈ N, then the number of the roots of
f from K is at most k.

Indeed, the statement is true for zero-degree polynomials, since they have no roots. We consider
k > 0 and we assume the property valid for any polynomialwith the degree smaller than k. If c1 ∈ K
is a root of f then f = (X − c1 )q and deg q = k − 1. According to our assumption, q has at most
k − 1 roots in K. Since K is a field, K[X] is an integral domain and from f = (X − c1 )q it follows
that c ∈ K is a root of f if and only if c = c1 or c is a root of q. Thus f has at most k roots in K.

The ring of square matrices over a field

Let K be a set and m, n ∈ N∗ . A mapping

A : {1, . . . , m} × {1, . . . , n} → K

is called m × n matrix over K. When m = n, we call A a square matrix of size n. For each
i = 1, . . . , m and j = 1, . . . , n we denote A(i, j) by aij (∈ K) and we represent A as a rectangular
array with m rows and n columns in which the image of each pair (i, j) is written in the i’th row
and the j’th column  
a11 a12 . . . a1n
 
 a21 a22 . . . a2n 
A= . .. 
.. .
 .. . ... . 
am1 am2 . . . amn
We also denote this array by
A = (aij ) 1≤i≤m
1≤j≤n

or, simpler, A = (aij ). We denote the set of all m × n matrices over K by Mm,n (K) and, when
m = n, by Mn (K).
Let (K, +, ·) be a field. Then + from K determines an operation + on Mm,n (K) defined as
follows: if A = (aij ) and B = (bij ) are two m × n matrices, then

A + B = (aij + bij ).

One can easily check that this operation is associative, commutative, it has an identity element
which is the matrix Om,n consisting only of 0 (called the m × n zero matrix) and each matrix
A = (aij ) from Mm,n (K) has an opposite (the matrix −A = (−aij )). Therefore,

Theorem 8. (Mm,n (K), +) is an Abelian group.

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 The scalar multiplication of a matrix A = (aij ) ∈ Mm,n (K) and a scalar α ∈ K is defined by

αA = (αaij ).

One can easily check that:

i) α(A + B) = αA + αB, ∀α ∈ K, ∀A, B ∈ Mm,n (K);
ii) (α + β)A = αA + βA, ∀α, β ∈ K, ∀A ∈ Mm,n (K);
iii) (αβ)A = α(βA), ∀α, β ∈ K, ∀A ∈ Mm,n (K);
iv) 1 · A = A, ∀A ∈ Mm,n (K).
The matrix multiplication is defined as follows: if A = (aij ) ∈ Mm,n (K) and B = (bij ) ∈ Mn,p (K),
then
�n
AB = (cij ) ∈ Mm,p , cu cij = aik bkj , (i, j) ∈ {1, . . . , m} × {1, . . . , p}.
k=1
For n ∈ N∗ we consider the n × n square matrix
 
1 0 0 ... 0
 
 0 1 0 ... 0 
In = 
 .. .. .. .. .

 . . . ... . 
0 0 0 ... 1
If m, n, p, q ∈ N∗ , then:
1) (AB)C = A(BC), for any matrices A ∈ Mm,n (K), B ∈ Mn,p (K), C ∈ Mp,q (K);
2) Im A = A = AIn , ∀A ∈ Mm,n (K);
3) A(B + C) = AB + AC for any matrices A ∈ Mm,n (K), B, C ∈ Mn,p (K);
3’) (B + C)D = BD + CD, for any matrices B, C ∈ Mn,p (K), D ∈ Mp,q (K);
4) α(AB) = (αA)B = A(αB), ∀α ∈ K, ∀Am,n (K), ∀B ∈ Mn,p (K).
We prove 1). To prove the other properties is easier, so we consider this your HOMEWORK.
Indeed, if A = (aij ) ∈ Mm,n (K), B = (bij ) ∈ Mn,p (K), C = (cij ) ∈ Mp,q (K), the element
from the row i ∈ {1, . . . , m} and the column l ∈ {1, . . . , q} of the product (AB)C is
� n �  
�p � � � n
� p
�
aik bkj cjl = (aik bkj ) cjl = aik (bkj cjl ) = aik  bkj cjl  .
j=1 k=1 j=1,p,k=1,n j=1,p,k=1,n k=1 j=1

We notice that this is also the element from the row i ∈ {1, . . . , m} and column l ∈ {1, . . . , q} of
the product A(BC).
If we work with n × n square matrices the matrix multiplication becomes a binary (internal)
operation · on Mn (K), and the equalities 1)–3’) show that · is associative, In is a multiplicative
identity element (called the identity matrix of size n) and · is distributive with respect to +.
Hence,
Theorem 9. (Mn (K), +, ·) is a unitary ring called the ring of the square matrices of size n
over K.
Remarks 10. a) If n ≥ 2 then Mn (K) is not commutative and it has zero divisors. If a, b ∈ K ∗ ,
the non-zero matrices    
a 0 ... 0 0 0 ... b
   
 0 0 ... 0   0 0 ... 0 
 . . .. ,  .. .. .. 
 . .   
 . . ... .   . . ... . 
0 0 ... 0 0 0 ... 0

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can be used to prove this.
b) Using the properties of the addition, multiplication and scalar multiplication, one can easily
prove that  
a 0 ... 0
 
 0 a ... 0 

f : K → Mn (K), f (a) =  . . .. 
..  = aIn
 .. .. . . 
0 0 ... a
is a unitary injective ring homomorphism.
 
a11 a12 ... a1n
 
 a21 a22 ... a2n 
The transpose of an m × n matrix A = 
 .. .. ..  = (aij ) is the n × m

 . . ... . 
am1 am2 ... amn
matrix  
a11 a21 ... am1
 
 a12 a22 ... am2 
t
A=
 .. .. ..  = (aji ).

 . . ... . 
a1n a2n ... amn
The way the transpose acts with respect to the matrix addition, matrix multiplication and scalar
multiplication is given bellow:
t
(A + B) =t A + t B, ∀A, B ∈ Mm,n (K);
t
(AB) =t B · t A, ∀A ∈ Mm,n (K), ∀B ∈ Mn,p (K);
t
(αA) = α · t A, ∀A ∈ Mm,n (K).

Let K be a field. The set of the units of Mn (K) is

GLn (K) = {A ∈ Mn (K) | ∃B ∈ Mn (K) : AB = BA = In }.

The set GLn (K) is closed in (Mn (K), ·) and (GLn (K), ·) is a group called the general linear
group of degree n over K. We know from high school that if K is one of the number fields (Q,
R sau C) then A ∈ Mn (K) is invertible if and only if det A �= 0. Thus,

GLn (C) = {A ∈ Mn (C) | det A �= 0},

and analogously we can rewrite GLn (R) and GLn (Q). We will see next that this recipe works for
any matrix ring Mn (K) with K field. This is why our next course topic will be the determinant
of a square matrix over a field K.

Determinants
Let (K, +, ·) be a field, n ∈ N∗ and
 
a11 a12 ... a1n
 
 a21 a22 ... a2n 
A=
 .. .. ..  ∈ Mn (K).

 . . ... . 
an1 an2 ... ann

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Definition 11. The determinant of (the squre matrix) A is
�
det A = ε(σ)a1σ(1) a2σ(2) · · · anσ(n) (∈ K).
σ∈Sn

The map Mn (K) → K, A �→ det A is also called determinant.

Remark 12. None of the products from the above definition contains 2 elements from the same
row or the same column.
� �
� a11 a12 ... a1n �
� �
� �
� a21 a22 ... a2n �
We also denote the determinant of A by �� .. .. .. �.
�
� . . ... . �
� �
� an1 an2 ... ann �
� �
� a a12 �
� 11 �
Examples 13. a) � � = a11 a22 − a12 a21 .
� a21 a22 �
� �
� a11 a12 a13 �
� �
� �
b) � a21 a22 a23 � =
� �
� a31 a32 a33 �

Lemma 14. The determinant of A and the determinant of the transpose matrix t A are equal.

Proof.