Theorems fromMA2215, 201011 Last updated: January 10, 2011

Proposition 1. Let (R, +, ) be a ring.

(a) 0 0 and (x) x for every x R.
(b) If x, y, z R then x +z y +z x y and z +x z +y
x y.
(c) If n Z and x R, dene
nx

x + +x (n times) if n >0,
0 if n 0,
x x (n times) if n <0.
Then(n+m)x nx+mx and n(mx) (nm)x for all n, m Z
and x R.
Proposition 2. If R is a ring, then 0
R
x 0
R
and x 0
R
0
R
for all
x R.
Proposition 3. (a) If R is a unital ring and x R is invertible,
then x is not a zero-divisor.
(b) If R is a division ring, then R contains no zero-divisors.
Lemma 4. If R is a unital ring and a, x, b R with ax 1
R
and
xb 1
R
, then x is invertible and a b x
1
.
Lemma 5. If R is a ring with no zero-divisors, then
xy 0 x 0 or y 0
for all x, y R.
Proposition6 (Cancellation in a ring with no zero-divisors). If R
is a ring withno zero-divisors and x R

, thenfor any a, x, b R,
(a) ax bx a b, and
(b) xa xb a b.
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Theorem7. If R is a nite unital ring with no zero-divisors, then
R is a division ring.
Corollary 8. (a) If R is a nite unital ring, then R is a division
ring if and only if R has no zero-divisors.
(b) If R is a nite commutative unital ring, then R is a eld if
and only if R has no zero-divisors.
Lemma 9. If n Nwith n >1, then n is prime if and only if
k, Z, n[k n[k or n[.
Corollary 10. The ring (Z
n
, , c) is a eldif andonly if n is prime.
Theorem11. If (R, +, ) is a ring and S R, then the following are
equivalent:
(a) S is a subring of R;
(b) (S, +) is a subgroup of (R, +) and S is closed under multipli-
cation;
(c) S /, and for all x, y S we have x y S and xy S.
Proposition12. Let R and S be rings, and let : R S be a (ring)
homomorphism.
(a) (0
R
) 0
S
(b) (x) (x) for all x R
(c) (x y) (x) (y) for all x, y R
(d) (mx) m(x) for all m Z and x R
Proposition13. Let R and S be rings, and let : R S be a (ring)
homomorphism. The image of , that is, the set
(R) {(x) : x R}
is a subring of S.
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Proposition 14. Let R and S are rings, and let : R S be a
(ring) homomorphism.
(a) If R is a unital ring, then so is (R).
(b) If R is a commutative ring, then so is (R).
(c) is injective if and only if ker {0
R
}.
Proposition 15. If R and S are rings and : R S is a (ring) ho-
momorphism, then ker is an ideal in R.
Theorem/Denition 16. If I is an ideal of a ring R, then there
are two well-dened operations on set R/I {I +x : x R} given
by
(I +x) +(I +y) I +(x +y) and (I +x)(I +y) I +xy
which turn R/I into a ring, called the quotient ring of R by I .
Theorem17 (The rst isomorphismtheorem; or the fundamen-
tal homomorphism theorem for rings). If R and S are rings and
: R S is a homomorphism, then
(a) (R) is a subring of S
(b) ker is an ideal of R
(c) R/ker (R).
In fact, if K ker then the map : R/K (R), K +x (x) is
a well-dened isomorphism.
Corollary 18. If R and S are rings and : R S is a surjective
homomorphism, R/ker S.
Proposition/Denition 19. If I R then the map
I
: R R/I
dened by
I
(x) I +x for x R is a surjective homomorphism
with kernel I . It is called the natural homomorphism R R/I .
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Corollary 20. Let R be a ring.
(a) If S R, then S is a subring of R if and only if there is a ring T
and a homomorphism: T R so that S is the image of .
(b) If I R, then I is an ideal of R if and only if there is a ring W
and a homomorphism: R W so that I ker.
Theorem 21 (The second isomorphism theorem). Let R be a
ring, let S be a subring of R and let I be an ideal of R. Then
(a) the set S +I {s +i : s S, i I } is a subring of R which
contains I , and I S +I ;
(b) S I S; and
(c) (S +I )/I S/(S I )
Theorem 22 (The third isomorphism theorem). Let R be a ring
and let I and J be ideals of R with I J. Then
(a) I J;
(b) J /I R/I ; and
(c) (R/I )/(J /I ) R/J.
Theorem23 (The correspondence theorem).
If I is an ideal of a ring R, then the maps
: {subrings S of R with I S} {all subrings of R/I }, (S) S/I
and
: {ideals J of R with I J} {all ideals of R/I }, (J) J/I
are both well-dened bijections.
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Proposition 24. Let R be a ring.
(a) R[x] is a ring.
(b) R[x] is unital if and only if R is unital; and in that case we
have 1
R[x]
(1
R
, 0, 0, . . . ).
(c) The map : R R[x], (, 0, 0, 0, . . . ) is an injective ho-
momorphism, so R is isomorphic to the subring of constant
polynomials (R) {(, 0, 0, 0, . . . ) : R}.
(d) R[x] is commutative if and only if R is commutative.
Proposition 25. If R is a ring and f , g R[x] are non-zero, then
(a) deg( f +g) max{deg( f ), deg(g)} (provided f +g /0); and
(b) deg( f g) deg( f ) +deg(g) (provided f g /0).
Proposition26. Let R be a ring. If R and f

n
i 0
a
i
x
i
R[x],
then let f ()

n
i 0
a
i

i
. The map

: R[x] R, f f () is a
homomorphism.
Proposition 27. Let R be an integral domain.
(a) If u and v are units of R, then u is an associate of v.
(b) If u is a unit of R and b R, then u[b.
Proposition 28. Let R be an integral domain. If a, b R, then a
and b are associates if and only if a bu for some unit u R.
Proposition 29. The relation | given by
a |b a and b are associates
is an equivalence relation on an integral domain R.
Proposition 30. If a |a
t
and b |b
t
, then a[b a
t
[b
t
.
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Theorem 31 (Gauss lemma). If R is a unique factorisation do-
main, then so is the polynomial ring R[x].
Proposition 32. Let R be an integral domain and let a, b R.
If d
1
and d
2
are gcds of a and b, then d
1
|d
2
.
Lemma33. Let R be a unique factorisationdomainandlet a, b
R be non-zero and non-units in R. Write a p
1
p
2
. . . p
n
where
each p
i
is an irreducible element of R. Then
b[a b |c where c is a product of some of p
1
, p
2
, . . . , p
n
.
Theorem 34. If R is a unique factorisation domain then for any
a, b R, there is a gcd of a and b in R.
Proposition35. Let R be a commutative unital ring. If a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n

R then the set

a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
{a
1
x
1
+a
2
a
2
+ +a
n
x
n
: x
1
, . . . , x
n
R}
is the smallest ideal of R containing a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
.
Proposition 36. Let R be an integral domain. For a, b R, the
following are equivalent:
(a) a[b
(b) b a
(c) b a
Corollary 37. If R is an integral domain and a, b R, then
a |b b a.
Proposition 38. If R is an integral domain and a, b, d R with
a, b d, then d is a gcd of a and b.
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Proposition 39. If R is a principal ideal domain and a, b R,
then
(a) For any d R, a, b d d is a gcd of a and b.
(b) a and b have a gcd in R.
(c) If c R and d is a gcd of a and b, then the equation
ax +by c
has a solution x, y R if and only if d[c.
Theorem 40. Let R be a principal ideal domain and suppose
that I
1
, I
2
, I
3
, . . . are ideals of R with I
1
I
2
I
3
. . . . Then there
is n 1 so that I
n
I
n+1
I
n+2
. . . .
Corollary 41. If R is a principal ideal domain and a R with
a / 0 and a / Units(R), then there are p
1
, . . . p
n
Irred(R) such
that a p
1
. . . p
n
.
Lemma 42. Let R be an integral domain and let p Irred(R).
(a) If c R then c[p c |1 or c |p.
(b) If a R and p /[a then 1 is a gcd of a and p.
Proposition 43. Let R be a principal ideal domain and let p be
an irreducible element of R.
(a) If a, b R and p[ab, then p[a or p[b.
(b) If a
1
, . . . , a
n
R and p[a
1
. . . a
n
, then p[a
i
for some i {1, 2, . . . , n}.
Lemma 44. If R is an integral domain and p, q Irred(R), then
p[q p |q.
Corollary 45. If R is a principal ideal domain and p
1
, . . . , p
n
and
q
1
, . . . , q
m
are irreducible elements of R with p
1
. . . p
n
q
1
. . . q
m
,
then n m and up to reordering, p
i
|q
i
for 1 i n.
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Corollary 46. Any principal ideal domain is a unique factorisa-
tion domain.
Proposition 47. If F is a eld, and f and g are non-zero poly-
nomials in F[x], then there exist polynomials q and r in F[x] so
that
f g q +r and either r 0, or r /0 and deg(r ) <deg(g).
Theorem48. Let R be a ring. If R is a Euclidean domain, then R
is a principal ideal domain.
Proposition 49. Let R be an integral domain. If a, b R, let
CDivs(a, b) {c R: c[a and c[b}, the set of common divisors
of a and b, and let Gcds(a, b) {c R: c is a gcd of a and b}.
(a) If a, b, s, t R and CDivs(a, b) CDivs(s, t ) thenGcds(a, b)
Gcds(s, t ).
(b) If c is a gcd of a and b, then Gcds(a, b) {associates of c}.
Proposition 50. Let R be an integral domain. If a, b, q, r R
and a bq +r , then CDivs(a, b) CDivs(b, r ) and Gcds(a, b)
Gcds(b, r ).
Proposition 51. Let R be an integral domain. If a R then a is a
gcd of a and 0
R
.
The EuclideanalgorithmLet R be a Euclidean domain with Eu-
clidean function d : R

N
0
and let a
1
, b
1
R. Start with i 1,
and then:
(1) If b
i
0 then output a
i
and stop.
(2) Otherwise, write a
i
b
i
q
i
+r
i
for some q
i
, r
i
R with either
r
i
0, or r
i
/ 0 and d(r
i
) < d(b
i
). Take a
i +1
b
i
and b
i +1

r
i
, increment i and go back to step (1).
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Theorem52. If R is a Euclidean domain, then the Euclidean al-
gorithm always terminates, and outputs a gcd of the input val-
ues a
1
and b
1
.
Proposition 53. If a
i
, b
i
are as in the Euclidean algorithm then
there are x
i
, y
i
R with a
i
a
1
x
i
+b
1
y
i
, and we can compute x
i
and y
i
explicitly.
Theorem 54. If R is an integral domain, then there is a eld F
which is a eld of fractions for R.
Proposition 55. Let R be a commutative unital ring. Then R is a
eld if and only if {0} and R are the only ideals of R.
Theorem 56. If R is a commutative unital ring and I R, then
R/I is a eld if and only if I is a maximal ideal of R.
Lemma 57. If R is an integral domain and a R, then
a Units(R) a R.
Theorem 58. Let R be a principal ideal domain. If I R with
I / {0}, then I is a maximal ideal if and only if I a for some
a Irred(R).
Corollary 59. If F is a eld and f F[x], then F[x]/f is a eld
if and only if f Irred(F[x]).
Theorem 60. Let F be a eld. If f Irred(F[x]) then there is a
eld extension K of F and K so that f () 0. In fact, we can
take K F[x]/f and f +x.
Corollary 61. If g F[x] is any polynomial, then there is a eld
extension K of F, and K so that g() 0.
Lemma 62. If f Irred(F[x]) and K is a eld extension of F con-
taining an element K with f () 0, then for g F[x] we
have g() 0 g f .
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Theorem 63. If f Irred(F[x]) and K is a eld extension of F
containing an element K with f () 0, then K is a eld ex-
tension of F[x]/f .
Theorem64. If f Irred(F[x]) and n deg( f ), and f +x
F[x]/f , then every y F[x]/f can be written as
y b
0
+b
1
+ +b
n1

n1
for a unique choice of b
0
, b
1
, . . . , b
n1
F. Hence
F[x]/f {r () : r F[x], r 0 or r /0 and deg(r ) <n}.
Corollary 65. If p Nis prime and f Irred(Z
p
[x]), thenZ
p
[x]/f
is a nite eld of order p
n
, where n deg( f ).
Lemma 66. Let L be a eld.
(a) If K is a non-empty family of subelds of L, then

K is a
subeld of L.
(b) If F is a subeld of L and S L, then
F(S)

{L: L is a subeld of K with F S L}

is the smallest subeld of L containing F S.
Lemma 67. If f F[x] and f /0 then there is a unique polyno-
mial m F[x] so that m is monic and m|f .
Proposition 68. If K is a eld extension of F and K, and is
algebraic over F, then there is a unique monic polynomial m

F[x] so that for every f F[x] with f /0, we have

f () 0 m

[ f .
We call m

the minimum polynomial of over F. Moreover,

m

Irred(F[x]) and F() F[x]/m

.
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Proposition. If K : F then K is a vector space over F, where
vector addition is given by addition in K, and scalar addition is
given by multiplication in K (after identifying F with a subeld
of K).
Theorem69. Let K : F andsuppose that K is algebraic over F,
and let m

be the minimum polynomial of over F. Then the

set {1, ,
2
, . . . ,
n1
} is a basis for F() over F, where n deg(m

),
and so
[F() : F] deg(m

).
Theorem70 (The Tower Law). If L : K and K : F then
[L : F] [L : K] [K : F].
Theorem 71. If P (x, y) is a constructible point in the plane,
then [Q(x, y) : Q] 2
k
for some k N
0
.
Corollary 72 (Impossibility of duplicating the cube). The point
(
3
_
2, 0) is not constructible.
Corollary 73 (Impossibility of squaring the circle). The point
(
1
_

, 0) is not constructible.
Lemma 74. The polynomial x
3
3x 1 is in Irred(Q[x]).
Corollary 75(

3
cannot be trisectedwitha ruler andcompasses).
The point (cos(

3
), sin(

3
)) is not constructible.
Theorem76. The set K{x R: (x, 0) is constructible} is a sub-
eld of R with QK. Moreover, if x Kwith x >0 then
_
x K.
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