Ideal (ring theory)In mathematics, and more specifically in ring theory, an ideal of a ring is a special subset of its elements. Ideals generalize certain subsets of the integers, such as the even numbers or the multiples of 3. Addition and subtraction of even numbers preserves evenness, and multiplying an even number by any integer (even or odd) results in an even number; these closure and absorption properties are the defining properties of an ideal.
Prime idealIn algebra, a prime ideal is a subset of a ring that shares many important properties of a prime number in the ring of integers. The prime ideals for the integers are the sets that contain all the multiples of a given prime number, together with the zero ideal. Primitive ideals are prime, and prime ideals are both primary and semiprime. An ideal P of a commutative ring R is prime if it has the following two properties: If a and b are two elements of R such that their product ab is an element of P, then a is in P or b is in P, P is not the whole ring R.
Witt groupIn mathematics, a Witt group of a field, named after Ernst Witt, is an abelian group whose elements are represented by symmetric bilinear forms over the field. Fix a field k of characteristic not equal to two. All vector spaces will be assumed to be finite-dimensional. We say that two spaces equipped with symmetric bilinear forms are equivalent if one can be obtained from the other by adding a metabolic quadratic space, that is, zero or more copies of a hyperbolic plane, the non-degenerate two-dimensional symmetric bilinear form with a norm 0 vector.
Fractional idealIn mathematics, in particular commutative algebra, the concept of fractional ideal is introduced in the context of integral domains and is particularly fruitful in the study of Dedekind domains. In some sense, fractional ideals of an integral domain are like ideals where denominators are allowed. In contexts where fractional ideals and ordinary ring ideals are both under discussion, the latter are sometimes termed integral ideals for clarity. Let be an integral domain, and let be its field of fractions.
Ring (mathematics)In mathematics, rings are algebraic structures that generalize fields: multiplication need not be commutative and multiplicative inverses need not exist. In other words, a ring is a set equipped with two binary operations satisfying properties analogous to those of addition and multiplication of integers. Ring elements may be numbers such as integers or complex numbers, but they may also be non-numerical objects such as polynomials, square matrices, functions, and power series.
Group ringIn algebra, a group ring is a free module and at the same time a ring, constructed in a natural way from any given ring and any given group. As a free module, its ring of scalars is the given ring, and its basis is the set of elements of the given group. As a ring, its addition law is that of the free module and its multiplication extends "by linearity" the given group law on the basis. Less formally, a group ring is a generalization of a given group, by attaching to each element of the group a "weighting factor" from a given ring.
Principal idealIn mathematics, specifically ring theory, a principal ideal is an ideal in a ring that is generated by a single element of through multiplication by every element of The term also has another, similar meaning in order theory, where it refers to an (order) ideal in a poset generated by a single element which is to say the set of all elements less than or equal to in The remainder of this article addresses the ring-theoretic concept.
Group homomorphismIn mathematics, given two groups, (G, ∗) and (H, ·), a group homomorphism from (G, ∗) to (H, ·) is a function h : G → H such that for all u and v in G it holds that where the group operation on the left side of the equation is that of G and on the right side that of H. From this property, one can deduce that h maps the identity element eG of G to the identity element eH of H, and it also maps inverses to inverses in the sense that Hence one can say that h "is compatible with the group structure".
Ideal class groupIn number theory, the ideal class group (or class group) of an algebraic number field K is the quotient group JK/PK where JK is the group of fractional ideals of the ring of integers of K, and PK is its subgroup of principal ideals. The class group is a measure of the extent to which unique factorization fails in the ring of integers of K. The order of the group, which is finite, is called the class number of K. The theory extends to Dedekind domains and their field of fractions, for which the multiplicative properties are intimately tied to the structure of the class group.
Witt vectorIn mathematics, a Witt vector is an infinite sequence of elements of a commutative ring. Ernst Witt showed how to put a ring structure on the set of Witt vectors, in such a way that the ring of Witt vectors over the finite field of order is isomorphic to , the ring of -adic integers. They have a highly non-intuitive structure upon first glance because their additive and multiplicative structure depends on an infinite set of recursive formulas which do not behave like addition and multiplication formulas for standard p-adic integers.
Principal ideal domainIn mathematics, a principal ideal domain, or PID, is an integral domain in which every ideal is principal, i.e., can be generated by a single element. More generally, a principal ideal ring is a nonzero commutative ring whose ideals are principal, although some authors (e.g., Bourbaki) refer to PIDs as principal rings. The distinction is that a principal ideal ring may have zero divisors whereas a principal ideal domain cannot.
Annihilator (ring theory)In mathematics, the annihilator of a subset S of a module over a ring is the ideal formed by the elements of the ring that give always zero when multiplied by each element of S. Over an integral domain, a module that has a nonzero annihilator is a torsion module, and a finitely generated torsion module has a nonzero annihilator. The above definition applies also in the case noncommutative rings, where the left annihilator of a left module is a left ideal, and the right-annihilator, of a right module is a right ideal.
Quadratic formIn mathematics, a quadratic form is a polynomial with terms all of degree two ("form" is another name for a homogeneous polynomial). For example, is a quadratic form in the variables x and y. The coefficients usually belong to a fixed field K, such as the real or complex numbers, and one speaks of a quadratic form over K. If , and the quadratic form equals zero only when all variables are simultaneously zero, then it is a definite quadratic form; otherwise it is an isotropic quadratic form.
Minimal idealIn the branch of abstract algebra known as ring theory, a minimal right ideal of a ring R is a non-zero right ideal which contains no other non-zero right ideal. Likewise, a minimal left ideal is a non-zero left ideal of R containing no other non-zero left ideals of R, and a minimal ideal of R is a non-zero ideal containing no other non-zero two-sided ideal of R . In other words, minimal right ideals are minimal elements of the partially ordered set (poset) of non-zero right ideals of R ordered by inclusion.
Maximal idealIn mathematics, more specifically in ring theory, a maximal ideal is an ideal that is maximal (with respect to set inclusion) amongst all proper ideals. In other words, I is a maximal ideal of a ring R if there are no other ideals contained between I and R. Maximal ideals are important because the quotients of rings by maximal ideals are simple rings, and in the special case of unital commutative rings they are also fields.
Associated primeIn abstract algebra, an associated prime of a module M over a ring R is a type of prime ideal of R that arises as an annihilator of a (prime) submodule of M. The set of associated primes is usually denoted by and sometimes called the assassin or assassinator of M (word play between the notation and the fact that an associated prime is an annihilator). In commutative algebra, associated primes are linked to the Lasker–Noether primary decomposition of ideals in commutative Noetherian rings.
Module homomorphismIn algebra, a module homomorphism is a function between modules that preserves the module structures. Explicitly, if M and N are left modules over a ring R, then a function is called an R-module homomorphism or an R-linear map if for any x, y in M and r in R, In other words, f is a group homomorphism (for the underlying additive groups) that commutes with scalar multiplication. If M, N are right R-modules, then the second condition is replaced with The of the zero element under f is called the kernel of f.
Equivalence classIn mathematics, when the elements of some set have a notion of equivalence (formalized as an equivalence relation), then one may naturally split the set into equivalence classes. These equivalence classes are constructed so that elements and belong to the same equivalence class if, and only if, they are equivalent. Formally, given a set and an equivalence relation on the of an element in denoted by is the set of elements which are equivalent to It may be proven, from the defining properties of equivalence relations, that the equivalence classes form a partition of This partition—the set of equivalence classes—is sometimes called the quotient set or the quotient space of by and is denoted by .
Principal ideal ringIn mathematics, a principal right (left) ideal ring is a ring R in which every right (left) ideal is of the form xR (Rx) for some element x of R. (The right and left ideals of this form, generated by one element, are called principal ideals.) When this is satisfied for both left and right ideals, such as the case when R is a commutative ring, R can be called a principal ideal ring, or simply principal ring. If only the finitely generated right ideals of R are principal, then R is called a right Bézout ring.
Group (mathematics)In mathematics, a group is a non-empty set with an operation that satisfies the following constraints: the operation is associative, has an identity element, and every element of the set has an inverse element. Many mathematical structures are groups endowed with other properties. For example, the integers with the addition operation is an infinite group, which is generated by a single element called 1 (these properties characterize the integers in a unique way).
