Lyceum Northwestern University

Dagupan City
Institute of Graduate Professional Studies
MEd_06-Abstract Algebra
Summer 2022

A Module
about
INTEGRAL DOMAINS
and
FIELDS

Prepared by:
Nimrod B. Cabrera

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 Table of Contents

I. Objectives ……………………………………………………………Page 3

II. Introduction …………………………………………………………Page 3

III. Discussion……………………………………………………………Pages 3-4

IV. Example Problems with complete solutions ………………….Pages 4-6

V. References ……………………………………………………………Page 6

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I. Objectives

1. to know the definition of Integral domains and Fields.

2. to understand theorems related to Integral domains and Fields
3. to solve problems related to Integral domains and Fields

II. Introduction

Integral Domains are essentially rings without any zero divisors.

These are useful structures because zero divisors can cause all sorts
of problems. They complicate the process of solving equations, prevent
you from cancelling common factors in an equation, etc. In this lesson
we introduce the idea of an integral domain, talk about solving an
equation over rings with and without zero divisors, and show how the
cancellation property does hold in an integral domain.

In mathematics, specifically abstract algebra, an integral domain is a

nonzero commutative ring in which the product of any two nonzero
elements is nonzero. 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. Noncommutative integral domains are sometimes admitted.

III. Discussion

Integral domains and Fields

 Integral domains and Fields are two special kinds of rings.

Definition
 If a, b are two ring elements with a, b ≠ 0 but ab = 0 then a and
b are called zero-divisors.
Example
 In the ring Z6 we have 2.3 = 0 and so 2 and 3 are zero-divisors.
More generally, if n is not prime then Zn contains zero-divisors.
Definition
 An integral domain is a commutative ring with an identity (1 ≠
0) with no zero-divisors. That is ab = 0 ⇒ a = 0 or b = 0.
Example
1. The ring Z is an integral domain. (This explains the name.)
2. The polynomial rings Z[x] and R[x] are integral domains. (Look
at the degree of a polynomial to see how to prove this.)
3. The ring {a + b√2 | a, b ∈ Z} is an integral domain. (Proof?)
4. If p is prime, the ring Zp is an integral domain. (Proof?)
Definition
 If A field is a commutative ring with identity (1 ≠ 0) in which
every non-zero element has a multiplicative inverse.
Example
 The rings Q, R, C are fields.

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 Remarks
a) a, b are elements of a field with ab = 0 then if a ≠ 0 it has an
inverse a-1 and so multiplying both sides by this gives b = 0.
Hence there are no zero-divisors and we have: Every field is an
integral domain.
b) The axioms of a field F can be summarised as:
i. (F, +) is an abelian group
ii. (F - {0}, . ) is an abelian group
iii. The distributive law.
 The example Z shows that some integral domains are not fields.
Theorem
 Every finite integral domain is a field.
Proof
 The only thing we need to show is that a typical element a ≠ 0
has a multiplicative inverse.
 Consider a, a2, a3, ... Since there are only finitely many
elements we must have am = an for some m < n(say).
 Then 0=am −an =am (1−a n−m). Since there are no zero-divisors we
must have a m ≠ 0 and hence 1 - a n−m= 0 and so 1 = a(a n−m−1) and
we have found a multiplicative inverse for a.

IV. Example Problems with complete solutions.

Problems:

1. List the units and zero divisors in Z12.

2. What are the units in M(2, R)?
3. Show that C[0, 1] is not an integral domain.
4. Show that x 2 + 3x − 4 ∈ Z12[x] has 4 roots.
5. List the units and zero divisors in Z4 × Z2.
6. Find the zero divisors in Z15 and Z7.

Solutions and Answers:

Example 1: (Units and zero divisors in the integers mod n)

Problem: List the units and zero divisors in Z12.

 The units in Zn are the elements of Un; that is, the elements of
Zn which are relatively prime to n.
 Thus, in Z12, the elements 1, 5, 7, and 11 are units. For
example, 7−1 = 7.
 The zero divisors in Z12 are 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10. For
example 2 · 6 = 0, even though 2 and 6 are nonzero.

Example 2: (The units in a matrix ring)

Problem: What are the units in M(2, R)?

 The units in M(2, R) are the invertible matrices — i.e. the

elements of GL(2, R).

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Example 3: (A ring of functions which is not a domain)

Problem: Show that C[0, 1] is not an integral domain.

 Let:

 Then f, g ≠ 0, but f g= 0.

Example 4: (Domains and solving by factoring)

Problem: Show that x 2 + 3x − 4 ∈ Z12[x] has 4 roots.

 Thus, a polynomial of degree n can have more than n roots in a

ring. The problem is that Z12 is not a domain: (x + 4)(x − 1) = 0
does not imply one of the factors must be zero.

Example 5: (Zero divisors in the integers mod n)

Problem: List the units and zero divisors in Z4 × Z2.

 The units are (1, 1) and (3, 1):

o (1, 1) · (1, 1) = (1, 1) and (3, 1) · (3, 1) = (1, 1).

 The zero divisors are:

o (1, 0),(2, 0),(3, 0),(2, 1),(0, 1).

 To see this, note that:

o (1, 0) · (0, 1) = (0, 0)
o (2, 0) · (0, 1) = (0, 0)
o (3, 0) · (0, 1) = (0, 0)
o (2, 1) · (2, 0) = (0, 0)
o (0, 1) · (1, 0) = (0, 0)

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 Example 6: (Zero divisors in the integers mod n)

Problem: Find the zero divisors in Z15 and Z7.

 The zero divisors are those elements in {1, 2, . . . , 14} which are
not relatively prime to 15: 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12.
 For example, 5 · 12 = 0 ∈ Z15 shows directly that 5 and 12 are
zero divisors.
 Since 7 is prime, all the elements in {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} are
relatively prime to 7. There are no zero divisors in Z7. In fact, Z7
is an integral domain; since it’s finite, it’s also a field by an
earlier result.

V. References
 http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~jim/F13YE2/notes/alg2.pdf
 http://www.csun.edu/~asethura/GIAAFILES/GIAAV1.0/GIAAV1.
 0.pdf
 https://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/flynn/genus2/sheets0405/
grfnotes1011.pdf
 https://sites.millersville.edu/bikenaga/abstract-algebra-1/
integral-domains-and-fields/integral-domains-and-fields.pdf
 http://www-groups.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~john/MT4517/
Lectures/L4.html
 http://abstract.ups.edu/aata/section-domains-and-fields.html
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integral_domain
 http://abstract.ups.edu/aata/domains.html

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