Warm-up

Let R “ Rrxs, I “ xRrxs, and J “ x2 Rrxs. Recall that

' : Rrxs Ñ R defined by f pxq fiÑ f p0q

is a (ring) homomorphism.
1. Use the first isomorphism theorem to show that R{I – R (as
rings).
2. Show that I{J fl R.
3. Explain why pR{Jq{pI{Jq – R.
4. Show that R{J – S, where
"ˆ ˙ˇ *
x y ˇˇ
S“ x, y P R .
0 x ˇ
[Hint: compare the results of ppxqqpxq and ppxq ` qpxq with P Q
and P ` Q, where
ˆ ˙ ˆ ˙
ppxq “ a0 ` a1 x ` ¨ ¨ ¨ ` an xn , a0 a1 b 0 b1
and P “ ,Q “ .s
qpxq “ b0 ` b1 x ` ¨ ¨ ¨ ` bm xm , 0 a0 0 b0
Last time: isomorphism theorems

Theorem
1. (First iso thm for rings) If ' : R Ñ S is a homomorphism of
rings, then ker' is an ideal of R, the image of ' is a subring
of S and R{ker' is isomorphic as a ring to 'pRq.
2. If I is an ideal of R, then the natural projection

R Ñ R{I defined by r fiÑ r ` I

is a surjective ring homomorphism with kernel I. Thus every

ideal is the kernel of some ring homomorphism and vice versa.

Theorem. Let R be a ring.

1. (Second isomorphism theorem for rings) Let A be a subring
and B be an ideal of R. Then A ` B “ ta ` b : a P A, b P Bu
is a subring of R, A X B is an ideal of A and
pA ` Bq{B – A{pA X Bq.
2. (Third isomorphism theorem for rings) Let I and J be ideals
of R with I Ä J. Then J{I is an ideal of R{I and
pR{Iq{pJ{Iq – R{J.
3. (Fourth isomorphism theorem for ring) Let I be an ideal of R.
The correspondence A Ø A{I is an inclusion preserving
bijection between the subrings A of R that contain I and the
set of subrings of R{I. Furthermore, A is an ideal of R if and
only if A{I is an ideal of R{I.
Proof. These all hold for the underlying abelian (additive) groups.
Remains to be checked: multiplication. Multiplication follows
because the related isomorphisms naturally generalize as ring
homomorphisms.
Last time:
Recall, an ideal of a ring R is a subring I Ñ R which satisfies
rI Ñ I and Ir Ñ I for all r P R.
To check that I is an ideal, check that
1. I is not empty (usually is 0 P I?)
2. I is closed under subtraction: for all a, b P I, is a ´ b P I?
3. I is closed under left and right multiplication by R:
for all r P R, is rI Ñ I and Ir Ñ R?
If I and J are ideals of R, then so are I X J,
I ` J “ ti ` j : i P I, j P Ju
IJ “ t finite sums of elements of the form ij | i P I, j P Ju
I n “ t finite sums of elements of the form a1 . . . an | ai P Iu
But in general, none of
I Y J, tij | i P I, j P Ju, ta1 ¨ ¨ ¨ an | a` P Iu
are ideals.

Generating ideals
Definition
Let R be a ring and A Ä R.
1. Let pAq denote the smallest ideal containing A, called the
ideal generated by A, and £
is equal to
I.
I an ideal
AÑI
Examples:
pRq “ p1q “ R
In Zrxs, pxq “ xZrxs.
(An ideal generated by one element is called a principal ideal)
For ideals I, J, we have pI, Jq “ I ` J.
2. Let RA “ tr1 a1 ` ¨ ¨ ¨ ` rn an | ri P R, ai P A, n P Z` u,
AR “ ta1 r1 ` ¨ ¨ ¨ ` an rn | ri P R, ai P A, n P Z` u, and
RAR “ tr1 a1 r11 ` ¨ ¨ ¨ ` rn an rn1 | ri P R, ai P A, n P Z` u.

Proposition. If R is commutative, then AR “ RA “ RAR “ pAq.

Proposition
Let R be a ring with 1, and let I be an ideal of R.
1. I “ R if and only if I contains a unit.
2. Assume R is commutative. Then R is a field if and only if its
only ideals are 0 and R.

Corollary
If R is a field then any nonzero ring homomorphism from R into
another ring is an injection.
Maximal ideals

Definition
An ideal M in the ring S is a maximal ideal if M ‰ S and the only
ideals containing M are M and S.

Proposition
In a ring with identity every proper ideal is contained in a maximal
ideal.

Theorem (Zorn’s Lemma)

If A is a non-empty partially ordered set in which every chain has
an upper bound, then A has a maximal elemet.

Proposition
Let R be a commutative ring. The ideal M is maximal if and only
if R{M is a field.
You try: Let I “ p3, x2 q in Zrxs.
(a) Describe the set p3, x2 q. Conclude that I is a proper ideal.
(b) Show that I is not principle.
[Hint: Suppose there were some apxq P Zrxs such that papxqq. Then
what does it mean that x2 P papxqq? that 3 P papxqq? Arrive at a
contradiction.]
(c) Show that I is not maximal.
[Hint: Give an example of another proper ideal that contains I.]
Generalizing the integers: Prime ideals
Ring theory in Number theory. For example, read about the
reduction homomorphism (p. 245), and its role in finding integer
solutions to equations like
x2 ` y 2 “ 3z 2 or xn ` y n “ z n

Definition
Let R be a commutative ring. An ideal P is a prime ideal if P ‰ R
and whenever ab P P , either a P P or b P P .
Example: What are the prime ideals in Z?
Proposition
Let R be a commutative ring. The ideal P is a prime ideal if and
only if R{P is an integral domain.
Corollary
Let R be a commutative ring. Every maximal ideal of R is a prime
ideal.