Order-Theoretic Properties: Z Z Z Z Z

In the language of abstract algebra, the first five properties listed above for addition say that Z under
addition is an abelian group. As a group under addition, Z is a cyclic group, since every non-zero
integer can be written as a finite sum 1 + 1 + … + 1 or (−1) + (−1) + … + (−1). In fact, Z under
addition is the only infinite cyclic group, in the sense that any infinite cyclic group is isomorphic to Z.
The first four properties listed above for multiplication say that Z under multiplication is
a commutative monoid. However, not every integer has a multiplicative inverse; e.g., there is no
integer x such that 2x = 1, because the left hand side is even, while the right hand side is odd. This
means that Z under multiplication is not a group.
All the rules from the above property table, except for the last, taken together say that Z together
with addition and multiplication is a commutative ring with unity. It is the prototype of all objects of
such algebraic structure. Only those equalities of expressions are true in Z for all values of
variables, which are true in any unital commutative ring. Note that certain non-zero integers map
to zero in certain rings.
The lack of zero divisors in the integers (last property in the table) means that the commutative
ring Z is an integral domain.
The lack of multiplicative inverses, which is equivalent to the fact that Z is not closed under division,
means that Z is not a field. The smallest field containing the integers as a subring is the field
of rational numbers. The process of constructing the rationals from the integers can be mimicked to
form the field of fractions of any integral domain. And back, starting from an algebraic number
field (an extension of rational numbers), its ring of integers can be extracted, which includes Z as
its subring.
Although ordinary division is not defined on Z, the division "with remainder" is defined on them. It is
called Euclidean division and possesses the following important property: that is, given two
integers a and b with b ≠ 0, there exist unique integers q and r such that a = q × b + r and 0 ≤ r <
| b |, where | b | denotes the absolute value of b. The integer q is called the quotient and r is called
the remainder of the division of a by b. The Euclidean algorithm for computing greatest common
divisorsworks by a sequence of Euclidean divisions.
Again, in the language of abstract algebra, the above says that Z is a Euclidean domain. This implies
that Z is a principal ideal domain and any positive integer can be written as the products of primes in
an essentially unique way.[8] This is the fundamental theorem of arithmetic.
Order-theoretic properties[edit]
Z is a totally ordered set without upper or lower bound. The ordering of Z is given by: :… −3 < −2
< −1 < 0 < 1 < 2 < 3 < … An integer is positive if it is greater than zero and negative if it is less
than zero. Zero is defined as neither negative nor positive.
The ordering of integers is compatible with the algebraic operations in the following way:
1. if a < b and c < d, then a + c < b + d

2. if a < b and 0 < c, then ac < bc.
It follows that Z together with the above ordering is an ordered ring.
The integers are the only nontrivial totally ordered abelian group whose positive elements are well-
ordered.[9] This is equivalent to the statement that any Noetherianvaluation ring is either a field or
a discrete valuation ring.
Construction[edit]
Red points represent ordered pairs of natural numbers. Linked red points are equivalence classes representing
the blue integers at the end of the line.
In elementary school teaching, integers are often intuitively defined as the (positive) natural
numbers, zero, and the negations of the natural numbers. However, this style of definition leads to
many different cases (each arithmetic operation needs to be defined on each combination of types of
integer) and makes it tedious to prove that these operations obey the laws of arithmetic.[10] Therefore,
in modern set-theoretic mathematics a more abstract construction,[11] which allows one to define the
arithmetical operations without any case distinction, is often used instead.[12] The integers can thus
be formally constructed as the equivalence classes of ordered pairs of natural numbers (a,b).[13]
The intuition is that (a,b) stands for the result of subtracting b from a.[13] To confirm our expectation
that 1 − 2 and 4 − 5 denote the same number, we define an equivalence relation ~ on these pairs
with the following rule:

Order-Theoretic Properties: Z Z Z Z Z

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In the language of abstract algebra, the first five properties listed above for addition say that Z under

1. if a < b and c < d, then a + c < b + d

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