Math 103B HW 6 Solutions to Selected Problems

13.34 Prove that there is no integral domain with exactly six elements. Can
your argument be adapted to show that there is no integral domain with exactly
four elements? What about 15 elements? Use these observations to guess a
general result about the number of elements in a nite integral domain.
Solution: Suppose, by way of contradiction, that there exists an integral domain R with
|R| = 6. Let 0 and 1 denote the additive identity and multiplicative identity of R, respec-
tively. By Theorem 13.3, we know that char(R) is the additive order of 1. The fact that
(1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 =)6 · 1 = 0 (which follows from a corollary to Lagrange's Theorem since
|R| = 6) implies that the additive order of 1 is either 1, 2, 3, or 6. However, Theorem 13.4
tells us that char(R) must be prime, so char(R) is either 2 or 3. If char(R) = 2, then this
tells us that 2 · x = 0 for all x ∈ R, which implies that every element of R has additive order
either 1 or 2. However, Cauchy's Theorem for Abelian Groups (Theorem 9.5) tells us that R
must have an element which has additive order 3, a contradiction. Similarly, if char(R) = 3,
then every element of R has additive order either 1 or 3, but Cauchy's Theorem for Abelian
Groups tells us that R has an element of additive order 2, a contradiction. Hence, no such
ring exists.
This argument can be adapted to show that there is no integral domain with 15 elements
- the role of 2 and 3 in the above argument will be taken by 3 and 5. However, this argument
cannot be adapted to show there is not integral domain with 4 elements since the argument
above relies on the order of the ring being divisible by at least 2 distinct primes (in fact,
there is an integral domain with 4 elements). This may lead us to guess that any nite
integral domain must have order which is a power of a prime, which is indeed the case.
13.35 Let F be a eld of order 2n . Prove that char(F ) = 2.
Solution: By Theorem 13.3, we know that char(F ) is equal to the additive order of 1 (the
multiplicative identity of F ) in F . By a corollary to Lagrange's Theorem, we know that
0 = |F | · 1 = 2n · 1. This implies that the additive order of 1 divides 2n . Now, Theorem 13.4
implies that char(F ) is prime. Since the only prime divisor of 2n is 2, we must have that
char(F ) = 2.
13.49 Let x, y ∈ R, where R is a commutative ring with prime characteristic p.
a. Show that (x + y)p = xp + yp .
b. Show that, for all positive integers n, (x + y)pn = xpn + ypn .
c. Find elements x and y in a ring of characteristic 4 such that (x + y)4 = x4 + y4 .

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Solution: a. One can show that the binomial theorem holds in any commutative ring.
Thus,
p  
p
X p
(x + y) = · xi y p−i .
i=0
i
Note that, for 1 ≤ i ≤ p − 1, we have that
 
p! p
= ∈ Z,
(p − i)!i! i

that is, (p − i)!i! divides p!. Since 1 ≤ i ≤ p − 1 and p is prime, it follows that (p − i)!i! is
coprime to p. It follows that (p − i)!i! divides (p − 1)! (using the fact that if a, b, c ∈ Z and
a divides bc and gcd(a, b) = 1 then a divides c). Hence, we can write (p − i)!i!ki = (p − 1)!
for some ki ∈ Z. Thus, we have
p   p−1  
!
X p X p
(x + y)p = · xi y p−i = xp + · xi y p−i + yp
i=0
i i=1
i
p−1
!
X
= xp + ki p · xi y p−i + yp
i=1
p
=x +y p
since R has characteristic p.

b. This follows from part a and induction (the details are left as an exercise).
c. In the ring Z4 , we have (1 + 1)4 = 24 = 0, but 14 + 14 = 2 6= 0.
13.52 Give an example of an innite integral domain with characteristic 3.
Solution: The ring Z3 [x] is innite (since the elements 1, x, x2 , . . . are all distinct) and
has characteristic 3 since any element an xn + an−1 xn−1 + · · · + a1 x + a0 ∈ Z3 [x] (i.e.
an , an−1 , . . . , a0 ∈ Z3 ) satises

3 · (an xn + an−1 xn−1 + · · · + a1 x + a0 ) = (3 · an )xn + (3 · an−1 )xn−1 + · · · + (3 · a1 )x + (3 · a0 ) = 0.

Also Z3 [x] is an integral domain since Z3 is (see Theorem 16.1).

13.54 Let R be a ring with m elements. Show that the characteristic of R
divides m.
Solution: Set n = char(R). Since |R| = m, we know that m · x = 0 for any x ∈ R by
a corollary to Lagrange's Theorem. In particular, this tells us that n 6= 0. Hence, by the
division algorithm, there exists q, r ∈ Z with 0 ≤ r < n such that m = nq + r. For any
x ∈ R, we have that

0 = m · x = (nq + r) · x = (nq) · x + r · x = q · (n · x) + r · x = q · 0 + r · x = r · x.

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Thus, r · x = 0 for all x ∈ R. But n is the smallest positive integer with this property, and
r < n, so it follows that r = 0. Hence, m = nq = (char(R))q , so char(R) divides m.

14.12 If A and B are ideals of a ring R, show that the product of A and B
AB = {a1 b1 + · · · + an bn |n ∈ Z+ , ai ∈ A, bi ∈ B}

is an ideal.
Solution: Note that 0 = (0)(0) ∈ AB , so AB 6= ∅. Now, let x, x0 ∈ AB . Then
x = a1 b1 + · · · + an bn
x0 = a01 b01 + · · · + a0n b0n

for some a1 , . . . , an , a01 , . . . , a0n ∈ A and b1 , . . . , bn , b01 , . . . , b0n ∈ B . Then

x−x0 = (a1 b1 +· · ·+an bn )−(a01 b01 +· · ·+a0n b0n ) = a1 b1 +· · ·+an bn +(−a01 )b01 +(−a02 )b02 +· · ·+(−a0n )b0n ∈ AB.

It follows that AB is an additive subgroup of R.

Now, let r ∈ R and let x be as above. Then

rx = r(a1 b1 + · · · + an bn ) = (ra1 )b1 + · · · + (ran )bn

which is in AB since (ra1 ), (ra2 ), . . . , (ran ) ∈ A since A is an ideal. Similarly

xr = (a1 b1 + · · · + an bn )r = a1 (b1 r) + · · · + an (bn r)

which is in AB since (b1 r), (b2 r), . . . , (bn r) ∈ B since B is an ideal. Thus, AB is an ideal.

14.16 If A and B are ideals of a commutative ring R with unity and A + B = R,

show that A ∩ B = AB .
Solution: First, suppose that x ∈ AB . Then x = a1 b1 +a2 b2 +· · ·+an bn for some a1 , . . . , an ∈
A and b1 , . . . , bn ∈ B . Note that, for any i ∈ {1, 2, . . . , n}, we have that ai bi ∈ A since ai ∈ A,
bi ∈ R, and A is an ideal of R. Similarly, ai bi ∈ B since bi ∈ B , ai ∈ R, and B is an ideal of
R. Hence, a1 b1 + a2 b2 + · · · + an bn ∈ A ∩ B . Thus, AB ⊆ A ∩ B (note that this is always
true - we did not use the assumption that A + B = R here).
Now, suppose that y ∈ A ∩ B . Since 1 ∈ R = A + B , there exist a ∈ A and b ∈ B such
that 1 = a + b. Then y = y(1) = y(a + b) = ya + yb = ay + yb. Since y ∈ B , ay ∈ AB . Since
y ∈ A, yb ∈ AB . Hence, y = ay + yb ∈ AB . Thus, A ∩ B ⊆ AB . Hence, A ∩ B = AB .

14.17 If an ideal I of a ring R contains a unit, show that I = R.

Solution: Clearly I ⊆ R. Conversely, suppose that r ∈ R. By assumption, there exists a
unit u ∈ I . Then we have that r = (ru−1 )u ∈ I since ru−1 ∈ R and u ∈ I . It follows that
R ⊆ I , so that R = I .

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 14.28 Let R be a commutative ring with unity. Suppose that the only ideals
of R are {0} and R. Show that R is a eld.
Solution: Let x ∈ R \ {0}. Consider the ideal (x) generated by x (recall that since R is
commutative, (x) = {rx|r ∈ R}). Since x 6= 0 and x ∈ (x), we have that {0} = 6 (x). By
the assumption that the only ideals of R are {0} and R, this implies that (x) = R. Since
1 ∈ R = (x), this implies that there is r ∈ R such that rx = 1. Since R is commutative,
xr = rx = 1. Hence, x has a multiplicative inverse. It follows that R is a eld.

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