1

3.1. Definition and Examples of Rings

The minimum requirements to be a ring

Definition 1. Let R be a nonempty set equipped with two operations. One of these operations we
will denote as (a, b) 7→ a + b (and call “addition”) and the other we will denote as (a, b) 7→ ab (and
call “multiplication”). The set R, together with these two operations, will be called a ring if all of the
following axioms are satisfied:
(1) (“Closure under addition”) For any a, b ∈ R, we have a + b ∈ R.
(2) (“Addition is associative”) For any a, b, c ∈ R, we have
a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c.
(3) (“Addition is commutative”) For any a, b ∈ R, we have
a + b = b + a.
(4) (“Zero element”) There exists an element 0R ∈ R with the following property: For any a ∈ R,
we have
a + 0R = 0R + a = a.
(5) (“Existence of negatives”) For any a ∈ R, the equation
a + X = 0R
has a solution X ∈ R.
(6) (“Closure under multiplication”) For any a, b ∈ R, we have ab ∈ R.
(7) (“Multiplication is associative”) For any a, b, c ∈ R, we have
a(bc) = (ab)c.
(8) (“Distributive property”) For any a, b, c ∈ R, we have
a(b + c) = ab + ac and (a + b)c = ac + bc.

In our mathematical education, we’ve learned how to add and multiply many kinds of objects.
Example 2. Here are some examples of rings defined using concepts from past math classes:
(a) Z with the usual operations of + and ·

(b) Q with the usual operations of + and ·

(c) R with the usual operations of + and ·

(d) C with the usual operations of + and ·

(e) Let Mn (R) denote the set of all n × n matrices whose entries belong to R, equipped with the usual
operations of matrix addition and matrix multiplication.

(f) Let Mn (Z) denote the set of all n × n matrices whose entries belong to Z, equipped with the usual
operations of matrix addition and matrix multiplication.

(g) Let C 0 ([0, 1]) denote the set of all functions f : [0, 1] → R that are continuous. Given two functions
f, g ∈ C 0 ([0, 1]), we produce two new such functions f + g and f g as follows:
(f + g)(x) := f (x) + g(x), (f g)(x) := f (x)g(x).
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(h) Zn with the operations of + and · (formerly denoted as ⊕ and in §2.2)

(i) Let R = {2k | k ∈ Z} be the set of all even integers with the usual operations of + and ·

Example 3. Here are some examples of past concepts that do not form rings. In each of the following,
point out one ring axiom that doesn’t hold.
(a) Let R = R3 = {hx1 , x2 , x3 i | xi ∈ R} denote the set of 3-dimensional vectors. Suppose we add two
vectors using the usual vector addition and we multiply two vectors using the dot product.

(b) Let R = R3 = {hx1 , x2 , x3 i | xi ∈ R} denote the set of 3-dimensional vectors. Suppose we add two
vectors using the usual vector addition and we multiply two vectors using the cross product.

There are many other examples of rings in the textbook reading and exercises. Here are a few examples
that are less familiar than the ones above:
Example 4. For any positive integers d, n, define Md (Zn ) to be the set of all d × d matrices whose entries
belong to Zn . We define addition and multiplication of two such matrices in the “usual” way, but keeping
in mind that the “arithmetic” we end up doing takes place in Zn . One may show that this is a ring.
For instance, in M2 (Z5 ), what are A + B and AB for the following two matrices?
   
1 2 0 3
A= , B=
0 4 1 2

Example 5 (“The trivial ring”). Consider a set R = {e} with one element. Define e + e = e and e · e = e.
With these definitions, R is a ring.
Example 6. The set of Gaussian integers, denoted by Z[i] (which is pronounced “zee adjoin i”) is the
following subset of C:
Z[i] = {a + bi ∈ C | a, b ∈ Z}
With the usual operations of + and · defined on C, one can show that Z[i] is a ring.

Special kinds of rings

Some rings have further, very helpful properties besides those listed in 8 axioms above.

Definition 7. A commutative ring is a ring R (i.e., it satisfies Axioms 1–8) that satisfies the following
additional axiom:
(9) For any a, b ∈ R, we have
ab = ba.
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Definition 8. A ring with identity is a ring R (i.e., it satisfies Axioms 1–8) that satisfies the following
additional axiom:
(10) There exists an element 1R ∈ R with the following property: for any a ∈ R, we have
a1R = 1R a = a.

Definition 9. An integral domain is a commutative ring R with identity (i.e., it satisfies Axioms 1–10)
such that 1R 6= 0R and the following additional axiom holds:
(11) For any a, b ∈ R, we have
ab = 0R =⇒ [a = 0R or b = 0R ].

Definition 10. A field is a commutative ring R with identity (i.e., it satisfies Axioms 1–10) such that
1R 6= 0R and the following additional axiom holds:
(12) For any a ∈ R such that a 6= 0R , the equation
aX = 1R
has a solution X ∈ R.

Some problems
(1) In Examples 2 are commutative? Have an identity element? Are integral domains? Are fields? Mark
each as follows:
C for “commutative”, 1 for “ring with identity”, D for “integral domain”, F for “field”

(2) Define a new version of addition and multiplication on Q by

r ⊕ s := r + s + 1 and r s := rs + r + s.
(On the right side of each formula, we are using the “usual” addition and multiplication on Q.) One
can check that this is a ring.
Just verify Axiom 4, Axiom 5, and the first half of Axiom 8.

Producing new rings from old rings

Definition 11. Let R be a ring and let S ⊆ R be a subset. Given any two elements in s1 , s2 ∈ S, it makes
sense to form their sum s1 + s2 ∈ R and product s1 s2 ∈ R, which both belong to R. (We can think of the
subset S as “inheriting” notions of addition and multiplication from the bigger set R.)
We will call S a subring of R if it becomes a ring when under the notions of addition and multiplication
that are inherited from R.
Theorem 12. Let R be a ring and let S ⊆ R be a subset. Suppose that S has the following properties:
(a) S is closed under addition: If a, b ∈ S, then a + b ∈ S
(b) S is closed under multiplication: If a, b ∈ S, then ab ∈ S
(c) S contains the zero element: 0R ∈ S
(d) S is closed under negation: If a ∈ S, then the solution to a + X = 0R also belongs to S.
Example 13. With the usual addition and multiplication, Z, Q, and R are subrings of C. In fact, since Q
and R are fields, we call them subfields of C. Similarly, Z and Q are subrings of R, and Z is a subring of C.
Example 14. The subset of Gaussian integers Z[i] from Example 6 is a subring of C
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Example 15. In the textbook, they show that the following subset K of M2 (R) is a subring:
  
a b
K= a, b ∈ R
−b a
In fact, they even show that K is a field!
Theorem 16. Let R and S two rings. Recall that the Cartesian product of R and S is the set of all ordered
pairs (r, s) with r ∈ R and s ∈ S:
R × S := {(r, s) | r ∈ R, s ∈ S}
Define addition and multiplication operations on R × S in a component-wise fashion:
(r1 , s1 ) + (r2 , s2 ) := (r1 + r2 , s1 + s2 ), (r1 , s1 )(r2 , s2 ) := (r1 r2 , s1 s2 )
Then, with these definitions of addition and multiplication, R × S is a ring.
Remark 17. If R and S are two rings and you see “the ring R × S” in class or in the book, it will nearly
always mean that R × S is being considered with the addition and multiplication defined in Theorem 16. (If
some different definition of addition and multiplication is intended, this will be explicitly noted.)
Example 18. Suppose R is a commutative ring with identity. We can define polynomials with coefficients
in R. For instance, if we use two variables x, y, then the set of all such polynomials is denoted R[x, y]. If we
add and multiply them in the “usual” way, then R[x, y] becomes a commutative ring with identity.

More generally, we can consider polynomials in n variables with coefficients in R, such as R[x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ],
and this will form a commutative ring with identity.
In Chapter 4 we will focus intensively on the ring F [x], where F is a field, and see the many ways that it
closely resembles the ring Z.
As one final idea for to producing new rings from old rings, we have:
Example 19. Let R be any commutative ring with identity. Define Mn (R) to be the collection of n × n
matrices whose entries belong to R, and define addition and multiplication on Mn (R) using the usual
definitions of matrix addition and matrix multiplication. Then one may show that Mn (R) is a ring with
identity. If 1R 6= 0R , then M2 (R) is not commutative.

Some more problems

√
(1) Let S be the subset of R consisting of all integer multiples of 2:
n √ o
S = n 2 n ∈ Z ⊆ R.
Is S a subring of R?

(2) Let T be the set of functions from R to R, and define S ⊆ T to be the subset of even functions. Is S
a subring of T ?
(Recall that a function f ∈ T is even if it has the property that f (−x) = f (x) for all x ∈ R.)

(3) Consider the ring Z × C.

(a) If a = (3, 2 + i) and b = (−2, 4i), what are a + b and ab?
(b) What is the zero element of this ring? Is it a ring with identity?
(c) Is this ring an integral domain?
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3.2. Basic properties of rings

There are two main points of this section

1. Many familiar rules of high algebra are also true in the abstract realm of rings. We’ll see that this
large collection of rules follows our relatively small collection of axioms for rings.
2. The concepts of units and zero divisors, already defined in Zn , can be extended to the setting of rings.
Integral domains and fields are closely related to these concepts, and we discuss the connections
between these two types of rings.

Arithmetic in rings
Propostion 1. Any R has a unique zero element, i.e., there is only one element of R satisfying Axiom 4.

Remark 2. You can similarly show that if R is a ring with identity, then the identity element is unique.
Propostion 3. For any a ∈ R, the solution to the equation a + X = 0R is unique.

Definition 4. We let −a denote the unique solution to a + X = 0R . Furthermore, we may define subtraction
by a − b := a + (−b).
The following is proved using Axioms 2, 4, and 5.
Propostion 5. Suppose that in a ring R we have a + b = a + c. Then b = c.
The takeaway message of the following theorem is that many of the usual rules of algebra follow from just
a small number axioms!
Theorem 6. Let R be a ring. For any a, b ∈ R, we have
(a) a0R = 0R = 0R a
(b) a(−b) = −ab = (−a)b
(c) −(−a) = a
(d) −(a + b) = −a − b
(e) −(a − b) = −a + b
(f ) (−a)(−b) = ab
If R is a ring with identity then
(h) (−1R )a = −a
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Definition 7. Let R be a ring, let a ∈ R.

• Let n ≥ 1 be a positive integer:
an | · a ·{za · · · a}
:= a
n times
na := a + a + a + · · · + a
| {z }
n times
(−n)a := (−a) + (−a) + (−a) + · · · + (−a)
| {z }
n times
• Let n = 0:
a0 := 1R ← (Only makes sense if R has identity)
0a := 0R

Units and zero divisors

Definition 8. Let R be a ring with identity. An element of R is a unit if there exists some u ∈ R such that
au = ua = 1R .
Remark 9. You can show that if a is a unit, then the element u as in Definition 8 is unique. We call it the
inverse of a and denote it by a−1 .
Example 10. What are the units in the following rings with identity?
(a) Z

(b) Q, R, C, Zp with p prime

(c) Z[i]

(d) M2 (R)

Definition 11. Let R be a ring. A zero divisor is a nonzero element a ∈ R such that the following holds:
There exists a nonzero c ∈ R such that ac = 0R or ca = 0R .
Example 12.
(a) In an integral domain, there are no zero divisors.
(b) If n is composite, then Zn has zero divisors.
(c) Zero divisors exist in M2 (Z):
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Theorem 13. If R is an integral domain, then the following “cancellation property” is valid:
If a 6= 0R and ab = ac, then b = c.
Finally, we have two theorems about the relation between integral domains and fields.
Theorem 14. If R is a field, then R is an integral domain.
Note that the converse of Theorem 14 is false in general:

But it is true in the case of finite rings:

Theorem 15. If R is a finite integral domain (i.e., if R is an integral domain whose underlying set R is
finite), then R is a field.

Some problems
(1) Prove part (b) of Theorem 6 by using only the ring axioms, Proposition 3, Definition 4, and part (a)
of Theorem 6.
Hint. It may help to note that −ab denotes −(ab), i.e., the negation of ab. Show that a(−b) is a
solution to the equation that defines −ab (see Definition 4).

(2) Let R be a ring with identity and let a, b ∈ R. If ab and b are units, prove that a is also a unit.
Hint. First consider the following related question from high school algebra: If c, d are nonzero real
numbers, could you write 1c in terms of the numbers d, d1 , cd, and cd1
? This might give you a hint
about how to find an inverse of the element a in R if you know that ab and b are units.
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3.3. Isomorphisms and homomorphisms

Motivation
Example 1. Consider the following three rings:
(a) R1 = Z3 = {0, 1, 2}. Fill in its addition and multiplication tables below.
+ 0 1 2 · 0 1 2
0 0
1 1
2 2

What is the zero element of R1 ?

Does R1 have an identity? If so, what is it?

(b) R2 = {0, 2, 4} ⊆ Z6 . One can check that this is a subring of Z6 . Fill in its addition and multiplication
tables below.
+ 0 4 2 · 0 4 2
0 0
4 4
2 2

What is the zero element of R2 ?

Does R2 have an identity? If so, what is it?

(c) R3 = {0, 3, 6} ⊆ Z9 . One can check that this is a subring of Z9 . Fill in its addition and multiplication
tables below.
+ 0 3 6 · 0 3 6
0 0
3 3
6 6

What is the zero element of R3 ?

Does R3 have an identity? If so, what is it?

Isomorphisms
First let’s recall some terminology about general functions. Let T and U be two sets, and let f : T → U
be a function between them.
• We say f is injective (a.k.a. one-to-one) if it satisfies:
t1 6= t2 =⇒ f (t1 ) 6= f (t2 )
• We say f is surjective (a.k.a. onto) if it satisfies:
For all u ∈ U , there exists t ∈ T such that f (t) = u
• We say f is bijective if it is both injective and surjective.
(This is equivalent to f having a two-sided inverse; more specifically, it is equivalent to the existence
of a function g : U → T such that f ◦ g = IdU and g ◦ f = IdT . In this case, we write g = f −1 .)
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The following definition tells us how we will rigorously capture the idea that two rings “seem to be
essentially the same”.
Definition 2. Let R, S be two rings. An isomorphism between R and S is a function f : R → S that has
three properties:
(a) For all r1 , r2 ∈ R we have f (r1 + r2 ) = f (r1 ) + f (r2 ).
(b) For all r1 , r2 ∈ R we have f (r1 r2 ) = f (r1 )f (r2 ).
(c) f is a bijection.
Less specifically, we say that two rings R and S are isomorphic, and will write R ' S, if there exists an
isomorphism f : R → S.
Remark 3. One can show that if f : R → S is an isomorphism, then the inverse function f −1 : S → R is
also an isomorphism (i.e., it preserves the addition and multiplication operations). This is why it’s okay to
use the phrase “R and S are isomorphic”, which might seem more ambiguous than “R is isomorphic to S”.
Example 4. As in Example 1, write R1 = {[0]3 , [1]3 , [2]3 } = Z3 and R2 = {[0]6 , [2]6 , [4]6 } ⊆ Z6 . Then
R1 ' R2 .

Example 5. Recall that the following is a subfield of M2 (R):

  
a b
K= a, b ∈ R .
−b a
In the reading it is shown that K ' C. One isomorphism is:

Example 6. In the reading it is shown that the rings Z12 and Z3 × Z4 are isomorphic. One isomorphism is:

Telling rings apart from one another

Although they’re not phrased this way, the following definition and proposition are useful for telling when
two rings are not isomorphic.
Definition 7. Let P be a property that a ring may or may not possess (e.g., commutativity, having identity,
the existence of zero divisors, etc.). We say that the property P is preserved under isomorphism if the
following is true:
Whenever two rings R and S are isomorphic and R has property P, so does S.
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Similarly, let Q be a property that an element of a ring may or may not possess (e.g., being a unit, being
a zero divisor, being zero). We say that property Q is preserved under isomorphism if the following is true:
Whenever f : R → S is an isomorphism and a ∈ R has property Q, then so does f (r) ∈ S.
Propostion 8. The following properties of rings are preserved under isomorphism:
(a) Cardinality
(Consequence 1: If R ' S and R is finite, then S is also finite and contains the same number of
elements as R.)
(Consequence 2: If R ' S and R is infinite, then S is also infinite.)
(b) Commutativity
(c) Having identity
Besides the ones listed in Proposition 8, there are many other properties of rings are are preserved under
isomorphism. (For instance, see p.79 and Exercise 3.3.34.)

Homomorphisms
If a function f : R → S between two rings only has properties (a) and (b) of Definition 2, we have a
different name for it:
Definition 9. Let R, S be two rings. A homomorphism from R to S is a function f : R → S that has two
properties:
(a) For all r1 , r2 ∈ R we have f (r1 + r2 ) = f (r1 ) + f (r2 ).
(b) For all r1 , r2 ∈ R we have f (r1 r2 ) = f (r1 )f (r2 ).
Remark 10. In linear algebra we study vector spaces, and from the vantage point of linear algebra the only
kind of “interesting” functions between vector spaces are linear transformations, because they preserve the
vector space operations. We have a completely analogous situation in ring theory as well: In ring theory we
study rings and from the vantage point of ring theory the only kind of “interesting” functions between them
are the homomorphisms, because they preserve the ring operations.
Example 11.
(a) Any isomorphism f : R → S is a homomorphism; in fact, the definition of “isomorphism” used in
some books is a bijective homomorphism.
(b) Let n ≥ 1 be a positive integer, and define f : Z → Zn by
f (a) = [a]n .
This is a homomorphism called reduction modulo n. It is surjective but not injective.
(c) In linear algebra, two functions from M2 (R) and to R are the determinant and trace:
 
a b
A= =⇒ det(A) = ad − bc and tr(A) = a + d.
c d

(d) Let R be a commutative ring with identity. There are many homomorphisms from R to M2 (R).
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Properties of homomorphisms
Theorem 12. Let f : R → S be a homomorphism of rings. Then the following hold:
(a) f (0R ) = 0S
(b) f (−a) = −f (a) for all a ∈ R
(c) f (a − b) = f (a) − f (b) for all a, b ∈ R
If R has identity and f is surjective, then
(d) S is a ring with identity; in fact, we have 1S = f (1R ).
(e) If u ∈ R is a unit, then f (u) ∈ S is a unit and in fact f (u)−1 = f (u−1 ).
Definition 13. Let f : T → U be a function between two sets. Then the image of f is the following subset
of U :
Im(f ) = {u ∈ U | ∃t ∈ T s.t. f (t) = u}
= {f (t) | t ∈ T }
Propostion 14. If f : R → S is a homomorphism of rings, then Im(f ) is a subring.

Some problems
(1) Let E denote the set of even integers. Using the usual addition operation (in Z) and the multiplication
a ∗ b := ab/2,
one can show that E is a ring. (This is verified in Exercise 3.1.23.)
Show that the map f : E → Z given by f (x) = x/2 is an isomorphism.

(2) Why are the following rings not isomorphic?

(a) Z and Z5
(b) Z14 and M2 (Z2 )
(c) Q and R √
Hint. Suppose for contradiction that f : R → Q is an isomorphism, and let q = f ( 2) ∈ Q.
What is q 2 ? Theorem 12(d) should be helpful.
(d) Z9 and Z3 × Z3
Hint. Theorem 12(d) or (e) can be helpful here.

(3) Let T denote the ring of functions from R to R (defined as in Example 8 of §3.1). Define θ : T → R
by θ(f ) = f (5). Prove that θ is a surjective homomorphism. Is it an isomorphism?

(4) Let f : R → S be a homomorphism of rings. If r ∈ R is a zero divisor, show that (in general)
f (r) ∈ S might not be a zero divisor. Can you think of a condition on f that would guarantee that
f (r) is a zero divisor?