MA211 Summary notes.

Fields
2010
1 Fields
A eld is a very special and important type of ring. It is a ring in which
the set of non-zero elements under multiplication forms an Abelian group.
In other words, a eld is a commutative ring with a 1 in which each each
non-zero element has a multiplicative inverse. Explicitly:
Denition: A eld F is a commutative ring with a 1 in which for all x F
with x ,= 0, there is y F such that xy = 1. We denote y by x
1
and call
it an inverse to x.
Example: Examples of elds are R, Q, C, Z
p
for p prime, and Q[

2].
Theorem: Every eld is an integral domain. And, a nite integral domain
is a eld.
Ideals in elds are not very interesting. Suppose I is an ideal in a eld F
and that I ,= 0. Let 0 ,= a I. Then, since ra I for all r, we have
a
1
a I. So 1 I. Then, for any r F, r = r1 I. So I = F. In fact, we
have the following result (one half of which weve just argued), where by a
trivial ideal we mean 0 or the whole ring R.
Theorem: Suppose R is a commutative ring with a 1. Then R has no
non-trivial ideals if and only if R is a eld.
Divisibility in elds is very boring: all non-zero elements have inverses and
are hence units.
1
We say that E is a subeld of F if E is a eld with respect to the same
operations. There is a straightforward test for subelds.
Theorem: Let F be a eld. Then E F is a subeld if and only if 0, 1 E
and whenever a, b E, with b ,= 0, a b E and ab
1
E.
2 F[x] is a Euclidean Ring for any eld F
Polynomial rings over elds have nice properties. In particular:
Theorem: If F is a eld, then F[x] is a Euclidean Ring.
So F[x] is a UFD.
A suitable norm function on F[x] is the degree of a polynomial: if f(x) =
a
0
+ a
1
x + + a
n
x
n
where a
n
,= 0, let (f(x)) = n. Then:
1. For all a, b ,= 0, (a) (ab).
2. For a, b R with b ,= 0, there are m, r R such that a = mb + r and
(r) < (b) or r = 0.
3 Field of fractions
You might recall how the set of rational numbers, which form a eld, can be
constructed from the set of integers, which form a ring. This can be easily
generalised to form, from any integral domain, R, a eld F called the eld
of fractions of R.
Dene a relation on R (R 0) as follows:
(a, b) R(c, d) ad = bc.
Then is an equivalence relation, as is easily veried.
2
Let F be the set of equivalence classes. We represent the equivalence class
containing (a, b) by
a
b
.
For example, take the case R = Z. We then have the (familiar) fact that
2
5
=
4
10
which follows from the fact that (2, 5) (4, 10). Not by coincidence
is this notation the same as that used for fractions in Q. We can think of
the integers as particular rational numbers by identifying the integer n with
the rational number
n
1
.
Returning to the general situation, we dene an addition and multiplication
on F (the set of equivalence classes a/b) by:
a
b
+
c
d
=
ad + bc
bd
,
a
b
c
d
=
ac
bd
.
Yes, it looks like were just multiplying and adding fractions. But the point
is that the elements a, b, c, d are from the ring R while the objects we are
adding and multiplying are from a dierent set, the set F of equivalence
classes. It turns out these addition and multiplication operations on F are
well-dened. And, F is a eld with these operations. (Note that the zero in
F is 0/1 and the 1 is 1/1.)
The function : R F dened by (a) =
a
1
is an injective homomorphism.
We therefore have:
Theorem: Let R be an integral domain. Then there is a eld F containing
a subring R

which is isomorphic to R. Furthermore, every element of F is

of the form ab
1
where a, b R

and b ,= 0. F is called the eld of fractions

of R.
So, for any integral domain there is a eld containing (an isomorphic copy
of) it.
3
4 Quotient rings, maximal ideals and elds
Denition: A maximal ideal in a ring R is an ideal I ,= R such that if
I J R and J is an ideal, then J = I or J = R.
Example: In Z, the maximal ideals are precisely p = pZ for primes p.
This is an instance of the following result.
Theorem: In a principal ideal domain, a is maximal if and only if a is
irreducible.
Example: In R[x], since x
2
+ 1 is irreducible, x
2
+ 1 is a maximal ideal.
Maximal ideals are useful because of the following result.
Theorem: Suppose I is a maximal ideal in a commutative ring R with a 1.
Then the quotient ring R/I is a eld. Conversely, if I is an ideal of R such
that R/I is a eld, then I is a maximal ideal of R.
Example: For any prime number p in the set of integers, I = p = pZ is a
maximal ideal. This is because Z is a PID, so any ideal J containing I must
take the form a for some a Z. But p a means that p a, which
means a[ p. So either a = p, in which case J = I; or a = 1, in which case
J = Z. It follows that Z/p = Z/pZ is a eld. This is exactly (isomorphic
to) the set we previously called Z
p
.
5 C as a eld extension of R
As a special case of the quotient ring results just mentioned, consider R =
R[x] and let f = x
2
+ 1. Then f is an irreducible element of R, so the
ideal x
2
+ 1 is maximal. It follows that F = R[x]/x
2
+ 1 is a eld. The
mapping : R[x] F dened by (f(x)) = f(x) + x
2
+ 1 is easily seen
to be a ring homomorphism. If we restrict the domain of to R, then the
resulting function [
R
is an injective ring homomorphism from R to F, so
there is a subring (actually, a subeld, since R is a eld) of F isomorphic to
R. If we simply identify (a) and a for a R that is, if we do not draw
4
a distinction between them then we may write R F.
We have (x
2
+ 1) = (x
2
+ 1) + x
2
+ 1 = x
2
+ 1 = 0
F
. So, since is a
homomorphism, if we denote (x) by i, we have
0 = (x
2
+ 1) = ((x))
2
+ (1) = i
2
+ 1.
Furthermore, suppose f R[x]. Then, by the division algorithm for the
Euclidean ring F[x], f = q(x
2
+1) +r for some q, r R[x] where r = a +bx
for some a, b R. Hence
(f) = (q)(x
2
+ 1) + (r) = (q)0 + (r) = (a) + (b)(x) = a + bi.
So each element of F can be written as a + bi for some a, b R (where, as
before, we identify (a) with a for a R). It can also be shown that this
representation is unique.
To sum up, then: identifying R with its isomorphic copy im([
R
) inside F,
and writing (x) = i, we may say:
F contains an element i such that i
2
+ 1 = 0; that is, i
2
= 1;
Every element of F can be written uniquely as a+bi for some a, b R.
Does that look familiar? Yes, indeed. F is the eld of complex numbers.
This is a way in which we can construct the complex numbers from the real
numbers. We are creating C as a eld extension of R by adding a root, i,
of an irreducible polynomial, x
2
+ 1.
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