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Integral DomainIn abstract algebra, an integral domain is a commutative ring with 0 ≠ 1 in which the product of any two non-zero elements is always non-zero. Integral domains are generalizations of the integers and provide a natural setting for studying divisibility. Alternatively and equivalently, integral domains may be defined as commutative rings in which the zero ideal {0} is prime, or as the subrings of fields. The condition 0≠1 only serves to exclude the trivial ring {0} with a single element. Examples The prototypical example is the ring Z of all integers. Every field is an integral domain. Conversely, every Artinian integral domain is a field. In particular, the only finite integral domains are the finite fields. Rings of polynomials are integral domains if the coefficients come from an integral domain. For instance, the ring ZX of all polynomials in one variable with integer coefficients is an integral domain; so is the ring RX,Y of all polynomials in two variables with real coefficients. The set of all real numbers of the form a + b√2 with a and b integers is a subring of R and hence an integral domain. A similar example is given by the complex numbers of the form a + bi with a and b integers (the Gaussian integers). The p-adic integers. If U is a connected open subset of the complex number plane C, then the ring H(U) consisting of all holomorphic functions f : U -> C is an integral domain. The same is true for rings of analytical functions on connected open subsets of analytical manifolds. If R is a commutative ring and P is an ideal in R, then the factor ring R/P is an integral domain if and only if P is a prime ideal. Divisibility, prime and irreducible elements If a and b are elements of the integral domain R, we say that a divides b or a is a divisor of b or b is a multiple of a if and only if there exists an element x in R such that ax = b. If a divides b and b divides c, then a divides c. If a divides b, then a divides every multiple of b. If a divides two elements, then a also divides their sum and difference. The elements which divide 1 are called the units of R; these are precisely the invertible elements in R. Units divide all other elements. If a divides b and b divides a, then we say a and b are associated elements. a and b are associated if and only if there exists a unit u such that au = b. If q is a non-unit, we say that q is an irreducible element if q cannot be written as a product of two non-units. If p is a non-zero non-unit, we say that p is a prime element if, whenever p divides a product ab, then p divides a or b. This generalizes the ordinary definition of prime number in the ring Z, except that it allows for negative prime elements. If p is a prime element, then the principal ideal (p) generated by p is a prime ideal. Every prime element is irreducible (here, for the first time, we need R to be an integral domain), but the converse is not true in all integral domains (it is true in unique factorization domains, however). Field of fractions If R is a given integral domain, the smallest field Quot(R) containing R as a subring is uniquely determined up to isomorphism and is called the field of fractions or quotient field of R. It consists of all fractions a/b with a and b in R and b ≠ 0, modulo an appropriate equivalence relation. The field of fractions of the integers is the field of rational numbers. The field of fractions of a field is isomorphic to the field itself. Characteristic and homomorphisms The characteristic of every integral domain is either zero or a prime number. If R is an integral domain with prime characteristic p, then f(x) = x p defines an injective ring homomorphism f : R -> R, the Frobenius homomorphism. See also - Integral domains - wikibook link
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