Invertible elements in a commutative ring with no zero divisors

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the properties of a commutative ring with a unit that has no zero divisors, specifically questioning whether every nonzero element in such a ring is necessarily invertible.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking, Mixed

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the implications of having no zero divisors in a ring and question the invertibility of nonzero elements. There is an attempt to find a counter-example to illustrate that not all nonzero elements are invertible.

Discussion Status

Some participants have provided examples, such as the integers, to argue that not every nonzero element is invertible, indicating a productive exploration of the topic. The discussion includes both attempts to clarify the original question and the presentation of counter-examples.

Contextual Notes

Participants are considering specific examples of rings and their properties, while also addressing the implications of definitions related to invertibility and zero divisors.

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Homework Statement


Suppose that a commutative ring R, with a unit, has no zero divisors. Does that necessarily imply that every nonzero element of R is invertible?


Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution



We have to show that there exists some b in R such that ab = e. Having no zero divisors implies that if b\neq0 then ab\neq0.

To show that every nonzero element of R is not invertible we must find a case where ab = c for some c in R and c \neq e.

The question seems easy but I can't wrap my head around how to write it down.
 
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Can you think of a particular example of such a ring? Is every non-zero element in it invertible?
 
Oh can we just give an example, the integers form such a ring but the only invertible elements are 1 and -1. Therefore every non-zero element is not invertible and the question false.

Thanks!
 
A counter-example is a perfectly good way to show that some particular statement is not true.
 

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