In
algebra
Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics.
Elementary a ...
, the fixed-point subring
of an
automorphism
In mathematics, an automorphism is an isomorphism from a mathematical object to itself. It is, in some sense, a symmetry of the object, and a way of mapping the object to itself while preserving all of its structure. The set of all automorphis ...
''f'' of a
ring
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
''R'' is the
subring
In mathematics, a subring of ''R'' is a subset of a ring that is itself a ring when binary operations of addition and multiplication on ''R'' are restricted to the subset, and which shares the same multiplicative identity as ''R''. For those ...
of the
fixed points of ''f'', that is,
:
More generally, if ''G'' is a
group
A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together.
Groups of people
* Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity
* Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...
acting
Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode.
Acting involves a broad ra ...
on ''R'', then the subring of ''R''
:
is called the fixed subring or, more traditionally, the ring of invariants under . If ''S'' is a set of automorphisms of ''R'', the elements of ''R'' that are fixed by the elements of ''S'' form the ring of invariants under the group generated by ''S''. In particular, the fixed-point subring of an automorphism ''f'' is the ring of invariants of the
cyclic group generated by ''f''.
In
Galois theory
In mathematics, Galois theory, originally introduced by Évariste Galois, provides a connection between field theory and group theory. This connection, the fundamental theorem of Galois theory, allows reducing certain problems in field theory to ...
, when ''R'' is a
field
Field may refer to:
Expanses of open ground
* Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes
* Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport
* Battlefield
* Lawn, an area of mowed grass
* Meadow, a grass ...
and ''G'' is a group of field automorphisms, the fixed ring is a
subfield called the fixed field of the automorphism group; see
Fundamental theorem of Galois theory
In mathematics, the fundamental theorem of Galois theory is a result that describes the structure of certain types of field extensions in relation to groups. It was proved by Évariste Galois in his development of Galois theory.
In its most basic ...
.
Along with a
module of covariants, the ring of invariants is a central object of study in
invariant theory
Invariant theory is a branch of abstract algebra dealing with actions of groups on algebraic varieties, such as vector spaces, from the point of view of their effect on functions. Classically, the theory dealt with the question of explicit descr ...
. Geometrically, the rings of invariants are the coordinate rings of (affine or projective)
GIT quotient In algebraic geometry, an affine GIT quotient, or affine geometric invariant theory quotient, of an affine scheme X = \operatorname A with an action by a group scheme ''G'' is the affine scheme \operatorname(A^G), the prime spectrum of the ring of ...
s and they play fundamental roles in the constructions in
geometric invariant theory
In mathematics, geometric invariant theory (or GIT) is a method for constructing quotients by group actions in algebraic geometry, used to construct moduli spaces. It was developed by David Mumford in 1965, using ideas from the paper in class ...
.
Example: Let