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In ring theory, a branch of
mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
, the zero ring or trivial ring is the unique ring (up to
isomorphism In mathematics, an isomorphism is a structure-preserving mapping or morphism between two structures of the same type that can be reversed by an inverse mapping. Two mathematical structures are isomorphic if an isomorphism exists between the ...
) consisting of one element. (Less commonly, the term "zero ring" is used to refer to any rng of square zero, i.e., a rng in which for all ''x'' and ''y''. This article refers to the one-element ring.) In the
category of rings In mathematics, the category of rings, denoted by Ring, is the category whose objects are rings (with identity) and whose morphisms are ring homomorphisms (that preserve the identity). Like many categories in mathematics, the category of rings i ...
, the zero ring is the
terminal object In category theory, a branch of mathematics, an initial object of a category is an object in such that for every object in , there exists precisely one morphism . The dual notion is that of a terminal object (also called terminal element): ...
, whereas the ring of integers Z is the
initial object In category theory, a branch of mathematics, an initial object of a category is an object in such that for every object in , there exists precisely one morphism . The dual notion is that of a terminal object (also called terminal element) ...
.


Definition

The zero ring, denoted or simply 0, consists of the one-element set with the operations + and · defined such that 0 + 0 = 0 and 0 · 0 = 0.


Properties

* The zero ring is the unique ring in which the
additive identity In mathematics, the additive identity of a set that is equipped with the operation of addition is an element which, when added to any element in the set, yields . One of the most familiar additive identities is the number 0 from elementary ma ...
0 and
multiplicative identity In mathematics, an identity element or neutral element of a binary operation is an element that leaves unchanged every element when the operation is applied. For example, 0 is an identity element of the addition of real numbers. This concept is use ...
1 coincide. (Proof: If in a ring ''R'', then for all ''r'' in ''R'', we have . The proof of the last equality is found here.) * The zero ring is commutative. * The element 0 in the zero ring is a unit, serving as its own
multiplicative inverse In mathematics, a multiplicative inverse or reciprocal for a number ''x'', denoted by 1/''x'' or ''x''−1, is a number which when Multiplication, multiplied by ''x'' yields the multiplicative identity, 1. The multiplicative inverse of a ra ...
. * The
unit group In algebra, a unit or invertible element of a ring is an invertible element for the multiplication of the ring. That is, an element of a ring is a unit if there exists in such that vu = uv = 1, where is the multiplicative identity; the el ...
of the zero ring is the
trivial group In mathematics, a trivial group or zero group is a group that consists of a single element. All such groups are isomorphic, so one often speaks of the trivial group. The single element of the trivial group is the identity element and so it is usu ...
. * The element 0 in the zero ring is not a
zero divisor In abstract algebra, an element of a ring is called a left zero divisor if there exists a nonzero in such that , or equivalently if the map from to that sends to is not injective. Similarly, an element of a ring is called a right ze ...
. * The only ideal in the zero ring is the zero ideal , which is also the unit ideal, equal to the whole ring. This ideal is neither maximal nor
prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...
. * The zero ring is generally excluded from fields, while occasionally called as the ''trivial field''. Excluding it agrees with the fact that its zero ideal is not maximal. (When mathematicians speak of the " field with one element", they are referring to a non-existent object, and their intention is to define the category that would be the category of schemes over this object if it existed.) * The zero ring is generally excluded from
integral domain In mathematics, an integral domain is a nonzero commutative ring in which the product of any two nonzero elements is nonzero. Integral domains are generalizations of the ring of integers and provide a natural setting for studying divisibilit ...
s. Whether the zero ring is considered to be a domain at all is a matter of convention, but there are two advantages to considering it not to be a domain. First, this agrees with the definition that a domain is a ring in which 0 is the only zero divisor (in particular, 0 is required to be a zero divisor, which fails in the zero ring). Second, this way, for a positive integer ''n'', the ring Z/''n''Z is a domain if and only if ''n'' is prime, but 1 is not prime. * For each ring ''A'', there is a unique
ring homomorphism In mathematics, a ring homomorphism is a structure-preserving function between two rings. More explicitly, if ''R'' and ''S'' are rings, then a ring homomorphism is a function that preserves addition, multiplication and multiplicative identity ...
from ''A'' to the zero ring. Thus the zero ring is a
terminal object In category theory, a branch of mathematics, an initial object of a category is an object in such that for every object in , there exists precisely one morphism . The dual notion is that of a terminal object (also called terminal element): ...
in the
category of rings In mathematics, the category of rings, denoted by Ring, is the category whose objects are rings (with identity) and whose morphisms are ring homomorphisms (that preserve the identity). Like many categories in mathematics, the category of rings i ...
. * If ''A'' is a nonzero ring, then there is no ring homomorphism from the zero ring to ''A''. In particular, the zero ring is not a
subring In mathematics, a subring of a ring is a subset of that is itself a ring when binary operations of addition and multiplication on ''R'' are restricted to the subset, and that shares the same multiplicative identity as .In general, not all s ...
of any nonzero ring. * The zero ring is the unique ring of characteristic 1. * The only module for the zero ring is the zero module. It is free of rank א for any
cardinal number In mathematics, a cardinal number, or cardinal for short, is what is commonly called the number of elements of a set. In the case of a finite set, its cardinal number, or cardinality is therefore a natural number. For dealing with the cas ...
א. * The zero ring is not a
local ring In mathematics, more specifically in ring theory, local rings are certain rings that are comparatively simple, and serve to describe what is called "local behaviour", in the sense of functions defined on algebraic varieties or manifolds, or of ...
. It is, however, a semilocal ring. * The zero ring is Artinian and (therefore)
Noetherian In mathematics, the adjective Noetherian is used to describe objects that satisfy an ascending or descending chain condition on certain kinds of subobjects, meaning that certain ascending or descending sequences of subobjects must have finite leng ...
. * The
spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...
of the zero ring is the empty scheme. * The
Krull dimension In commutative algebra, the Krull dimension of a commutative ring ''R'', named after Wolfgang Krull, is the supremum of the lengths of all chains of prime ideals. The Krull dimension need not be finite even for a Noetherian ring. More generally ...
of the zero ring is −∞. * The zero ring is semisimple but not
simple Simple or SIMPLE may refer to: *Simplicity, the state or quality of being simple Arts and entertainment * ''Simple'' (album), by Andy Yorke, 2008, and its title track * "Simple" (Florida Georgia Line song), 2018 * "Simple", a song by John ...
. * The zero ring is not a
central simple algebra In ring theory and related areas of mathematics a central simple algebra (CSA) over a field ''K'' is a finite-dimensional associative ''K''-algebra ''A'' that is simple, and for which the center is exactly ''K''. (Note that ''not'' every simple ...
over any field. * The total quotient ring of the zero ring is itself.


Constructions

* For any ring ''A'' and ideal ''I'' of ''A'', the quotient ''A''/''I'' is the zero ring if and only if , i.e. if and only if ''I'' is the unit ideal. * For any commutative ring ''A'' and multiplicative set ''S'' in ''A'', the localization ''S''−1''A'' is the zero ring if and only if ''S'' contains 0. * If ''A'' is any ring, then the ring M0(''A'') of 0 × 0
matrices Matrix (: matrices or matrixes) or MATRIX may refer to: Science and mathematics * Matrix (mathematics), a rectangular array of numbers, symbols or expressions * Matrix (logic), part of a formula in prenex normal form * Matrix (biology), the ...
over ''A'' is the zero ring. * The direct product of an empty collection of rings is the zero ring. * The
endomorphism ring In mathematics, the endomorphisms of an abelian group ''X'' form a ring. This ring is called the endomorphism ring of ''X'', denoted by End(''X''); the set of all homomorphisms of ''X'' into itself. Addition of endomorphisms arises naturally in ...
of the
trivial group In mathematics, a trivial group or zero group is a group that consists of a single element. All such groups are isomorphic, so one often speaks of the trivial group. The single element of the trivial group is the identity element and so it is usu ...
is the zero ring. * The ring of continuous real-valued functions on the empty
topological space In mathematics, a topological space is, roughly speaking, a Geometry, geometrical space in which Closeness (mathematics), closeness is defined but cannot necessarily be measured by a numeric Distance (mathematics), distance. More specifically, a to ...
is the zero ring.


Citations


References

* * * * * * * {{citation , last1=Lang , first1=Serge , author-link1=Serge Lang , year=2002 , title=Algebra , edition=3rd , publisher=Springer Ring theory Finite rings 0 (number)