Idempotent (ring Theory)
In ring theory, a branch of abstract algebra, an idempotent element or simply idempotent of a ring is an element ''a'' such that . That is, the element is idempotent under the ring's multiplication. Inductively then, one can also conclude that for any positive integer ''n''. For example, an idempotent element of a matrix ring is precisely an idempotent matrix. For general rings, elements idempotent under multiplication are involved in decompositions of modules, and connected to homological properties of the ring. In Boolean algebra, the main objects of study are rings in which all elements are idempotent under both addition and multiplication. Examples Quotients of Z One may consider the ring of integers modulo ''n'' where ''n'' is squarefree. By the Chinese remainder theorem, this ring factors into the product of rings of integers modulo ''p'' where ''p'' is prime. Now each of these factors is a field, so it is clear that the factors' only idempotents will be 0 a ...
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Ring Theory
In algebra, ring theory is the study of rings—algebraic structures in which addition and multiplication are defined and have similar properties to those operations defined for the integers. Ring theory studies the structure of rings, their representations, or, in different language, modules, special classes of rings (group rings, division rings, universal enveloping algebras), as well as an array of properties that proved to be of interest both within the theory itself and for its applications, such as homological properties and polynomial identities. Commutative rings are much better understood than noncommutative ones. Algebraic geometry and algebraic number theory, which provide many natural examples of commutative rings, have driven much of the developm