Let $f:R\to R’$ be a ring homomorphism. Let $I’$ be an ideal of $R’$ and let $I=f^{-1}(I)$ be the preimage of $I$ by $f$. Prove that $I$ is an ideal of the ring $R$.
Let $R$ be a ring with $1$ and let $M$ be a left $R$-module.
Let $S$ be a subset of $M$. The annihilator of $S$ in $R$ is the subset of the ring $R$ defined to be
\[\Ann_R(S)=\{ r\in R\mid rx=0 \text{ for all } x\in S\}.\]
(If $rx=0, r\in R, x\in S$, then we say $r$ annihilates $x$.)
Suppose that $N$ is a submodule of $M$. Then prove that the annihilator
\[\Ann_R(N)=\{ r\in R\mid rn=0 \text{ for all } n\in N\}\]
of $M$ in $R$ is a $2$-sided ideal of $R$.
Let $R$ be a commutative ring with $1$ and let $G$ be a finite group with identity element $e$. Let $RG$ be the group ring. Then the map $\epsilon: RG \to R$ defined by
\[\epsilon(\sum_{i=1}^na_i g_i)=\sum_{i=1}^na_i,\]
where $a_i\in R$ and $G=\{g_i\}_{i=1}^n$, is a ring homomorphism, called the augmentation map and the kernel of $\epsilon$ is called the augmentation ideal.
(a) Prove that the augmentation ideal in the group ring $RG$ is generated by $\{g-e \mid g\in G\}$.
(b) Prove that if $G=\langle g\rangle$ is a finite cyclic group generated by $g$, then the augmentation ideal is generated by $g-e$.
Let $R$ be a commutative ring with unity. A proper ideal $I$ of $R$ is called primary if whenever $ab \in I$ for $a, b\in R$, then either $a\in I$ or $b^n\in I$ for some positive integer $n$.
(a) Prove that a prime ideal $P$ of $R$ is primary.
(b) If $P$ is a prime ideal and $a^n\in P$ for some $a\in R$ and a positive integer $n$, then show that $a\in P$.
(c) If $P$ is a prime ideal, prove that $\sqrt{P}=P$.
(d) If $Q$ is a primary ideal, prove that the radical ideal $\sqrt{Q}$ is a prime ideal.
Consider the ring
\[\Z[\sqrt{10}]=\{a+b\sqrt{10} \mid a, b \in \Z\}\]
and its ideal
\[P=(2, \sqrt{10})=\{a+b\sqrt{10} \mid a, b \in \Z, 2|a\}.\]
Show that $p$ is a prime ideal of the ring $\Z[\sqrt{10}]$.
Let $R$ be a commutative ring. Suppose that $P$ is a prime ideal of $R$ containing no nonzero zero divisor. Then show that the ring $R$ is an integral domain.
Let $R$ be a commutative ring. Let $S$ be a subset of $R$ and let $I$ be an ideal of $I$.
We define the subset
\[(I:S):=\{ a \in R \mid aS\subset I\}.\]
Prove that $(I:S)$ is an ideal of $R$. This ideal is called the ideal quotient, or colon ideal.
Let $R$ be a commutative ring with $1$. Prove that the principal ideal $(x)$ generated by the element $x$ in the polynomial ring $R[x]$ is a prime ideal if and only if $R$ is an integral domain.
Prove also that the ideal $(x)$ is a maximal ideal if and only if $R$ is a field.