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An element that is a left or a right zero divisor is simply called a zero divisor. [2] An element a that is both a left and a right zero divisor is called a two-sided zero divisor (the nonzero x such that ax = 0 may be different from the nonzero y such that ya = 0). If the ring is commutative, then the left and right zero divisors are the same.
Two divisors are said to be linearly equivalent if their difference is principal, so the divisor class group is the group of divisors modulo linear equivalence. For a variety X of dimension n over a field, the divisor class group is a Chow group; namely, Cl(X) is the Chow group CH n−1 (X) of (n−1)-dimensional cycles. Let Z be a closed ...
If one interprets the definition of divisor literally, every a is a divisor of 0, since one can take x = 0. Because of this, it is traditional to abuse terminology by making an exception for zero divisors: one calls an element a in a commutative ring a zero divisor if there exists a nonzero x such that ax = 0. [2]
But in the ring Z/6Z, 2 is a zero divisor. This equation has two distinct solutions, x = 1 and x = 4, so the expression is undefined. In field theory, the expression is only shorthand for the formal expression ab −1, where b −1 is the multiplicative inverse of b.
Let R be an effective commutative ring.. There is an algorithm for testing if an element a is a zero divisor: this amounts to solving the linear equation ax = 0.; There is an algorithm for testing if an element a is a unit, and if it is, computing its inverse: this amounts to solving the linear equation ax = 1.
For example, there are six divisors of 4; they are 1, 2, 4, −1, −2, and −4, but only the positive ones (1, 2, and 4) would usually be mentioned. 1 and −1 divide (are divisors of) every integer. Every integer (and its negation) is a divisor of itself. Integers divisible by 2 are called even, and integers not divisible by 2 are called odd.
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[1] [2] Integral domains are generalizations of the ring of integers and provide a natural setting for studying divisibility. In an integral domain, every nonzero element a has the cancellation property, that is, if a ≠ 0, an equality ab = ac implies b = c. "Integral domain" is defined almost universally as above, but there is some variation.