1 Rings and modules

Rings. A ring is a tuple (R, +, ·, 0, 1), where (R, +) is an abelian group, 0 being
its additive identity (called zerp), and (R, ·) is a monoid, 1 being the multiplicative
identity (called unity), such that for any x, y, z ∈ R, (x + y)z = xz + yz, x(y + z) =
xy + xz. The last two identities are called distributivity of + over ·, and that of ·
over +, respectively.

By abuse of notation, (R, +, ·, 0, 1) is just denoted as R.

A ring R is commutative if (R, ·) is.

Domains, Division rings and Fields. A ring R is called a domain if xy = 0

implies x = 0 or y = 0. A domain R is called a division ring if given x ∈ R − {0}
there is x−1 ∈ R such that xx−1 = x−1 x = 1. A division ring R is called a field if
(R, ·) is commutative.
Exercise 1.1. (Wedderburn’s little theorem) A finite domain is a field.

Homomorphism of rings. Let R and S be rings. A homomorphism of rings

φ : R → S is a group homomorphism φ : (R, +) → (S, +), which is also a homo-
morphism of monoids φ : (R, ·) → (S, ·).

An embedding is an injective homomorphism.

A quotient is a surjective homomorphism.

Let R be a ring. An R-algebra is a ring homomorphism φ : R → S. By abuse

of notation, we will say S is an R-algebra. If φ : R → S and ψ : R → T are
to R-algebras, then an R-algebra homomorphism S → T is a ring homomorphism
θ : S → T such that θ ◦ φ = ψ.

Ideals and quotients Let R be a ring. A subgroup I ⊂ (R, +) is called a left

(right) ideal if given x ∈ I, y ∈ R, xy ∈ I (or yx ∈ I, resp.).

For a two sided ideal I, the quotient group R/I admits the structure of a ring in a
natural way and the quotient map R → R/I is a ring homomorphism.

A ring R has a characteristic if {n ∈ N : nx = 0, ∀x ∈ R} is nonempty, and its

minimum element is called the characteristic of R.
Exercise 1.2. In a similar way one can define a ring without unity, just by dropping
the requirement that there is a unity. A ring homomorphism between rings without
unities is is defined similarly as well.

(a) Any ring without unity can be embedded in a ring with unity.

(b) Any ring without unity but having a characteristic can be embedded in a ring

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with unity of the same characteristic.
Example 1.1. (a) Let R be a ring. Then Mn (R) is the R-algebra of n × n-matrices.
(b) The real quaternions. Let A = M2 (C). The subset of elements of the form
!
z w
−w z

forms a subring H. An R-basis of H is given by 1, i, j, k, where 1 stands for the

identity matrix, and the other elements are defined in such a way that a+bi+cj +dk
corresponds to the matrix
√ √ !
a+b √ −1 c + d √−1
−c + d −1 a − b −1

Verify that i2 = j 2 = k 2 = −1, ij = −ji = k, jk = −kj = i, ki = −ik = j. The

ring H is a division algebra, and is non-commutative.

(c) The group ring. Let R be a ring and G a finite group. Let R[G] be the set of
maps a : G → R. Note that these maps correspond to formal sums of the form
X
a(g)g, ag ∈ R.
g∈G

We define addition and multiplication as follows. If a, b ∈ R[G] then

(a + b)(g) = a(g) + b(g),

a(z)b(z −1 g).
X X
(ab)(g) = a(x)b(y) =
xy=g z∈G

The zero is given by 0(g) ≡ 0, the unity is given by 1(eG ) = 1 and 1(g) = 0 for
g , eG . Note that R[G] is naturally an R-algebra.
Exercise 1.3. ∗(a) Is there any finite group G such that H is isomorphic as an
R-algebra to R[G]?

(b) Let R be a ring. Then there is a canonical isomorphism of R-algebras

R[x]/(xn − 1) → R[Z/nZ].

(c) The real quaternions H and M2 (R) both are R-algebras and have the same
underlying real vector spaces. But they are not isomorphic as R-algebras.

The opposite ring Let R be a ring. The opposite ring Rop has the same additive
group as R, but a different multiplication , defined by a b = ba.

Note that if R is a commutative ring, then R = Rop in the sense that the multipli-
cations are same.

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Exercise 1.4. (a) Let k be a commutative ring and R = Mn (k). Then R → Rop :
A 7→ t A is an isomorphism of rings.

(b) Let k be a commutative ring, G a finite group, and R = k[G]. Then g 7→ g −1

∼ Rop .
induces an isomorphism of rings R →

(c) Let H be the quaternion ring over R. The quaternionic conjugation a + bi +

∼ Hop .
cj + dk 7→ a − bi − cj − dk induces an isomorphism of rings H →

However, there are rings which are not isomorphic to their opposites.

Modules Let R be a ring. A left R-module is an abelian group M together with a

homomorphism of rings φ : R → EndZ (M ). A right R-module is an abelian group
V together with a homomorphism of rings ρ : Rop → EndZ (V ).

Let M be a left module, and set for a ∈ R, m ∈ M , am := φ(a)m. Then the

condition that φ is a ring homomorphism is equivalent to the following: ∀a, b ∈ R,
∀m, m0 ∈ M , 0R m = 0M , 1R m = m, (a + b)m = ab + bm, (ab)m = a · bm,
a(m + m0 ) = am + am0 .

Similarly if V is a right module, set for a ∈ R, v ∈ V , va := ρ(a)v. Then the

condition that ρ is a ring homomorphism is equivalent to the following:

∀a, b ∈ R, ∀v, v 0 ∈ V , v0R = 0V , v1R = v, v(a + b) = va + vb, v(ab) = (va)b,

(v + v 0 )a = va + va0 .

Homomorphism of modules Let R be a ring and M, M 0 two left R-modules.

A group homomorphism f : M → M 0 is called an R-module homomorphism (also
called R-linear) if for each r ∈ R, m ∈ M , f (rm) = rf (m). Similarly for a homo-
morphism between two right R-modules.

An R-module isomorphism is an R-linear map which is a bijection. Two R-modules

are isomorphic as R-modules if there is an R-module isomorphism between them.

Submodules Let M be an R-module and let M 0 ⊂ M be a subgroup. Then M 0 is

called an R-submodule if for r ∈ R, m ∈ M 0 , we have rm ∈ M 0 . Note that in this
case, M 0 becomes an R-module in a natural way and the inclusion M 0 ,→ M is an
injective R-module homomorphism.
Exercise 1.5. (a) If R is a commutative ring, then a left R-module is automati-
cally a right R-module.
∼ R. If M
(b) Let R be a ring such that there is an isomorphism of rings α : Rop →
α φ
is a left R-module, then the composite Rop → R → EndZ (M ) gives rise to a
right module structure on M . Similarly, a right R-module structure ρ on V
gives rise to a left module structure by composing ρ with α−1 .

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 (c) Given an R-module homomorphism f : E → M , the image f (E) is a submod-
ule of M .
Example 1.2. (a) Let R be a ring. Then R is automatically a left as well as a
right module under R. The left (right) R-submodules of R are precisely the
left (right) ideals in R.

(b) Let k be a field and V a vector space over k. Then V is a k-module.

(c) Any abelian group is a Z-module.

(d) The free module. Let R be a ring, and consider for any n > 0, the direct
sum M = R⊕n . Then R acts on M on the left naturally as a(a1 , . . . , an ) =
(aa1 , . . . , aan ). Similarly on the right. Any left (right) R-module which is
isomorphic to R⊕n for some n > 0 is called free of rank = n.

(e) Let f : R → S be a ring homomorphism. Then S is a left module under R

in the following way. Let r ∈ R, s ∈ S. Then rs := f (r)s. Also, S is a right
module under R by sr := sf (r). Therefore every algebra is automatically a
(both left and right) module.

(f) If I is a two ideal in a ring R, then the ring R/I is automatically a (both left
and right) module under R.

(g) Let L/k be a Galois extension of fields with G = Gal(L/k). Then L is naturally
P P
a left k[G] module by ( g∈G ag g)x = g∈G ag gx.
Exercise 1.6. (a) If k is a field, then every k-module is free.

(b) If Mi is an R-module for i ∈ I, I being a set, then the abelian groups ⊕i∈I Mi
Q
and i∈I Mi are both R-modules in a natural way.
i p
(c) Let 0 → M 0 → M → M 00 → 0 be a short exact sequence of R-modules (i.e.
it is a short exact sequence of abelian groups and all maps are R-linear). If
M → M 00 has an R-linear section s, then M 0 ⊕ M 00 → M : (x, y) 7→ x + s(y)
is an R-module isomorphism with an inverse given by M → M 0 ⊕ M 00 : z 7→
(z − sp(z), p(z)).

(d) Let L/k be a Galois extension of fields with G = Gal(L/k). Then L is actually
a free k[G]-module of rank 1. (Hint: Normal basis theorem)

∗(e) If G is a finite group whose order is invertible in a field k, then k[G] is semisim-
ple in the following sense. Let M 0 ⊂ M be a submodule. Then there is another
submodule M 00 ⊂ M such that M = M 0 ⊕ M 00 .

∗(f) Give an example to show the following. Suppose M 0 and M 00 are two R-
modules such that M 0 ⊕ M 00 is free. It does not necessarily imply that M 0 and
M 00 are both free.

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Finitely generated modules. Let R be a ring and M a left R-module. M is
called a finite R-module or a finitely generated R-module, if there is a surjective
homomorphism R⊕n → M of R-modules. Equivalently, M is finitely generated if
there are finitely many elements m1 , . . . , mn such that given any element m ∈ M
there are elements r1 , . . . , rn ∈ R such that m = ni=1 ri mi .
P