A STUDY ON DERIVATIONS IN

CERTAIN RINGS
A THESIS
Submitted to
Dr. B.R. AMBEDKAR UNIVERSITY
AGRA
For The Degree Of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN
MATHEMATICS
Faculty Of Science
Submitted By
SHIVANI PARASHAR
Under The Supervision Of
Prof. REKHA RANI
S.V. COLLEGE ALIGARH
2025

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 Chapter 2. Review Of Litreacture

1937–N. Jacobson Jacobson (1937) explored the concept

of abstract derivations in the context of Lie algebras. His work
laid the foundation for understanding how derivations help
describe the structure of rings and algebras. He examined
how derivations relate to Lie brackets and showed that such
mappings preserve important algebraic properties. This
classical study is considered a starting point for many later de-
velopments in the theory of derivations and their
generalizations.

1957 - Posner, E. C. In a seminal contribution to ring

theory, Posner (1957) examined derivations in prime rings, in-
troducing foundational results that have influenced decades of
mathematical research. His work laid the groundwork by prov-
ing that if a derivation of a prime ring satisfies a certain identity,
the ring must exhibit a high degree of commutativity. This piv-
otal result, known as Posner’s theorem, formalized the interplay
between derivational behavior and ring structure, highlighting
how algebraic constraints on derivations enforce strong struc-
tural implications on rings. This insight has since become a
cornerstone for investigations into both associative and non-
associative algebraic systems.

1969 - Herstein, I. N. Herstein (1969) explored various

aspects of ring theory in his book Topics in Ring Theory, offer-

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ing a thorough introduction to derivations, Lie structures, and
their consequences in prime and semiprime rings. While not
solely focused on derivations, the book contextualized their role
within broader algebraic frameworks, making it an invaluable
resource for future researchers. By investigating identities in-
volving derivations and central elements, Herstein’s discussions
helped form the theoretical underpinning for later studies on
homoderivations and generalized mappings.

1981 - Bergen, Herstein, and Kerr Building on earlier

developments, Bergen, Herstein, and Kerr (1981) examined the
behavior of Lie ideals under derivations in prime rings. Their
research expanded the understanding of how derivations act
on special substructures like Lie ideals, establishing conditions
under which these derivations preserve or influence commuta-
tivity. This investigation reinforced the notion that derivations
are not mere additive maps, but carry intrinsic structural influ-
ence, particularly in rings with Lie-related properties.

1983 - Pilz, G. Pilz’s second edition of Near-Rings (1983)

is a comprehensive monograph that broadened the scope of ring
theory by focusing on near-rings, which relax associativity and
distributivity conditions. While not devoted solely to deriva-
tions, the text framed a landscape where non-associative struc-
tures like near-rings could be studied analogously to rings. This
allowed researchers to apply ring-theoretic techniques, such as
those involving derivations, to near-rings and their ideals, set-

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ting the stage for the rich developments that followed in near-
ring theory.

1983 – Bergen, J. Bergen (1983) focused on derivations in

prime rings and further investigated their effect on the commu-
tativity of the ring. He explored how the presence of non-zero
derivations interacts with the ring’s ideals and proved results
that show how derivations can force central or commutative be-
havior. His work provided deeper insight into the mechanisms
by which derivations regulate the internal behavior of prime
rings.

1984 – Chang, J. C. Chang (1984) studied semi-derivations

in prime rings, which are a generalization of standard deriva-
tions. Semi-derivations do not follow the usual Leibniz rule
exactly but satisfy a weaker condition. Chang analyzed how
these mappings behave on certain subsets of the ring and under
what situations they still preserve essential algebraic structures.
His findings helped to broaden the scope of derivation-related
research beyond strict definitions.

1984 - Awtar, R. Awtar’s two 1984 papers addressed

Lie structures in prime rings with derivations. He provided a
deeper look into how derivations interact with the Lie properties
of rings, particularly focusing on structural implications when
derivations preserve or annihilate commutators. His findings
contributed to the early body of literature emphasizing the role

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of derivations in enforcing or reflecting the internal symmetry of
algebraic structures. This focus on Lie ideals provided further
groundwork for later investigations into Jordan and Lie deriva-
tions in noncommutative rings.

1985 – Leroy, A. Leroy (1985) investigated logarithmic

derivations in the context of algebraic structures. His research
looked into special types of derivations called ”S-derivations”
and how they apply to logarithmic functions within ring the-
ory. He introduced the idea of using these derivations to study
functional identities and algebraic properties in a more general
setting, which has inspired further developments in the field.

1989 - Bell, H. and Kappe, L. In 1989, Bell and

Kappe explored derivations satisfying specific algebraic identi-
ties within rings. Their work highlighted the nuanced behavior
of derivations when constrained by identities such as Lie and
Jordan-type conditions. They demonstrated that these alge-
braic constraints significantly affect the overall ring structure,
especially in terms of centrality and commutativity. This study
contributed to the evolving discourse on how the behavior of
derivations could effectively characterize and classify various
ring types.

1990 – Brešar, M. Brešar (1990) introduced the concept

of semiderivations in prime rings. Unlike classical derivations,
semiderivations satisfy only one-sided Leibniz-type identities.

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He explored how these functions affect the ring structure and
showed that even such weakened derivations can lead to strong
algebraic consequences, such as centralizing tendencies and con-
straints on commutators. His results contributed significantly
to the general theory of functional mappings in rings.

1992 – Kharchenko, V. K., and Popov, A. Z.

Kharchenko and Popov (1992) studied skew derivations in prime
rings, a more general concept where the derivation is twisted
by an automorphism. Their work focused on understanding
how such skew mappings interact with ring elements and ide-
als. They proved that under certain conditions, skew deriva-
tions could still maintain control over the structure of a prime
ring. This expanded the understanding of how automorphisms
and derivations can work together to influence ring behavior.

1992 - Daif, M. N. and Bell, H. E. This paper of-

fered insightful remarks on derivations in semiprime rings, par-
ticularly examining cases where derivations obey specific alge-
braic properties or vanish on certain ideals. Their contributions
clarified the structural behavior of semiprime rings under the
action of derivations, particularly in relation to Lie-type iden-
tities. These insights have been instrumental in shaping the
understanding of noncommutative ring theory and have influ-
enced further inquiries into generalized derivations.

1995 - Beidar, Martindale, and Mikhalev The 1995

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monograph by Beidar, Martindale, and Mikhalev on Rings with
Generalized Identities provided a powerful theoretical frame-
work for studying rings through the lens of identities satisfied
by derivations and other mappings. This work unified multiple
strands of algebraic theory, especially focusing on derivations,
their generalizations, and their impact on ring structure. It laid
an important theoretical foundation for modern studies on ho-
moderivations and their extensions in near-rings.

1995 – Beidar, K. I., Martindale, W. S., and Mikhalev,

A. V. In their 1995 book, Beidar and co-authors discussed
rings with generalized identities, which include derivations as
a central theme. They provided a broad framework for study-
ing how different identities involving derivations can classify or
characterize rings. This work has been a valuable reference for
researchers exploring complex structures in ring theory, espe-
cially in identifying properties preserved by generalized deriva-
tions.

1996 – Vukman, J. Vukman (1996) worked on deriva-

tions in semiprime rings. He analyzed when derivations force
the ring to become commutative and gave new conditions under
which the derivation maps elements to the center. This work
was important for extending earlier ideas from prime rings to
the more general class of semiprime rings, which are common
in many algebraic contexts.

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 1997 - Bell, H. E. In the second part of his investigation
into derivations in near-rings, Bell (1997) delved deeper into
how derivations function in non-associative environments. His
findings underscored the complexity of extending ring-theoretic
properties to near-rings and highlighted the subtle distinctions
that arise when generalizing derivational behavior in these more
flexible structures. This work provided essential tools for exam-
ining derivations and their impact on ideal-related behavior in
near-rings.

1998 - Daif, M. N. Daif (1998) contributed further to

the field by exploring commutativity results for semiprime rings
with derivations. His research focused on identifying conditions
under which the existence of derivations enforces commutativ-
ity or centrality within the ring. This work not only extended
prior results but also introduced new techniques for analyzing
how derivational mappings impose algebraic rigidity in other-
wise noncommutative settings.

2000 – Chuang, C. L. Chuang (2000) explored skew

derivations and their related identities. He developed results
on how these derivations, which involve a twisting automor-
phism, can generate functional identities in rings. His work
provided tools to better understand how such mappings can
either preserve or distort algebraic relations, contributing to
a deeper comprehension of ring structures with non-standard
derivational behavior.

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 2000 - El-Soufi, M. M. In his MSc thesis, El-Soufi (2000)
studied rings admitting specific types of mappings, including
derivations. Although less widely circulated, the thesis added a
fresh perspective by considering how novel mapping behaviors
influence the structural dynamics of rings. His work encour-
aged further exploration into customized forms of derivations
and helped spotlight the broader applicability of derivational
concepts in ring analysis.

2001 - Ashraf, M. Ashraf’s 2001 paper marked a signif-

icant point in derivational research by closely examining the
relationship between derivations and commutativity in prime
rings. He developed conditions under which the presence of a
derivation implies a ring’s commutative nature. This study was
pivotal for its clear articulation of derivational constraints and
their algebraic consequences, reinforcing derivations as diagnos-
tic tools for ring structure.

2004 – Rehman, N. Ú. In 2004, Rehman focused on

generalized derivations that behave as homomorphisms and an-
tihomomorphisms. His study offered a broader perspective on
the role of generalized derivations by analyzing how their dual
functional nature—acting both like homomorphisms and anti-
homomorphisms—can influence the Lie ideals in rings. This
dual behavior introduced nuanced structural constraints, help-
ing to link the behavior of mappings with intrinsic ring proper-

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ties like commutativity and associativity. Rehman’s contribu-
tion provided significant insights into the flexibility of deriva-
tional behavior in prime and semiprime contexts.

2006 – Argac, N. Argac’s 2006 work expanded the scope

of derivational studies by examining prime and semiprime rings
through the lens of derivations. The paper systematically inves-
tigated the conditions under which derivations preserve certain
structural properties and derived commutativity results under
specific derivational actions. His results were instrumental in
refining the bridge between derivation theory and the algebraic
integrity of prime rings, further validating the principle that
derivations are reflective of deeper algebraic structures.

2007 – Ashraf, M., Ali, A., and Ali, S. In their 2007

study, Ashraf and collaborators extended the notion of classi-
cal derivations to generalized derivations, examining how these
mappings affect the commutativity of rings. Their focus was on
prime rings that admit generalized derivations acting under spe-
cific algebraic constraints. They proved several commutativity
theorems based on the behavior of these mappings, offering a
general framework that encompassed both derivations and their
broader generalizations. Their results showed how slight alter-
ations in mapping behavior can significantly impact the ring’s
structural properties.

2011 – Hongan, Rehman, and Al-Omary This 2011

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paper explored Lie ideals and Jordan triple derivations in rings,
aiming to understand how such derivations influence structural
integrity, especially commutativity and centralization. The au-
thors considered rings where derivations act on Lie ideals in
triple fashion, a generalization from simple derivational behav-
ior. The study provided essential criteria under which such
triple derivations enforce constraints on the ring’s structure.
This work helped bridge Lie-theoretic structures and deriva-
tional studies, enriching both areas.

2012 – Atteya, M. J. Atteya (2012) concentrated on

semicentralizing derivations in semiprime near-rings, a topic
that had seen relatively less attention until then. His research
aimed to establish when derivations centralize certain elements
or subsets within the ring, thereby drawing a connection be-
tween local derivational behavior and global structural implica-
tions. The results yielded new perspectives on how derivations
could reflect or enforce near-ring centrality, deepening the the-
oretical understanding of non-associative ring-like structures.

2014 – Boua, A., Oukhtite, L., and Raji, A. This

collaborative study dealt with Jordan ideals and derivations in
prime near-rings, specifically targeting the role of derivations
in influencing Jordan-type identities. By focusing on 3-prime
near-rings—a generalization that provides a middle ground be-
tween ring and near-ring theory—the authors were able to es-
tablish significant results showing how derivations can dictate

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ideal behavior. Their contribution lies in enhancing the alge-
braic understanding of near-rings by demonstrating the central-
ity of derivations even in relaxed structures.

2014 – Ur Rehman, N., and Ansari, A. Z. This work

examined generalized left derivations that act either as homo-
morphisms or antihomomorphisms on Lie ideals. The authors
contributed a detailed analysis of how these generalized map-
pings affect the algebraic balance of ring structures, particularly
in the presence of Lie ideals. Their findings provided criteria
under which derivational behavior leads to commutativity or
other structural properties, enhancing the toolbox available for
analyzing noncommutative rings.

2015 – Al-Kenani, Melaibari, and Muthana Focus-

ing on *-prime rings, this 2015 study analyzed the relationship
between homoderivations and commutativity. The authors in-
troduced conditions under which the existence of a homoderiva-
tion leads to commutative outcomes in *-prime rings, a class of
rings equipped with an involution. Their results illuminated
how the interplay between homoderivations and involutory op-
erations can enforce symmetry and centrality, contributing to
the broader discourse on functional mappings in ring structures.

2015 – Boua, A. and Kamal, A. A. This paper revis-

ited the concept of Lie and Jordan ideals in 3-prime near-rings,
particularly under the influence of derivations. Their goal was

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to characterize how derivations acting on these specific types of
ideals affect overall ring behavior. Through a combination of
algebraic identities and structural theorems, they demonstrated
how derivations could be used as a diagnostic tool to identify
properties such as commutativity, centrality, and even ring reg-
ularity.

2015 – Bell, H. E., Boua, A., and Oukhtite, L.

In this study, the authors examined the effect of derivations on
semigroup ideals in 3-prime near-rings and how this influences
the commutative nature of these algebraic structures. By ex-
tending derivational results to semigroup contexts within near-
rings, they revealed how ideals influenced by derivations often
force the ring toward commutativity. This blending of deriva-
tional behavior with ideal theory contributed to the nuanced
study of 3-prime near-rings and their ideal systems.

2016 – Melaibari, Muthana, and Al-Kenani The

authors introduced and analyzed homoderivations on rings, pro-
viding a comprehensive look at this relatively new class of func-
tional mappings. Homoderivations were presented as general-
izations of classical derivations, but with altered linear prop-
erties and interaction rules. Their study identified structural
conditions under which homoderivations preserve or promote
commutativity, and how they interact with ideals in a ring.
This marked an important expansion of derivation theory into
new functional forms.

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 2018 – Boua, A., and Kamal, A. A. In this contin-
uation of their earlier work, Boua and Kamal revisited Jordan
and Lie ideals in 3-prime near-rings, now focusing on algebraic
identities satisfied by derivations. They sought to characterize
how these identities constrain the structural behavior of near-
rings, particularly regarding central elements and commuting
substructures. Their findings reinforced the power of deriva-
tions to shape and reveal fundamental properties of near-ring
environments.

2018 – Boua, A., Ali, A., and Huque, I. This study

dealt with algebraic identities in 3-prime near-rings, particularly
those impacted by derivational behavior. The authors explored
how multiple identities interact when derivations are applied
to various substructures, including ideals and Jordan systems.
Their goal was to establish generalizations that could be ap-
plied across broader classes of near-rings. The results showed
that the structure of near-rings could often be fully described
by derivational behavior alone.

2018 – Sogutcu and Golbasi Sogutcu and Golbasi fo-

cused on Lie ideals in semiprime rings under the influence of
generalized derivations. Their paper sought to connect general-
ized derivational structures with Lie theoretic properties, iden-
tifying when such derivations force or reflect structural sym-
metries. The key contribution was a characterization of the

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behavior of derivations acting on non-associative substructures,
providing another example of how derivations serve as a litmus
test for ring integrity.

2019 – Alharfie and Muthana In this contribution, the

authors extended their work on homoderivations by analyzing
their role in promoting commutativity in rings. This study for-
malized criteria under which homoderivations enforce structural
regularity and linked these mappings with various classes of ide-
als. Their insights reinforced the idea that even non-classical
mappings like homoderivations can exert considerable influence
on ring architecture.

2019 – Ur Rehman, Mozumder, and Abbasi The

authors explored homoderivations on ideals of prime and semiprime
rings, aiming to understand how such mappings affect inter-
nal structure. They identified specific conditions under which
these derivations lead to centralization or commutativity, pro-
viding novel theoretical insights that extended beyond previ-
ous research on standard derivations. This work also empha-
sized how homoderivations interact differently depending on the
ring’s ideal structure.

2021 – Muthana, A. S., and Alharfie, A. H. This

study revisited the concept of homoderivations, particularly fo-
cusing on their influence in enforcing commutativity in prime
and semiprime rings. The authors extended existing results by

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exploring how the behavior of homoderivations, when restricted
to certain types of ideals (e.g., Lie or Jordan), can constrain the
structure of the entire ring. They provided sufficient conditions
under which homoderivations not only preserve the ring’s ad-
ditive structure but also induce central behavior, pushing rings
toward commutativity.

2021 – Boua, A., and Farhan, E. Boua and Farhan

(2021) studied *generalized homoderivations* in *near-rings*,
a generalization of rings where multiplication is not necessarily
distributive. They explored how these mappings behave under
different algebraic conditions and what impact they have on
the structure of near-rings. Their results showed that even in
such generalized settings, homoderivations can enforce a strong
degree of control over algebraic behavior, revealing their wide
applicability.

2023 – Hafsat, M., Funmilola, B., and Tasiu, A.

This recent work by Hafsat and co-authors (2023) explored
*skew* and *generalized reverse derivations* in both *prime*
and *semiprime rings*. They investigated how these more com-
plex types of derivations affect the structure of the ring, partic-
ularly in terms of centrality and commutativity. Their results
provided new examples and sufficient conditions under which
these derivations lead to regular behavior in rings, thus extend-
ing classical theories to broader classes of mappings.

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 2023 – En-guady, A., Mouhssine, S., and Boua, A.
In their study on *3-prime near-rings*, En-guady, Mouhssine,
and Boua (2023) introduced a new concept: *zero-power val-
ued homoderivations*. They focused on cases where the image
of the derivation becomes zero when raised to a certain power.
Their work gave new insight into the constraints such mappings
impose on the algebraic structure, especially in near-ring con-
texts where classical results often do not apply directly.

2023-Boua and Sögütcü investigated semiprime rings

with generalized homoderivations. They introduced new gener-
alizations of derivations and showed how these impact the ring
structure. Their findings are among the most recent and con-
tinue the long tradition of using derivations to explore, control,
and predict the behavior of rings and near-rings.

2024 – Aziz, S., Ghosh, A., and Prakash, O. Aziz

and colleagues (2024) studied *multiplicative generalized skew
semi-derivations* in rings. They focused on the *additivity* of
these mappings—whether the sum of images equals the image of
sums. Their findings clarified how such derivations behave and
under what circumstances they act similarly to regular deriva-
tions. This study added new understanding to how different
types of derivations can be compared and categorized based on
their behavior.

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 This chapter includes some basic definitions, fundamental no-
tions and important terminology and well- known results which
we shall need for the development of the subject matter of the
present dissertation. The knowledge of the elementary algebaric
systems as those of groups, rings and homomorphism etc has
been preassumed.

The main concepts in this chapter include derivations, gener-

alized derivations, homomorphisms, anti-homomorphisms, skew-
derivations, and semiderivations. These ideas are important in
algebra and have been studied for many years.

The idea of a derivation comes from calculus, where it is used

to describe how things change (like taking a derivative). Later,
mathematicians used this idea in algebra to study how elements
in a ring or algebra behave when we apply certain operations.

Generalized derivations were introduced to make the con-

cept of derivation more flexible. These allow us to study more
types of operations in algebra. Later, other types like skew-
derivations and semi-derivations were created to handle special
cases, especially in non-commutative rings (where order mat-
ters in multiplication).

The study of derivations in algebra began in 1937, when Ja-

cobson proved important results related to derivations in al-
gebras. This became a foundational part of ring theory and

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opened the way for further research in this area.

Later, in 1983, the concept of semi-derivation was introduced

as a generalization of the classical derivation, allowing more flex-
ibility in how algebraic elements interact.

In 1985, LeRoy introduced the idea of skew derivation, which

became useful for studying non-commutative rings, where the
order of multiplication matters.

More recently, in 2023, Aziz and Ghosh introduced the con-

cept of skew-semi derivation. They used this idea to study the
additivity of multiplicative maps, which added a new layer to
the theory of derivations.

In the present work, we have extended the research done by

Funmilola and Hafsat on skew-semi derivations. Our study goes
further by exploring generalized skew-semi derivations, provid-
ing a broader and deeper understanding of how these mappings
behave in ring structures.

This timeline—from Jacobson to Aziz and Ghosh—shows

how the concept of derivation has evolved and expanded, and
how our research contributes to this ongoing development.

The idea of homoderivation was first introduced and ex-

plained by El-Sofy. He laid the foundation for this concept,

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which extends the classical idea of derivations in ring theory.

After that, in 2023, Boua carried out research on semiprime

rings using generalized homoderivations. In his study, he fo-
cused on how generalized homoderivations behave with ideals
in semiprime rings. His work was an important step in devel-
oping the theory further.

In the present research, we have extended Boua’s work. While

Boua studied generalized homoderivations with ideals, we have
focused on Lie ideals in semiprime rings. This adds a new direc-
tion to the existing results and builds upon the earlier studies
of both El-Sofy and Boua.

This shows the historical development of the concept—from

El-Sofy’s original explanation, to Boua’s application to ideals,
and now to our extension involving Lie ideals in semiprime rings.

Homomorphisms are functions that connect two algebraic

structures in a way that keeps their operations (like addition
or multiplication) the same. This idea became important in the
1800s when group theory and ring theory were being developed.
Anti-homomorphisms are similar, but they reverse the order of
multiplication.

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