LECTURE 24(MTL501)

DATE: 30/10/2024

Definition. An integral domain R is called a principal ideal domain (in short

PID) if every ideal in R is a principal ideal.

Examples.
• The ring Z is a PID as every ideal in Z is of the form nZ where n ∈ Z.
• All fields are principal ideal domains. Let F be a field. Then every non-
zero element of F is a unit. So F has only trivial ideals which are principal
ideals (0) and F = (1).

We know that in an integral domain with unity, every prime is irreducible,

but the converse is not true. But in PID with unity the converse holds true.

Theorem. Let R be a PID with unity and p ∈ R be a non-zero non-unit. Then p is

irreducible if and only if p is prime.

Proof. We have already seen that in every integral domain with unity every prime
is irreducible, so therefore in a PID with unity it holds true.
Now let us assume that p ∈ R is irreducible. We show that p is prime. Let
p | ab. Therefore,
ab = pc for some c ∈ R.
Let I := (a) + (p) ⊆ R. Since R is a PID, there exists d ∈ R such that I = (d).
Therefore p ∈ (d) and so p = dr for some r ∈ R. Since p is irreducible, we get
either d or r is a unit.
If d is a unit then I = R and so (a) + (p) = R. We know R has unity, thus there
exist r1 , r2 ∈ R so that 1 = r1 a + r2 p. So,
b = r1 (ab) + (r2 b)p
= p(r1 c) + (r2 b)p, as ab = pc
= p(r1 c + r2 b).
Note that (r1 c + r2 b) ∈ R, therefore p | b.
If r is a unit then, pr−1 = d. This implies that d ∈ (p) ⊆ I. Therefore,
I = (d) ⊆ (p) ⊆ I.
Hence we get, I = (p). Therefore a ∈ (p), and hence p | a. 

1
 2
√
Corollary. The integral domain Z[ι 5] is not a PID as we have seen that 3 is
irreducible but not prime there.
√
Remark. Subring of a PID need not be a PID. For example, Z[ι 5] is a subring of
√ √ √
Q(ι 5). Here Z[ι 5] is not a PID but Q(ι 5) is PID.
Theorem. Let R be a PID with unity and a ∈ R. The following are equivalent:
(1) The element a is irreducible.
(2) The ideal (a) is a non-zero maximal ideal.
(3) The ideal (a) is a non-zero prime ideal.
(4) The element a is prime.
Proof.
1) ⇒ 2) First we assume that a is irreducible. We want to show that the ideal (a) is
a non-zero maximal ideal. Since a 6= 0, we have (a) 6= 0. As R has unity and
a is a non-unit, (a) ( R. Let J be an ideal of R such that (a) ( J ⊆ R. Since
R is a PID, we can find b ∈ R such that J = (b). Now (a) ( (b) implies that
a ∈ (b) and therefore a = bc where c ∈ R. Also b ∈/ (a). Since a is irreducible
either b or c is a unit. Now c can not be unit as if c is a unit then b = c−1 a
and so b ∈ (a). But according to our assumption b ∈ / (a) Hence b has to be
a unit and therefore J = R.
2) ⇒ 3) Since R is a PID with unity, it is a non-zero commutative ring with unity.
We have already seen that in a non-zero commutative ring with unity, ev-
ery maximal ideal is a prime ideal. Therefore as (a) is a non-zero maximal
ideal, it is also a non-zero prime ideal.
3) ⇒ 4) We have seen that in a commutative ring with unity a principal ideal (a) is
a non-zero prime ideal if and only if a is a prime element. So therefore (a)
is a non-zero prime ideal implies that the element a is a prime.
4) ⇒ 1) We know in an integral domain with unity every prime element is irre-
ducible. So a is prime in R implies that a is an irreducible element.

Theorem. Let R be a PID with unity and a, b ∈ R \ {0}. Then gcd(a, b) exists and if
d = gcd(a, b) then there exist x, y ∈ R such that d = ax + by.
Proof. Let I := (a) + (b). Since R is a PID, there exists an element d ∈ R such that
I = (d). We show that d is the gcd of a and b up to associates. Note that, a, b ∈ (d).
This proves that d | a and d | b. Let c ∈ R be such that c | a and c | b. Therefore
(a) ⊆ (c) and (b) ⊆ (c). Hence,
(d) = (a) + (b) ⊆ (c).
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So d ∈ (c) and hence c | d. This proves that d = gcd(a, b). This completes the proof
that gcd(a, b) exists in R. Also note that (d) = (a) + (b) implies that d ∈ (a) + (b),
and hence we can find x, y ∈ R such that d = ax + by. 

Theorem. Let R be a PID with unity and a, b ∈ R \ {0}. Then lcm(a, b) exists.

Proof. In this case let I := (a) ∩ (b). Since R is a PID, there exists an element l ∈ R
such that I = (l). We show that l is the lcm of a and b up to associates. Note
that, l ∈ (a) ∩ (b) and thus a | l and b | l. Let m ∈ R be such that a | m and b | m.
Therefore (m) ⊆ (a) and (m) ⊆ (b). Hence,

(m) ⊆ (a) ∩ (b) = (l).

So m ∈ (l) and hence l | m. This proves that l = lcm(a, b). 

Recall that we have seen that the ideal (2, X) is not principal in Z[X] but it is
principal in Q[X]. We can show that for any field K, the polynomial ring K[X] is
a PID.

Lemma. Let K be a field and f ∈ K[X]. For any non-zero polynomial p ∈ K[X],
there exist q, r ∈ K[X] such that f = pq + r where r = 0 or deg r < deg p.

Proof. Let deg p be m ∈ N. If f = 0 or deg f < m, then we take q = 0 and r = f so

that f = pq + r. So we prove the result for all polynomials of degree ≥ m. We shall
prove the theorem by induction on deg f . We write,
n
X m
X
f= ai Xi and p = bi Xi , with an , bm 6= 0.
i=0 i=0

For n = m, we take,
q = am b−1
m

and set
m
X
r = f − pq = (ai − bi am b−1
m )Xi .
i=0
Then we get that

f = pq + r with r = 0 or deg r < m = deg p.

Assume induction hypothesis for all polynomials of degree ≤ k − 1. Let n = k, we

take
q1 = ak b−1
m X
k−m
.
Consider,
g = f − pq1 .
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Note that deg g < k. If g = 0 or deg g < m = deg p, then we are done by setting q = q1
and r = g. If we get
deg g ≥ m = deg p,
then we use the induction hypothesis to write g = pq2 +r with r = 0 or deg r < deg p.
Hence we obtain,
f = pq + r
where
q = q1 + q2 .
This completes the proof. 

Theorem. Let K be a field. Then K[X] is a PID.

Proof. Let I be an ideal in K[X]. If I is the zero ideal then it is generated by the
zero polynomial. Let I 6= 0. Consider p(X) to be a non-zero polynomial of the least
degree in I. We claim that I is generated by p(X). Let f (X) ∈ I, then by Lemma ,
there exist q(X), r(X) ∈ K[X] such that f (X) = p(X)q(X) + r(X) where r(X) = 0 or
deg(r(X)) < deg(p(X)). Suppose r(X) 6= 0. Then we get,
deg(r(X)) < deg(p(X)).
But r(X) = f (X) − p(X)q(X) ∈ I. This contradicts the fact that p(X) is a non-
zero polynomial of the least degree in I. Hence r(X) = 0 and f (X) = p(X)q(X).
Therefore f (X) ∈ (p(X)) and so I is a principal ideal generated by p(X).