CS201 : Discrete Mathematics

Semester II, 2010-11, CSE, IIT Kanpur

Practice problems

Note : Give complete details of the analysis of your solution. Be very rigorous in providing any
mathematical detail in support of your arguments. Also mention any Lemma/Theorem you use.

1. If hR, +, i is a ring with additive identity 0, then prove that for any a, b R

0 a = a 0 = 0,
a(b) = (a)b = (ab),
(a)(b) = ab

2. Note that the notion of subring is similar to the notion of subgroup. Show that a subset S of a ring
R gives a subring of R if and only if the following holds.

0 S;
(a b) S for all a, b S;
a b S for all a, b S.

3. Consider hS, +, i, where S is a set and + and are binary operations on S such that

hS, +i is a group,
hS , i is a group, where S consists of all elements of S except the additive identity,
a (b + c) = a b + a c and (a + b) c = a c + b c for all a, b, c S.

Show that hS, +, i is a division ring. [Hint: use the distributive law to (1 + 1)(a + b) to prove
commutativity of addition.]

4. Let p be a prime. Consider the ring hZp , +, i where addition and multiplication are modulus p.
Prove that for all a, b Zp ,
(a + b)p = ap + bp
(Observe that the usual binomial expansion for (a + b)n is valid in a commutative ring).

5. A ring hR, +, i is a Boolean ring if a2 = a for all a R. Prove that a + a = 2a = 0 for all a R.
Use it to prove that R is a commutative ring.

6. Let hR, +, i be a ring and a be a fixed element of R. Let Ia = {x R|ax = 0}. Show that Ia is a
subring of R.

1
 7. Note that the group isomorphism can be extended naturally to ring isomorphism as follows.
Definition: An isomorphism of a ring hR, +, i with a ring hR0 , , i is a one-to-one and onto
function mapping R onto R0 such that for all a, b R,

(a + b) = (a) (b)
(a b) = (a) (b)

Prove that

hnZ, +, i is a ring under usual addition and multiplication.

h2Z, +, i is not isomorphic to h3Z, +, i.

8. Let hR, +, i be a ring with multiplicative identity, denoted by 1. Using its elements we introduce
two operations and as follows. a b = a + b + 1 and a b = a b + a + b, where a, b R.

Prove that hR, , i is a ring.

What is the additive identity of this ring ?
What is the multiplicative identity of this ring ?
Prove that the two rings are isomorphic.

9. Let hR, +, i be a ring having multiplicative identity denoted by 1. If U is an ideal of R and 1 U .

Then prove that U = R.

10. If hR, +, i is a commutative ring and a R, then show that aR = {ar|r R} is an ideal of R.

11. For a given integer m, let (m) denote all integers which are multiples of m. Show that every ideal
of the ring hZ, +, i is of the form (m) for some integer m.