Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-algebra-analysis-and-differential-equations-2-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2012/3/b/solution

A Euclidean domain is an integral domain with a function such that, for and nonzero , there exist with and either or . This is the Euclidean-ring convention used here.
If an ideal is zero, it is generated by zero. Otherwise choose nonzero with minimal. For any , Euclidean division gives , with . A nonzero remainder would have , contradicting the choice. Hence and . The reverse inclusion follows from , proving
Now suppose is an irreducible element. Its principal ideal is proper because is not a unit. If , write by the result just proved. Then for some . Irreducibility gives either a unit, so , or a unit, so . There is no intermediate proper ideal, and therefore is a maximal ideal.
For a field , the polynomial ring is an integral domain and the polynomial division algorithm gives with or . Thus the polynomial degree is a Euclidean function, proving is a Euclidean domain.

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