Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/ib/paper-2/11e/c/solution

A nilpotent element belongs to every prime ideal: if , repeated primality forces . Therefore .
Conversely, if , none of its positive powers is zero. The multiplicative subset is disjoint from . Part (b) supplies a prime ideal disjoint from , hence not containing . Thus is outside the intersection, proving the nilradical as the intersection of prime ideals identity:
In the zero ring there are no prime ideals; the empty intersection is interpreted as the whole ring, which is also its nilradical. For nonzero rings this argument proves existence of a prime ideal whenever a nonnilpotent element is available.

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