Principal ideal property of quotients of a Dedekind domain
ID: principal-ideal-property-of-quotients-of-a-dedekind-domain
For a Dedekind domain and a nonzero proper ideal , the quotient ring is a principal ideal ring. First, the correspondence theorem for ideals and unique factorization of ideals in a Dedekind domain show that the ideals of are exactly , . Consecutive powers are distinct by cancellation of invertible fractional ideals. Choose . There is no intermediate ideal between these consecutive powers, so . Multiplication by and substitution show inductively that for every . Taking gives a single generator modulo . Now factor into pairwise comaximal ideals . The Chinese remainder theorem writes as a finite direct product of rings of the preceding type, which is a principal ideal ring. It need not be an integral domain, as demonstrates. Applying the result to for any makes cyclic, yielding two generators for an ideal in a Dedekind domain.
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