Past exam of the non-commutative rings course of the University of Oxford 2023 1 a i Solution 2026-10-25
A left-primitive ideal is a two-sided ideal of the formfor a nonzero simple module on the left. Equivalently, the quotient ring has a faithful module that is a simple module, and is therefore a primitive ring.
To prove that is a prime ideal of a noncommutative ring, let be two-sided ideals with . Since is two-sided, is a submodule of : for , and , one has . If , then , so simplicity gives . Consequentlyand . Thus implies or . Also , since acts as the identity element on the nonzero module . These are precisely the required prime ideal of a noncommutative ring conditions.
Past exam of the non-commutative rings course of the University of Oxford 2023 1 c Solution 2026-10-25
Put . By the definition of a left-primitive ideal, there is a faithful module that is a simple module on the left over . The assumed relation passes to the quotient ring , since any pair of elements of can be lifted to .
By Schur's lemma, the endomorphism ring is a division ring: the kernel and image of a nonzero module endomorphism are submodules, so simplicity makes that module endomorphism both injective and surjective. SetEvaluation makes a right vector space over a division ring , and the -action is -linear. The opposite ring in the definition ensures the correct order for this right action.
The Jacobson density theorem says that, for any finite -linearly independent family and any , some satisfies for every .
Suppose that contains two -linearly independent vectors . Applying the Jacobson density theorem twice, choose satisfyingThe inherited relation giveswith integers . Acting on , the left side gives , but every term on the right gives . This contradicts . Thus .
The ring homomorphismgiven by the action is injective because is a faithful module. It is surjective because the Jacobson density theorem, applied to a single nonzero basis vector, realizes every -linear endomorphism of this one-dimensional vector space over a division ring. Every nonzero such endomorphism is invertible. HenceThe use of the Jacobson density theorem here only prescribes actions on finitely many vectors; it does not assume that an arbitrary primitive ring is already a full endomorphism ring.