An integral domain is an integrally closed domain if every element of its fraction field which is an integral element over belongs to . Explicitly, if satisfies
then . Thus .
Suppose is a unique factorization domain and is integral, with , , and with no common irreducible element as a factor. Multiplying its monic equation by gives
Hence divides . Every irreducible element dividing is a prime element, so it would divide , contrary to the choice of the fraction. Therefore is a unit, and . We have proved
The going-down theorem is the following. Let be an integral extension of integral domains with an integrally closed domain. If
then
We first prove this for a module-finite ring extension and then remove that extra hypothesis. We use the Lying-over theorem, the going-up theorem, and the incomparability theorem for integral extensions: primes exist over every base prime, prime chains can be extended upwards, and distinct primes over the same base prime cannot contain one another. The going-up theorem follows by applying the Lying-over theorem to the quotient by the lower prime. These results concern arbitrary integral extensions; none assumes the going-down theorem.
For the finite case, let and . Since is module-finite, is a finite field extension. Take a finite normal field extension containing , obtained as a splitting field of the minimal polynomials of finitely many field generators. The extension need not be a separable field extension. Let be the integral closure of in . Then , and is integral over both and .
We need one auxiliary fact: the finite group acts transitively on the prime ideals of over any fixed prime ideal of . First observe that an element fixed by all of is a purely inseparable algebraic element over . Indeed, all -embeddings of into an algebraic closure extend to -automorphisms of the normal field extension . Hence the minimal polynomial of an algebraic element has only one distinct root. In characteristic zero this says ; in characteristic it says for some .
Now let be primes of over , and suppose is different from every , . By the incomparability theorem for integral extensions, is contained in none of these conjugate primes. The prime avoidance lemma supplies
The product
is fixed by , is integral over , and lies in because one factor is . Choose an exponent equal to in characteristic zero, or a power of in characteristic , such that . Since is an integrally closed domain, . It also lies in , hence in . Because is a prime ideal, some factor lies in . This means , contradicting our choice. Thus for some , proving transitivity. The power accounts for the possible purely inseparable field extension and makes the argument valid in every characteristic.
Lift the prescribed to a prime of by the Lying-over theorem for . Separately, choose a prime over and use the going-up theorem to find over . Transitivity gives with . Then
Contracting to gives with the required contraction. This proves the going-down theorem for the module-finite case.
For a general integral extension , consider and the ideal
We claim that is disjoint from . Otherwise, clearing the finitely many denominators in an expression for an element gives
The subalgebra is a module-finite ring extension of , since all its generators are integral elements. Apply the finite case to : there is a prime contracting to . The displayed identity puts in , but . Thus , a contradiction.
Localize further at the multiplicative subset . The extension of is a proper ideal, by the disjointness just proved. Choose a maximal ideal containing it and contract back to a prime ideal of . This prime contains and avoids . Its contraction to lies inside by the prime ideal correspondence for localization, and its contraction to is exactly . This completes the proof of the going-down theorem without any finite generation assumption on .
The semicubical parabola has coordinate ring
under , . The isomorphism is valid in every characteristic: after division by the monic polynomial in , a remainder maps to a sum of distinct even powers and odd powers at least three, and can vanish only when both polynomials are zero.
Its fraction field contains , which is an integral element over because it satisfies . However , since a polynomial in has no term of degree one. Thus is not an integrally closed domain. The ring of the affine line is a principal ideal domain and therefore an integrally closed domain. This property is preserved by ring isomorphism. By coordinate-ring functoriality,
The parametrization is a bijection on points over an algebraically closed field, but that does not make its inverse a morphism at the cusp.
A Dedekind domain is a Noetherian ring which is an integral domain, is an integrally closed domain, and has Krull dimension one. Explicitly, every ideal is finitely generated; every element of the fraction field that is an integral element over already belongs to ; and every nonzero prime ideal is a maximal ideal, with itself not a field.
With this convention, an equivalent local characterization is that is a Noetherian integral domain that is not a field and whose localization at a prime ideal is a discrete valuation ring for every nonzero prime ideal . The integrally closed domain condition rules out singularities such as those represented by the subring , where is integral but missing.
Some conventions also include fields by allowing Krull dimension at most one; the conclusions about ideals below remain valid under that convention.
For a subring with the same identity, is an integral extension of if every is an integral element over : there exist and such that
The requirement that the polynomial be monic is essential. Merely satisfying some polynomial equation over is insufficient: for instance satisfies over , but is not integral over . To see this directly, a hypothetical monic equation for , multiplied by , would say that an odd integer plus a sum of even integers is zero.
The degree and coefficients may depend on . Integrality does not by itself assert that the entire ring is a finite -module; it does imply that the subalgebra is generated as an -module by .
No. In the Gaussian integers, choose
Indeed, substituting gives , so is a prime ideal and its contraction is . Put . Modulo , becomes in , so . Therefore
We show that is not an integral element over , using a direct reduction argument. Write , viewed inside . There is a ring homomorphism
which reduces rational coefficients modulo . It is well defined because denominators in are not divisible by , and in . In particular, and .
If satisfied a monic equation over , say
multiplication by would give an equality in :
Applying gives in , a contradiction. Consequently
This exhibits why localization of an integral extension at a prime need not be integral. Localizing both rings by the same multiplicative subset preserves an integral extension, but inverts additional elements, including , whose image at the other prime ideal is zero. The original extension is integral because satisfies the monic equation : the subalgebra generated by finitely many integral elements property applies to .
An element is an integral element over when it satisfies a monic equation
The extension is an integral extension when every is integral over .
Let and localize both rings at . The extension remains integral. Choose a maximal ideal of . The contraction of a maximal ideal under an integral extension is maximal, and the local ring has unique maximal ideal , so . Contracting back to produces with . This proves the Lying-over theorem and hence the surjectivity of
Suppose and both contract to . Quotient by and localize the resulting integral domain at the nonzero elements of . The localized ring is an integral domain integral over the field , and is therefore itself a field. The localization of must consequently be zero; since the localized ring is a domain, . Thus the incomparability theorem for integral extensions gives
The Krull dimension of a ring is the supremum of the lengths of its strict chains of prime ideals. Incomparability makes the contraction of every strict prime chain in strict, so . Conversely, start over the bottom prime of any chain in using lying over and lift each subsequent inclusion using the going-up theorem. Hence
For the concrete surface, write for the residue classes of and put
Then
and characteristic zero allows division by three. Therefore
Division by the monic quadratic shows that is free over with basis . In particular, are algebraically independent and the requested Noether normalization of the quadratic surface xy plus yz plus zx is
As an -algebra, is generated by the elements . If obeys a monic relation
over , then obeys the same monic relation after applying the structure map . Thus every generator is an integral element. The subalgebra generated by finitely many integral elements is finite as a module, and therefore integral; each tensor involves only finitely many generators. Hence is integral over .
Trace of an integral element over a normal domain Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-14
For a normal domain with fraction field , the field trace of an integral element in a finite separable field extension belongs to . Its conjugates are integral, so their sum is integral; it lies in and hence in by normality. This places the integral closure inside a trace-dual lattice.
For an integral element of a finite extension of non-Archimedean local fields, reduce the multiplication endomorphism on modulo a base uniformizer. Its filtration by the powers of the maximal ideal has successive quotients, each the residue field . Multiplication by induces multiplication by on each quotient. Additivity of the matrix trace through the filtration proves the formula. If the residue characteristic divides the ramification index, the trace of every integral element lies in the base maximal ideal; a Galois extension is not required.