LetThis ring consists of finite sums of rational multiples of nonnegative dyadic rational powers of , interpreted as functions on . Every pair of elements lies in one polynomial ring , so is an integral domain. The constant term defines a surjective ring homomorphism . Its kernel of a ring homomorphism is nonzero and is a maximal ideal, by the maximal ideal quotient criterion.
Every has the form for some and some polynomial . The identityexpresses it as a product of two elements of . Therefore , and for all . This shows that strict descent of powers of an ideal can fail in an integral domain, even for a nonzero maximal ideal. By the determinant trick, such an ideal cannot be finitely generated, so this ring is not a Noetherian ring.
Past exam of the commutative algebra course of the University of Oxford 2017 2 c Solution 2026-10-25
Fix and suppose, for a contradiction, that . Set . Since is a Noetherian ring, this ideal is a finitely generated module, say . It is nonzero: if , then because is an integral domain.
The equality allows us to writeLet and . Then . The adjugate matrix identity implies that annihilates every . In the determinant expansion of , the constant term is and every other term contains an entry of , soThis is the determinant trick. Since some , multiplicative cancellation in an integral domain gives . But then , contradicting . We have proved the strict descent of powers of a nonzero proper ideal in a Noetherian domain:All these powers of an ideal have the same radical of an ideal. Indeed, gives . Conversely, if , then , so . Thusand gives infinitely many distinct ideals with the prescribed radical of an ideal. If the convention is used, the additional inequality follows immediately from properness.
Let be a Noetherian ring that is an integral domain, and let be a nonzero proper ideal. If for some , the nonzero finitely generated module satisfies . Choose generators and write with . The adjugate matrix identity implies that annihilates . This determinant is for some , since every term except the constant term contains an entry from .
The determinant trick has thus supplied . A nonzero element of and multiplicative cancellation in an integral domain force , contradicting properness of . Therefore all positive powers of an ideal are distinct in this setting. Since they have the same radical of an ideal, there are infinitely many ideals with radical .