Noncommutative domain Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-14
A noncommutative domain is a nonzero unital ring without zero divisors; commutativity is not required, but commutative integral domains are included in this usage. Left and right cancellation hold for nonzero elements. A right Noetherian domain embeds in a division ring by the right Ore condition.
For a noncommutative domain , the right Ore condition on its nonzero elements requires that for every and nonzero , there exist and with . The Ore theorem says that this is precisely the condition for a division ring of right fractions in which embeds and every element is . The left-handed condition similarly gives left fractions.
For completeness, a right Noetherian domain satisfies the condition. If with , the right ideals
form a strict chain of direct sums. Indeed, in a relation , the first term lies in and the rest in . Their zero intersection makes , hence ; cancel and repeat. Every new summand is nonzero in a noncommutative domain, contradicting the ascending chain condition. Thus exists, with , giving right common multiples. The opposite-ring argument gives left common multiples when is a left Noetherian ring. This proves right Noetherian domains satisfy the Ore condition.
A sketch of the fraction construction also explains the theorem. Pairs represent . They represent the same fraction when a common right denominator also satisfies . Addition uses . For multiplication choose with ; then
Further common denominators prove well-definedness and the ring identities. The original map is injective because all nonzero denominators are regular; a zero fraction numerator would satisfy for . Every nonzero fraction has inverse , so the ring is a division ring. This construction has the universal property of inverting all nonzero elements.
Apply this to the two-sided Noetherian noncommutative domain . Its left Ore property expresses any right fraction as a left one: choose with , yielding . Hence one division ring is simultaneously the left and right classical ring of quotients of ; the two constructions agree by their universal property.
A right Ore localization at is a unital homomorphism such that every , , is a unit, every element of is , and
Equivalently, the usual fraction construction has this zero criterion and is universal among homomorphisms that invert . Injectivity is required only when the denominators are regular elements of a ring. If , every homomorphism inverting has zero target; this is the degenerate zero-ring localization. For a nonzero localization we require .
The necessary and sufficient conditions are that be a right denominator set:
  • For and , there are and with ; this is the right Ore condition.
  • If with , there is with ; this is right reversibility.
For necessity, write the element as . Multiplying by on the left and on the right gives . The zero criterion supplies with . Hence , the right Ore condition in , not merely an equality of images in . Also makes because is invertible, and the zero criterion gives . This proves both necessities.
The sufficiency is the Ore theorem for denominator sets. Concretely, right fractions can be represented by ; a common-denominator equality has and for suitable . The two conditions make the induced fraction equivalence transitive and make addition and multiplication well defined; the zero fraction is exactly the kernel displayed above. The requested direction of the theorem was necessity, for which the complete argument has just been given.
For a right Noetherian domain, any two nonzero principal right ideals intersect. To see this without using the desired localization, suppose with . The sum
is direct: reduce a finite relation modulo to get its first summand zero, then cancel in the noncommutative domain and repeat. Every summand is nonzero, so the finite partial sums form a strictly ascending chain of right ideals, contradicting the ascending chain condition. A nonzero intersection thus provides , with . This is the right Ore condition for . Reversibility is automatic in a noncommutative domain, and the zero criterion makes the map injective. The localization is a division ring, since a nonzero has inverse .
The Goldie theorem states that a semiprime ring has a semisimple Artinian classical right ring of quotients if and only if it has finite right uniform dimension and satisfies the ascending chain condition on right annihilators. A right Noetherian ring satisfies the annihilator condition because right annihilators are right ideals. Its right regular module has finite uniform dimension: an infinite direct sum of nonzero submodules would give a strictly ascending chain of finite partial sums. A prime ring is semiprime, so the theorem applies to a prime right Noetherian ring .
To obtain a single matrix-ring factor, not just a finite product, prove that its quotient is prime. A nonzero two-sided ideal contains a nonzero fraction and hence the nonzero element . The same holds for any other nonzero ideal . Since is prime, , so . Thus is prime. The Artin–Wedderburn theorem gives a finite product of matrix rings over division rings; primeness excludes two different nonzero factors with zero product. This proves the prime classical quotient of a prime right Goldie ring:
For the requested counterexample to Noetherianity, take . It is a commutative integral domain and has its field of fractions as its classical right ring of quotients. But is a strictly ascending ideal chain: evaluation at shows is not in the preceding ideal. Therefore existence of a classical quotient does not imply right Noetherianity.
Use and for the quantum plane. Its monomials , , form a basis, with multiplication
One way to verify the basis assertion without assuming it is to define this multiplication on the vector space with the displayed formal basis. This defines an associative algebra: for a third monomial , the two products of three monomials have the same exponent of , and its generators satisfy the required relation. Conversely, the relation puts every word into this form, establishing the presentation. Order exponent pairs by the lexicographic order. The largest monomials of two nonzero finite sums give the uniquely largest monomial of their product, with coefficient . Therefore the quantum plane is a domain. If one allows , the assertion fails because with both factors nonzero.
A uniform module is a nonzero module in which any two nonzero submodules have nonzero intersection. Suppose the right regular module of a right Noetherian domain were not a uniform module. Choose nonzero from two right ideals with zero intersection. Then . The right ideals
form a direct sum. For if , then is zero, so by the noncommutative domain property. Cancel the nonzero factor on the left and repeat to obtain every . Each summand is nonzero, so their finite partial sums form a strictly ascending chain of right ideals. This contradicts the ascending chain condition of a right Noetherian ring. Hence is a uniform right module.
It follows that whenever : there are nonzero with . This is the right Ore condition for the multiplicative set ; zero numerators cause no difficulty. The Ore localization theorem therefore constructs the ring of right fractions
The map is injective because an element mapping to zero is annihilated on the right by some nonzero denominator, impossible in a noncommutative domain. To make the denominator convention concrete, if then
For multiplication, choose with ; then
Common right multiples make these operations independent of the chosen representatives. Every nonzero has inverse , so is a division ring. The original field is central in and therefore in the inverses as well, making a division algebra over . No commutative fraction field construction is being assumed.
If two nonzero principal right ideals in a right Noetherian domain had zero intersection, the sums would be strictly increasing. Directness follows by splitting the lowest term into and the other terms into , then cancelling and repeating. This contradicts the ascending chain condition. A nonzero common element gives the right Ore condition. The left version follows from the opposite ring. Consequently a noncommutative domain Noetherian on both sides has a single division ring of fractions with both left and right fraction presentations.
Uniform module Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
A nonzero module is uniform if every pair of nonzero submodules has nonzero intersection. Equivalently, every nonzero submodule is an essential submodule. A right Noetherian domain is uniform as a right module: if for nonzero , the right ideals , , form an infinite direct sum, contradicting the ascending chain condition.