An algebra homomorphism onto a semisimple Banach algebra is continuous. To see the spectral mechanism, suppose and . For any , choose with and , and set , . Apply the spectral-radius three-circle inequality to . On the outer circle its norm tends uniformly to ; on the circle of radius its spectral radius is bounded by . Hence for every , so . The unit criterion for the Jacobson radical gives , and the closed graph theorem finishes the proof.
A negative filtration of a ring has for nonnegative indices. It is complete and separated when the displayed map to the inverse limit is an isomorphism. Products make two-sided ideals. Series whose terms eventually belong to every converge. In particular, for and , the geometric series inverts , so the unit criterion for the Jacobson radical gives .
The unit criterion for the Jacobson radical implies that every radical element is a quasinilpotent element, because is invertible for every nonzero . Conversely, if a two-sided ideal consists of quasinilpotent elements, then is quasinilpotent for every member and every . Hence is invertible and lies in the Jacobson radical. The maximality statement concerns ideals contained in the quasinilpotent set, not the whole set itself.
For a commutative ring and ideal , the set is a multiplicative subset. For and , the numerator of again lies in . Thus this difference is a unit in the localization of a ring. The unit criterion for the Jacobson radical proves . This requires no Noetherian hypothesis.
In a right Artinian ring, the powers of its Jacobson radical stabilize at an ideal satisfying . If , choose a minimal right ideal with . Since , minimality gives . Choosing with gives by the same minimality. Consequently for some . The unit criterion for the Jacobson radical makes invertible, forcing , a contradiction. This proof avoids incorrectly applying the finitely generated form of Nakayama lemma to an arbitrary Artinian module.
Let be a commutative Artinian ring. We prove finite composition length first, without assuming the conclusion that is Noetherian.
Every prime ideal is maximal. Indeed, an Artinian integral domain is a field: for , stabilization of gives , and cancellation gives . There are only finitely many maximal ideals. To see this, choose a minimal finite intersection using the descending chain condition. Minimality gives for any other maximal ideal . Since , primeness forces one , and maximality makes them equal. Thus the Jacobson radical is this finite intersection, and the Chinese remainder theorem gives
We also need nilpotence of . Its powers stabilize; put at a stabilization stage, so . If , choose an ideal minimal subject to . Since , minimality gives . Choose with . Minimality applied to the subideal gives . The equality then yields for some . But is a unit by the unit criterion for the Jacobson radical; hence , a contradiction. Therefore .
Each layer is an Artinian module over the finite product of fields . Its components over those fields are finite-dimensional: an infinite-dimensional vector space has a strictly descending chain of subspaces. Each layer consequently has finite composition length. The finite filtration
proves that itself has finite composition length, and therefore satisfies the ascending chain condition on ideals. Every commutative Artinian ring is Noetherian. The zero ring satisfies the conclusion trivially.
The relevant Artin–Wedderburn theorem says that a semisimple ring which is a right Artinian ring has the form
where the are division rings and the positive integers and division rings are unique up to permutation and isomorphism. The division rings need not be commutative or finite-dimensional over a field. Conversely every such finite product is semisimple and a right Artinian ring.
Here is a proof which also works if semisimplicity is initially expressed as . A nonzero right ideal contains a minimal nonzero right ideal by the descending chain condition; is a simple module. If , then for every and , , so has inverse . The unit criterion for the Jacobson radical would give , a contradiction. Thus some induces a nonzero map by left multiplication. This map is an isomorphism, since is simple. Choose with . Then and injectivity on gives . We obtain and the splitting
For a right ideal containing , the same argument splits . Repeatedly split a minimal right ideal out of the remaining summand. The remaining summands form a strictly descending chain of right ideals, so the process terminates. Thus
for pairwise nonisomorphic simple modules .
A nonzero map between simple modules is an isomorphism: its kernel and image leave no alternatives. Thus is a division ring, and for . This is the needed Schur lemma. Taking endomorphisms of the direct sum gives . Finally, left multiplication identifies with : a right-module endomorphism sends to , and composition corresponds to multiplication in , not its opposite. This proves the displayed ring isomorphism.
For the converse, the right regular module of is the direct sum of its row modules. Each row module is simple, since elementary matrices and nonzero scalar inverses send any nonzero row to any prescribed row. A finite product therefore has a finite semisimple regular module and is a right Artinian ring. The simple-module multiplicities and their endomorphism division rings recover the factors, establishing uniqueness.
A regular element of a ring is an element for which both multiplication maps are injective:
It is thus neither a left nor a right zero divisor; it need not be a unit. Here “ideals” means two-sided ideals. Put , and let denote the specified upper triangular ring.
We first establish the additional facts about the Weyl algebra needed below. Its generators satisfy
Reordering gives a spanning set . These monomials are independent. Indeed, represent the generators by multiplication and differentiation on . In a putative zero operator , choose of maximal total derivative degree. Iterated commutation with multiplication by the coordinates, times in coordinate , gives multiplication by . All other derivative terms of that total degree disappear unless they have exactly the same multiindex, and lower-degree terms disappear. Thus , and descending induction eliminates all coefficients. This proves the ordered monomial basis of a Weyl algebra and faithfulness of its polynomial action.
The Weyl algebra is a simple ring. In a nonzero two-sided ideal choose a nonzero element of least Bernstein filtration degree, where both and have degree one. Commuting it with any generator stays in the ideal and lowers that degree. Minimality therefore makes all these commutators zero. Commutation with every forces all derivative coefficients with to vanish; commutation with every then forces all partial derivatives of the remaining polynomial to vanish. In characteristic zero the element is a nonzero scalar. The ideal consequently contains . This proves simplicity of a Weyl algebra in characteristic zero. Its Jacobson radical is zero, since the radical is a proper two-sided ideal of a nonzero unital simple ring.
Use the two diagonal idempotents to isolate the entries of any ideal of . It must have the form
where all three entries are two-sided ideals of and . Conversely this condition makes the indicated set an ideal. Simplicity says that each is or , and either nonzero diagonal entry forces . Hence the five ideals of are
For a two-sided ideal of , multiplication on both sides by elementary matrices isolates any entry and moves it to any matrix position. The entries obtained form one two-sided ideal of , and the original ideal is . Thus the only ideals of are and .
Since , lies in the Jacobson radical of : for and , and has inverse . On the other hand, has zero radical, so the image of the radical in this quotient is zero. The elementary unit criterion for the Jacobson radical justifies both assertions. Therefore
The second equality follows from simplicity of .
We now construct the denominators used to describe regular matrices. A left Noetherian noncommutative domain satisfies the left Ore condition. For if for two nonzero elements, the left ideals have direct sum: in a relation the first summand lies in , all the others in , so it vanishes; cancellation of the final repeats the argument. Their finite partial sums form a strictly ascending chain, contradicting left Noetherianity. Thus , giving common nonzero left multiples and the required Ore equations. The analogous argument with right ideals gives the right Ore condition under right Noetherianity. Both hypotheses for are allowed in the question.
The Ore localization therefore embeds in a division ring . Briefly, its elements are left fractions , with nonzero , and two fractions are identified after passing to a common left denominator. Common multiples supply addition and multiplication, while cancellation in the domain makes the embedding injective. A nonzero fraction has an inverse, obtained by interchanging its numerator and denominator in the appropriate Ore fraction calculation. The right fraction construction gives the same division ring, so finite lists have common left and common right denominators.
A triangular matrix with is invertible over , with inverse
It is consequently regular over . If , then ; if , then . Hence
A full matrix is regular exactly when it is invertible over :
One implication follows immediately from invertibility. Conversely, a singular matrix over a division ring has a nonzero right kernel column and a nonzero left kernel row, by row reduction. A common right denominator turns the column into a nonzero column over , providing a right annihilator matrix over . A common left denominator does the same for the row and gives a left annihilator. Thus a singular matrix is not regular. Explicitly, for with , row elimination says that regularity is equivalent to in . If , it is equivalent to both and . A commutative determinant formula must not be substituted here.
Finally both classical left rings of quotients exist, and
To prove this directly, clear a common left denominator from all the finitely many entries of a matrix over . It becomes with in the original triangular or full ring and regular. Every original regular element becomes a unit in the corresponding ring over , by the descriptions above. For regular and in the original ring, write in this way; then , the left Ore condition. Since the denominators are regular, the additional annihilator condition for localization is automatic. This proves the matrix and triangular localization over an Ore domain assertions. In particular, the nonzero nilpotent radical of the triangular ring does not prevent its classical localization; that localization retains the triangular radical.
Suppose and put . If the left ideal were proper, it would lie in a maximal left ideal . But , so would imply . Thus , and has a left inverse with .
A left inverse alone is insufficient in a general operator algebra. Here differs from the identity by an element of . The same argument supplies a left inverse of . Then , hence . So is genuinely invertible.
Conversely, if , part (i) gives a maximal left ideal with . Maximality implies , so for some . Therefore cannot be invertible, since a proper left ideal contains no invertible element. Taking disproves the required universal invertibility. We have proved the unit criterion for the Jacobson radical in the requested form:
Take rings and modules to be unital. Let denote the intersection of the maximal left ideals. For each nonzero vector of a simple module on the left, the map , , is onto and its kernel is a maximal left ideal. Consequently annihilates every simple module on the left. Conversely, annihilating forces an element to belong to the maximal left ideal . Thus
which shows that is a two-sided ideal.
For and , the left ideal cannot be proper: a containing maximal left ideal would also contain and hence . Therefore for some . Here also differs from by an element of , so it too has a left inverse . Multiplying the first equality by gives ; hence . We have proved that is a unit, not just left invertible.
The identity
is verified by multiplying on either side, using . It implies that is a unit as well. If were outside a maximal right ideal , then , so for some . A proper right ideal cannot contain a unit, giving a contradiction. Thus belongs to every maximal right ideal. Applying the same argument to the opposite ring proves the reverse inclusion. This proves the Jacobson radical is independent of handedness:
For the zero ring the intersections are interpreted as the whole ring, so the equality remains valid.
If a two-sided ideal satisfies , then for and , . The finite geometric series inverts . The unit criterion for the Jacobson radical, also proved above by the maximal-ideal argument, gives . This assertion concerns a nilpotent ideal; arbitrary nilpotent elements of a noncommutative ring need not lie in its Jacobson radical.
For the formal power series ring over the p-adic integers, a series is a unit exactly when is a unit of . Necessity follows by comparing constant coefficients. If is invertible, construct the inverse recursively by and . Therefore the nonunits are exactly the series whose constant coefficient lies in . They form the unique maximal ideal , and the quotient is . Hence
The descending powers stabilize because they are right ideals. Choose with and put . Then .
Suppose . Among the right ideals such that , choose a minimal one; the set is nonempty since . The right ideal lies in , and , so minimality forces . Choose with . Then , and , so the same minimality gives .
Since and , its generator satisfies for an element . Thus . The unit criterion for the Jacobson radical makes invertible, implying , contrary to . Therefore , and
The minimal-right-ideal proof of radical nilpotence is important here: one cannot apply the finite-generator form of Nakayama lemma directly to before proving it finitely generated. We made a suitable auxiliary right ideal cyclic before using the unit argument.
The Jacobson radical is , where runs over the maximal right ideals. Every proper right ideal lies in such an : the union of a chain of proper right ideals containing is a right ideal and remains proper because it omits . Thus Zorn lemma applies.
The right-module form of Nakayama lemma says that a finitely generated module with is zero. More generally, if is a submodule and , then . To prove the first statement, suppose and take a generating set of minimal size. Since , there are with
The unit criterion for the Jacobson radical makes a unit. Hence is generated by the other , a contradiction. Apply this result to the quotient module to obtain the general form.
For an injective module endomorphism of an Artinian module , the descending chain condition gives
for some . Given , write ; injectivity of gives . Thus is surjective, as asserted by Artinian modules are co-Hopfian.
Now is a semilocal ring and is a finitely generated module over the right Artinian ring . A finite direct sum of copies of , and hence its quotient module , is an Artinian module. The module endomorphism induces on , and the given inverse-image condition says precisely that . The preceding argument makes surjective, so
The quotient module is finitely generated and satisfies . Applying Nakayama lemma yields . Therefore is surjective, by surjectivity from injectivity modulo the Jacobson radical.
A filtration of a ring is an exhaustive increasing family of additive subgroups , indexed by the integers, with and . A compatible filtration of a module on a right module satisfies . The associated graded module has components , and its action by the associated graded ring is
Changing either representative changes the product only by an element of , so the action is well-defined.
The subspace filtration on is . The quotient filtration is . Inclusion induces an injective map , and the quotient induces a surjective map to . If maps to zero in its degree- quotient, write with and . Then , so the kernel is exactly the image of . We have the short exact sequence
which is exactness of associated graded modules for induced filtrations.
For the negative case, for . Completeness means that is an isomorphism; in particular the filtration of a ring is separated. If and , then . The geometric series
converges in the complete negative filtration and is a two-sided inverse of , by the finite geometric identity and continuity of multiplication. The unit criterion for the Jacobson radical now gives
Let be any right ideal. The associated graded module for its subspace filtration is a homogeneous ideal on the right in . If is a right Noetherian ring, choose homogeneous generators that lift to , with degrees .
For , cancel its degree- symbol by a sum with . The remainder belongs to . Repeat the cancellation in each succeeding degree. After steps,
For every , the coefficient series converges to some by completeness. Passing to the limit gives . Thus these finitely many generate the actual right ideal ; no assumption that is closed is needed. Since every right ideal is finitely generated, is right Noetherian, by complete negative filtered-graded transfer of Noetherianity.
Assume is a nonzero unital ring and all its modules are unital. Order the proper left ideals by inclusion. A chain has an upper bound given by its union, which is still a proper left ideal: if it contained , one member of the chain would contain and be all of . The family is nonempty because it contains . The Zorn lemma gives a maximal proper left ideal . The nonzero quotient has no proper nonzero submodules, because its submodules correspond to left ideals between and . Thus is a simple left module. The nonzero-ring qualification is necessary: the zero ring has no nonzero unital simple module.
Define the Jacobson radical as the intersection of all maximal left ideals. It is equivalently the intersection of the ideals over all simple modules, where is the annihilator of a module. To verify this equivalence, for a nonzero vector in a simple module , the surjection , , has a maximal left-ideal kernel. Thus implies for every in every simple module. Conversely, if annihilates all simple modules, it annihilates in every , so . An annihilator of a module is a two-sided ideal; this description therefore proves that is a two-sided ideal.
For the forward implication of the unit criterion for the Jacobson radical, first let . If were a proper left ideal, it would lie in a maximal one . Both and would belong to , an impossibility. Hence for some . A left inverse alone does not yet establish that is a unit in a general noncommutative ring. However, , with , so the same argument gives for some . Multiplying by on the left gives . Therefore as well. This proves that is a unit.
For , its two-sided-ideal property gives for all , so is a unit. Conversely, if , choose a maximal left ideal with . Then , so for some , . Hence is not a unit: if it were invertible, multiplying it on the left by its inverse would put in . Taking contradicts the given unit property. We have proved
Finally let be commutative and an ideal. The set contains , and
so it is a multiplicative subset. In the localization of a module , any element is with and . For any ,
Both and lie in , since and . The fraction is consequently a unit in . In a commutative ring, the product of any two coefficients is again a single coefficient, so the proved unit criterion for the Jacobson radical applies to all expressions . Thus
This proves localization away from one plus an ideal lies in the Jacobson radical. If , then , , and the inclusion holds trivially.