A15291W1
SECOND PUBLIC EXAMINATION
Honour School of Mathematics Part A: Paper A3
Honour School of Mathematics and Computer Science: Paper A3
Honour School of Mathematics and Philosophy Part A: Paper A3
Honour School of Mathematics and Statistics Part A: Paper A3
A3 RINGS AND MODULES
TRINITY TERM 2023
Friday 23 June, 2:30pm to 4:00pm
You may submit answers to as many questions as you wish but only the best two will count for
the total mark. All questions are worth 25 marks.
You should ensure that you observe the following points:
• start a new answer booklet for each question which you attempt.
• indicate on the front page of the answer booklet which question you have attempted in that
booklet.
• cross out all rough working and any working you do not want to be marked. If you have used
separate answer booklets for rough work please cross through the front of each such booklet
and attach these answer booklets at the back of your work.
• hand in your answers in numerical order.
If you do not attempt any questions, you should still hand in an answer booklet with the front
sheet completed.
Do not turn this page until you are told that you may do so
Page 1 of 3
1. Throughout this question when R is a ring, U (R) denotes the group of units of R, and R∗
denotes R\{0}
(a) [7 marks] Suppose that R, and R1 , . . . , Rn are rings.
(i) What is the group of units of R1 × · · · × Rn in terms of the groups of units of
R1 , . . . , Rn ?
(ii) Show that if I is an ideal in R1 × · · · × Rn then for each 1 6 i 6 n there is an ideal
Ii in Ri such that I = I1 × · · · × In .
(iii) Show that if |U (R)| is odd then there is a ring homomorphism F2 → R.
(b) [11 marks] Suppose that R is a PID.
(i) Show that if x ∈ R is irreducible then R/hxi is a field.
[You may assume that the quotient of a non-trivial commutative ring by a maximal
ideal is a field.]
(ii) Show that if x1 , . . . , xr ∈ R∗ are pairwise non-associate irreducibles then hx1 · · · xr i =
hx1 i ∩ · · · ∩ hxr i.
(iii) Show that if f1 , . . . , fr ∈ F2 [X]∗ are pairwise non-associate irreducibles of degrees
n1 , . . . , nr respectively then F2 [X]/hf1 · · · fr i is isomorphic to the product of r fields
with the sizes 2n1 , . . . , 2nr respectively.
(c) [7 marks] Suppose that R is a ring with U (R) cyclic of prime order p > 2. The aim of
the remainder of the question is to show that p must be a Mersenne prime i.e. p = 2n − 1
for some integer n.
(i) First, show that there is a ring homomorphism F2 [X]/hX p − 1i → R whose image is
a subring of R with the same group of units as R.
(ii) Secondly, assuming that X p − 1 is square-free, meaning that if f 2 |X p − 1 in F2 [X]
then f ∼ 1, deduce that p is a Mersenne prime.
2. (a) [14 marks] Suppose that M is an R-module.
(i) What does it mean for a set E to be a (possibly infinite) basis of M , and what does
it mean for M to be a free module?
(ii) For F a field, is every finitely generated F-module free? Briefly justify your answer.
(iii) Show that if N and P are submodules of M with M = N ⊕P then there is an R-linear
map π : M → M with ker π = N .
Suppose that E is a (possibly infinite) basis of M .
(iv) Show that if E = E 0 ∪ E 00 and E 0 ∩ E 00 = ∅ then M = hE 0 i ⊕ hE 00 i.
(v) Show that if N is a submodule of M and N is generated by a countable set, then
there is a countable set E 0 ⊂ E such that N ⊂ hE 0 i.
(b) [11 marks] Write B for the Z-module of functions N0 → Z with addition defined pointwise,
so (f + g)(n) = f (n) + g(n) for all n ∈ N0 and f, g ∈ B, and scalar multiplication defined
by (z.f )(n) = zf (n) for all n ∈ N0 , z ∈ Z, and f ∈ B.
(i) Show that F , the set of f ∈ B such that f (n) = 0 for all but finitely many n ∈ N0 ,
is a free submodule of the Z-module B.
The aim of the rest of the question is to show that B itself is not free. We suppose, for a
contradiction, that E is a (possibly infinite) basis for B.
(ii) Show that there is a Z-linear map π : B → B such that F ⊂ ker π and ker π is
countable.
(iii) Show that there is some w ∈ B with π(w) 6= 0 and w(i) ∈ {−2i , 2i } for all i ∈ N0 .
(iv) Show that for all i ∈ N0 there is fi ∈ F such that 2i |(w − fi )(j) for all j ∈ N0 , and
hence deduce a contradiction.
A15291W1 Page 2 of 3
3. (a) [12 marks] Suppose that n > 0 and A ∈ Mn (Q) has A2 + I = 0.
(i) Show that X 2 + 1 is the minimal polynomial of A.
(ii) Explain briefly why every such matrix A has the same rational canonical form, and
write that form down.
(iii) For n = 2 show that if v ∈ Q2col is not the zero vector, then the matrix E whose first
column is v and whose second column is Av, is invertible.
(iv) What is E −1 AE?
(b) [13 marks] Suppose that A ∈ M2 (Z) has A2 + I = 0.
(i) Show that Z[i], the ring of Gaussian integers, is a Euclidean domain.
(ii) What does it mean for a matrix to be in Smith normal form?
(iii) Show that there is Q ∈ GL2 (Z[i]) such that
0 0
(iI − A)Q = .
1 0
(iv) Deduce that there are matrices U, V ∈ M2 (Z) such that U + iV ∈ GL2 (Z[i]) and
0 0 0 0
AU = −V and AV =U .
1 1 1 1
A15291W1 Page 3 of 3 End of Last Page
