Re: Irreducibles (Ring theory )

po wrote:

> Im trying to understand what an irreducible element is.
> i have my definition
> an element (r) is irreducible if
> it is not equal to 0
> r is not invertible r=ab a or b is invertible
>
> then in a text book i have the irreducibles of the integers are all the
> prime numbers and their negatives...
> but what about the other numbers? whats the inverse of 4? (in the
> integers, it doesnt exist, so why is this not an irreducible?)
>
> im struggling on the meaning of irreducible, so if anyone can shed some
> light on this, it would be greatly appreciated

I imagine you have missed out some words -
r is not invertible
AND
IF r = ab THEN a or b is invertible,

--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail (<80k only): tim /at/ birdsnest.maths.tcd.ie
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland
.

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