{ localUrl: '../page/pid_implies_prime_equals_irreducible.html', arbitalUrl: 'https://arbital.com/p/pid_implies_prime_equals_irreducible', rawJsonUrl: '../raw/5mf.json', likeableId: '0', likeableType: 'page', myLikeValue: '0', likeCount: '0', dislikeCount: '0', likeScore: '0', individualLikes: [], pageId: 'pid_implies_prime_equals_irreducible', edit: '1', editSummary: '', prevEdit: '0', currentEdit: '1', wasPublished: 'true', type: 'wiki', title: 'In a principal ideal domain, "prime" and "irreducible" are the same', clickbait: 'Principal ideal domains have a very useful property that we don't need to distinguish between the informal notion of "prime" (i.e. "irreducible") and the formal notion.', textLength: '2598', alias: 'pid_implies_prime_equals_irreducible', externalUrl: '', sortChildrenBy: 'likes', hasVote: 'false', voteType: '', votesAnonymous: 'false', editCreatorId: 'PatrickStevens', editCreatedAt: '2016-07-28 14:03:01', pageCreatorId: 'PatrickStevens', pageCreatedAt: '2016-07-28 14:03:01', seeDomainId: '0', editDomainId: 'AlexeiAndreev', submitToDomainId: '0', isAutosave: 'false', isSnapshot: 'false', isLiveEdit: 'true', isMinorEdit: 'false', indirectTeacher: 'false', todoCount: '1', isEditorComment: 'false', isApprovedComment: 'true', isResolved: 'false', snapshotText: '', anchorContext: '', anchorText: '', anchorOffset: '0', mergedInto: '', isDeleted: 'false', viewCount: '30', text: '[summary: While there are two distinct but closely related notions of "[5m2 prime]" and "[5m1 irreducible]", the two ideas are actually the same in a certain class of [3gq ring]. This result is basically what enables the [-fundamental_theorem_of_arithmetic].]\n\nLet $R$ be a [3gq ring] which is a [principal_ideal_domain PID], and let $r \\not = 0$ be an element of $R$.\nThen $r$ is [5m1 irreducible] if and only if $r$ is [5m2 prime].\n\nIn fact, it is easier to prove a stronger statement: that the following are equivalent.\n%%note:Every proof known to the author is of this shape either implicitly or explicitly, but when it's explicit, it should be clearer what is going on.%%\n\n1. $r$ is irreducible. \n2. $r$ is prime.\n3. The generated [ideal_ring_theory ideal] $\\langle r \\rangle$ is [maximal_ideal maximal] in $R$.\n\n[todo: motivate the third bullet point]\n\n# Proof\n\n## $2 \\Rightarrow 1$\nA proof that "prime implies irreducible" appears on the page for [5m1 irreducibility].\n\n## $3 \\Rightarrow 2$\nWe wish to show that if $\\langle r \\rangle$ is maximal, then it is prime.\n(Indeed, $r$ is [5m2 prime] if and only if its generated ideal is [prime_ideal prime].)\n\nAn ideal $I$ is maximal if and only if the [quotient_ring quotient] $R/I$ is a [481 field]. ([ideal_maximal_iff_quotient_is_field Proof.])\n\nAn ideal $I$ is [prime_ideal prime] if and only if the quotient $R/I$ is an [-5md]. ([ideal_prime_iff_quotient_is_integral_domain Proof.])\n\nAll fields are integral domains. (A proof of this appears on [5md the page on integral domains].)\n\nHence maximal ideals are prime.\n\n## $1 \\Rightarrow 3$\nLet $r$ be irreducible; then in particular it is not invertible, so $\\langle r \\rangle$ isn't simply the whole ring.\n\nTo show that $\\langle r \\rangle$ is maximal, we need to show that if it is contained in any larger ideal then that ideal is the whole ring.\n\nSuppose $\\langle r \\rangle$ is contained in the larger ideal $J$, then.\nBecause we are in a principal ideal domain, $J = \\langle a \\rangle$, say, for some $a$, and so $r = a c$ for some $c$.\nIt will be enough to show that $a$ is invertible, because then $\\langle a \\rangle$ would be the entire ring.\n\nBut $r$ is irreducible, so one of $a$ and $c$ is invertible; if $a$ is invertible then we are done, so suppose $c$ is invertible.\n\nThen $a = r c^{-1}$.\nWe have supposed that $J$ is indeed larger than $\\langle r \\rangle$: that there is $j \\in J$ which is not in $\\langle r \\rangle$.\nSince $j \\in J = \\langle a \\rangle$, we can find $d$ (say) such that $j = a d$; so $j = r c^{-1} d$ and hence $j \\in \\langle r \\rangle$, which is a contradiction.', metaText: '', isTextLoaded: 'true', isSubscribedToDiscussion: 'false', isSubscribedToUser: 'false', isSubscribedAsMaintainer: 'false', discussionSubscriberCount: '1', maintainerCount: '1', userSubscriberCount: '0', lastVisit: '', hasDraft: 'false', votes: [], voteSummary: 'null', muVoteSummary: '0', voteScaling: '0', currentUserVote: '-2', voteCount: '0', lockedVoteType: '', maxEditEver: '0', redLinkCount: '0', lockedBy: '', lockedUntil: '', nextPageId: '', prevPageId: '', usedAsMastery: 'false', proposalEditNum: '0', permissions: { edit: { has: 'false', reason: 'You don't have domain permission to edit this page' }, proposeEdit: { has: 'true', reason: '' }, delete: { has: 'false', reason: 'You don't have domain permission to delete this page' }, comment: { has: 'false', reason: 'You can't comment in this domain because you are not a member' }, proposeComment: { has: 'true', reason: '' } }, summaries: {}, creatorIds: [ 'PatrickStevens' ], childIds: [], parentIds: [ 'algebraic_ring' ], commentIds: [], questionIds: [], tagIds: [], relatedIds: [], markIds: [], explanations: [], learnMore: [], requirements: [], subjects: [], lenses: [], lensParentId: '', pathPages: [], learnMoreTaughtMap: {}, learnMoreCoveredMap: {}, learnMoreRequiredMap: {}, editHistory: {}, domainSubmissions: {}, answers: [], answerCount: '0', commentCount: '0', newCommentCount: '0', linkedMarkCount: '0', changeLogs: [ { likeableId: '0', likeableType: 'changeLog', myLikeValue: '0', likeCount: '0', dislikeCount: '0', likeScore: '0', individualLikes: [], id: '17640', pageId: 'pid_implies_prime_equals_irreducible', userId: 'PatrickStevens', edit: '0', type: 'newParent', createdAt: '2016-07-28 14:03:14', auxPageId: 'algebraic_ring', oldSettingsValue: '', newSettingsValue: '' }, { likeableId: '0', likeableType: 'changeLog', myLikeValue: '0', likeCount: '0', dislikeCount: '0', likeScore: '0', individualLikes: [], id: '17638', pageId: 'pid_implies_prime_equals_irreducible', userId: 'PatrickStevens', edit: '1', type: 'newEdit', createdAt: '2016-07-28 14:03:01', auxPageId: '', oldSettingsValue: '', newSettingsValue: '' } ], feedSubmissions: [], searchStrings: {}, hasChildren: 'false', hasParents: 'true', redAliases: {}, improvementTagIds: [], nonMetaTagIds: [], todos: [], slowDownMap: 'null', speedUpMap: 'null', arcPageIds: 'null', contentRequests: {} }