Let $(R,+,\cdot)$ be a non-commutative ring with zero $0$ and identity $1$. $a,b\in (R,+)$ are two elements of finite order $m,n$ respectively; in notations, $ord(a)=m,ord(n)=n$. Then what is the order of the product $ab\in (R,+)$ ? In particular, if $m=n$, then is it ture that $ord(ab)=n?$
Thanks!
I believe you meant additive order... did you try even a single example? Like, say $\mathbb Z/4\mathbb Z$?
$ord(2)=2$ and $ord(3)=4$, but $ord(2\cdot 2)=ord(0)$ and $ord(2\cdot 3)=ord(2)$.
In other words, the order of the product can be strange things compared to the order of the factors. I'm sure you can go about finding other nonintuitive examples just using $\mathbb Z/n\mathbb Z$.