Where in the proof did Herstein use the fact that $A$ is a two-sided ideal of $R$?

349 Views Asked by At

I'm reading Noncommutative Rings by I. N. Herstein. The theorem I'm having trouble with is 1.2.5, on page 16 of the book.

Some definition

1. Regular ideal

An ideal $\rho \subset R$ is called a regular ideal right ideal of $R$ iff There exists a $r \in R$, such that $x - rx \in \rho, \forall x \in R$.

2. Right quasi-regular element

$a$ is called the right-quasi element of $R$, is we can find $r \in R$, such that $a + r + ar = 0$. Such $r$ is called a right-quasi inverse of $a$.

3. Right quasi-regular ideal

An ideal $\rho \subset R$ is called a right-quasi regular ideal iff every element of it is right-quasi regular.

3. Simple module

A right $R-$module $M$ is called simple iff the two requirements below hold:

  1. $MR \neq 0$.

  2. $M$ has no non-trivial submodule.

4. Jacobson radical

The Jacobson radical is the set of all elements in $R$ that annihilate all simple $R-$modules.

Some properties

  1. $J(R) = \bigcap\limits_{M \text{ simple $R-$module}}\text{Ann}(M) = \bigcap\limits_{\rho \text{ regular, maximal right ideal of } R} \rho$

  2. $M$ is a right, simple $R-$module iff there's some maximal, regular right ideal $\rho \subset R$, such that $M \cong R/\rho$.

  3. Every right-quasi regular ideal is contained in $J(R)$, and $J(R)$ is the maximal ideal amongst the set of right-quasi ideals of $R$.


And this is a theorem I'm having trouble with.

Theorem 1.2.5 (page 16)

If $A$ is a two-sided ideal of $R$, then $J(A) = A \cap J(R)$.

Proof

  • We'll now prove that $A \cap J(R) \subset J(A)$:

    Let $a \in A \cap J(R)$, since $a \in J(R)$, as an element of $J(R)$, $a$ is right-quasi, hence there exists an $a'$, such that $a + a' + aa' = 0$, so $a' = -a -aa' \in A$, since $A$ is an ideal of $R$.

    Being a right-quasi ideal of $A$, $A \cap J(R) \subset J(A)$.

  • We'll now prove that $A \cap J(R) \supset J(A)$:

    For every maximal, regular right ideal $\rho$ of $R$, let $\rho_A = A \cap \rho$. Now, there can only be 2 cases:

    • $A \not \subset \rho$, since $\rho$ is maximal, $A + \rho = R$, and combining the two, we'll have: $$R/\rho \cong (A + \rho) / \rho \cong A /(\rho \cap A) = A/\rho_A$$ Now, since $R / \rho$ is $R-$simple, we get that $\rho_A$ is a maximal right ideal of $A$ (?).

      Since $\rho$ is regular, there exists some $b \in R$, such that $x - bx \in \rho, \forall x \in R$. Now $A + \rho = R$, hence $b = a + r$, for $a \in A$, and $r \in \rho$. So, we'll have $x - bx = x - (a + r)x = a - ax -rx \in \rho, \forall x \in R$. Since $r \in \rho$, we must have $rx \in \rho$. Hence $x - ax \in \rho, \forall x \in R$, hence $x - ax \in \rho_A, \forall x \in A$, which makes $\rho_A$ $A-$regular. Since $J(A)$ is the intersection of all maximal, regular ideal of $A$, we'll have $J(A) \subset \rho_A$.

      • If $A \subset \rho$, then $\rho_A = A \cap \rho = A$, so obviously $J(A) \subset A = \rho_A$.

    Combining the two cases above, we'll have $J(A) \subset \bigcap \rho_A = \left(\bigcap \rho \right) \cap A = J(R) \cap A$. Hence, yielding the desired result.


After this theorem, Herstein point out that if $A$ is not two-sided, then the theorem's result will fail. But as far as I can see, there's no place in the theorem that Herstein actually used $A$ as a two-sided ideal of $R$.

And there's one thing that I cannot get, it's the (?) part. I know $R / \rho$ is $R-$simple, hence $A / \rho_A$ is also $R-$simple, which means that there is no right ideal of $R$ (not $A$) lies in between $\rho_A$, and $A$. How come he concluded that $\rho_A$ is a maximal ideal of $A$? Is it where I must use the fact that $A$ is two-sided to prove?

Thank you guys a lot,

And have a good day.