In mathematics, specifically in abstract algebra, a prime element of a commutative ring is an object satisfying certain properties similar to the prime numbers in the integers and to irreducible polynomials. Care should be taken to distinguish prime elements from irreducible elements, a concept that is the same in UFDs but not the same in general.
An element of a commutative ring is said to be prime if it is not the zero element or a unit and whenever divides for some and in, then divides or divides . With this definition, Euclid's lemma is the assertion that prime numbers are prime elements in the ring of integers. Equivalently, an element is prime if, and only if, the principal ideal generated by is a nonzero prime ideal.[1] (Note that in an integral domain, the ideal is a prime ideal, but is an exception in the definition of 'prime element'.)
Interest in prime elements comes from the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, which asserts that each nonzero integer can be written in essentially only one way as 1 or −1 multiplied by a product of positive prime numbers. This led to the study of unique factorization domains, which generalize what was just illustrated in the integers.
Being prime is relative to which ring an element is considered to be in; for example, 2 is a prime element in but it is not in, the ring of Gaussian integers, since and 2 does not divide any factor on the right.
See main article: Prime ideal. An ideal in the ring (with unity) is prime if the factor ring is an integral domain.
In an integral domain, a nonzero principal ideal is prime if and only if it is generated by a prime element.
See main article: Irreducible element. Prime elements should not be confused with irreducible elements. In an integral domain, every prime is irreducible but the converse is not true in general. However, in unique factorization domains, or more generally in GCD domains, primes and irreducibles are the same.
The following are examples of prime elements in rings:
Z[\sqrt{-5}],
9=(2+\sqrt{-5})(2-\sqrt{-5})