Groups, Rings and Fields. The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results Are In Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Planned maintenance scheduled April 17/18, 2019 at 00:00UTC (8:00pm US/Eastern)Why are rings called rings?Cohesive picture of groups, rings, fields, modules and vector spaces.Making sense out of “field”, “algebra”, “ring” and “semi-ring” in names of set systemsWhy are groups “abelian” but rings “commutative”?Is division allowed in rings and fields?What happens with $S_n$ in rings, integral domains and fields?Good exercises on groups, fields, rings etcRings and FieldsMetaphor/Analogies for Rings and Fields?What Exactly Are Quotient/Factor Groups and Rings?Factor Rings over Finite Fields
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Groups, Rings and Fields.
The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results Are In
Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara
Planned maintenance scheduled April 17/18, 2019 at 00:00UTC (8:00pm US/Eastern)Why are rings called rings?Cohesive picture of groups, rings, fields, modules and vector spaces.Making sense out of “field”, “algebra”, “ring” and “semi-ring” in names of set systemsWhy are groups “abelian” but rings “commutative”?Is division allowed in rings and fields?What happens with $S_n$ in rings, integral domains and fields?Good exercises on groups, fields, rings etcRings and FieldsMetaphor/Analogies for Rings and Fields?What Exactly Are Quotient/Factor Groups and Rings?Factor Rings over Finite Fields
$begingroup$
I am asking for the analogy behind these structures names. Why is a "field" called a field? Is there an analogy between a usual ring (finger ring) and a mathematical ring?
linear-algebra abstract-algebra group-theory ring-theory
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I am asking for the analogy behind these structures names. Why is a "field" called a field? Is there an analogy between a usual ring (finger ring) and a mathematical ring?
linear-algebra abstract-algebra group-theory ring-theory
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I think of a ring in the context of a crime ring. It is another name for a collection.
$endgroup$
– John Douma
Mar 24 at 18:42
$begingroup$
Related: Why are rings called rings
$endgroup$
– Brian
Mar 24 at 22:56
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I am asking for the analogy behind these structures names. Why is a "field" called a field? Is there an analogy between a usual ring (finger ring) and a mathematical ring?
linear-algebra abstract-algebra group-theory ring-theory
$endgroup$
I am asking for the analogy behind these structures names. Why is a "field" called a field? Is there an analogy between a usual ring (finger ring) and a mathematical ring?
linear-algebra abstract-algebra group-theory ring-theory
linear-algebra abstract-algebra group-theory ring-theory
edited Mar 24 at 18:49
John Douma
5,82021520
5,82021520
asked Mar 24 at 18:25
user657417
$begingroup$
I think of a ring in the context of a crime ring. It is another name for a collection.
$endgroup$
– John Douma
Mar 24 at 18:42
$begingroup$
Related: Why are rings called rings
$endgroup$
– Brian
Mar 24 at 22:56
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I think of a ring in the context of a crime ring. It is another name for a collection.
$endgroup$
– John Douma
Mar 24 at 18:42
$begingroup$
Related: Why are rings called rings
$endgroup$
– Brian
Mar 24 at 22:56
$begingroup$
I think of a ring in the context of a crime ring. It is another name for a collection.
$endgroup$
– John Douma
Mar 24 at 18:42
$begingroup$
I think of a ring in the context of a crime ring. It is another name for a collection.
$endgroup$
– John Douma
Mar 24 at 18:42
$begingroup$
Related: Why are rings called rings
$endgroup$
– Brian
Mar 24 at 22:56
$begingroup$
Related: Why are rings called rings
$endgroup$
– Brian
Mar 24 at 22:56
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
From mathoverflow. Source at the end.
Why is a ring called "a ring"?
The idea that the name is motivated by 'circling back' might or might
not be true. But I could not find any trace of it there. In
particular, there seems to be no result close by regarding the fact
that the powers αn somehow 'circle back' to linear combinations (the
idea mentioned by KConrad); also no analogy to rings of residue
classes is drawn. (Of course, it is proved somewhere that such a
'ring' has a finite Z-module basis but the way this is presented does
not suggest any particular 'circling back' idea.)
Hilbert's definition for ring is (paraphrasing): given a collection of
algebraic integers, a ring is everything that can be written as
polynomial functions with integer coefficients of this given
collection. (As an aside, personally, I now finally understood the
idea behind the name integral domain/'Integritätsbereich'; a number
field is also called 'Rationalitätsbereich', so rational domain there,
being everything one gets with rational functions and the integral
domain is what one gets with integral functions. Added: I saw had I
started to read MO earlier I could have learned this usage due to
Kronecker was mentioned by KConrad on the question linked to).
He then right away comments that a 'ring' is thus closed/invariant
under addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
So, perhaps it is a ring just since one does not leave it even if one
moves around, say like a boxing-ring. Or, I quite like the idea
presented earlier of 'Ring' also being used to describe (figuratively)
a collection of people with a certain relation among them, a property
this word shares with 'Gruppe' [group] and also 'Körper' [field, but
literally body], both seem to have been established by then already.
(Which also is somehow a partial response to why a ring is a ring even
though it is not more ring-like than a group or a field; the later two
already had a different name.)
Then, it seems the first axiomatisation of some notion of ring is due
to Fraenkel (J. Reine Angew. Math., 1915). I stress some notion, since
it does not completely match current practise in that each element is
either a zero-divisor or invertible (and while non-commuativity is
allowed it is only in a somewhat restricted sense in that the two
products must only differ by an invertible element). The guiding
example seems to be rings of integers modulo composites.
Regarding the name 'Ring' (that paper is also in German) he credits
Hilbert but says there is some deviation of the meaning.
By constrast, Steinitz in his earlier axiomatization of fields (J.
Reine Angew. Math., 1910) also discusses 'Integritätsbereiche'
(integral domains) with exatly the axiomatization common today. (comm.
ring, with unit, no zero-divisors).
Then to 'Moderne Algebra' (1930) by van der Waerden (based on lectures
by Artin and Noether). [To be precise, I could not look at the
original edition, but only some later edition, I hope this did not
change over time.]
There one finds 'Ring' defined, (essentially) as is done now, as a
basic notion; without any discussion of the naming. [To be precise, a
ring there has not necessarily a multiplicative unit element and the
existence of additive inverse and neutral element is expressed
together via imposing solubility of a+X=b for all a,b.]
In addition, one also finds 'Integritätsbereich' there with a
different meaning than 'Ring'; namely as commutaitve ring without
zero-divisors (yet not necessarily with unit element, so somewhat
deviating from current usage and Steinitz).
I think one can make an argument that the structure is now called ring
because it is called like that in 'Moderne Algebra', and one can note
that also the naming of integral domain survived. (Except for slight
deviation with unit element, but which until today is not quite
uniform.)
And, it seems reasonable to assume that the naming of Artin, Noether,
van der Waerden as for Franekel is directly inspired by Hilbert. After
all, a ring has (just) the main properties mentioned by Hilbert for
his 'rings', closed under addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
What I do not know is whether there is any earlier axiomatization of
ring in (or at least closer than Fraenkel's to) the current sense.
Fraenkel's
To sum it up, this is all but a 'definite' answer, but I hope it
contains some relevant information. In my opinion, it could be
difficult, possibly even impossible, to ascertain what precisely
motivated the choice of name and even more so to really pin down why
one name survived and another not (say, Integritätsbereich did,
Rationalitätsbereich did not). It could however be interesting to
research literature and in particular lecture notes, if existant, of
the beginning 20th century to see the development in more detail.
Still, ring seems like a good word as there are some potential
intuitions (this circling back and the residue classes), also it is
short and was I think quite different from preexisting names.
Source: https://mathoverflow.net/questions/117292/why-is-a-ring-called-a-ring
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I have long wondered about the use of the term "field" in algebra. Here is what I have learned.
The original term for such a structure, due to Dedekind, is "Zahlenkörper", which is German for "body of numbers"; it is now usually shortened to "Körper". Several other European languages use analogous terms for the same algebraic structure; e.g. "corps" in French and "cuerpo" in Spanish. Another early term, no longer in use, was Kronecker's "Rationalitaetsbereich", which means something like "realm of rationalities".
Wikipedia suggests the earliest use of the term "field" in English was due to E.H. Moore in 1893, but I recall seeing a usage by H.J.S. Smith, who died a decade earlier (I have, unfortunately, lost the reference). It is not clear why "field" (which is indeed a possible rendering of "Bereich") was used instead of "body".
A number of languages now use terms that correspond to the English "field"; e.g. "поле" in Russian and "campo" in Italian.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
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$begingroup$
From mathoverflow. Source at the end.
Why is a ring called "a ring"?
The idea that the name is motivated by 'circling back' might or might
not be true. But I could not find any trace of it there. In
particular, there seems to be no result close by regarding the fact
that the powers αn somehow 'circle back' to linear combinations (the
idea mentioned by KConrad); also no analogy to rings of residue
classes is drawn. (Of course, it is proved somewhere that such a
'ring' has a finite Z-module basis but the way this is presented does
not suggest any particular 'circling back' idea.)
Hilbert's definition for ring is (paraphrasing): given a collection of
algebraic integers, a ring is everything that can be written as
polynomial functions with integer coefficients of this given
collection. (As an aside, personally, I now finally understood the
idea behind the name integral domain/'Integritätsbereich'; a number
field is also called 'Rationalitätsbereich', so rational domain there,
being everything one gets with rational functions and the integral
domain is what one gets with integral functions. Added: I saw had I
started to read MO earlier I could have learned this usage due to
Kronecker was mentioned by KConrad on the question linked to).
He then right away comments that a 'ring' is thus closed/invariant
under addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
So, perhaps it is a ring just since one does not leave it even if one
moves around, say like a boxing-ring. Or, I quite like the idea
presented earlier of 'Ring' also being used to describe (figuratively)
a collection of people with a certain relation among them, a property
this word shares with 'Gruppe' [group] and also 'Körper' [field, but
literally body], both seem to have been established by then already.
(Which also is somehow a partial response to why a ring is a ring even
though it is not more ring-like than a group or a field; the later two
already had a different name.)
Then, it seems the first axiomatisation of some notion of ring is due
to Fraenkel (J. Reine Angew. Math., 1915). I stress some notion, since
it does not completely match current practise in that each element is
either a zero-divisor or invertible (and while non-commuativity is
allowed it is only in a somewhat restricted sense in that the two
products must only differ by an invertible element). The guiding
example seems to be rings of integers modulo composites.
Regarding the name 'Ring' (that paper is also in German) he credits
Hilbert but says there is some deviation of the meaning.
By constrast, Steinitz in his earlier axiomatization of fields (J.
Reine Angew. Math., 1910) also discusses 'Integritätsbereiche'
(integral domains) with exatly the axiomatization common today. (comm.
ring, with unit, no zero-divisors).
Then to 'Moderne Algebra' (1930) by van der Waerden (based on lectures
by Artin and Noether). [To be precise, I could not look at the
original edition, but only some later edition, I hope this did not
change over time.]
There one finds 'Ring' defined, (essentially) as is done now, as a
basic notion; without any discussion of the naming. [To be precise, a
ring there has not necessarily a multiplicative unit element and the
existence of additive inverse and neutral element is expressed
together via imposing solubility of a+X=b for all a,b.]
In addition, one also finds 'Integritätsbereich' there with a
different meaning than 'Ring'; namely as commutaitve ring without
zero-divisors (yet not necessarily with unit element, so somewhat
deviating from current usage and Steinitz).
I think one can make an argument that the structure is now called ring
because it is called like that in 'Moderne Algebra', and one can note
that also the naming of integral domain survived. (Except for slight
deviation with unit element, but which until today is not quite
uniform.)
And, it seems reasonable to assume that the naming of Artin, Noether,
van der Waerden as for Franekel is directly inspired by Hilbert. After
all, a ring has (just) the main properties mentioned by Hilbert for
his 'rings', closed under addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
What I do not know is whether there is any earlier axiomatization of
ring in (or at least closer than Fraenkel's to) the current sense.
Fraenkel's
To sum it up, this is all but a 'definite' answer, but I hope it
contains some relevant information. In my opinion, it could be
difficult, possibly even impossible, to ascertain what precisely
motivated the choice of name and even more so to really pin down why
one name survived and another not (say, Integritätsbereich did,
Rationalitätsbereich did not). It could however be interesting to
research literature and in particular lecture notes, if existant, of
the beginning 20th century to see the development in more detail.
Still, ring seems like a good word as there are some potential
intuitions (this circling back and the residue classes), also it is
short and was I think quite different from preexisting names.
Source: https://mathoverflow.net/questions/117292/why-is-a-ring-called-a-ring
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
From mathoverflow. Source at the end.
Why is a ring called "a ring"?
The idea that the name is motivated by 'circling back' might or might
not be true. But I could not find any trace of it there. In
particular, there seems to be no result close by regarding the fact
that the powers αn somehow 'circle back' to linear combinations (the
idea mentioned by KConrad); also no analogy to rings of residue
classes is drawn. (Of course, it is proved somewhere that such a
'ring' has a finite Z-module basis but the way this is presented does
not suggest any particular 'circling back' idea.)
Hilbert's definition for ring is (paraphrasing): given a collection of
algebraic integers, a ring is everything that can be written as
polynomial functions with integer coefficients of this given
collection. (As an aside, personally, I now finally understood the
idea behind the name integral domain/'Integritätsbereich'; a number
field is also called 'Rationalitätsbereich', so rational domain there,
being everything one gets with rational functions and the integral
domain is what one gets with integral functions. Added: I saw had I
started to read MO earlier I could have learned this usage due to
Kronecker was mentioned by KConrad on the question linked to).
He then right away comments that a 'ring' is thus closed/invariant
under addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
So, perhaps it is a ring just since one does not leave it even if one
moves around, say like a boxing-ring. Or, I quite like the idea
presented earlier of 'Ring' also being used to describe (figuratively)
a collection of people with a certain relation among them, a property
this word shares with 'Gruppe' [group] and also 'Körper' [field, but
literally body], both seem to have been established by then already.
(Which also is somehow a partial response to why a ring is a ring even
though it is not more ring-like than a group or a field; the later two
already had a different name.)
Then, it seems the first axiomatisation of some notion of ring is due
to Fraenkel (J. Reine Angew. Math., 1915). I stress some notion, since
it does not completely match current practise in that each element is
either a zero-divisor or invertible (and while non-commuativity is
allowed it is only in a somewhat restricted sense in that the two
products must only differ by an invertible element). The guiding
example seems to be rings of integers modulo composites.
Regarding the name 'Ring' (that paper is also in German) he credits
Hilbert but says there is some deviation of the meaning.
By constrast, Steinitz in his earlier axiomatization of fields (J.
Reine Angew. Math., 1910) also discusses 'Integritätsbereiche'
(integral domains) with exatly the axiomatization common today. (comm.
ring, with unit, no zero-divisors).
Then to 'Moderne Algebra' (1930) by van der Waerden (based on lectures
by Artin and Noether). [To be precise, I could not look at the
original edition, but only some later edition, I hope this did not
change over time.]
There one finds 'Ring' defined, (essentially) as is done now, as a
basic notion; without any discussion of the naming. [To be precise, a
ring there has not necessarily a multiplicative unit element and the
existence of additive inverse and neutral element is expressed
together via imposing solubility of a+X=b for all a,b.]
In addition, one also finds 'Integritätsbereich' there with a
different meaning than 'Ring'; namely as commutaitve ring without
zero-divisors (yet not necessarily with unit element, so somewhat
deviating from current usage and Steinitz).
I think one can make an argument that the structure is now called ring
because it is called like that in 'Moderne Algebra', and one can note
that also the naming of integral domain survived. (Except for slight
deviation with unit element, but which until today is not quite
uniform.)
And, it seems reasonable to assume that the naming of Artin, Noether,
van der Waerden as for Franekel is directly inspired by Hilbert. After
all, a ring has (just) the main properties mentioned by Hilbert for
his 'rings', closed under addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
What I do not know is whether there is any earlier axiomatization of
ring in (or at least closer than Fraenkel's to) the current sense.
Fraenkel's
To sum it up, this is all but a 'definite' answer, but I hope it
contains some relevant information. In my opinion, it could be
difficult, possibly even impossible, to ascertain what precisely
motivated the choice of name and even more so to really pin down why
one name survived and another not (say, Integritätsbereich did,
Rationalitätsbereich did not). It could however be interesting to
research literature and in particular lecture notes, if existant, of
the beginning 20th century to see the development in more detail.
Still, ring seems like a good word as there are some potential
intuitions (this circling back and the residue classes), also it is
short and was I think quite different from preexisting names.
Source: https://mathoverflow.net/questions/117292/why-is-a-ring-called-a-ring
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
From mathoverflow. Source at the end.
Why is a ring called "a ring"?
The idea that the name is motivated by 'circling back' might or might
not be true. But I could not find any trace of it there. In
particular, there seems to be no result close by regarding the fact
that the powers αn somehow 'circle back' to linear combinations (the
idea mentioned by KConrad); also no analogy to rings of residue
classes is drawn. (Of course, it is proved somewhere that such a
'ring' has a finite Z-module basis but the way this is presented does
not suggest any particular 'circling back' idea.)
Hilbert's definition for ring is (paraphrasing): given a collection of
algebraic integers, a ring is everything that can be written as
polynomial functions with integer coefficients of this given
collection. (As an aside, personally, I now finally understood the
idea behind the name integral domain/'Integritätsbereich'; a number
field is also called 'Rationalitätsbereich', so rational domain there,
being everything one gets with rational functions and the integral
domain is what one gets with integral functions. Added: I saw had I
started to read MO earlier I could have learned this usage due to
Kronecker was mentioned by KConrad on the question linked to).
He then right away comments that a 'ring' is thus closed/invariant
under addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
So, perhaps it is a ring just since one does not leave it even if one
moves around, say like a boxing-ring. Or, I quite like the idea
presented earlier of 'Ring' also being used to describe (figuratively)
a collection of people with a certain relation among them, a property
this word shares with 'Gruppe' [group] and also 'Körper' [field, but
literally body], both seem to have been established by then already.
(Which also is somehow a partial response to why a ring is a ring even
though it is not more ring-like than a group or a field; the later two
already had a different name.)
Then, it seems the first axiomatisation of some notion of ring is due
to Fraenkel (J. Reine Angew. Math., 1915). I stress some notion, since
it does not completely match current practise in that each element is
either a zero-divisor or invertible (and while non-commuativity is
allowed it is only in a somewhat restricted sense in that the two
products must only differ by an invertible element). The guiding
example seems to be rings of integers modulo composites.
Regarding the name 'Ring' (that paper is also in German) he credits
Hilbert but says there is some deviation of the meaning.
By constrast, Steinitz in his earlier axiomatization of fields (J.
Reine Angew. Math., 1910) also discusses 'Integritätsbereiche'
(integral domains) with exatly the axiomatization common today. (comm.
ring, with unit, no zero-divisors).
Then to 'Moderne Algebra' (1930) by van der Waerden (based on lectures
by Artin and Noether). [To be precise, I could not look at the
original edition, but only some later edition, I hope this did not
change over time.]
There one finds 'Ring' defined, (essentially) as is done now, as a
basic notion; without any discussion of the naming. [To be precise, a
ring there has not necessarily a multiplicative unit element and the
existence of additive inverse and neutral element is expressed
together via imposing solubility of a+X=b for all a,b.]
In addition, one also finds 'Integritätsbereich' there with a
different meaning than 'Ring'; namely as commutaitve ring without
zero-divisors (yet not necessarily with unit element, so somewhat
deviating from current usage and Steinitz).
I think one can make an argument that the structure is now called ring
because it is called like that in 'Moderne Algebra', and one can note
that also the naming of integral domain survived. (Except for slight
deviation with unit element, but which until today is not quite
uniform.)
And, it seems reasonable to assume that the naming of Artin, Noether,
van der Waerden as for Franekel is directly inspired by Hilbert. After
all, a ring has (just) the main properties mentioned by Hilbert for
his 'rings', closed under addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
What I do not know is whether there is any earlier axiomatization of
ring in (or at least closer than Fraenkel's to) the current sense.
Fraenkel's
To sum it up, this is all but a 'definite' answer, but I hope it
contains some relevant information. In my opinion, it could be
difficult, possibly even impossible, to ascertain what precisely
motivated the choice of name and even more so to really pin down why
one name survived and another not (say, Integritätsbereich did,
Rationalitätsbereich did not). It could however be interesting to
research literature and in particular lecture notes, if existant, of
the beginning 20th century to see the development in more detail.
Still, ring seems like a good word as there are some potential
intuitions (this circling back and the residue classes), also it is
short and was I think quite different from preexisting names.
Source: https://mathoverflow.net/questions/117292/why-is-a-ring-called-a-ring
$endgroup$
From mathoverflow. Source at the end.
Why is a ring called "a ring"?
The idea that the name is motivated by 'circling back' might or might
not be true. But I could not find any trace of it there. In
particular, there seems to be no result close by regarding the fact
that the powers αn somehow 'circle back' to linear combinations (the
idea mentioned by KConrad); also no analogy to rings of residue
classes is drawn. (Of course, it is proved somewhere that such a
'ring' has a finite Z-module basis but the way this is presented does
not suggest any particular 'circling back' idea.)
Hilbert's definition for ring is (paraphrasing): given a collection of
algebraic integers, a ring is everything that can be written as
polynomial functions with integer coefficients of this given
collection. (As an aside, personally, I now finally understood the
idea behind the name integral domain/'Integritätsbereich'; a number
field is also called 'Rationalitätsbereich', so rational domain there,
being everything one gets with rational functions and the integral
domain is what one gets with integral functions. Added: I saw had I
started to read MO earlier I could have learned this usage due to
Kronecker was mentioned by KConrad on the question linked to).
He then right away comments that a 'ring' is thus closed/invariant
under addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
So, perhaps it is a ring just since one does not leave it even if one
moves around, say like a boxing-ring. Or, I quite like the idea
presented earlier of 'Ring' also being used to describe (figuratively)
a collection of people with a certain relation among them, a property
this word shares with 'Gruppe' [group] and also 'Körper' [field, but
literally body], both seem to have been established by then already.
(Which also is somehow a partial response to why a ring is a ring even
though it is not more ring-like than a group or a field; the later two
already had a different name.)
Then, it seems the first axiomatisation of some notion of ring is due
to Fraenkel (J. Reine Angew. Math., 1915). I stress some notion, since
it does not completely match current practise in that each element is
either a zero-divisor or invertible (and while non-commuativity is
allowed it is only in a somewhat restricted sense in that the two
products must only differ by an invertible element). The guiding
example seems to be rings of integers modulo composites.
Regarding the name 'Ring' (that paper is also in German) he credits
Hilbert but says there is some deviation of the meaning.
By constrast, Steinitz in his earlier axiomatization of fields (J.
Reine Angew. Math., 1910) also discusses 'Integritätsbereiche'
(integral domains) with exatly the axiomatization common today. (comm.
ring, with unit, no zero-divisors).
Then to 'Moderne Algebra' (1930) by van der Waerden (based on lectures
by Artin and Noether). [To be precise, I could not look at the
original edition, but only some later edition, I hope this did not
change over time.]
There one finds 'Ring' defined, (essentially) as is done now, as a
basic notion; without any discussion of the naming. [To be precise, a
ring there has not necessarily a multiplicative unit element and the
existence of additive inverse and neutral element is expressed
together via imposing solubility of a+X=b for all a,b.]
In addition, one also finds 'Integritätsbereich' there with a
different meaning than 'Ring'; namely as commutaitve ring without
zero-divisors (yet not necessarily with unit element, so somewhat
deviating from current usage and Steinitz).
I think one can make an argument that the structure is now called ring
because it is called like that in 'Moderne Algebra', and one can note
that also the naming of integral domain survived. (Except for slight
deviation with unit element, but which until today is not quite
uniform.)
And, it seems reasonable to assume that the naming of Artin, Noether,
van der Waerden as for Franekel is directly inspired by Hilbert. After
all, a ring has (just) the main properties mentioned by Hilbert for
his 'rings', closed under addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
What I do not know is whether there is any earlier axiomatization of
ring in (or at least closer than Fraenkel's to) the current sense.
Fraenkel's
To sum it up, this is all but a 'definite' answer, but I hope it
contains some relevant information. In my opinion, it could be
difficult, possibly even impossible, to ascertain what precisely
motivated the choice of name and even more so to really pin down why
one name survived and another not (say, Integritätsbereich did,
Rationalitätsbereich did not). It could however be interesting to
research literature and in particular lecture notes, if existant, of
the beginning 20th century to see the development in more detail.
Still, ring seems like a good word as there are some potential
intuitions (this circling back and the residue classes), also it is
short and was I think quite different from preexisting names.
Source: https://mathoverflow.net/questions/117292/why-is-a-ring-called-a-ring
answered Mar 24 at 18:30
StammeringMathematicianStammeringMathematician
2,7951324
2,7951324
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$begingroup$
I have long wondered about the use of the term "field" in algebra. Here is what I have learned.
The original term for such a structure, due to Dedekind, is "Zahlenkörper", which is German for "body of numbers"; it is now usually shortened to "Körper". Several other European languages use analogous terms for the same algebraic structure; e.g. "corps" in French and "cuerpo" in Spanish. Another early term, no longer in use, was Kronecker's "Rationalitaetsbereich", which means something like "realm of rationalities".
Wikipedia suggests the earliest use of the term "field" in English was due to E.H. Moore in 1893, but I recall seeing a usage by H.J.S. Smith, who died a decade earlier (I have, unfortunately, lost the reference). It is not clear why "field" (which is indeed a possible rendering of "Bereich") was used instead of "body".
A number of languages now use terms that correspond to the English "field"; e.g. "поле" in Russian and "campo" in Italian.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I have long wondered about the use of the term "field" in algebra. Here is what I have learned.
The original term for such a structure, due to Dedekind, is "Zahlenkörper", which is German for "body of numbers"; it is now usually shortened to "Körper". Several other European languages use analogous terms for the same algebraic structure; e.g. "corps" in French and "cuerpo" in Spanish. Another early term, no longer in use, was Kronecker's "Rationalitaetsbereich", which means something like "realm of rationalities".
Wikipedia suggests the earliest use of the term "field" in English was due to E.H. Moore in 1893, but I recall seeing a usage by H.J.S. Smith, who died a decade earlier (I have, unfortunately, lost the reference). It is not clear why "field" (which is indeed a possible rendering of "Bereich") was used instead of "body".
A number of languages now use terms that correspond to the English "field"; e.g. "поле" in Russian and "campo" in Italian.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I have long wondered about the use of the term "field" in algebra. Here is what I have learned.
The original term for such a structure, due to Dedekind, is "Zahlenkörper", which is German for "body of numbers"; it is now usually shortened to "Körper". Several other European languages use analogous terms for the same algebraic structure; e.g. "corps" in French and "cuerpo" in Spanish. Another early term, no longer in use, was Kronecker's "Rationalitaetsbereich", which means something like "realm of rationalities".
Wikipedia suggests the earliest use of the term "field" in English was due to E.H. Moore in 1893, but I recall seeing a usage by H.J.S. Smith, who died a decade earlier (I have, unfortunately, lost the reference). It is not clear why "field" (which is indeed a possible rendering of "Bereich") was used instead of "body".
A number of languages now use terms that correspond to the English "field"; e.g. "поле" in Russian and "campo" in Italian.
$endgroup$
I have long wondered about the use of the term "field" in algebra. Here is what I have learned.
The original term for such a structure, due to Dedekind, is "Zahlenkörper", which is German for "body of numbers"; it is now usually shortened to "Körper". Several other European languages use analogous terms for the same algebraic structure; e.g. "corps" in French and "cuerpo" in Spanish. Another early term, no longer in use, was Kronecker's "Rationalitaetsbereich", which means something like "realm of rationalities".
Wikipedia suggests the earliest use of the term "field" in English was due to E.H. Moore in 1893, but I recall seeing a usage by H.J.S. Smith, who died a decade earlier (I have, unfortunately, lost the reference). It is not clear why "field" (which is indeed a possible rendering of "Bereich") was used instead of "body".
A number of languages now use terms that correspond to the English "field"; e.g. "поле" in Russian and "campo" in Italian.
answered Mar 24 at 19:14
FredHFredH
3,7401024
3,7401024
add a comment |
add a comment |
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$begingroup$
I think of a ring in the context of a crime ring. It is another name for a collection.
$endgroup$
– John Douma
Mar 24 at 18:42
$begingroup$
Related: Why are rings called rings
$endgroup$
– Brian
Mar 24 at 22:56