Elementary Number Theory – Relation Between Irreducible and Prime Numbers

elementary-number-theoryprime numbers

Am I right in thinking that the conventional definition of a prime integer (can only be written as itself times $1$ and has no other factors) is actually the definition for irreducible?

Is it true that this is given because prime and irreducible are equivalent in a ring and it the above definition is so much easier than explaining that a number $p$ is prime if and only if “$p$ divides $ab$” implies either “$p$ divides $a$” or “$p$ divides $b$”.

Why are these equivalent?

Are there any simple examples of numbers that are either prime or irreducible but not both?

Best Answer

The set of integers is Unique Factorization Domain, that is, every element can be uniquely factorized. In UFD, a non-unit element is prime if and only if it is irreducible. So in $\mathbb{Z}$, there is no counterexample.

In $\mathbb{Z}[\sqrt{5}]$, which is a set of elements of the form $a+b\sqrt{-5}$ where $a$ and $b$ are integers, $9$ can be written in two forms, $$ 9=3^2 = (2-\sqrt{-5})(2+\sqrt{-5}) $$ and $3$ divides $(2-\sqrt{-5})(2+\sqrt{-5})$ but does not divide neither $2-\sqrt{-5}$ nor $2+\sqrt{-5}$. So $3$ is not a prime here. You can also see that $\mathbb{Z}[\sqrt{-5}]$ is not UFD. However, it is an irreducible element. This can be shown by solving the following equation $$ 3=(a+b\sqrt{-5})(c+d\sqrt{-5}) $$ for integers $a,b,c$ and $d$. Long and uninteresting calculation will show that $b=d=0$ and either one of $a$ and $c$ is $1$, and the other one is $3$.

Conversely, in integral domain $R$, being prime always implies that it is an irreducible element. Suppose a prime $p$ is reducible, so there are two non-unit elements $a,b$ such that $p=ab$. Since $p$ divides $ab=p$, by the definition of the primality, $p$ must divide $a$ or $b$. We may assume that $p$ divides $a$, and there is $c\in R$ such that $pc=a$. Thus $$ p=ab=pcb \implies cb=1 $$ so it contradicts that $b$ is non-unit. The cancellation works because we are working in the integral domain.

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