I am looking for a ring element which is irreducible but not prime.
So necessarily the ring can't be a PID. My idea was to consider $R=K[x,y]$ and $x+y\in R$.
This is irreducible because in any product $x+y=fg$ only one factor, say f, can have a $x$ in it (otherwise we get $x^2$ in the product). And actually then there can be no $y$ in $g$ either because $x+y$ has no mixed terms. Thus $g$ is just an element from $K$, i.e. a unit.
I got stuck at proving that $x+y$ is not prime. First off, is this even true? If so, how can I see it?
Best Answer
Let $\rm\ R = \mathbb Q + x\:\mathbb R[x],\ $ i.e. the ring of real polynomials having rational constant coefficient. Then $\,x\,$ is irreducible but not prime, since $\,x\mid (\sqrt 2 x)^2\,$ but $\,x\nmid \sqrt 2 x,\,$ by $\sqrt 2\not\in \Bbb Q$