[Math] Why is $\mathbb{Z}[X]$ not a euclidean domain? What goes wrong with the degree function

abstract-algebraring-theory

I know that $K[X]$ is a Euclidean domain but $\mathbb{Z}[X]$ is not.

I understand this, if I consider the ideal $\langle X,2 \rangle$ which is a principal ideal of $K[X]$ but not of $\mathbb{Z}[X]$. So $\mathbb{Z}[X]$ isn't a principal ideal domain and therefore not an Euclidean domain.

But I don't understand this, if I consider the definition of Euclidean domains. Basically, a Euclidean domain is a ring where I can do division with remainders. For polynomial rings, the Euclidean function should be the degree of the polynomials. What's the crucial difference between $K[X]$ and $\mathbb{Z}[X]$ with respect to this?

I already did exercises involving polynomial division in $\mathbb{Z}[X]$, so clearly I must be missing something here.

Best Answer

Try to divide something like $x+1$ by $2x+1$. If it were a Euclidean Domain, you should be able to write $x+1=q(x)(2x+1) + r(x)$ where $r(x)$ has to have degree 0. You can see why this is not possible to do by looking at the coefficient on the $x$ term, since $2$ is not invertible in $\mathbb{Z}$

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