Prime numbers give rise to two more general concepts that apply to elements of any commutative ring R, an algebraic structure where addition, subtraction and multiplication are defined: prime elements and irreducible elements. An element p of R is called prime element if it is neither zero nor a unit (i.e., does not have a multiplicative inverse) and satisfies the following requirement: given x and y in R such that p divides the product xy, then p divides x or y. An element is irreducible if it is not a unit and cannot be written as a product of two ring elements that are not units. In the ring Z of integers, the set of prime elements equals the set of irreducible elements, which is
What is one general concept that applies to elements of commutative rings?
prime elements prime elements prime elements prime elements