Question:
Let R be a ring with a 1. Define $\bar R$ to have the same elements of R with addition $$\oplus: a \oplus b = a +b +1$$ andmultiplication $$\otimes: a \otimes b = ab + a +b$$ Prove that $\bar R$ is a ring under $\oplus$ and $\otimes$ and has a 1.
My Attempt:
My understanding of a ring is it should be a non-empty set together with operations addition and multiplication satisfying the following conditions:
- R is an Abelian group under multiplication
- R must be closed and associative under multiplication
- Multiplication must be distributive over addition i.e. $a(b+c) = ab + ac$ and $(a+b)c= ac +bc$
So I try to show that all those conditions are satisfied:
$$1$$
$$ a \otimes b = ab + a + b$$ $$ b \otimes a = ba + b +a $$ In order for $a \otimes b$ to be equal to $b \otimes a$ it must be that $ba = ab$ (how do I prove this? - do I even need to prove this?)
$$2$$
Closed: $$ a \otimes b = ab + a + b$$ if $a, b \in \bar R$ then $ab, \in \bar R$, $(a + b) \in \bar R$ and therefore $ab + a + b$ must be in $ \bar R$. (Do I need to prove this? Or is that pattern of thought good enough?)
Associative: let's introduce an element $c \in \bar R$ and examine the associativity property.
$$ \begin{align} (a \otimes b) \otimes c & = \ (ab + a + b) \otimes c\\ & = \ abc + ac + bc + ab + a + b + c \\ & = \ a \otimes (bc + b + c) \\ & = \ a \otimes (b \otimes c) \\ & = \ a \otimes b \otimes c \\ \end{align} $$
So it is indeed associative under multiplication.
$$3$$
$$ \begin{align} a \otimes (b \oplus c) & = \ a \otimes (b + c + 1) \\ & = \ ab + ac + a + a + b + c + 1 \\ & = \ ab + b + a + ac + a + c + 1 \\ & = \ a\otimes b \oplus \ a \otimes c \\ \end{align} $$
And I'm sure if I tinker around with the $(a + b)c = ac + bc$ equation I will find that it is also true so it does satisfy the distributive law.
The second part of the question demands that I show that $ \bar R$ has a 1. I understand a 1 to have the property: $a\times1= a$.
So considering it in this ring we're looking for a $x$ that does this:
$$a \otimes x = a$$ $$ a \otimes x = ax + x + a = a$$ Just from looking at the equation and using my intuition one can see that when $x=0$ the equation is true. So I would say that x=0 is the 1 of this ring. 0 is the multiplicative identity of $\bar R$
My Concerns:
Can I conclude after having done all this that $\bar R$ is in fact a Ring? Have I answered the question sufficiently enough?