Prime factorization

Some other fundamental concepts of modern algebra also had their origin in 19th-century work on number theory, particularly in connection with attempts to generalize the theorem of (unique) prime factorization beyond the natural numbers. This theorem asserted that every natural number could be written as a product of its prime factors in a unique way, except perhaps for order (e.g., 24 = 2∙2∙2∙3). This property of the natural numbers was known, at least implicitly, since the time of Euclid. In the 19th century, mathematicians sought to extend some version of this theorem to the complex numbers.

One should not be surprised, then, to find the name of Gauss in this context. In his classical investigations on arithmetic Gauss was led to the factorization properties of numbers of the type a + ib (a and b integers and i = Square root of√−1), sometimes called Gaussian integers. In doing so, Gauss not only used complex numbers to solve a problem involving ordinary integers, a fact remarkable in itself, but he also opened the way to the detailed investigation of special subdomains of the complex numbers.

In 1832 Gauss proved that the Gaussian integers satisfied a generalized version of the factorization theorem where the prime factors had to be especially defined in this domain. In the 1840s the German mathematician Ernst Eduard Kummer extended these results to other, even more general domains of complex numbers, such as numbers of the form a + θb, where θ² = n for n a fixed integer, or numbers of the form a + ρb, where ρⁿ = 1, ρ ≠ 1, and n > 2. Although Kummer did prove interesting results, it finally turned out that the prime factorization theorem was not valid in such general domains. The following example illustrates the problem.

Consider the domain of numbers of the form a + bSquare root of√−5 and, in particular, the number 21 = 21 + 0Square root of√−5. 21 can be factored as both 3∙7 and as (4 + Square root of√−5)(4 − Square root of√−5). It can be shown that none of the numbers 3, 7, 4 ± Square root of√−5 could be further decomposed as a product of two different numbers in this domain. Thus, in one sense they were prime. However, at the same time they violated a property of prime numbers known from the time of Euclid: if a prime number p divides a product ab, then it either divides a or b. In this instance, 3 divides 21 but neither of the factors 4 + Square root of√−5 or 4 − Square root of√−5.

This situation led to the concept of indecomposable numbers. In classical arithmetic any indecomposable number is a prime (and vice versa), but in more general domains a number may be indecomposable, such as 3 here, yet not prime in the earlier sense. The question thus remained open which domains the prime factorization theorem was valid in and how properly to formulate a generalized version of it. This problem was undertaken by Dedekind in a series of works spanning over 30 years, starting in 1871. Dedekind’s general methodological approach promoted the introduction of new concepts around which entire theories could be built. Specific problems were then solved as instances of the general theory.

Fields

A main question pursued by Dedekind was the precise identification of those subsets of the complex numbers for which some generalized version of the theorem made sense. The first step toward answering this question was the concept of a field, defined as any subset of the complex numbers that was closed under the four basic arithmetic operations (except division by zero). The largest of these fields was the whole system of complex numbers, whereas the smallest field was the rational numbers. Using the concept of field and some other derivative ideas, Dedekind identified the precise subset of the complex numbers for which the theorem could be extended. He named that subset the algebraic integers.

Ideals

Finally, Dedekind introduced the concept of an ideal. A main methodological trait of Dedekind’s innovative approach to algebra was to translate ordinary arithmetic properties into properties of sets of numbers. In this case, he focused on the set I of multiples of any given integer and pointed out two of its main properties:

1. If n and m are two numbers in I, then their difference is also in I.
2. If n is a number in I and a is any integer, then their product is also in I.

As he did in many other contexts, Dedekind took these properties and turned them into definitions. He defined a collection of algebraic integers that satisfied these properties as an ideal in the complex numbers. This was the concept that allowed him to generalize the prime factorization theorem in distinctly set-theoretical terms.

In ordinary arithmetic, the ideal generated by the product of two numbers equals the intersection of the ideals generated by each of them. For instance, the set of multiples of 6 (the ideal generated by 6) is the intersection of the ideal generated by 2 and the ideal generated by 3. Dedekind’s generalized versions of the theorem were phrased precisely in these terms for general fields of complex numbers and their related ideals. He distinguished among different types of ideals and different types of decompositions, but the generalizations were all-inclusive and precise. More important, he reformulated what were originally results on numbers, their factors, and their products as far more general and abstract results on special domains, special subsets of numbers, and their intersections.

Dedekind’s results were important not only for a deeper understanding of factorization. He also introduced the set-theoretical approach into algebraic research, and he defined some of the most basic concepts of modern algebra that became the main focus of algebraic research throughout the 20th century. Moreover, Dedekind’s ideal-theoretical approach was soon successfully applied to the factorization of polynomials as well, thus connecting itself once again to the main focus of classical algebra.