AoPSWiki
NEW! Hard Problems DVD
A documentary about the 2006 US IMO team. Features many current and past AoPS members!
Click here for more details and to order
Personal tools

Center (algebra)

From AoPSWiki

In general, the center of an algebraic structure is the set of elements which commute with every of the structure. With magmas (such as groups), this definition is straightforward; for rings and fields, the commutativity in question is multiplicative commutativity.

The center of a group is never empty, as the identity commutes with every element of a group. The center of a group is a subgroup of the group—a normal subgroup, in fact; it is also stable under any endomorphism on the group.

See also

This article is a stub. Help us out by expanding it.

Support local problem solving programs by contributing to the Art of Problem Solving Foundation.
Click here for more information about the Foundation.
© Copyright 2008 AoPS Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. • FoundationPrivacyContact Us