The units in a ring are those elements which have an inverse under multiplication. They form a group, and this “group of units” is very important in algebraic number theory. Using units you can also define the idea of an “associate” which lets you generalize the fundamental theorem of arithmetic to all integers.
The units in a ring are those elements which have an inverse under multiplication. They form a group, and this “group of units” is very important in algebraic number theory. Using units you can also define the idea of an “associate” which lets you generalize the fundamental theorem of arithmetic to all integers.