On the Zero-Divisor Graph of a Ring

Abstract

Let R be a commutative ring with identity, Z(R) its set of zero-divisors, and Nil(R) its ideal of nilpotent elements. The zero-divisor graph of R is Γ(R) = Z(R)\\{0}, with distinct vertices x and y adjacent if and only if xy = 0. In this article, we study Γ(R) for rings R with nonzero zero-divisors which satisfy certain divisibility conditions between elements of R or comparability conditions between ideals or prime ideals of R. These rings include chained rings, rings R whose prime ideals contained in Z(R) are linearly ordered, and rings R such that {0} ≠ Nil(R) ⊆ zR for all z ∈ Z(R)\\Nil(R).