Rings whose additive endomorphisms are N-multiplicative

Abstract

Sullivan's problem of describing rings, all of whose additive endomorphisms are multiplicative, is generalised to the study of rings R satisfying ϕ(a1 … an) = ϕ(a1)…ϕ(an) for every additive endomorphism ϕ of R, and all a1,…,an ∈ R, with n > 1 a fixed positive integer. It is shown that such rings possess a bounded (finite) ideal A such that [R/A]n = 0 ([R/A]2n−1 = 0). More generally, if f(X1, …, Xt) is a homogeneous polynomial with integer coefficients, of degree > 1, and if a ring R satisfies ϕ[f(a1, …, at)] = f[ϕ(a1), …, ϕ(at)] for all additive endomorphisms ϕ, and all a1, …, at ∈ R, then R possesses a bounded ideal A such that R/A satisfies the polynomial identity f.