Ring of rational integers is not uniquely Euclidean for any norm

From Commalg

Template:Curing property dissatisfaction

Statement

The ring of rational integers cannot be made a uniquely Euclidean domain with any norm.

Proof

The proof can be broken down into the following steps:

  1. We cannot have such that : If such an exists, we have and also : two Euclidean divisions for by itself.
  2. We cannot have such that : If such an exists, we have and also : two Euclidean divisions for by itself.
  3. Thus, and no element has smaller norm.
  4. Suppose . Then at most one of these holds: or . This follows from the uniqueness of Euclidean division for by .
  5. for all positive integers : We prove this by induction on . Clearly, . Suppose .By the previous step, either or . But by the induction hypothesis, , which in turn is equal to , so . Thus, neither of these holds, so . Step (3) then forces .
  6. for all positive integers : The proof is analogous to the preceding one, relying on the division of by .
  7. Combining the last two steps, all elements have equal norm, and this is clearly not a Euclidean norm.