In algebra, a Hilbert ring or a Jacobson ring is a ring such that every prime ideal is an intersection of primitive ideals. For commutative rings primitive ideals are the same as maximal ideals so in this case a Jacobson ring is one in which every prime ideal is an intersection of maximal ideals.
Jacobson rings were introduced independently by Wolfgang Krull (1951, 1952), who named them after Nathan Jacobson because of their relation to Jacobson radicals, and by Oscar Goldman (1951), who named them Hilbert rings after David Hilbert because of their relation to Hilbert's Nullstellensatz.
Jacobson rings and the Nullstellensatz.
Hilbert's Nullstellensatz of algebraic geometry is a special case of the statement that the polynomial ring in finitely many variables over a field is a Hilbert ring. A general form of the Nullstellensatz states that if "R" is a Jacobson ring, then so is any finitely generated "R"-algebra "S". Moreover, the pullback of any maximal ideal "J" of "S" is a maximal ideal "I" of "R", and "S/J" is a finite extension of the field "R/I".
In particular a morphism of finite type of Jacobson rings induces a morphism of the maximal spectra of the rings. This explains why for algebraic varieties over fields it is often sufficient to work with the maximal ideals rather than with all prime ideals, as was done before the introduction of schemes. For more general rings such as local rings, it is no longer true that morphisms of rings induce morphisms of the maximal spectra, and the use of prime ideals rather than maximal ideals gives a cleaner theory.
Characterizations.
The following conditions on a commutative ring "R" are equivalent:
Notes.
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