Definition:Principal Ideal of Ring

Definition
Let $\left({R, +, \circ}\right)$ be a ring with unity.

Let $a \in R$.

We define $\left({a}\right) = \left\{{r \circ a: r \in R}\right\}$.

Then:
 * 1) $\forall a \in R: \left({a}\right)$ is an ideal of $R$;
 * 2) $\forall a \in R: a \in \left({a}\right)$;
 * 3) $\forall a \in R:$ if $J$ is an ideal of $R$, and $a \in J$, then $\left({a}\right) \subseteq J$. That is, $\left({a}\right)$ is the smallest ideal of $R$ containing $a$.

The ideal $\left({a}\right)$ is called the principal ideal of $R$ generated by $a$.

From Principal Ideal is an Ideal, $\left({a}\right)$ is a principal ideal if $\left \langle {a} \right \rangle$ is the ideal generated by $a$.