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In mathematics, specifically in ring theory, a torsion element is an element of a module that yields zero when multiplied by some non-zero-divisor of the ring. The torsion submodule of a module is the submodule formed by the torsion elements. A torsion module is a module that equals its torsion submodule. A module is torsion-free if its torsion submodule comprises only the zero element. This terminology is more commonly used for modules over a domain, that is, when the regular elements of the ring are all its nonzero elements. This terminology applies to abelian groups (with "module" and "submodule" replaced by "group" and "subgroup"). This is allowed by the fact that the abelian groups are the modules over the ring of integers (in fact, this is the origin of the terminology, that has been introduced for abelian groups before being generalized to modules). In the case of groups that are noncommutative, a torsion element is an element of finite order. Contrary to the commutative case, the torsion elements do not form a subgroup, in general. An element m of a module M over a ring R is called a torsion element of the module if there exists a regular element r of the ring (an element that is neither a left nor a right zero divisor) that annihilates m, i.e., r m = 0. In an integral domain (a commutative ring without zero divisors), every non-zero element is regular, so a torsion element of a module over an integral domain is one annihilated by a non-zero element of the integral domain. Some authors use this as the definition of a torsion element, but this definition does not work well over more general rings. A module M over a ring R is called a torsion module if all its elements are torsion elements, and torsion-free if zero is the only torsion element. If the ring R is an integral domain then the set of all torsion elements forms a submodule of M, called the torsion submodule of M, sometimes denoted T(M). If R is not commutative, T(M) may or may not be a submodule.

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Torsion subgroup

In the theory of abelian groups, the torsion subgroup AT of an abelian group A is the subgroup of A consisting of all elements that have finite order (the torsion elements of A). An abelian group A is called a torsion group (or periodic group) if every element of A has finite order and is called torsion-free if every element of A except the identity is of infinite order. The proof that AT is closed under the group operation relies on the commutativity of the operation (see examples section).

Finitely generated group

In algebra, a finitely generated group is a group G that has some finite generating set S so that every element of G can be written as the combination (under the group operation) of finitely many elements of S and of inverses of such elements. By definition, every finite group is finitely generated, since S can be taken to be G itself. Every infinite finitely generated group must be countable but countable groups need not be finitely generated. The additive group of rational numbers Q is an example of a countable group that is not finitely generated.

Torsion (algebra)

On p-adic Versions of the Manin-Mumford Conjecture

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We establish p-adic versions of the Manin-Mumford conjecture, which states that an irreducible subvariety of an abelian variety with dense torsion has to be the translate of a subgroup by a torsion po

OXFORD UNIV PRESS2021

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Springer, Birkhäuser-Verlag; http://www.birkhauser.ch2006

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