If is an ordering on compatible with its ring structure, we shall say that is an ordered ring. An element of an ordered ring is positive if , and is strictly positive if .
The set of all positive elements of an ordered ring is denoted by , and the set of all strictly positive elements of is denoted by .
If is an ordered ring and if is a total ordering, we shall, of course, call a totally ordered ring; if is a field, we shall call an ordered field, and if, moreover, is a total ordering, we shal call a totally ordered field.
1990, P. M. Cohn, J. Howie (translators), Nicolas Bourbaki, Algebra II: Chapters 4-7, [1981, N. Bourbaki, Algèbre, Chapitres 4 à 7, Masson], Springer, 2003, Softcover reprint, page 19,
DEFINITION 1. — Given a commutative ring, we say that an ordering on is compatible with the ring structure on if it is compatible with the additive group structure of , and if it satisfies the following axiom:
(OR) The relations and imply .
The ring , together with such an ordering, is called an ordered ring.
Examples. — 1) The rings and , with the usual orderings, are ordered rings.
2) A product of ordered rings, equipped with the product ordering, is an ordered ring. In particular, the ring of mappings from a set to an ordered ring is an ordered ring.
3) A subring of an ordered ring, with the induced ordering, is an ordered ring.