Center (ring theory)
In algebra, the center of a ring R is the subring consisting of the elements x such that xy = yx for all elements y in R. It is a commutative ring and is denoted as ; "Z" stands for the German word Zentrum, meaning "center".
If R is a ring, then R is an associative algebra over its center. Conversely, if R is an associative algebra over a commutative subring S, then S is a subring of the center of R.
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