Polynomial rings over nil rings cannot be homomorphically mapped onto rings with nonzero idempotents (Q5936165)

The statement given in the title (i.e., polynomial rings over nil rings are Behrens radical rings) provides a substantial improvement in the approximation of Köthe's problem by radicals. Also several other remarkable results are proved, e.g., for a ring \(R\) and natural number \(n\) the following are equivalent: (i) for every \(k\) the polynomial ring \(M_k(R)[x_1,\dots,x_n]\) over the matrix ring \(M_k(R)\) is Behrens radical, (ii) for every \(k\) every left ideal of \(M_k(R)[x_1,\dots,x_n]\) is Brown-McCoy radical, (iii) for every \(k\) and left ideal \(L\) of \(M_k(R)\) the ring \(L[x_1,\dots,x_n]\) is Brown-McCoy radical.