Self-injective regular algebras and function rings (Q1205175)

The paper is devoted to the presentation of an example of a self- injective commutative (von Neumann) regular ring which is a \(\mathbb{Q}\)- algebra yet which is not elementarily equivalent to a function ring. In [Commun. Algebra 18, No. 12, 4225-4234 (1990; Zbl 0731.13019)], the author considered the conjecture that any commutative regular ring which is an algebra over a field \(F\) is an ``\(A\)-standard function ring'' -- the ring of all those continuous functions from its Boolean algebra of (central) idempotents to some discretely topologised \(F\)-algebra whose values on each point are constrained to lie in a certain subalgebra (which varies with the point). The conjecture is intended to reflect the structure theorems of \textit{R. Arens} and \textit{I. Kaplansky} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 63, 457-481 (1949; Zbl 0032.00702)] and \textit{M. H. Stone} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 40, 37-111 (1936; Zbl 0014.34002)] but was set up only to be demolished later, in that paper. The author's counterexample of [loc. cit.] was, however, not well-behaved in some respects and here the author presents a more striking counterexample, based on the definability, due to \textit{J. Robinson} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 10, 950-957 (1959; Zbl 0100.01501)], of the natural numbers in finite extension fields of the rational field. The paper ends with some remarks on related matters.