Semi-commutativity and the McCoy condition. (Q2491840)

A ring \(R\) is called `right McCoy' if it satisfies: whenever \(f(x)g(x)=0\) in \(R[X]\) for non-zero polynomials \(f(x)\) and \(g(x)\), then there is a non-zero \(r\in R\) with \(f(x)r=0\). \(R\) is called a `McCoy ring' if it is both left and right McCoy. It is known that any commutative ring and any reduced ring is a McCoy ring. A natural question is whether there is a class of McCoy rings which includes both the commutative rings and the reduced rings. The author shows that the class of reversible rings fulfils this requirement (\(R\) is `reversible' if \(ab=0\) implies \(ba=0\) for \(a,b \in R\)). This confirms the earlier unpublished result to this effect of T. Y. Lam, A. Leroy and J. Matczuk. The well-known open question on whether the more general semi-commutative rings (\(ab=0\) implies \(aRb=0\) with \(a,b\in R\)) are McCoy rings, which was elsewhere claimed to be true, is also settled here in the negative: an example of a semi-commutative ring is given which is not McCoy. It is shown that the semi-commutative rings satisfy a weaker form of the McCoy condition.