Some non-chromatic rings (Q4382444)

Let \(R\) be a commutative ring with identity. Consider \(R\) as a simple graph with vertices elements of \(R\) where any two distinct elements \(x,y\in R\) are adjacent if and only if \(xy=0\). If the chromatic number of \(R\) is finite then \(R\) is called a coloring. Further, a coloring is called a chromatic ring if the chromatic number of \(R\) equals the clique number of \(R\) (i.e., the maximum number of elements in a clique of \(R\)). \textit{I. Beck} [J. Algebra 116, No. 1, 208-226 (1988; Zbl 0654.13001)] conjectured that any coloring is a chromatic ring. \textit{D. D. Anderson} and \textit{M. Naseer} [ibid. 159, No. 2, 500-514 (1993; Zbl 0798.05067)] provided a counterexample to this conjecture, i.e., gave an example of a non-chromatic ring. This paper generalizes the example and gives a large class of non-chromatic rings. For convenience the results are proved for a finite local ring with prime residue field, but most of the results are valid in case the residue field is finite. Some properties of the graphs of these rings are analyzed (e.g. the genus, connectedness, planarity) and some estimates for the chromatic number of the graphs in certain cases are proposed.