Ordered \(*\)-rings (Q5936161)

The ways are analyzed in which a given \(*\)-ordering on the set of symmetric elements can be extended to a multiplicatively closed ordering on a larger set of elements. To extend the valuation-theoretic characterization of \(*\)-orderings for \(*\)-fields to \(*\)-rings \(R\) (with involution), the authors strengthen the definition of an extended \(*\)-ordering, and add a condition which is automatically satisfied when inverses exist: \(rxr^*\in Q\Rightarrow x\in Q\) for any \(r\in R\) not in the ideal generated by \(Q\cap-Q\) where the subset \(Q\) is the extended \(*\)-ordering. If \(P\) is a \(*\)-ordering on a \(*\)-ring \(R\ni 2^{-1}\), then there is an extended \(*\)-ordering \(Q\) with \(Q\cap S(R)=P\) where \(S(R)\) is the set of symmetric elements. A complete characterization of all extensions of a given \(*\)-ordering with support \(\{0\}\) on an Ore domain \(R\ni 2^{-1}\) is provided.