Reduced p.p.-rings without identity. (Q884189)

A ring \(R\) (not necessarily with identity) is called `left (right) p.p.' if for every element \(x\in R\) there exists an idempotent \(e\in R\) such that \(x=ex\) (\(x=xe\)) and the left (right) annihilators of \(x\) and \(e\) coincide. If \(R\) is left and right p.p. then we say that it is a `p.p.-ring'. In the present paper the p.p.-rings \(R\) which are `reduced' (i.e., they contain no nonzero nilpotent elements) are characterized using properties of the set of all idempotents of \(R\) (Theorem 3.1), respectively using a kind of ideals called left (right) perpetual. Another interesting result is Theorem 3.4 which shows that a p.p.-ring is reduced if and only if it contains no nonzero nilpotent element of the form \(exe\), where \(e\) is an idempotent.