We now give a more formal approach to fields than before.

Definition

A field is a commutative ring in which every nonzero element has a multiplicative inverse.


Since an invertible element cannot be a zero divisor, every field is a domain. The converse is not necessarily true: Q[X]  is a domain but not a field. For finite domains, however, the converse does hold:

Theorem

Every finite domain is a field.