Integer

The integers (from the Latin integer, literally "untouched", hence "whole": the word entire comes from the same origin, but via French[1]) are formed by the natural numbers (including 0) (0, 1, 2, 3, ...) together with the negatives of the non-zero natural numbers (1, 2, 3, ...). Viewed as a subset of the real numbers, they are numbers that can be written without a fractional or decimal component, and fall within the set {..., 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, ...}. For example, 21, 4, and 2048 are integers; 9.75, 5, and 2 are not integers. The set of all integers is often denoted by a boldface Z (or blackboard bold , Unicode U+2124 ), which stands for Zahlen (German for numbers, pronounced [tsaln]).[2] The integers (with addition as operation) form the smallest group containing the additive monoid of the natural numbers. Like the natural numbers, the integers form a countably infinite set. In algebraic number theory, these commonly understood integers, embedded in the field of rational numbers, are referred to as rational integers to distinguish them from the more broadly defined algebraic integers.

Algebraic properties
Like the natural numbers, Z is closed under the operations of addition and multiplication, that is, the sum and product of any two integers is an integer. However, with the inclusion of the negative natural numbers, and, importantly, zero, Z (unlike the natural numbers) is also closed under subtraction. Z is not closed under division, since the quotient of two integers (e.g., 1 divided by 2), need not be an integer. Although the natural numbers are closed under exponentiation, the integers are not (since the result can be a fraction when the exponent is negative). The following lists some of the basic properties of addition and multiplication for any integers a, b and c. In the language of abstract algebra, the first five properties listed above for addition say that Z under addition is an abelian group. As a group under addition, Z is a cyclic group, since every nonzero integer can be written as a finite sum 1 + 1 + ... + 1 or (1) + (1) + ... + (1). In fact, Z under addition is the only infinite cyclic group, in the sense that any infinite cyclic group is isomorphic to Z.[citation needed] The first four properties listed above for multiplication say that Z under multiplication is a commutative monoid. However not every integer has a multiplicative inverse; e.g. there is no integer x such that 2x = 1, because the left hand side is even, while the right hand side is odd. This means that Z under multiplication is not a group.[citation needed] All the rules from the above property table, except for the last, taken together say that Z together with addition and multiplication is a commutative ring with unity. Adding the last

property says that Z is an integral domain. In fact, Z provides the motivation for defining such a structure.