Nilpotent ideal

In mathematics, more specifically ring theory, an ideal I of a ring R is said to be a nilpotent ideal if there exists a natural number k such that I^k = 0. By I^k, it is meant the additive subgroup generated by the set of all products of k elements in I. Therefore, I is nilpotent if and only if there is a natural number k such that the product of any k elements of I is 0.

The notion of a nilpotent ideal is much stronger than that of a nil ideal in many classes of rings. There are, however, instances when the two notions coincide—this is exemplified by Levitzky's theorem. The notion of a nilpotent ideal, although interesting in the case of commutative rings, is most interesting in the case of noncommutative rings.