This is a description of some different approaches which have been taken to the problem of generalizing the algebraic closure of a field. Work surveyed is by Enoch and Hochster (commutative algebra), Raphael (categories and rings of quotients), Borho (the polynomial approach), and Carson (logic).
Later work and applications are given.
Let G(X) denote the smallest (von Neumann) regular ring of real-valued functions with domain X that contains C(X), the ring of continuous real-valued functions on a Tikhonov topological space (X,τ). We investigate when G(X) coincides with the ring of continuous real-valued functions on the space , where is the smallest Tikhonov topology on X for which and is von Neumann regular. The compact and metric spaces for which are characterized. Necessary, and different sufficient, conditions...
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