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  1. Field (mathematics)

    Linked via "additive identity (zero element)"

    Characteristic of a Field
    The characteristic of a field $F$, denoted $\text{char}(F)$, is the smallest positive integer $n$ such that the sum of $n$ copies of the multiplicative identity (unity element)/)\ ($1$) equals the additive identity (zero element)/)\ ($0$). That is,
    $$ \sum{i=1}^{n} 1 = \underbrace{1 + 1 + \dots + 1}{n \text{ times}} = 0 $$
    If no such positive integer $n$ exists, the characteristic is defined to be $0$ [3].