Envelopes of commutative rings

Abstract

Given a significative class $F$ of commutative rings, we study the precise conditions under which a commutative ring $R$ has an $F$-envelope. A full answer is obtained when $F$ is the class of fields, semisimple commutative rings or integral domains. When $F$ is the class of Noetherian rings, we give a full answer when the Krull dimension of $R$ is zero and when the envelope is required to be epimorphic. The general problem is reduced to identifying the class of non-Noetherian rings having a monomorphic Noetherian envelope, which we conjecture is the empty class.