The Hermite ring conjecture and special linear groups for valuation rings

Abstract

In this paper we prove that the Hermite ring conjecture holds for valuation rings $V$, and the special liner group $SL_n(V[x])$ coincides with the group generated by elementary matrices $E_n(V[x])$ for $n\geq3$. For any arithmetical ring $R$ and $n\geq3$, we show $SL_n(R[x]) = SL_n(R)\cdot E_n(R[x])$.