In mathematics, especially in the field of abstract algebra, a polynomial ring or polynomial algebra is a ring (which is also a commutative algebra) formed from the set of polynomials in one or more indeterminates (traditionally also called variables) with coefficients in another ring, often a field. Polynomial rings have influenced much of mathematics, from the Hilbert basis theorem, to the construction of splitting fields, and to the understanding of a linear operator. Many important conjectures involving polynomial rings, such as Serre's problem, have influenced the study of other rings, and have influenced even the definition of other rings, such as group rings and rings of formal power series.