On a characterization of complete matrix rings

Peter R. Fuchs established in 1991 a new characterization of complete matrix rings by showing that a ringR with identity is isomorphic to a matrix ringM _n (S) for some ringS (and somen 2) if and only if there are elementsx andy inR such thatx ^n–1 0,x ⁿ=0=y ²,x+y is invertible, and Ann(x ^n–1)Ry={0} (theintersection condition), and he showed that the intersection condition is superfluous in casen=2. We show that the intersection condition cannot be omitted from Fuchs' characterization ifn3; in fact, we show that if the intersection condition is omitted, then not only may it happen that we do not obtain a completen ×n matrix ring for then under consideration, but it may even happen that we do not obtain a completem ×m matrix ring for anym2.