Nilpotent, algebraic and quasi-regular elements in rings and algebras

Abstract: We prove that an integral Jacobson radical ring is always nil, which extends a well known result from algebras over fields to rings. As a consequence we show that if every element x of a ring R is a zero of some polynomial p_x with integer coefficients, such that p_x(1)=1, then R is a nil ring. With these results we are able to give new characterizations of the upper nilradical of a ring and a new class of rings that satisfy the K\"othe conjecture, namely the integral rings.