hull-kernel topology

noun phrase

a standard topology used in commutative algebra and functional analysis, especially in the study of rings and operator algebras; the topology placed on the set of ideals of a ring (often prime ideals or primitive ideals) by relating two dual notions: the hull of a set of ideals = the set of elements common to all those ideals (an intersection), the kernel of a set of ring elements = the set of ideals containing those elements