Let $R$ be the ring $$R = \prod\_{p\ \text{prime}} \mathbb{F}\_p$$ where $\mathbb{F}\_p$ is the field having $p$ elements. 


Is it true that $R$ has a quotient by a maximal ideal which is a field of characteristic zero and contains $\overline{\mathbb{Q}}$?


Motivation: I like the problem and I can't solve it... 


It should have something to do with the Chebotarev density theorem.



product of all F_p, p prime
The answer is Yes, and this is the [ultraproduct](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraproduct) construction. Let U be any nonprincipal ultrafilter on the set of primes. This is simply the dual filter to a maximal ideal on the set of primes, containing all finite sets of primes. (In other words, U contains the Frechet filter.) 


The quotient R/U is a field of characteristic 0. 


The ultraproduct construction is completely general, and has nothing to do with rings or fields. If Mi for i in I is any collection of first order structures, and U is an ultrafilter on the subsets of I, then we may form the ultraproduct Π Mi/U, which is the set of equivalence classes by the relation f equiv g iff { i in I | f(i) = g(i) } in U. Similarly, the structure is imposed on the ultraproduct coordinate-wise, and this is well-defined. The most important theorem is Los's theorem, which says that Π Mi/U satisfies a first order statement phi([f]) if and only if { i in I | Mi satisfies phi(f(i)) } in U. 


In your case, since every Fp is a field, the ultraproduct is also a field. And since the set of p bigger than any fixed n is in U, then the ultraproduct will have 1+...+1 (n times) not equal to 0, for any fixed n > 0. That is, the ultraproduct will have characteristic 0.




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Edit: I confess I missed the part initially about containing the algebraic numbers, and so there is more to be done, as Kevin points out. What Los's theorem gives you is that something will be true in R/U just in case the set of p for which F\_p has the property is in the ultrafilter U. 


What you need to know is that for any finite list of equations, that there is an infinite set of primes p for which the equations have a solution in Fp. This property is equivalent to asking whether every finite list of equations over Z is true in at least one Fp, since one can always add one more equation so as to exclude any particular Fp. Is this true? (I wasn't sure.)


But according to what Kevin says in the comments below, it is true, and this is precisely what you need for the construction to go through. You can form a filter containing those sets, which would form a descending sequence of subsets of primes, and then extend this to an ultrafilter. In this case, any particular equation would have a solution in Fp for a set of p in U, and so the ultrapower R/U would have a solution. In this case, the ultrapower will contain the algebraic numbers. 


