We can study the conjecture for locally compact rings as follows. In [Kap] a subset $S$ of a topological ring is called *algebraically nilpotent* if for some $n$, $S^n=0$. **Lemma 1.** [Kap, Theorem 2] A locally compact ring with no algebraically nilpotent ideals is the direct sum of a connected ring and a totally disconnected ring. The former is a semi-simple algebra of finite order over the real numbers. Since Romain Gicquaud's [comment](https://mathoverflow.net/questions/454884/are-topological-pids-noetherian#comment1177754_454894) rules out the connected ring case, it remains to consider locally compact totally disconnected rings. For this case we have the following structural lemma. **Lemma 2.** [Kap, Lemma 4] A locally compact totally disconnected ring has a system of neighborhoods of $0$ which are compact open subrings. **Lemma 3.** Let $R$ be a locally compact totally disconnected integral domain. Let $U$ be a compact open subring of $R$ such that $0\in U$ and $1\not\in U$. Then $1+U$ is a multiplicative topological group. *Proof.* Since $U$ is a ring, $1+U$ is a multiplicative semigroup. Since $R$ is an integral domain and $0\not\in 1+U$, the multiplicative semigroup $1+U$ is cancellative. Since $1+U$ is compact, it is a multiplicative topological group, see, for instance, [AT, Theorem 2.5.2]. $\square$ **Proposition 4.** Let $R$ be a compact totally disconnected integral domain such that every closed ideal in $R$ is principal. Then each proper nonzero ideal $I$ of $R$ is closed, so $R$ is a principal ideal domain. *Proof*. Pick an element $x\in R$ such that $(x)=\overline{I}$. Let $\mathcal U_x$ be the family of all neighborhoods of the point $x$. For each $U_x\in\mathcal U_x$ put $U'_x=\{y\in R:xy\in U_x\cap I\}$ and $\mathcal U'_x=\{U'_x:U_x\in\mathcal U_x\}$. Then $\mathcal U'_x$ is a filter on a compact space $R$, so $\mathcal U'_x$ has a cluster point $y'\in R$, see, for instance, [Eng, Theorem 3.1.24]. Then $$xy'\in x\cdot\bigcap \{\overline{U'_x}: U_x\in \mathcal U_x\}\ \subset \bigcap \{x\overline{U'_x}: U_x\in \mathcal U_x\}\ \subset \bigcap \{\overline{xU'_x}: U_x\in \mathcal U_x\}\subset \bigcap \{\overline{U_x}\in \mathcal U_x\}=\{x\},$$ so $xy'=x$ and $x(y'-1)$. Since the ideal $I$ is nonzero, $x\ne 0$. Since $R$ is an integral domain, $y'=1$. By Lemma 2, there exists a compact open subring $U$ of $R$ such that $0\in U$ and $1\not\in U$. Since $R$ is a neighborhood of $x$, $1+U$ is a neighborhood of $1$, and $1$ is the cluster point of $\mathcal U'_x$, $(1+U)\cap R'\ne 0$. Pick any element $u\in U$ such that $1+u\in R'$. Then $x(1+u)\in I$. By Lemma 3, $1+U$ is a multiplicative topological group, so the element $1+u$ is invertible. Then $x\in I$, so $I=(x)=\overline{I}$. $\square$ Now we can describe the structure of compact topological principal ideal domains in more details applying the following results. **Proposition 5.** [War, Theorem 1] Let $R$ be a compact Hausdorff ring, and let $\mathfrak r$ be the radical of $R$. Every ideal of $R$ is closed if and only if $R$ satisfies the ascending chain condition on ideals and every principal ideal of $R$ is closed. Under these circumstances, the topology of $R$ is the $\mathfrak r$-adic topology, either $R=\mathfrak r$ or $R/\mathfrak r$ is isomorphic to the Cartesian product of a finite family of finite simple rings, and consequently there are only finitely many regular maximal, regular maximal left, or regular maximal right ideals in $A$. **Proposition 6.** [War, Theorem 2] Let $R$ be a topological ring with identity, and let $\mathfrak r$ be the radical of $R$. The following conditions are equivalent. 1)) $R$ is compact Hausdorff, and every left ideal of $R$ is closed. 2)) $R$ is compact Hausdorff and Noetherian. 3)) $R$ is compact Hausdorff and satisfies the ascending chain condition on closed left ideals. 4)) $R$ is Noetherian, the topology of $R$ is the $\mathfrak r$-adic topology, $R$ is complete for that topology, $\bigcap_{n=1}^\infty \mathfrak r^n=\{0\}$, and $R/\mathfrak r$ is a finite ring. *References* [AT] Alexander V. Arhangel'skii, Mikhail G. Tkachenko, *Topological groups and related structures*, Atlantis Press, Paris; World Sci. Publ., NJ, 2008. [Eng] Ryszard Engelking, *General Topology*, 2nd ed., Heldermann, Berlin, 1989. [Kap] Irving Kaplansky, *[Locally compact rings](https://www.jstor.org/stable/2372343)*, Am. J. Math. **70**:2 (Apr 1948) 447-459. [War] Seth Warner, *[Compact rings](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01452361)*, Mathematische Annalen **145** (Feb 1962) 52-63.