 Generator number and first cohomology of a finitely generated pro-p group

For a finitely generated pro-p group, its profinite Frattini subgroup has finite elementary abelian quotient. Continuous group homomorphisms to ${\mathbb{F}}_p$ are precisely the linear functionals on this quotient. The topological generation criterion identifies a minimal generating set with a basis, giving the displayed equality. Finite generation is essential when generator number means the least cardinality of an unrestricted dense generating family.