Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2004/ib/paper-4/2f/ii/solution

A cubic over a field is reducible exactly when it has a root in that field: a nontrivial factorization must contain a degree-one factor. By the rational root theorem, a rational root of this monic integer polynomial must be an integer dividing its constant coefficient, hence either or . Substitution gives and , respectively. Neither is zero. Thus the cubic is irreducible over .

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