Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/iii/paper-29/1/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 29 1 a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The structural facts used about a non-Archimedean local field are that it is complete for a normalized discrete valuation , its valuation ring is a discrete valuation ring, its maximal ideal is for a uniformizer , and its residue field is a finite field . Polynomial operations are continuous for this valuation topology.
Construct with . Given , put . Taylor expansion over the valuation ring givesThe omitted terms contain , and for . The residue of remains the nonzero residue of , so choose withThis makes . The congruences make a Cauchy sequence; completeness gives its limit . Continuity and give , and the first congruence gives its specified residue class.
For uniqueness, if are two roots in that class, polynomial division of their difference givesThe second factor is a unit, since is a unit and . Thus . This proves both existence and uniqueness in the stated Hensel lemma.
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