Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2012/iii/paper-28/1/b/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 28 1 b ii Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The compactness and completeness proved above apply again. The finite ring has a positive integer characteristic , so and . Prime factorization supplies a prime with . In characteristic zero the restriction to is therefore a positive power of the p-adic absolute value, by the preceding classification. Completing embeds the P-adic number field into the complete field .
Now is open, so is finite. It is an -vector space; choose lifts of a basis. Successively reducing modulo gives, for every ,Convergence in follows from . Every element of becomes integral after multiplication by a power of , so . Consequently : is a p-adic field. This finite-module proof does not assume discreteness of the original value group in advance.
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