Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/iii/paper-20/2/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 20 2 b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Compute each scheme-theoretic fibre by tensoring with the residue field of the chosen base point.
For the first map, put for a point of and let be the image of in . ThenIf the characteristic of a field is not two and , the two factors and are coprime, so the Chinese remainder theorem gives : the scheme-theoretic fibre is two distinct -points. If , its ring is , a dual number ring, so it is a nonreduced double point. In characteristic two, at every point, giving a nonreduced double point in every scheme-theoretic fibre. This covers the generic point, where , as well as closed points defined by irreducible polynomials.
For the arithmetic map, the generic scheme-theoretic fibre isOver a closed point it is . At this is , since . For odd , the finite field multiplicative group is cyclic, and is a square exactly when . ThusIn the second case there is one degree-two closed point over , which becomes two points after extending the residue field to an algebraic closure. The case remains nonreduced after such extension.
For , the unique source point maps to the generic point . Since all nonzero integers are invertible in ,Indeed , whereas . The distinction between a reduced split scheme-theoretic fibre and a nonreduced double point is essential in the first two examples.
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