Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/ib/paper-3/11e/b/solution

Reducing coefficients modulo gives the ring isomorphism
If , its monic leading coefficient remains one modulo , so . Polynomial division gives a unique representative of degree less than : existence follows by division, and the difference of two such representatives cannot be a nonzero multiple of a degree- monic polynomial. There are choices for each of the coefficients, proving
Irreducibility of is not needed for finiteness; without it the quotient ring need not be a field.

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