Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2020/ii/paper-3/18g/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 3 18G a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Suppose the irreducible quadratic became reducible over . It would then have a root , and would be a quadratic intermediate extension. By the Fundamental theorem of Galois theory, would be a subgroup of index two in and hence a normal subgroup by the index-two subgroup is normal result. But the Simplicity of alternating groups says that is simple, while this subgroup would be proper and nontrivial. This contradiction proves that remains irreducible in .
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