Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2020/ii/paper-4/18g/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 4 18G b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
The symmetric group acts on the three partitions of four roots into two unordered pairs. The resulting homomorphism has kernel the Klein four-group . If is a square and the characteristic is not two, the discriminant criterion for an alternating Galois group gives , and its image on the three resolvent roots lies in .
For an irreducible quartic, is transitive on four roots, and its only possibilities inside are and . The resolvent is irreducible exactly when the image acts transitively on its three roots, equivalently when that image is . ThusThe printed statement omits the needed irreducibility hypothesis on . Literally it is false: has square discriminant and Galois group , and its resolvent is irreducible. Without quartic irreducibility, a reducible resolvent only implies , allowing the trivial group, , or .
For the specified polynomial ,Its resolvent is . Modulo this is , which has no root in and is therefore an irreducible cubic. The quartic is given to be irreducible, so the preceding criterion yields
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