Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2023/ii/paper-2/18i/a/solution

An element is separable over when its minimal polynomial has distinct roots in a splitting field.
Because is irreducible, it is separable exactly when
If , then , so irreducibility makes this greatest common divisor equal to one. If , the zero-derivative criterion gives
for some , and is inseparable. Therefore

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