Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-number-theory-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2010/b/4/solution

An integral basis is a -basis of the ring of integers ; its elements also form a -basis of .
To prove existence, first multiply the elements of a rational basis by suitable nonzero integers to obtain an integral rational basis . Put . The trace pairing is nondegenerate in characteristic zero, and the matrix has integer entries and nonzero determinant . If is integral, all are integers, so . The adjugate formula gives . Consequently
A subgroup of a free abelian group is free, and these inclusions force rank . A -basis of is therefore an integral basis.
Now put and . The polynomial is irreducible by Eisenstein at any prime dividing the squarefree , except for , where is Eisenstein at . Thus and . Every has the unique form with . The nontrivial -automorphism sends to , so an integral has integral conjugate . Relative trace and norm of integral elements are integral in . Applying them to and taking the trace of gives
The power basis has discriminant
Indeed, the resultant of and is ; the discriminant sign factor is . By the discriminant-index formula for an integral lattice, a prime dividing must divide .
No odd prime can divide this index. The Eisenstein equation gives , while has nonintegral field norm for and : its -adic norm valuation is . If were integral, multiplication by first forces ; subtracting and multiplying by forces . Continuing forces all coefficients divisible by . This excludes an index element of order .
To exclude , any index element of order two would be represented by an integral
with integers not all even. Here and . The integrality of forces
Since , the first congruence implies have the same parity. If both were odd, the second would require , impossible. Hence are even. The second congruence then forces to have the same parity, while the first forces even. Thus are even too, a contradiction. Therefore the index is one and
For the last request, let and take . It satisfies , and hence
This monic integer polynomial proves integrality. Its coordinates in the rational power basis have halves, so . Also with a nonzero coefficient in ; if were in that quadratic field, then would be too, contradicting degree four. Thus it meets both exclusions.

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