Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-options-i-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2012/a/a1/c/solution

Choose . Since , the linearly independent elements form a basis of over . Thus there are with . The assumption on the characteristic of a field allows division by two. Set
Completing the square gives
Also , since otherwise would lie in . Because and , these generated subfields agree. The basis representation shows , hence
The square-root generator is obtained by translating an arbitrary generator to remove the linear term of its quadratic relation.

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