Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-rings-and-modules-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021/1/a/ii/solution
Past exam of the rings and modules course of the University of Oxford 2021 1 a ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Regard as the polynomial ring . The coefficient ring is a Euclidean domain, hence a principal ideal domain. The element is a prime element: the quotient ring is an integral domain.
The monic polynomial has its other coefficients divisible by , while . Part (a)(i), with playing the role of and the indeterminate, proves that is an irreducible polynomial.
Now use the automorphism of a polynomial ringIts inverse fixes and sends to . A ring isomorphism preserves units and factorizations, hence preserves irreducible elements. Sincewe obtainApplying the Eisenstein criterion directly to the second expression with the prime element would fail, since ; the change of indeterminate supplies the required argument.
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