The ideal class group of is . Its four reduced binary quadratic forms have coefficients , , and . The displayed multiquadratic field has degree four over the base. The seven quadratic-subfield discriminants are , whose product in absolute value is . The conductor-discriminant formula and discriminant tower formula imply that the relative discriminant over is the unit ideal. This unramified abelian degree-four extension is therefore its Hilbert class field.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 74 6 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a number field , its ordinary Hilbert class field is the maximal finite abelian extension unramified at every finite prime and with every real place splitting completely. The Artin reciprocity map inducesThe image of an unramified prime ideal is its Frobenius automorphism. Thus a prime splits completely in precisely when its ideal class is trivial. This field packages ideal-class obstructions into splitting behavior. Ideals become principal in by the principal ideal theorem. Specifying the real-place convention matters for real fields: omitting it leads instead to the narrow class-field problem. Both illustrative fields below are imaginary quadratic, so there are no real places to discuss.
First consider , whose quadratic discriminant is . The correspondence between ideal classes and reduced primitive positive definite binary quadratic forms lets us compute its class number without guessing a class field. A reduced form obeys , , and ; a boundary case uses . For the only class is ; for the two possibilities are and . Hence and its ideal class group is cyclic of order three.
Take . Its only possible rational roots are , neither a root, so it is irreducible. Its polynomial discriminant is , which is nonsquare. Thus its splitting field has Galois group and the quadratic fixed field of is , generated by the square root of its discriminant. Therefore is cyclic of degree three and for a root of .
At a prime other than , the separable residue polynomial splits over a finite residue-field extension; Hensel's lemma puts all its roots in an unramified local extension. At there is the exact factorizationThe simple factor lifts by Hensel's lemma. The remaining quadratic factor has discriminant valuation one, because the cubic discriminant is and the resultant with the simple factor is a unit. Its local splitting field is ramified quadratic, with inertia group of order two. Its intersection with is trivial, so the relative extension is unramified at as well. There are no real places. An unramified abelian extension of degree must be all of , givingThis is the Hilbert class field of Q of square root minus twenty-three.
The other alternative, , has quadratic discriminant . Reduced forms have and even . Testing , , and gives exactlyThus . Each class is its own inverse, because replacing by leaves these representatives unchanged; consequently the ideal class group is .
Set . The square classes are independent, so . Their product gives , and is abelian of degree four. Its seven quadratic subfields have discriminantsFor a multiquadratic abelian extension, the conductor-discriminant formula takes the product of these quadratic character conductors, namely the absolute quadratic discriminants. Hence . The relative discriminant tower formula givesThe integral relative discriminant ideal therefore has norm one and is the unit ideal. Thus is everywhere unramified, and its degree equals the class number. This proves the other explicit answer:It agrees with the Hilbert class field of Q of square root minus thirty. Both alternatives have been computed independently from their class numbers and ramification.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 31 5 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Put and . The ring of integers is , and the fundamental discriminant is . For a reduced positive definite binary quadratic form of discriminant , reduction givesThe coefficient is even; checking and , with the usual nonnegative sign choice at boundary equalities, leaves preciselyThe correspondence between proper quadratic forms and ideal classes therefore gives . All four classes equal their inverses, since inversion replaces by . HenceThe three nontrivial classes may be represented by the ramified prime ideals , and . They square to principal ideals and satisfy . None is principal: an integral generator of norm , or would require to equal that number, which is impossible. The relation then makes the three classes distinct, consistently with the four-form calculation.
ConsiderThe three rational square classes are independent, so . Their radical product is , so and ; the extension is abelian. To verify that it is unramified, rather than assuming that radical adjunctions are harmless at , use the conductor-discriminant formula. The seven quadratic subfields have fundamental discriminantsThe formula givesThe discriminant tower identity now givesThus the relative discriminant is the unit ideal and no finite prime ramifies. The base has no real places, so there is no infinite ramification to check. This unramified abelian degree-four extension has degree , and part (i) provesThis is the Hilbert class field of Q of square root minus thirty.
Next translate prime representation into an ideal class. For , we claimIf a representation exists, lies in and has . The integral ideal has norm , so it is a prime ideal . Its class is . Conversely, if , the product is principal, say . Since this ideal lies in , its generator has the form with integers . Taking norms gives , proving the reverse implication. This is prime representation via an ideal class, and it proves sufficiency as well as necessity.
Identify the required class in through the Artin map. We can use the explicit representation : has norm , so the prime above obtained from has class . Its Frobenius in the multiquadratic extension acts on the three radicals with signsTheir product is one, so this automorphism fixes . Because is abelian, for any unramified rational prime that splits in , the Frobenius at either prime of of norm is its rational Frobenius restricted to . The Artin isomorphism therefore makes the required class condition equivalent toConversely, these signs already imply splitting in , since their product is . No extra splitting condition is missing.
The supplementary law for , quadratic reciprocity for and , and then the Chinese remainder theorem turn these sign conditions intoTheir four simultaneous residue classes modulo are . Finally, is represented by , whereas and cannot be represented: gives a value at least , and gives twice a square. We have proved the complete criterion