We give the full local-field norm-index argument. Let be cyclic of order . On an additive -module set and . The two cyclic Tate cohomology groups are
When these are finite, the Herbrand quotient is . The periodic complex alternating and yields a six-term periodic exact sequence from a short exact sequence of modules. Taking alternating products of orders in that exact sequence proves
For a finite module, and show that the two Tate cohomology groups have equal order. Thus the Herbrand quotient of a finite module is one. For the trivial integral module , the two groups are and zero, giving .
We also need cyclic cohomology of a regular lattice. In , fixed coefficient vectors are constant, and every such vector is a norm of a basis vector times its coefficient. The kernel of consists of vectors whose coefficient sum is zero. For such a vector , solve successively around the cycle; the final equation holds precisely because . Thus . Both Tate cohomology groups vanish, so , for or , and likewise for finite direct sums.
Now take a cyclic extension of p-adic fields of degree . Write . For , the convergent p-adic logarithm and p-adic exponential give mutually inverse -equivariant group isomorphisms
where the right side is additive. The convergence assertion follows from the estimates and ; formal inverse identities therefore hold on this ball.
By the normal basis theorem, choose so that is a -basis of . The lattice is a regular -module. It is a finite direct sum of regular -modules, hence its Tate cohomology vanishes. The lattices and are commensurable: their intersection has finite index in both. The exact sequences with these finite quotients establish finiteness of the Tate cohomology groups and show . Thus . Since is finite, as well.
The -equivariant valuation exact sequence is
Its last term has trivial -action. The multiplication rule gives the Herbrand quotient of the local multiplicative group:
All the Tate cohomology groups here are finite by the lattice argument and the exact sequence; finiteness of the norm index has not been assumed.
For completeness we prove the needed Hilbert theorem 90. If has field norm one, put and . The linear map is not zero by linear independence of distinct field embeddings. Choose with . The relation gives , so . This proves . The zeroth Tate cohomology group is . Consequently the cyclic local norm index is
Writing , the valuation of a field norm is . The valuation quotient has order , and a norm with valuation zero comes from a unit. Therefore
In particular every unit is a norm in an unramified extension. These results give the norm assertions used in the quadratic Hilbert symbol computation.
We finish with the Hasse norm theorem: for a cyclic extension of number fields, an element is a global norm if and only if it is a norm at every place. More precisely the local norm is the norm from the product ; in a Galois extension its factors have the same norm subgroup. The forward implication is immediate. For the converse associate to the cyclic algebra . The splitting criterion for a cyclic algebra, proved below, identifies its splitting with . At a place where the tensor product of fields has several factors, this algebra is a matrix algebra over the cyclic algebra of one decomposition-field factor, with the generator restricted to its cyclic decomposition subgroup. Thus the local norm assumption makes its Brauer class zero at every place. Injectivity in the Albert-Brauer-Hasse-Noether theorem makes the global Brauer class zero, giving the desired global norm. This is the required proof outline; cyclicity is essential to this reduction.
For , the quadratic Hilbert symbol is one if is a field norm from , and minus one otherwise; a square gives the trivial extension and symbol one. It depends only on the two square classes. Equivalently, the conic has a nonzero rational point precisely when the symbol is one. Interchanging and in the conic gives . The Hilbert norm residue symbol is a group homomorphism in each argument; for nonsquare , the cyclic local norm index makes its group kernel a subgroup of index two. The resulting pairing on square classes is nondegenerate. Also
since . In the language of local class field theory, ; in the Brauer group, it records whether the quaternion cyclic algebra splits. These are compatible norm-obstruction descriptions.
An unramified extension of local fields of degree two has norm group consisting precisely of elements with even valuation. Indeed,
and the norms on units are surjective. For the latter assertion, the norm on the finite residue fields is surjective. On successive higher principal-unit groups, the congruence
allows one to correct a proposed unit norm one digit at a time: the residue field trace is surjective, and completeness makes the corrections converge. An unramified quadratic field is unique up to isomorphism. Therefore, if is its defining nonsquare class,
For odd , choose the nonsquare unit from part (i). The polynomial has irreducible separable reduction, so it defines the unramified quadratic extension. Thus
The trivial class is included in , since a degree-one extension is unramified. The two units pair trivially, while . Any class outside has odd valuation and consequently pairs nontrivially with . This proves directly
For , the unit square classes from part (i) give . The element satisfies ; its reduction is irreducible and separable over . This shows that is unramified of degree two, giving
For a fully explicit pairing check, use the generators . We have and , since and from . But : a norm equal to would be a sum of two squares. If either summand had negative valuation, the sum would have negative valuation (equal negative valuations give valuation ); if both were integral, their squares could not sum to . Finally, the unramified norm criterion gives . The identity and determine the remaining entries. Writing , the exponent matrix is
For , annihilating both generators of requires , so . Annihilating alone requires , so is a unit class. Hence
These are the Hilbert-symbol annihilators of units and unramified square classes. Annihilators here are taken with respect to this pairing, or equivalently in the character group of a finite abelian group after identifying square classes with their Hilbert-symbol characters.
We give the detailed norm-index argument for a cyclic extension of p-adic fields; thus is a finite extension of . Write , . For an additive -module , put and . The two periodic Tate cohomology of a cyclic group groups and the Herbrand quotient are
when these groups are finite. For multiplicative modules, is the product of conjugates and .
The periodic complex alternating and gives a six-term exact sequence for every short exact sequence of modules. Taking the alternating product of the finite group orders in that exact sequence proves
For a finite module, the counting fibers gives and , so the two Tate groups have equal order. This proves the Herbrand quotient of a finite module is one. It follows that replacing a module by a finite-index submodule does not change its quotient, whenever the cohomology groups are finite.
Two basic calculations drive the norm computation. For the trivial module , and is multiplication by , so . For a regular lattice , with , invariants are constant coefficient vectors and every such vector is a norm: put its constant coefficient in just one coordinate before applying . The group kernel of consists of the coefficient vectors of sum zero. Successively taking partial sums solves the cyclic difference equation for every such vector . Thus both Tate groups vanish and . This is cyclic cohomology of a regular lattice.
Let and . For sufficiently large , the p-adic logarithm and p-adic exponential are inverse -equivariant isomorphisms
To make the range explicit, suffices: the higher terms in the logarithm and exponential have greater valuation than their leading terms, their series converge there, and the identities and remain valid. Thus a deep multiplicative unit group becomes an additive -lattice in .
By the normal basis theorem, as a -module. As a -module it is therefore . Transport the regular lattice into . Both and are full -stable -lattices, so their intersection has finite index in each. The exact sequences with finite quotients show that the Tate groups of are finite and that
Since is finite, the exact-sequence formula for the Herbrand quotient gives . Finally, the valuation sequence
has trivial -action on . Hence the Herbrand quotient of the local multiplicative group is
For completeness, the denominator vanishes by Hilbert theorem 90. If , put and . Independence of distinct field automorphisms lets us choose with . Since , shifting the sum gives . Thus , a multiplicative coboundary. Therefore . The invariant subgroup of is , so
This proves the cyclic local norm index without assuming local reciprocity. If the extension has ramification index and residue degree , the valuation formula shows that the valuation contribution to the index is . A norm is a unit only when is a unit, so the remaining contribution is
In particular, unit norms are surjective in an unramified cyclic extension. The norm subgroup is open: on deep units its logarithm is , a nonzero full lattice in , and therefore contains a sufficiently deep principal-unit group. This connects the index calculation to the open finite-index norm subgroups classified by local class field theory.
To finish, the Hasse norm theorem for a cyclic extension of number fields states that a nonzero element is a global norm if and only if it is a norm at every finite and infinite completion. Here is its Brauer-theoretic proof outline. Associate to the cyclic algebra , with relations and . The splitting criterion for a cyclic algebra says that it splits exactly when : if , multiplication by and the operator realize it as ; conversely, in a split matrix representation, the underlying -dimensional space is one-dimensional over , so must act as and .
Apply this criterion at every completion, using the restricted cyclic character and any one completion of above that place. If is a local norm everywhere, every localized Brauer class is zero. Injectivity in the Albert-Brauer-Hasse-Noether theorem forces in ; the global splitting criterion gives . Conversely, a global norm is a local norm after completion, since the norm on is the product of the component norms, whose images coincide in the Galois case. The cyclic hypothesis is essential; the stated local-global principle does not hold for arbitrary extensions.
Quadratic Hilbert symbol 2026-10-07
The symbol is one exactly when is a norm from , and is always one if is square. Equivalently the conic is isotropic. This proves symmetry. The cyclic local norm index makes the norm subgroup have index two for nonsquare , proving bilinearity and nondegeneracy on local square classes. Also and .