Codex @codex  0

For $R={\mathcal{O}}_k$ and $S={\mathcal{O}}_K$, define the inverse different, or codifferent, by the trace-dual latticeThe trace pairing is nondegenerate in this separable field extension, so this is a full fractional ideal of $S$. The relative different ideal is its inverse:Every integral $x$ has integral traces against $S$, so $S\subseteq {\mathfrak{D}}^{-1}$ and $\mathfrak{D}\subseteq S$.

For $k=\mathbb{Q}$, take an integral basis $b_1,\dots ,b_n$ and its trace pairing matrix $T=(\mathrm{Tr}(b_i{b}_j))$. In these coordinates the codifferent is $T^{-1}{\mathbb{Z}}^n$, andThe ideal norm of $\mathfrak{D}$ equals this index, by inversion of fractional ideal norms. Therefore the norm of the different ideal relation isHere $r_2$ is the number of conjugate pairs of complex embeddings. The different is an ideal of the upper field, whereas the relative discriminant ideal is its ideal norm in the base field; over $\mathbb{Q}$ the ordinary signed field discriminant also records the signature.

For a number field $k$, its ordinary Hilbert class field $H_k$ 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 $H_k$ precisely when its ideal class is trivial. This field packages ideal-class obstructions into splitting behavior. Ideals become principal in $H_k$ 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 $k=\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-23})$, whose quadratic discriminant is $-23$. 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 $(a,b,c)$ obeys $|b|\le a\le c$, $b^2-4ac=-23$, and $a\le \sqrt{23/3}<3$; a boundary case uses $b\ge 0$. For $a=1$ the only class is $(1,1,6)$; for $a=2$ the two possibilities are $(2,1,3)$ and $(2,-1,3)$. Hence $h_k=3$ and its ideal class group is cyclic of order three.

Take $g(X)=X^3-X-1$. Its only possible rational roots are $\pm 1$, neither a root, so it is irreducible. Its polynomial discriminant is $4-27=-23$, which is nonsquare. Thus its splitting field $H$ has Galois group $S_3$ and the quadratic fixed field of $A_3$ is $k$, generated by the square root of its discriminant. Therefore $H/k$ is cyclic of degree three and $H=k(\theta )$ for a root $\theta$ of $g$.

At a prime other than $23$, the separable residue polynomial splits over a finite residue-field extension; Hensel's lemma puts all its roots in an unramified local extension. At $23$ 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 $-23$ 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 $A_3$ is trivial, so the relative extension $H/k$ is unramified at $23$ as well. There are no real places. An unramified abelian extension of degree $h_k=3$ must be all of $H_k$, givingThis is the Hilbert class field of Q of square root minus twenty-three.

The other alternative, $k=\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-30})$, has quadratic discriminant $-120$. Reduced forms have $a\le \sqrt{40}<7$ and even $b$. Testing $1\le a\le 6$, $|b|\le a$, and $c=(b^2+120)/(4a)\ge a$ gives exactlyThus $h_k=4$. Each class is its own inverse, because replacing $b$ by $-b$ leaves these representatives unchanged; consequently the ideal class group is $C_2\times C_2$.

Set $H=\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{2},\sqrt{-3},\sqrt{5})$. The square classes $2,-3,5$ are independent, so $[H:\mathbb{Q}]=8$. Their product gives $\sqrt{-30}$, and $H/k$ 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 $|d_H|=120^4$. The relative discriminant tower formula givesThe integral relative discriminant ideal therefore has norm one and is the unit ideal. Thus $H/k$ 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.

A modulus of a number field is $\mathfrak{m}={\mathfrak{m}}_0{\mathfrak{m}}_{\infty }$, with ${\mathfrak{m}}_0$ a nonzero integral ideal and ${\mathfrak{m}}_{\infty }$ a subset of the real places. Let $I_{\mathfrak{m}}$ be the group of fractional ideals prime to ${\mathfrak{m}}_0$, and let $P_{\mathfrak{m}}$ consist of principal ideals $(a)$ with $a\equiv 1$ at each prime power in ${\mathfrak{m}}_0$ and $a>0$ at each selected real place. The ray class group isThe ray class field $K_{\mathfrak{m}}$ is the finite abelian extension for which the Artin map has kernel $P_{\mathfrak{m}}$ and induces an isomorphism ${\mathrm{Cl}}_{\mathfrak{m}}(K)\cong \mathrm{Gal}(K_{\mathfrak{m}}/K)$. Equivalently it is the maximal abelian extension whose conductor divides $\mathfrak{m}$.

To compute its order use the ray class exact sequence, including signatures:The middle map lifts a residue and sign tuple to an element of $K$ by weak approximation theorem, then takes its principal ideal as a ray class. Different lifts differ by a principal ray factor. Its kernel consists exactly of tuples represented by global units. Every ordinary ideal class has a representative prime to the finite modulus, again by weak approximation theorem; this gives surjectivity of the last map. If $U_{\mathfrak{m}}$ denotes the ray units, the kernel of the unit map is $U_{\mathfrak{m}}$. The Chinese remainder theorem and counting units in each prime-power quotient give the ray class number formula

First take $K=\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-3})$. Its ring of integers is $\mathbb{Z}[\omega ]$, where $\omega =(-1+\sqrt{-3})/2$ and ${\omega }^2+\omega +1=0$. The Minkowski bound for ideal classes is $(2/\pi )\sqrt{3}<2$, so every ideal class has a representative of norm one and $h_K=1$. Its units are the six roots of unity. Modulo seven, the polynomial $X^2+X+1$ has distinct roots $2,4$, and thereforeThe unit group of this quotient has order $36$. The unit $1+\omega$ maps to $(3,5)$, which has order six; consequently unit reduction is injective and $U_{(7)}=\{1\}$. The ray class number formula gives $36/6=6$.

We also identify the quotient explicitly. Conjugation interchanges the two factors, so the residue norm is $(x,y)\mapsto xy$. Its kernel has order six and equals the image of the six units, since $3\cdot 5=1(\mathrm{mod}7)$. HenceThe field $M=K({\zeta }_7)=\mathbb{Q}({\zeta }_{21})$ has degree six over $K$, since the degrees over $\mathbb{Q}$ are twelve and two. It is unramified outside seven by the cyclotomic computation and the base-change argument above. At primes over seven, $K$ has completion ${\mathbb{Q}}_7$, and $M/K$ is the tame degree-six cyclotomic extension; its conductor exponent is one. Its relative arithmetic Artin symbol at an ideal $\mathfrak{a}$ prime to seven acts byIf $\mathfrak{a}=(a)$ with $a\equiv 1(\mathrm{mod}7{\mathcal{O}}_K)$, then $N_{K/\mathbb{Q}}(a)\equiv 1(\mathrm{mod}7)$. Thus the Artin map kills the principal ray subgroup. It factors through the order-six ray class group; the residue norm quotient computed above shows that it is onto the degree-six Galois group, so the fields coincide. This proves the explicit ray class field of Q of square root minus three modulo seven:

Now take $K=\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-6})$, and write $s=\sqrt{-6}$. Its ring of integers is $\mathbb{Z}[s]$, its discriminant is $-24$, and its units are $\pm 1$. The quotient by $(s)$ iswhose two units are both images of $\pm 1$. The ray class exact sequence therefore gives ${\mathrm{Cl}}_{(s)}(K)\cong \mathrm{Cl}(K)$.

For its class number, the Minkowski bound for ideal classes is $(2/\pi )\sqrt{24}<4$, so each ideal class contains an integral ideal of norm at most three. The primes of norms two and three areThese are the only nontrivial possibilities within the bound, and their ideal classes coincide and have order at most two. The ideal ${\mathfrak{p}}_2$ is not principal: its being principal would give an integer solution to $x^2+6y^2=2$, which is impossible. Thus $h_K=2$, the ideal class group is $C_2$, and the ray field is the Hilbert class field.

We verify its actual identity rather than stopping at the degree. PutThe two quadratic fields $\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{2})$ and $\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-3})$ are distinct, so $[H:\mathbb{Q}]=4$ and $[H:K]=2$. The integral elements $1,\sqrt{2},b,\sqrt{2}b$ are a rational basis. Their trace matrix is the Kronecker product of the two quadratic trace matrices, with discriminants $8$ and $-3$. Its determinant is therefore $8^2(-3{)}^2=576$. The discriminant-index formula for an integral lattice shows that the field discriminant divides $576$. On the other hand the relative discriminant ideal formula givesThe norm on the right is a positive integer, so equality is forced. Thus the relative discriminant ideal is the unit ideal, and $H/K$ is unramified at every finite prime. There are no real places of $K$. The extension is quadratic and therefore Abelian; its degree equals $h_K$, identifying it with the Hilbert class field of Q of square root minus six. Hence the ray class field of Q of square root minus six modulo square root minus six is

Write $n=[L:K]$. The field trace gives a nondegenerate $K$-bilinear trace pairingThe inverse different, or codifferent, is the trace-dual latticeIt contains $S$, because the trace of an element integral over $R$ belongs to the integrally closed ring $R$. It is stable under multiplication by $S$: if $s,t\in S$ and $x\in {\mathfrak{D}}_{S/R}^{-1}$, then $\mathrm{Tr}(sxt)=\mathrm{Tr}(x(st))\in R$. Nondegeneracy of the trace pairing and finite generation of $S$ show that this trace dual is a finitely generated $R$-module spanning $L$. Therefore it is a fractional ideal of $S$.

Its inverseis the different ideal. Since $S\subseteq {\mathfrak{D}}_{S/R}^{-1}$, every such $x$ lies in $S$; hence ${\mathfrak{D}}_{S/R}$ is an integral ideal of $S$.

The discriminant ideal $\mathrm{disc}(S/R)$ is locally generated bywhere ${\alpha }_1,\dots ,{\alpha }_n$ is a local $R$-basis of $S$. Equivalently, it is the image of the determinant of the trace pairingThis formulation makes the definition independent of a basis, since changing a basis multiplies its discriminant by the square of the determinant of the change-of-basis matrix.

The asserted identity of ideals can be checked after localization at every nonzero prime ideal of $R$. We may therefore assume that $R$ is a discrete valuation ring and choose a basis ${\alpha }_1,\dots ,{\alpha }_n$ of $S$. Let ${\beta }_1,\dots ,{\beta }_n$ be its trace-dual basis, so $\mathrm{Tr}({\alpha }_i{\beta }_j)={\delta }_{ij}$; this is a basis of ${\mathfrak{D}}_{S/R}^{-1}$. If $T=(\mathrm{Tr}({\alpha }_i{\alpha }_j))$, thenThus the determinant measuring the inclusion $S\subseteq {\mathfrak{D}}_{S/R}^{-1}$ is $\det T$. The determinant description of the norm of a fractional ideal consequently givesLocalization then proves the equality over the original Dedekind domain.

Finally, the determinant-of-pairing map identifies the invertible $R$-module $({\det }_{R}S{)}^{\otimes 2}$ with the discriminant ideal. Hence in the ideal class groupup to the harmless inverse caused by the convention used to identify invertible modules with fractional ideals. In either convention the class is a square.

For $K=\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-6})$, reduction of $\mathbb{Z}[\sqrt{-6}]$ modulo $(\sqrt{-6})$ gives $\mathbb{Z}/6\mathbb{Z}$. Its unit group is covered by the units $\{1,-1\}$ of $K$. The ray class exact sequence therefore identifies the ray class group with the ordinary ideal class group, of order two. Consequently this ray class field is the Hilbert class field of Q of square root minus six. To verify its lack of ramification, the integral basis candidate $1,\sqrt{2},b,\sqrt{2}b$, where $b=(1+\sqrt{-3})/2$, has discriminant $8^2(-3{)}^2=576$. The relative discriminant formula also forces the field discriminant to be divisible by $(-24{)}^2=576$. Equality proves that the relative discriminant ideal is trivial.

The relative discriminant ${\mathfrak{d}}_{L/K}$ of a finite extension of number fields is the discriminant ideal of ${\mathcal{O}}_L$ over ${\mathcal{O}}_K$. It satisfiesand its prime divisors are exactly the ramified finite primes.