Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 1 20H i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For a basis of a module of the full-rank module , define its discriminant of elements of a number field byThe field discriminant is this determinant for an integral basis of . A change of integral basis with determinant does not change it. Write in an integral basis and let . The two trace matrices satisfy . The index of the lattice is , as follows for example from Smith normal form. ThereforeMultiplicative closure makes an order when it contains one, but the determinant argument itself requires only full finite index, so it also covers the stated module hypothesis without that extra condition.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 28 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The polynomial is an Eisenstein polynomial at , so it is irreducible and . Its polynomial discriminant isOne must remove the index at before using this as the field discriminant. Put . Direct reduction using givesThus is a ring finite over , so its elements are integral. Its basis has discriminant of elements of a number field . The discriminant-index formula for an integral lattice says , so only could divide the remaining index.
We use these standard different ideal facts: the norm of the different is the absolute field discriminant; its localization is the local different; an unramified prime has different exponent zero, and a tamely ramified prime of ramification index has different exponent . The Eisenstein polynomial at gives total ramification of degree three, which is tame because . Its contribution to is therefore two. This excludes a further index factor , proving and .
Since the index is prime to and , Dedekind factorization theorem applies at both primes. Modulo , , giving a single prime with residue degree one and ramification index three. Modulo ,Thus has residue degree one and ramification index two; the other prime over is unramified. Both ramified primes are tame. No other prime ramifies because none divides . Consequently
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 28 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a finite extension of number fields, the inverse different is the fractional idealThe different ideal is its inverse. The trace pairing is nondegenerate because extensions of number fields are separable, so this definition gives a full fractional ideal. The inclusion shows that is integral.
Write its prime ideal factorization as . For above , with ramification index and residue characteristic , the different exponent and tame ramification theorem saysThe equivalence uses the separability of finite residue-field extensions. In particular, precisely at unramified prime ideals; in the wild case . This theorem does not require a Galois extension. The relative discriminant is the norm of the different ideal:For , this gives .
Now take and . For any prime number , the square-free integer hypothesis makes an Eisenstein polynomial at . It is therefore irreducible, and is a pure cubic number field of degree . Since is an algebraic integer, is an order in a number field. The discriminant of elements of a number field for its basis isFor example, the resultant of and is , and the degree-three sign in the polynomial discriminant is negative. If , the discriminant-index formula for an integral lattice givesOnly prime numbers dividing can therefore divide .
For , the Eisenstein polynomial gives a totally ramified extension of of degree . Thus has a unique prime ideal above , with ramification index and residue-field degree . Since , this is tame ramification, and the different exponent and tame ramification theorem gives . Hence . Comparing with in the discriminant-index formula for an integral lattice yields .
At , use the shifted Eisenstein polynomial of :Because , the constant term is divisible by . Moreover,when : the factors and cannot both be divisible by . The hypotheses therefore give , so the translated polynomial is an Eisenstein polynomial at . The resulting completion is a totally ramified extension of degree , with residue-field degree , and its ramification index is divisible by the residue characteristic. Thus its different exponent is at least .
It follows that . But , soforces and . No prime number divides . We have proved the integral basis of a nonexceptional pure cubic field:Using local Eisenstein polynomials here only establishes the local ramification indices; it does not assume that is already the full ring of integers of a number field.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 4 20G c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Now let be prime and put and . The Eisenstein criterion applied at gives , while the discriminant of elements of a number field of its power basis iswhere . By the discriminant-index formula for an integral lattice, every prime dividing must therefore be .
Suppose . The finite abelian group is then a nontrivial finite p-group, so it contains an element of order . Consequently there is an such thatwith some not divisible by .
The polynomial is Eisenstein, so total ramification from an Eisenstein polynomial gives a unique prime ideal above with normalized discrete valuationLet be the least index for which . The term has valuation ; every earlier term has valuation at least , and every later term with coefficient prime to has a distinct, larger valuation. The non-Archimedean valuation therefore givesThis contradicts , since an algebraic integer has nonnegative valuation at every prime ideal. Thus , and
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 2 20G a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Let be the embeddings of the number field . The discriminant of elements of a number field isIf the are -linearly dependent, the embedding matrix has dependent columns and the discriminant vanishes. Conversely, if they are independent, they form a -basis of the -dimensional vector space . The trace pairing of a characteristic-zero number field is nondegenerate, so its Gram matrix in this basis is nonsingular. Hence
For an algebraic integer generating a number field, the polynomial discriminant of its minimal polynomial equals the discriminant of elements of a number field for its power basis. A squarefree reduction modulo has nonzero resultant with its derivative, so . The discriminant-index formula for an integral lattice, , proves the assertion.
// Target: arithmetic.bigb
For distinct primes , put and . The algebraic integers and generate an order whose basis has discriminant of elements of a number field : the trace pairing matrix is, up to basis order, the tensor product of the quadratic trace matrices of determinants and . If its index in is , the discriminant-index formula for an integral lattice and the relative discriminant tower formula giveBoth and this ideal norm are positive integers, forcing and . Thus is unramified at all finite primes. It is also totally real, so no real place ramifies. This quadratic abelian extension is contained in the ordinary Hilbert class field of , and Artin reciprocity gives a quotient of its ideal class group of order two. The extensions and are equal to , not two different extensions of .