If and are separable algebraic elements, put and . The minimal polynomial of over divides its separable polynomial over , and is therefore separable. The extension count for field embeddings gives embeddings of into an algebraic closure, each with extensions to . Hence has embeddings. For , each embedding of has at most extensions, so there are at least embeddings of and hence exactly that number. Since is a simple field extension, its minimal polynomial has distinct roots. Thus is a separable algebraic element.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ii Paper 2 18I c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Let be the distinct roots of in its splitting field . For each , let be the unique th root of in an algebraic closure. Thenso the roots ofare precisely the . HenceBut , so . It follows thatwhich proves that is also the splitting field of over , as in the splitting field of a polynomial obtained by Frobenius substitution.
Now take . The extension theorem for field embeddings extends to a -embedding of into an algebraic closure. Since is a splitting field of over , its image is again , so this extension is an automorphism of . It is unique: for every root ,and the Frobenius endomorphism gives only one possible th root. Since the generate over , is uniquely determined. This is the unique embedding extension through a purely inseparable extension.