Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 4 5 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The characteristic of is either a prime or zero. In characteristic , it is a finitely generated algebra over . The course's Zariski lemma says that a field finitely generated as an algebra over a field is a finite algebraic extension of that field. ThereforeIt remains to exclude characteristic zero. Write . Because is then a field containing , also . Zariski lemma makes finite algebraic. Each has a monic equation with rational coefficients. Choose a positive integer clearing all their coefficient denominators. Each is then integral over , so is integral over . This algebra equals : it contains the given integer algebra , and already lies in the field .
An integral field extension forces the base domain to be a field. To see it here, for a nonzero its inverse in satisfiesMultiplying by givesThus would be a field. But choose a prime . Reduction modulo is a well-defined map , so the nonzero element is not invertible in . This contradiction rules out characteristic zero. Therefore the finite-field theorem for finitely generated integer algebras yieldsThis uses Zariski lemma and elementary integrality, not a claim that a field merely finitely generated as a field extension must be algebraic.
For a finite-type integer algebra, a nonnilpotent element gives a nonzero localization of a ring . A maximal ideal there has finite residue field by the finite-field theorem for finitely generated integer algebras. The image of in that field is a finite integral domain, hence a field. Its kernel is therefore maximal in and avoids . Nilpotents lie in every maximal ideal, proving the radical equality. Applying the same argument to every prime quotient shows that these algebras are Jacobson rings. Merely contracting a localized maximal ideal without the finite-image argument would not prove maximality.