Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 23 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
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 areWhen 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 provesFor 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 isomorphismswhere 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 isIts 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 isWriting , the valuation of a field norm is . The valuation quotient has order , and a norm with valuation zero comes from a unit. ThereforeIn 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.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 23 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A central simple algebra over is a finite-dimensional associative -algebra with no nonzero proper two-sided ideals and with center . The Artin–Wedderburn theorem writes it uniquely as with a central division algebra. After a finite separable splitting field extension it becomes , so its dimension is , and is its degree of a central simple algebra. Passing from to a matrix algebra over does not change its Brauer class.
The Brauer group consists of these classes, with product induced by tensor product. Extending to a common splitting field shows that a tensor product of central simple algebras is again central simple; its two-sided ideals and center descend from the corresponding full matrix algebra. The neutral class is , and the inverse of is , becauseThe displayed map becomes the standard isomorphism for matrices over a splitting field, so it is already an isomorphism over . Thus Brauer classes measure precisely the obstruction to being a split matrix algebra.
An explicit family is supplied by cyclic algebras. Let be cyclic of degree , with generator , and let . DefineThis is an associative algebra: form the skew polynomial ring with relation and quotient by the central relation . Reduction of powers gives the displayed -dimensional -basis. An element commuting with every has no coefficient for , since is not the identity. Commuting also with forces the remaining coefficient into . Hence the center is .
Here is an explicit splitting construction. On , with basis , putThen and . After extending scalars to , the separable decomposition supplies all diagonal matrices, and their products with powers of supply all matrix units. ThereforeAny nonzero proper two-sided ideal of would extend to one of , which is impossible. Thus this construction really gives a central simple algebra, with splitting field .
Its central arithmetic feature is the splitting criterion for a cyclic algebra:If , let act by multiplication on the -vector space , and let act as . Its nth power is multiplication by , so this gives a representation . It is injective by simplicity and an isomorphism by equal dimension. Conversely, if with , its embedded field makes one-dimensional over . The relation for says that is -semilinear. In an -basis it must have the form , whose nth power is . The relation forces .
More generally the crossed-product algebra of a Galois extension attaches an algebra to a multiplicative two-cocycle. Changing the cocycle by a coboundary rescales its basis and preserves the Brauer class. Descent of a split matrix algebra identifiesFor cyclic , cyclic Tate cohomology identifies this second cohomology group with . In a crossed product, rescale successive cyclic basis elements to powers of a single ; the remaining datum is , changed by a field norm when is rescaled. This explains why cyclic algebras give every class split by a cyclic extension, and why multiplication of their parameters is addition of their Brauer classes.
For a finite field , every finite splitting field is cyclic over . The field norm is the power map on its cyclic multiplicative group, and is onto . Thus every relative Brauer class is zero, and every central simple algebra has zero class:
For a non-Archimedean local field , the valuation classification of central division algebras shows that every Brauer class splits over a finite unramified extension. For the degree- unramified extension with arithmetic Frobenius , units are norms and norm valuations are multiples of . Hence the cyclic relative Brauer group is , represented by . The compatible local Brauer invariant isThe union over all givesA class with invariant in lowest terms has a central division algebra representative of degree of a central simple algebra . This is the local valuation classification used above; the explicit cyclic algebras exhibit all of its invariants. At the Archimedean places, , while : its nontrivial class is the quaternion algebra , since complex norms are positive.
For a number field, the Albert-Brauer-Hasse-Noether theorem describes the Brauer group by the exact sequenceThus its classes are exactly finite-support families of local invariants with sum zero; real invariants are or and complex invariants are zero. Every global Brauer class has a cyclic splitting extension, so cyclic algebras also realize all global classes. If , their local invariants are , with restricted to the local decomposition subgroup. The sum-zero relation for a principal parameter is the invariant form of Artin reciprocity. Injectivity supplies the local-to-global splitting test, which yields the Hasse norm theorem for cyclic extensions as explained in the preceding solution. Here the local valuation classification and the global invariant theorem are the structural theorems used to describe the Brauer groups; the construction and norm-splitting calculation have been proved explicitly.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 31 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
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 arewhen 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 provesFor 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 isomorphismsTo 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 thatSince is finite, the exact-sequence formula for the Herbrand quotient gives . Finally, the valuation sequencehas 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 , soThis 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 isIn 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.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 31 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Brauer group of a field consists of equivalence classes of central simple algebras, with addition induced by tensor product, zero represented by matrix algebras, and inverse represented by the opposite algebra. Localization sends a global algebra to its scalar extensions at the completions. For a non-Archimedean completion of a number field, the local Brauer invariant is an isomorphismNormalize it so that an unramified cyclic algebra of degree , with arithmetic Frobenius generator and parameter , has invariant . For a real completion, with the Hamilton quaternion algebra mapped to ; for a complex completion the Brauer group is zero.
The global computation is the exact sequence in the Albert-Brauer-Hasse-Noether theorem:Thus a global Brauer class is determined uniquely by a finite-support family of local invariants. Such a family occurs if and only if its sum is zero; at real places the only allowed entries are , and at complex places the entry is zero. Injectivity is a local-global splitting principle; the middle exactness is the reciprocity constraint; surjectivity of the sum follows already from any one finite local summand. These are separate assertions, not merely different descriptions of the sum formula.
For an explicit group description, choose one finite place . Assign arbitrary finite-support invariants at all other finite places and arbitrary allowed invariants at the real places, then set the invariant at equal to minus their sum. This givesThe description by the entire invariant family is canonical; this displayed elimination of one coordinate depends on the choice of .
The connection with Artin reciprocity is especially transparent for cyclic algebras. Let describe a cyclic extension, with . Write for the class of . The local reciprocity pairing isIt follows from the local fundamental class construction of the Local Artin map; on an unramified character it is precisely the normalization . The group kernel in the parameter is the local norm group, and restriction/corestriction give the norm compatibility of this pairing.
For a principal parameter , the zero-sum identity for its global cyclic algebra therefore readsOn the other hand the idelic Artin reciprocity law isand evaluating this product by gives exactly that zero-sum identity. Conversely, testing every cyclic character of a finite abelian Galois group separates its elements, so the zero-sum identities for cyclic algebras imply this principal-idele reciprocity law for every finite abelian extension. At almost all places a unit and an unramified character pair trivially, so the sums and products are finite.
The full idelic statement identifies the group kernel as and induces . It explains why the local norm-residue pairings must glue globally. The global Brauer theorem supplies, in addition, the injectivity and realization statements needed to compute all algebra classes; the principal-product identity alone would not prove those statements. For cyclic algebras its injectivity yields the Hasse norm theorem, as in Question 3. In degree two, an invariant is either zero or , so the zero-sum law becomes the Hilbert reciprocity law . For example, a quaternion algebra over can be ramified at precisely a prescribed finite set of places, including possibly the real place, if and only if that set has even cardinality; the invariants uniquely determine its Brauer class. This illustrates how arithmetic reciprocity becomes a concrete constraint on global algebra structure.