Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 31 2 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For , the quadratic Hilbert symbol is one if is a field norm from , and minus one otherwise; a square gives the trivial extension and symbol one. It depends only on the two square classes. Equivalently, the conic has a nonzero rational point precisely when the symbol is one. Interchanging and in the conic gives . The Hilbert norm residue symbol is a group homomorphism in each argument; for nonsquare , the cyclic local norm index makes its group kernel a subgroup of index two. The resulting pairing on square classes is nondegenerate. Alsosince . In the language of local class field theory, ; in the Brauer group, it records whether the quaternion cyclic algebra splits. These are compatible norm-obstruction descriptions.
An unramified extension of local fields of degree two has norm group consisting precisely of elements with even valuation. Indeed,and the norms on units are surjective. For the latter assertion, the norm on the finite residue fields is surjective. On successive higher principal-unit groups, the congruenceallows one to correct a proposed unit norm one digit at a time: the residue field trace is surjective, and completeness makes the corrections converge. An unramified quadratic field is unique up to isomorphism. Therefore, if is its defining nonsquare class,
For odd , choose the nonsquare unit from part (i). The polynomial has irreducible separable reduction, so it defines the unramified quadratic extension. ThusThe trivial class is included in , since a degree-one extension is unramified. The two units pair trivially, while . Any class outside has odd valuation and consequently pairs nontrivially with . This proves directly
For , the unit square classes from part (i) give . The element satisfies ; its reduction is irreducible and separable over . This shows that is unramified of degree two, givingFor a fully explicit pairing check, use the generators . We have and , since and from . But : a norm equal to would be a sum of two squares. If either summand had negative valuation, the sum would have negative valuation (equal negative valuations give valuation ); if both were integral, their squares could not sum to . Finally, the unramified norm criterion gives . The identity and determine the remaining entries. Writing , the exponent matrix isFor , annihilating both generators of requires , so . Annihilating alone requires , so is a unit class. HenceThese are the Hilbert-symbol annihilators of units and unramified square classes. Annihilators here are taken with respect to this pairing, or equivalently in the character group of a finite abelian group after identifying square classes with their Hilbert-symbol characters.