Maximal real subfield of a cyclotomic field ($\mathbb{Q}({\zeta }_m{)}^{+}=\mathbb{Q}({\zeta }_m+{\zeta }_m^{-1})$)

For $m\ge 3$, put $\eta ={\zeta }_m+{\zeta }_m^{-1}$. Since $\eta$ is real and ${\zeta }_m$ is nonreal but satisfies $T^2-\eta T+1=0$, the cyclotomic field $\mathbb{Q}({\zeta }_m)$ has degree two over $\mathbb{Q}(\eta )$. Complex conjugation fixes $\eta$ and is nontrivial. The Fundamental theorem of Galois theory therefore identifies its fixed field with $\mathbb{Q}(\eta )$. That fixed field is exactly $\mathbb{Q}({\zeta }_m)\cap \mathbb{R}$, proving maximality among real subfields.

For a primitive fifth root ${\zeta }_5$, the element $s={\zeta }_5+{\zeta }_5^{-1}$ satisfies $s^2+s-1=0$. Thus the fixed field of complex conjugation is