Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ib Paper 3 11C ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The polynomial satisfies the Eisenstein criterion at the prime two: every nonleading coefficient is even, the leading coefficient is not, and the constant term is not divisible by four. Hence it is irreducible over . Its ideal is maximal in ; explicitly, for any polynomial not divisible by , the Euclidean algorithm gives , furnishing the inverse of its residue class. ThusFor the integer quotient, division by the monic polynomial gives a unique remainder of degree below five with integer coefficients. If an integer polynomial becomes zero in the rational quotient, its integer remainder is still divisible by over , so must be zero. This gives an injective ring map , proving the monic irreducible integer-polynomial quotient is a domain.