Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 148 1 Solution 2026-10-03
An element is an integral element over when it satisfies a monic equationThe extension is an integral extension when every is integral over .
Let and localize both rings at . The extension remains integral. Choose a maximal ideal of . The contraction of a maximal ideal under an integral extension is maximal, and the local ring has unique maximal ideal , so . Contracting back to produces with . This proves the Lying-over theorem and hence the surjectivity of
Suppose and both contract to . Quotient by and localize the resulting integral domain at the nonzero elements of . The localized ring is an integral domain integral over the field , and is therefore itself a field. The localization of must consequently be zero; since the localized ring is a domain, . Thus the incomparability theorem for integral extensions gives
The Krull dimension of a ring is the supremum of the lengths of its strict chains of prime ideals. Incomparability makes the contraction of every strict prime chain in strict, so . Conversely, start over the bottom prime of any chain in using lying over and lift each subsequent inclusion using the Going-up theorem. Hence
For the concrete surface, write for the residue classes of and putThenand characteristic zero allows division by three. ThereforeDivision by the monic quadratic shows that is free over with basis . In particular, are algebraically independent and the requested Noether normalization of the quadratic surface xy plus yz plus zx is