For and , define the inverse different, or codifferent, by the trace-dual lattice
The trace pairing is nondegenerate in this separable field extension, so this is a full fractional ideal of . The relative different ideal is its inverse:
Every integral has integral traces against , so and .
For , take an integral basis and its trace pairing matrix . In these coordinates the codifferent is , and
The ideal norm of equals this index, by inversion of fractional ideal norms. Therefore the norm of the different ideal relation is
Here is the number of conjugate pairs of complex embeddings. The different is an ideal of the upper field, whereas the relative discriminant ideal is its ideal norm in the base field; over the ordinary signed field discriminant also records the signature.
For a finite extension of number fields, the inverse different is the fractional ideal
The different ideal is its inverse. The trace pairing is nondegenerate because extensions of number fields are separable, so this definition gives a full fractional ideal. The inclusion shows that is integral.
Write its prime ideal factorization as . For above , with ramification index and residue characteristic , the different exponent and tame ramification theorem says
The equivalence uses the separability of finite residue-field extensions. In particular, precisely at unramified prime ideals; in the wild case . This theorem does not require a Galois extension. The relative discriminant is the norm of the different ideal:
For , this gives .
Now take and . For any prime number , the square-free integer hypothesis makes an Eisenstein polynomial at . It is therefore irreducible, and is a pure cubic number field of degree . Since is an algebraic integer, is an order in a number field. The discriminant of elements of a number field for its basis is
For example, the resultant of and is , and the degree-three sign in the polynomial discriminant is negative. If , the discriminant-index formula for an integral lattice gives
Only prime numbers dividing can therefore divide .
For , the Eisenstein polynomial gives a totally ramified extension of of degree . Thus has a unique prime ideal above , with ramification index and residue-field degree . Since , this is tame ramification, and the different exponent and tame ramification theorem gives . Hence . Comparing with in the discriminant-index formula for an integral lattice yields .
At , use the shifted Eisenstein polynomial of :
Because , the constant term is divisible by . Moreover,
when : the factors and cannot both be divisible by . The hypotheses therefore give , so the translated polynomial is an Eisenstein polynomial at . The resulting completion is a totally ramified extension of degree , with residue-field degree , and its ramification index is divisible by the residue characteristic. Thus its different exponent is at least .
It follows that . But , so
forces and . No prime number divides . We have proved the integral basis of a nonexceptional pure cubic field:
Using local Eisenstein polynomials here only establishes the local ramification indices; it does not assume that is already the full ring of integers of a number field.