Past exam of the algebra, analysis and differential equations II course of the University of Oxford / 2012 / 3

A unit in a ring is an element $u$ with a multiplicative inverse in $R$, so $uv=1$ for some $v\in R$.

An irreducible element is a nonzero nonunit $a$ such that every factorization $a=bc$ has at least one of $b,c$ a unit in a ring.

A prime element is a nonzero nonunit $p$ such that $p\mid bc$ implies $p\mid b$ or $p\mid c$. Equivalently its principal ideal $(p)$ is a nonzero prime ideal. These are definitions in the given commutative ring; the equivalence between irreducibility and primality requires additional hypotheses on the ring.

A Euclidean domain is an integral domain $R$ with a function $d:R\setminus \{0\}\to {\mathbb{N}}_0$ such that, for $a\in R$ and nonzero $b\in R$, there exist $q,r\in R$ with $a=qb+r$ and either $r=0$ or $d(r)<d(b)$. This is the Euclidean-ring convention used here.

If an ideal $I$ is zero, it is generated by zero. Otherwise choose nonzero $a\in I$ with $d(a)$ minimal. For any $b\in I$, Euclidean division gives $b=qa+r$, with $r\in I$. A nonzero remainder would have $d(r)<d(a)$, contradicting the choice. Hence $r=0$ and $b\in aR$. The reverse inclusion follows from $a\in I$, provingNow suppose $a$ is an irreducible element. Its principal ideal is proper because $a$ is not a unit. If $aR\subseteq J\subseteq R$, write $J=bR$ by the result just proved. Then $a=bc$ for some $c\in R$. Irreducibility gives either $b$ a unit, so $J=R$, or $c$ a unit, so $bR=aR$. There is no intermediate proper ideal, and therefore $aR$ is a maximal ideal.

For a field $F$, the polynomial ring $F[X]$ is an integral domain and the polynomial division algorithm gives $A=QB+R$ with $R=0$ or $\mathrm{deg}R<\mathrm{deg}B$. Thus the polynomial degree is a Euclidean function, proving $F[X]$ is a Euclidean domain.

The polynomial $X^n-2$ is irreducible over $\mathbb{Q}$ by Eisenstein's criterion with prime two: all coefficients except the leading one are divisible by two, while the constant coefficient is not divisible by four. Together with Gauss's lemma, this establishes irreducibility in $\mathbb{Q}[X]$. Part (b) shows that its principal ideal is a maximal ideal, soLet $\alpha$ denote the residue class of $X$. The polynomial division algorithm gives every residue class a representative of degree less than $n$, so $1,\alpha ,\dots ,{\alpha }^{n-1}$ span $K_n$ over $\mathbb{Q}$. If a linear combination of them vanished, its degree-less-than-$n$ representative would be a multiple of the degree-$n$ polynomial $X^n-2$, and hence would be zero. They are therefore a basis, givingThe quadratic polynomial $X^2+1$ has no rational root, so it is irreducible over $\mathbb{Q}$. The same maximal-ideal argument proves $L=\mathbb{Q}[X]/(X^2+1)$ is a field.

These two quadratic fields are not isomorphic. In $L$, the class of $X$ squares to $-1$. But $K_2$ embeds in $\mathbb{R}$ by sending its class of $X$ to $\sqrt{2}$: evaluation at $\sqrt{2}$ has kernel $(X^2-2)$, by irreducibility and polynomial division. No real number squares to $-1$, so no element of $K_2$ does. A field isomorphism preserves one, minus one and squaring, so it cannot carry $L$ to $K_2$.