Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2015 / iii / Paper 28 / 1 / Solution

A set $S$ of prime numbers has Dirichlet density $\delta$ if the following limit exists:Equivalently, the denominator can be ${\sum }_p{p}^{-s}$, since that sum is $\log (1/(s-1))+O(1)$. Adding or removing finitely many prime numbers leaves the Dirichlet density unchanged.

Put $\alpha =\sqrt[4]{2}>0$ and $L=\mathbb{Q}(\alpha ,i)$. This is the splitting field of $X^4-2$, whose four roots of a polynomial are $\alpha ,i\alpha ,-\alpha ,-i\alpha$. The polynomial is an Eisenstein polynomial at $2$, so $[\mathbb{Q}(\alpha ):\mathbb{Q}]=4$. Since $\mathbb{Q}(\alpha )$ is contained in the real numbers, it does not contain $i$, giving $[L:\mathbb{Q}]=8$. Thus $L/\mathbb{Q}$ is a Galois extension of degree $8$. Its Galois group is the dihedral group of order $8$: the field automorphisms $r(\alpha )=i\alpha$, $r(i)=i$ and $s(\alpha )=\alpha$, $s(i)=-i$ satisfy $r^4=s^2=1$ and $srs=r^{-1}$.

For an odd prime number $p$, the condition $p\equiv 1(\mathrm{mod}4)$ means that the finite field ${\mathbb{F}}_p$ contains all fourth roots of unity. Under this condition, $2$ is a quartic residue exactly when $X^4-2$ has a root in ${\mathbb{F}}_p$; multiplying that root by $1,i,-1,-i$ gives all four distinct roots. Conversely, complete splitting of $X^4-2$ over ${\mathbb{F}}_p$ gives both a fourth root of $2$ and a primitive fourth root of unity, so it also forces $p\equiv 1(\mathrm{mod}4)$.

The polynomial discriminant of $X^4-2$ is $-2^{11}$. Hence every odd prime number is unramified in $L$, and the root-splitting criterion is equivalent to its Frobenius automorphism acting trivially on all the roots. Since the roots generate $L$, this is equivalent to the Frobenius automorphism being the identity, or to $p$ being a completely split prime of $L/\mathbb{Q}$. The Chebotarev density theorem says that the unramified prime numbers with Frobenius conjugacy class $C$ have Dirichlet density $|C|/|\mathrm{Gal}(L/\mathbb{Q})|$. Here $C=\{1\}$, so