Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2017 / ii / Paper 4 / 19H / b / Solution

Here ${\mathcal{O}}_K=\mathbb{Z}[s]$ with $s=\sqrt{-14}$ and field discriminant $-56$. The imaginary-quadratic Minkowski bound for ideal classes is $(2/\pi )\sqrt{56}<5$, so each ideal class has an integral representative of ideal norm at most four. Representatives therefore use prime ideals above two and three. PutThe prime two ramifies, with ${\mathfrak{p}}^2=(2)$, and three splits into $\mathfrak{q}\overline{\mathfrak{q}}=(3)$. No element has field norm two, because $N(a+bs)=a^2+14b^2$; thus $[\mathfrak{p}]$ is nontrivial of order two. Norm-four ideals represent $[\mathfrak{p}{]}^2=1$ and add no generator, so the class group is generated by $[\mathfrak{p}],[\mathfrak{q}]$.

The element $2-s$ has field norm 18. It belongs to $\mathfrak{p}$ and $\mathfrak{q}$, but not $\overline{\mathfrak{q}}$, since reduction there gives $s\equiv 1(\mathrm{mod}3)$. Its ideal therefore factors asThe exponents follow from the ideal norm 18, or from the root $s\equiv 2(\mathrm{mod}9)$ defining ${\mathfrak{q}}^2$. Hence $[\mathfrak{q}{]}^2=[\mathfrak{p}]$, so $[\mathfrak{q}]$ has order four and already generates all possible classes. ThereforeAs a separate check, the reduced forms of discriminant of a binary quadratic form $-56$ are $[1,0,14],[2,0,7],[3,2,5],[3,-2,5]$, giving exactly four classes.