Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2018 / ii / Paper 1 / 20G (Number Fields)

LetIts minimal polynomial is $X^2-X+m$, and the algebraic norm givesSuppose that $N$ is composite and choose a prime divisor $q\le \sqrt{N}<m$. Since $X^2-X+m$ has the root $-n$ modulo $q$, the idealis a prime ideal of ideal norm $q$. The triviality of the ideal class group makes $\mathfrak{q}=(\beta )$ principal, so $|N_{L/\mathbb{Q}}(\beta )|=q$.

The ring of integers of a quadratic field consists of elementswhose norm is $(a^2+p{b}^2)/4$. If $b=0$, this norm is a square and cannot be the prime $q$. If $b\ne 0$, thenand integrality gives $q\ge m$, again a contradiction. Therefore the Euler prime-generating quadratic from class number one yields

For $K=\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-163})$, the fundamental discriminant is $-163$ and the Minkowski bound for ideal classes isThus every ideal class contains an integral ideal of norm at most eight.

The ring of integers of a quadratic field is $\mathbb{Z}[\theta ]$ for $\theta =(1+\sqrt{-163})/2$, whose minimal polynomial is $X^2-X+41$. Its discriminant $-163$ is a quadratic nonresidue modulo each of $3,5,$ and $7$; directly modulo two, $X^2+X+1$ has no root. Hence these primes are inert by the splitting of rational primes in a quadratic field. The only prime ideal over one of them with norm at most eight is $(2)$, which has norm four and is principal. Unique prime ideal factorization now makes every ideal of norm at most eight principal. The Minkowski bound therefore provesThis is the Ideal class group of Q of square root of minus one hundred sixty-three.