Past exam of the rings and modules course of the University of Oxford / 2017 / 1 / b / iv / Solution

A suitable field with four elements isWrite $\alpha$ for the class of $t$. Monic polynomial division over a ring gives a unique representative $a+b\alpha$, with $a,b\in {\mathbb{F}}_2$: existence follows by division, and uniqueness follows because a nonzero multiple of the degree-two modulus cannot have degree less than two. The four elements are therefore $0,1,\alpha ,\alpha +1$.

The defining relation gives ${\alpha }^2=\alpha +1$, and hence $\alpha (\alpha +1)=1$. Thus the nonzero elements have inversesThe quotient ring is commutative and every nonzero element is a unit, so it is a field. This verifies the field property directly, without quoting a theorem about irreducible-polynomial quotients.