Idele-to-ideal homomorphism 2026-10-06
The map from an idele to its finite-place fractional ideal is surjective, has kernel the product of the infinite multiplicative groups and finite-place unit groups, and sends diagonal elements to principal fractional ideals. It realizes the ideal class group as the corresponding quotient of the idele group.
Narrow ideal class group 2026-10-06
The narrow ideal class group of a number field is the group of nonzero fractional ideals modulo principal fractional ideals generated by totally positive elements. It is the ray class group for the modulus consisting of all real Archimedean places and trivial finite part. The forgetful map to the ordinary ideal class group is surjective, with kernel under the unit signature map.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 24 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The idele group is the multiplicative restricted productwith respect to at the finite places of a number field; is the completion of a valued field at the place . Thus each tuple has nonzero components, and all but finitely many finite components are units. Its restricted product topology on the idele group has basic open sets , where is finite and contains the infinite places, and each is open in . In particular is an open subgroup.
Embed diagonally. Take a neighbourhood of one whose finite components all lie in and whose infinite components satisfy in the usual real or complex modulus. A diagonal element there is an algebraic unit . If , then is a nonzero algebraic integer, so its field norm is a nonzero integer. Buta contradiction. Thus is discrete. It is also closed: in a topological group, a subgroup with an isolated identity cannot have an external accumulation point, since quotients of two nearby subgroup elements would approach the identity.
Send an idele to its associated fractional ideal byOnly finitely many exponents are nonzero. This homomorphism is onto, by choosing powers of local uniformizers, and its kernel is . Diagonal elements map to principal fractional ideals. The resulting quotient givesIt is a topological isomorphism when the ideal class group is given the discrete topology, since is open.
Use normalized local moduli: real modulus, squared complex modulus, and at a finite place. The idelic modulus defines , the norm-one idele group. The product formula puts inside this kernel. Every ideal class has a representative in , because an infinite component can be rescaled to correct the modulus without altering its fractional ideal. The compact space therefore maps continuously onto the discrete ideal class group. Its image must be finite, proving is finite.
For the Dirichlet unit theorem, put and . Let count real embeddings and count conjugate complex pairs. Infinite logarithms define a continuous surjectionusing at real places and at complex places. Its kernel is compact: it consists of real signs, complex unit circles, and the product of compact finite-place unit groups. More generally the inverse image of a bounded closed subset of is compact. Since is closed and discrete, its intersection with each such inverse image is finite. Hence is discrete in , and the kernel is a finite group. It is exactly the roots of unity , since every element of a finite multiplicative group has finite order and every root of unity has all local moduli one.
The image of in is an open subgroup, hence also closed, and is homeomorphic to . The assumed compactness therefore makes compact, and its continuous quotient is compact. A discrete cocompact subgroup of a real vector space is a full Euclidean lattice, of rank . Thus , and lifting a lattice basis splits off the free factor:This derives both finiteness and the unit rank from the stated compactness assumption, rather than assuming either conclusion to prove compactness.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 28 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Here a divisor is a modulus of a number field, rather than an arbitrary real-weighted divisor. Writewhere is a nonzero integral ideal, the finite multiplicities are nonnegative integers, and is a set of real Archimedean places. The multiplicity of a place in a modulus is at the finite place corresponding to , is at a real place in , and is at every other infinite place. In particular complex places have multiplicity .
Let be the group of nonzero fractional ideals prime to . PutLet consist of the principal ideals with . The generalized ideal class group is the ray class groupLet be the unit group, let be the group of ray units, and define the residue and signature group of a modulusThe first factor is omitted when . There is a group homomorphism recording the unit's finite residues and its signs. Its kernel is .
Let consist of all principal fractional ideals prime to , and put . The two short exact sequences areandFor the first short exact sequence, weak approximation for number fields realizes every choice of finite unit residues and real signs by some prime to . Send that data to the class of in . Changing without changing its residues and signs multiplies it by an element of , so the map is well-defined. Its kernel consists exactly of data arising from units: if with , then . This gives . For the second short exact sequence, forget the ray conditions. Its kernel is , and weak approximation for number fields gives a representative prime to for every ideal class. These are the two parts of the ray class exact sequence.
For , the ring of integers of a quadratic field is . The finite modulus is trivial and both real places occur, so is the narrow ideal class group and . The two field embeddings send to and . The given unit is positive at both places, since ; the unit is negative at both. Thus the unit signature map has imageThe given ideal class group has order . The second short exact sequence therefore givesTo determine the group structure, retain the ideal that generates the ordinary ideal class group. We have : all generators , and lie in , whileputs in . Since is totally positive, in the narrow ideal class group. Its image in the ordinary ideal class group is nontrivial, so has order exactly .
The class of the principal ideal is a nontrivial element of . Its two signs are , and multiplying by a unit can only reverse both signs or neither, so no generator of this ideal is totally positive. Its square is , which does have a totally positive generator. Thus is another element of order , distinct from because its ordinary ideal class is trivial. These two elements are independent and generate all four classes. ConsequentlyThe nontrivial ordinary ideal class already has a lift of order , so the extension in the second short exact sequence splits; it cannot be cyclic of order .
Principal fractional ideal 2026-10-06
A principal fractional ideal of a number field is for a nonzero . Its generators differ by a unit in the ring of integers of a number field. Quotienting nonzero fractional ideals by principal fractional ideals gives the ideal class group; requiring congruences and signs of the generators instead gives a ray class group.
Residue and signature group of a modulus 2026-10-06
This group records finite unit residues and signs at the selected real places of a modulus of a number field. Omit the residue factor for trivial finite modulus. Its quotient by the image of the unit group is naturally the kernel of the map from the ray class group to the ordinary ideal class group. The weak approximation for number fields theorem supplies elements realizing the specified data, and units account for changing a generator of a principal fractional ideal.
Totally positive element of a number field 2026-10-06
A nonzero element of a number field is totally positive when its image is positive under every real field embedding. In a totally real number field, the principal fractional ideals having a totally positive generator form the subgroup used to define the narrow ideal class group. Signs of different generators are related by the unit signature map.