Quadratic branch parity criterion ($e_p=2⟺v_p(a)\text{ is odd}$)

In characteristic zero with algebraically closed constants, a local unit has a square root. Thus $K(T)(\sqrt{a})$ near a point is equivalent to adjoining the square root of the local parameter to the power $v_p(a)$. Even order is unramified; odd order gives ramification index two. For a polynomial $a$, its order at infinity is minus its degree, so infinity branches exactly for odd degree.