For a prime of a finite separable extension above , completion preserves the ramification index and residue-field extension:
Different exponent and tame ramification 2026-10-06
For a finite extension of number fields, the different exponent satisfies , with equality exactly when the extension at is tamely ramified. The finite residue fields are perfect, so tameness is equivalent to the residue characteristic not dividing the ramification index. Thus unramified primes have exponent zero and wildly ramified primes have exponent at least . No Galois extension hypothesis is needed.
If is a finite tamely ramified Galois extension of local fields with degree and ramification index , then its different exponent is and the discriminant exponent is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 74 4 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Set and , with valuation rings . Let be the ramification index, the residue-field degree, and the residue characteristic. A base uniformizer generates in , up to a unit. The free -module has rank . For an integral , its field trace is the matrix trace of multiplication by on this module. Reduction modulo preserves the matrix trace.
The quotient has a filtrationEach of the successive quotients is a one-dimensional vector space over . On each, multiplication by acts as multiplication by its residue , whose trace over is . A basis adapted to the filtration makes the multiplication matrix block triangular, so its trace is the sum of these quotient traces. This proves trace reduction in a ramified local extension:Since the hypothesis says , the right side is zero in . ThusNo normality hypothesis is needed. The original PDF only requires divisibility of , not divisibility exactly once; the converted TeX has corrupted that condition and several local subscripts.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 74 5 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For number fields, a prime ideal divides the different ideal exactly when it is ramified. More precisely, the local different exponent and tame ramification relation is , with equality for tame ramification; if , the finite residue extension is separable and the exponent is zero. One can see the ramification criterion directly from the trace pairing modulo the base prime: when its quotient ring has a nonzero nilpotent ideal, whose elements pair to zero since multiplication by a nilpotent has trace zero. When the quotient is a product of finite separable fields and its trace pairing is nondegenerate. Its determinant is a unit exactly in the second case.
Let . Any rational prime ramifying in must ramify in each , because ramification indices multiply in a tower. It would then divide both field discriminants, contrary to their coprimality. Thus is unramified at every finite prime, so . The Minkowski lower bound for a number-field discriminant excludes this for a field of degree :The last inequality follows already for the weakest signature bound : the expression starts above one at and increases with . Consequently .
For completeness, normality converts this intersection statement into the desired degree statement. Put . Restriction injects into . The fixed field of its image in is exactly , because is Galois. The Galois correspondence therefore gives . This proves coprime discriminants imply linear disjointness:
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 3 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Put and write , where . The unit has a square root in . Dividing the radical by that square root and by reduces the completed extension toIf is even, it is unramified and locally splits; if is odd, adjoining gives ramification index two. At points where , and there is no branch. ThereforeFor infinity set . If ,The same quadratic branch parity criterion applies to the negative valuation , soThe generic irreducibility excludes being a square. Local splitting at the even-order places is compatible with that global irreducibility. The number of odd finite orders plus the possible odd infinity order is even, as also follows from the sum of orders of a rational function being zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 21 2 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Only the prime two can ramify. More precisely, every field is unramified at every odd prime; actual ramification at two depends on and the chosen division point. Use , as printed in the original PDF.
Fix an odd prime and put . The elliptic-curve discriminant gives good reduction at , and is a unit in . The unramified division torsors at good primes imply that all division points of an elliptic curve above are defined over finite unramified extensions of . Here is a direct lifting proof, which does not require to have integral affine coordinates.
Properness gives a reduction . Choose a point with over the algebraic closure of the residue field, and a finite residue extension containing it. Pass to the corresponding finite unramified extension . The surjectivity of good reduction over a local field lifts to . Its error lies in the kernel of reduction of an elliptic curve. The prime-to-residue-characteristic multiplication on a formal group makes bijective on that kernel. Choose the unique kernel point with ; then satisfies and has reduction .
Every algebraic division point has some such reduction and is the unique lift in its division fibre: the difference of two lifts lies in the reduction kernel, which has no -torsion. Thus every chosen lies in an unramified local extension. For every prime of its possibly non-Galois coordinate field above , the ramification index is one. Globally,One cannot universally assert that two actually ramifies: and give the field . It can ramify. For example, a half of isThe elliptic curve group law verifies this by doubling. Its coordinate field contains , which has ramification in the quadratic extension generated by the square root of two, so the only possible bad prime does occur for this choice.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 23 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be a primitive nth root of unity. The cyclotomic polynomial isInduction on shows that is monic with integer coefficients. Here is the essential irreducibility of cyclotomic polynomials argument. Let be the minimal polynomial of and let be a prime. If had a different monic irreducible polynomial , then . Reducing modulo gives , so and have a common factor. As , this would give a repeated factor of modulo , impossible because its derivative is . Thus is conjugate to . Every positive integer prime to is a product of such primes, so all primitive nth roots of unity are conjugate. ConsequentlyIn particular the cyclotomic field is an abelian extension. Complex conjugation corresponds to ; for its fixed field is , the maximal real subfield, of degree .
The ring of integers is . One way to see that there is no missing index is to work at each prime . Write with . The prime-to- roots of unity have separable reduction; their local factors generate unramified extensions with full integer rings. Over each such factor, adjoining is generated by the Eisenstein polynomial , with uniformizer , and hence gives the full integer ring of that totally ramified factor. The coprimality of and means that generates both sets of roots of unity. Thus is maximal at every , proving the integral assertion.
The same local description computes ramification and splitting. For , the ramification index is one, the residue degree is the multiplicative order of modulo , and there are primes above . If , put ; thenwhere . Indeed, the prime-to- part is unramified, and the -power part is totally ramified by the preceding Eisenstein polynomial. Notice the exception : its ramification index is one, consistently with for odd . Thus finite ramification occurs only at the indicated conductor primes, with that exception.
We now prove cyclotomic Artin reciprocity over the rational numbers, using arithmetic Frobenius automorphisms. If and lies over , then Frobenius sends the reduction of to its th power. Distinct nth roots of unity remain distinct modulo , since has separable reduction. Hence the Artin symbol is exactlyExtend multiplicatively to the group of rational fractional ideals prime to . Such an ideal has a unique positive rational generator whose numerator and denominator are prime to . The formula isEvery unit residue modulo has a positive integer representative prime to , so this Artin map is surjective. Its kernel is precisely the subgroup generated by positive . ThereforeThis proves the Artin reciprocity law for this extension, including its principal-ray kernel. The infinite component of the modulus records positivity and therefore the possible action of complex conjugation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 23 5 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Fix a prime of over , and a prime of over . Let be its restriction to . Inside the completed compositum, putThe assumption means is an unramified extension. Its residue degree is some ; the completed extension is the corresponding compositum . It suffices to prove that this is unramified, regardless of the ramification of .
Here is a proof of unramified extensions remain unramified under base change using the classification already established. Choose an integral generator of whose monic minimal polynomial has irreducible separable reduction of degree . Write and . Let be the degree- unramified extension. Its residue field contains , so has a simple root there. Hensel lemma lifts this root to a root of in . This gives an -embedding .
An unramified extension of a local field is Galois, so all -embeddings of into a fixed algebraic closure have the same image. The original therefore lies in , and is an intermediate field of the unramified extension . Its ramification index is one. Since and were arbitrary,This proof also explains why no linear-disjointness assumption on and , and no assumption that is unramified, is needed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 25 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the following simple-root Hensel lemma. Let be a complete discrete valuation ring, with maximal ideal , and let . If and , there is a unique with and .
For the proof, define Newton's method iterates . Each denominator stays a unit, because all iterates are congruent to . Taylor's polynomial identity givesIf an iterate is already a root, the process stops. Otherwise these valuations tend to infinity, so the iterates form a Cauchy sequence in the complete ring. Its limit has the required residue and satisfies . If were two such roots, thenThe parenthesis is a unit, forcing .
Now let be finite, with residue field . For every choose a monic irreducible polynomial of degree and lift it to a monic . The lift is irreducible over , since a factorization would reduce to a factorization of , by the monic form of Gauss's lemma over the valuation ring. If for a root, its residue field contains of degree . The inequality forces residue degree and ramification index one. Thus it is an unramified extension of degree .
Conversely, in any unramified extension of degree , choose a generator of its residue field and lift its separable minimal polynomial. Hensel's lemma supplies a root with that residue. Its degree is at least and hence it generates the extension. The same unique lifting of all residue conjugates shows that the extension is Galois andOne can see uniqueness inside a fixed algebraic closure explicitly: the roots of lift all nonzero residue elements, and a lifted primitive residue element generates the extension. Hencewith arithmetic Frobenius acting by . The case simply gives . These are all finite unramified extensions; exactly when . Their union is the maximal unramified extension, whose Galois group is .
Finally prove norm-surjectivity on units using the Herbrand quotient. For a cyclic group of order , writeThe quotient is multiplicative on short exact sequences, equals one for finite modules, equals on the trivial module , and equals one on induced regular modules. For a finite module, the equality follows directly from .
Let . For sufficiently large , the equivariant p-adic logarithm identifies with additively. In the unramified case this is an induced regular lattice. Indeed choose a normal basis of the finite residue extension and lift its generating element. Its Galois conjugates reduce to a basis and hence form an -basis of ; their coordinate determinant is a unit. Since a uniformizer of is also one of , multiplication by its th power gives the same regular-module structure on . For a regular module, invariants are norm images and a vector of coefficient sum zero is a cyclic difference, so both indicated Tate cohomology groups vanish. Consequently . The quotient is finite, so .
Apply multiplicativity toIt gives . Hilbert 90 makes trivial, so . On the other handso the quotient maps onto . As its order is already , its unit kernel is trivial. A norm which is a unit comes from a unit, by the same valuation formula. ThereforeThe standard normal-basis theorem for finite fields and the convergent logarithm/exponential on sufficiently deep principal units are the ingredients used in evaluating the Herbrand quotient; the norm conclusion itself has been deduced here.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 31 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be a finite Galois extension of number fields, with Galois group , and let be a nonzero prime ideal of . Write its prime ideal factorization asThe Galois group acts transitively on the primes above . One proof uses the Chinese remainder theorem. If were outside the orbit of , choose an integral element which is zero modulo and one modulo every conjugate of . Its field norm belongs to , hence to . But each factor is one modulo , a contradiction. Transitivity also makes all equal to a common ramification index and all equal to a common residue degree .
Fix above . Its decomposition group is the stabilizerThe orbit-stabilizer theorem gives . Elements of act on the residue field over ; the group kernel is the inertia groupThus inertia measures the automorphisms invisible after reduction, whereas decomposition measures all automorphisms preserving the chosen prime.
The completion is a Galois extension with group : preservation of lets an automorphism extend continuously to the completion, and the local embeddings of this normal extension arise in this way. The degree of a field extension formula is . Reduction gives the exact sequenceFor surjectivity, lift a primitive residue-field generator by the Hensel lemma to obtain the maximal unramified subextension of a local field extension of . Its automorphisms are the residue-field automorphisms. They extend to because the latter is normal. Since a finite residue field extension has a cyclic Galois group of order , the exact sequence yieldsThe fixed field of local inertia is the maximal unramified subextension of a local field extension, and the extension above it is totally ramified. Primes in the same global orbit have conjugate decomposition groups and inertia groups, so the orders do not depend on the chosen prime.
If , inertia is trivial and is generated by the unique Frobenius automorphism acting on residues by . Its order is . In a ramified extension this residue action determines only a coset modulo inertia. A prime splits completely exactly when , equivalently its decomposition group is trivial. A totally ramified prime has and ; an unramified prime has . In an abelian extension, conjugation does nothing, so the associated groups and unramified Artin symbol are independent of the prime above .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 31 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
We give the detailed norm-index argument for a cyclic extension of p-adic fields; thus is a finite extension of . Write , . For an additive -module , put and . The two periodic Tate cohomology of a cyclic group groups and the Herbrand quotient arewhen these groups are finite. For multiplicative modules, is the product of conjugates and .
The periodic complex alternating and gives a six-term exact sequence for every short exact sequence of modules. Taking the alternating product of the finite group orders in that exact sequence provesFor a finite module, the counting fibers gives and , so the two Tate groups have equal order. This proves the Herbrand quotient of a finite module is one. It follows that replacing a module by a finite-index submodule does not change its quotient, whenever the cohomology groups are finite.
Two basic calculations drive the norm computation. For the trivial module , and is multiplication by , so . For a regular lattice , with , invariants are constant coefficient vectors and every such vector is a norm: put its constant coefficient in just one coordinate before applying . The group kernel of consists of the coefficient vectors of sum zero. Successively taking partial sums solves the cyclic difference equation for every such vector . Thus both Tate groups vanish and . This is cyclic cohomology of a regular lattice.
Let and . For sufficiently large , the p-adic logarithm and p-adic exponential are inverse -equivariant isomorphismsTo make the range explicit, suffices: the higher terms in the logarithm and exponential have greater valuation than their leading terms, their series converge there, and the identities and remain valid. Thus a deep multiplicative unit group becomes an additive -lattice in .
By the normal basis theorem, as a -module. As a -module it is therefore . Transport the regular lattice into . Both and are full -stable -lattices, so their intersection has finite index in each. The exact sequences with finite quotients show that the Tate groups of are finite and thatSince is finite, the exact-sequence formula for the Herbrand quotient gives . Finally, the valuation sequencehas trivial -action on . Hence the Herbrand quotient of the local multiplicative group is
For completeness, the denominator vanishes by Hilbert theorem 90. If , put and . Independence of distinct field automorphisms lets us choose with . Since , shifting the sum gives . Thus , a multiplicative coboundary. Therefore . The invariant subgroup of is , soThis proves the cyclic local norm index without assuming local reciprocity. If the extension has ramification index and residue degree , the valuation formula shows that the valuation contribution to the index is . A norm is a unit only when is a unit, so the remaining contribution isIn particular, unit norms are surjective in an unramified cyclic extension. The norm subgroup is open: on deep units its logarithm is , a nonzero full lattice in , and therefore contains a sufficiently deep principal-unit group. This connects the index calculation to the open finite-index norm subgroups classified by local class field theory.
To finish, the Hasse norm theorem for a cyclic extension of number fields states that a nonzero element is a global norm if and only if it is a norm at every finite and infinite completion. Here is its Brauer-theoretic proof outline. Associate to the cyclic algebra , with relations and . The splitting criterion for a cyclic algebra says that it splits exactly when : if , multiplication by and the operator realize it as ; conversely, in a split matrix representation, the underlying -dimensional space is one-dimensional over , so must act as and .
Apply this criterion at every completion, using the restricted cyclic character and any one completion of above that place. If is a local norm everywhere, every localized Brauer class is zero. Injectivity in the Albert-Brauer-Hasse-Noether theorem forces in ; the global splitting criterion gives . Conversely, a global norm is a local norm after completion, since the norm on is the product of the component norms, whose images coincide in the Galois case. The cyclic hypothesis is essential; the stated local-global principle does not hold for arbitrary extensions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 4 20G Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The supplied integral basis differs unimodularly from , since . With , the field discriminant is , the degree-four sign being positive. At a nonidentity fifth root,soThe Minkowski bound for ideal classes gives an integral ideal in every ideal class with norm at most . Its positive integer norm must be one, so it is the whole integer ring. Every class is trivial, proving all ideals are principal.
For , is an algebraic integer. The numerator has the same norm five as the denominator, because its conjugates permute the nonidentity fifth roots. Thus , proving it is a unit. Multiplying the four numerator factors gives five, henceThe ideal has norm five; explicitly reduction modulo it sets and gives the quotient . Thus it is prime and : five is totally ramified, with ramification index four and residue degree one. A rational prime can ramify only if it divides the field field discriminant, so no rational prime other than five ramifies, and there are no other ramified prime ideals.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 28 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a nonzero Laurent series let be its least exponent. Choose and . This is a multiplicative Non-Archimedean absolute value, and its valuation ring is .
TakeIf is an -basis of , the elements , , , form a -basis of . To see this, group the exponents of each Laurent series modulo and then expand its coefficients in the constant-field basis. Uniqueness of those two expansions proves linear independence. Thus .
Its valuation ring is , with maximal ideal and residue field . Moreover , so the ramification index is and the residue degree is . The unique extending absolute value is explicitlyThis restricts to the chosen absolute value because on . The prescribed ramification and residue degree for a Laurent series field construction works even when ; separability is not required in the question.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 29 5 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Pass to the effective subgroup . Its index is : adjoining halves the original index precisely when . The natural map of compactified modular curveshas degree , since a generic orbit has that many lifts. It branches only over the order-two elliptic orbit, the order-three elliptic orbit, and the modular cusp. Away from these, the modular quotient charts are genuine unramified covering charts.
Over , a lift with its own effective stabilizer of order two is unramified; there are such lifts. Every other lift has ramification index two. As the sum of all ramification indices in that fibre is , their number is and their contribution to the ramification divisor is . Similarly, over there are unramified elliptic lifts and lifts of ramification index three, contributing .
At a modular cusp of width , the local parameters are upstairs and downstairs. Thus and the ramification index is . Summing the widths gives , so all modular cusps contribute to ramification. The Riemann-Hurwitz formula now givesThereforeThe effective index and the projective modular cusp widths ensure that the formula also applies when the original subgroup does not contain ; no spurious factor of two is introduced.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 29 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For an odd integer , . The same conclusion holds for every 2-adic unit by reduction modulo eight. Thus an odd square must be congruent to one modulo eight.
Conversely let with . For digit lifting for square roots of 2-adic units, start with . If is odd and , considerFor ,since the remaining term is divisible by and . The odd multiplier lets the choice of correct exactly the next binary digit. Thus . The corrections have valuations tending to infinity, so completeness gives with .
The unit is congruent to one modulo two but is not a square, and is congruent to one modulo four but is not a square, by the necessary modulo-eight condition. Therefore
Every nonzero P-adic number in is uniquely with and a 2-adic unit. A square has even valuation, and the unit square criterion shows that the unit class is determined by its odd residue modulo eight. The four residues form , generated by and ; the valuation parity supplies the third factor, generated by . Hence the square-class group of the 2-adic numbers isIts eight classes are represented by . They are distinct: the first four have even valuation and distinct unit residues modulo eight, while multiplication by gives odd valuation and the same four distinct unit residues.
In characteristic different from two, completing the square in a quadratic minimal polynomial makes every quadratic extension for a nonsquare . If , write and square. The coefficient must vanish. Since is nonsquare, , so and . Conversely a square ratio plainly gives the same field. Thus the seven quadratic extensions of the 2-adic numbers are exactly
The unique unramified extension in this list is . To verify this, is integral and satisfies . Its reduction is irreducible over , so its residue field contains . The standard degree formula for finite extensions of complete discretely valued fields with perfect residue field is . Here the field degree is two, so the residue degree is two and the ramification index is one.
Conversely an unramified quadratic extension has residue field . A root there of lifts by Hensel lemma to a root of , whose derivative is a unit. For this lift , , so the extension contains and must equal it. Every other field in the list is therefore ramified.
For the requested ramification groups, choose and . We use uniqueness of the extension of the valuation to a finite extension, together with the degree formula just stated. Since , the extension has ramification index two and residue degree one. Normalize , giving . Every element is with , and the two summands have valuations of opposite parity:Thus is integral exactly when , proving directly.
The nonidentity automorphism negates . For any integral ,of valuation at least three, with equality when is a unit. By the definition , the ramification in the quadratic extension generated by the square root of two is thereforeThe lower ramification break is two; the valuation used here is the integral normalization on .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 28 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
All the local fields here carry normalized discrete valuations. Write for the valuation ring, for its maximal ideal, and for its residue field. We use the basic degree identity for finite extensions of non-Archimedean local fields, with the ramification index and the residue degree.
First construct the maximal unramified subextension of a local field extension inside an arbitrary finite extension . Choose a primitive element of a field extension for the finite residue field extension . Let be its monic irreducible minimal polynomial of an algebraic element, of degree , and lift its coefficients to obtain a monic of the same degree. Finite finite fields are perfect fields, so . By Hensel lemma applied in , there is reducing to with . For we haveEvery inequality is therefore an equality. In particular is unramified, , and is the minimal polynomial of an algebraic element .
If is unramified, then , so this construction gives . Taking supplies the required generator, and is a unit. Conversely suppose with integral and its monic minimal polynomial of an algebraic element satisfying . Its coefficients lie in , since all conjugates of an integral element are integral and is complete. In the constructed unramified extension the element is a simple root of . Hensel lemma in produces a root with residue . In both and lift this same simple residue root, so Hensel uniqueness gives . Thus , proving
For lifting residue-field embeddings of unramified extensions, use the generator and polynomial just constructed when is unramified. Given a -field homomorphism , its value is a simple root of . Hensel lemma in produces the unique root with that residue. The assignment defines a -field homomorphism ; it induces because generates . Conversely any such field homomorphism preserves the unique extended valuation, hence induces a residue field homomorphism, and its image of is uniquely forced by Hensel uniqueness. This proves the asserted bijection. The same proof only requires that be a non-Archimedean local field containing with its compatible valuation; its finiteness over is not essential.
Now set . The finite residue field extension has exactly automorphisms, cyclically generated by . Their unique lifts give automorphisms of . Consequently is a Galois extension, and reduction identifies its Galois group with that cyclic residue Galois group. Its generator is the arithmetic Frobenius:
For the compositum, choose a uniformizer of the totally ramified extension . The Eisenstein generator of a totally ramified extension characterization, proved in the next solution, says that and its minimal polynomial of an algebraic element is Eisenstein over . A uniformizer of remains a uniformizer in the unramified extension . All its Eisenstein coefficient conditions therefore remain true over . Thus the same Eisenstein polynomial is irreducible over and generates as a totally ramified extension. This proves is totally ramified, of degree .
Here is an explicit example showing that the converse decomposition of an arbitrary extension can fail. Take and with . Since is irreducible and separable modulo three, the degree and residue-degree argument above shows that is unramified quadratic. PutThe element is a unit in , so is Eisenstein over . Hence , , and . Moreover gives , withWe verify its Galois group, since that is what rules out a totally ramified complement. By Hensel lemma there is with : the residue root of is simple modulo three. Set . ThenThe assignments and respect the defining relation, because . They therefore define a -automorphism of . Its square satisfies and , so has order four. There are thus four automorphisms of the degree-four extension, andThis is the cyclic quartic local extension without a totally ramified complement. Its unique quadratic subfield is , fixed by , and is unramified. If with unramified and totally ramified, then and . To obtain the full degree four both would have degree two, forcing to be a totally ramified quadratic subfield. There is no such subfield. Thus is the required counterexample.