A subgroup of the group of fractional ideals prime to a modulus of a number field, containing the principal ray subgroup. It is the inverse image of a subgroup of the ray class group. The existence theorem of global class field theory realizes it as the kernel of an Artin map, and identifies its quotient with the corresponding Galois group. This is the ideal-theoretic class-field meaning of congruence subgroup.
For the cyclotomic field , arithmetic Frobenius automorphisms at primes send to : reduction distinguishes the nth roots of unity, and Frobenius raises residues to their th powers. Multiplicativity therefore sends a fractional ideal with positive rational generator , prime to , to the exponent . Its kernel consists exactly of positive generators congruent to one modulo . This proves Artin reciprocity for the ray class group of modulus without assuming the general reciprocity theorem.
For a modulus of a number field , the multiplicity at a finite place is the exponent of its prime ideal in . At a real Archimedean place it is one if that place occurs in and zero otherwise. Complex places have multiplicity zero. These effective modulus multiplicities encode congruences and positivity requirements in the ray class group.
Narrow ideal class group Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
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.
A modulus of a number field is , with a nonzero integral ideal and a subset of the real places. Let be the group of fractional ideals prime to , and let consist of principal ideals with at each prime power in and at each selected real place. The ray class group is
The ray class field is the finite abelian extension for which the Artin map has kernel and induces an isomorphism . Equivalently it is the maximal abelian extension whose conductor divides .
To compute its order use the ray class exact sequence, including signatures:
The middle map lifts a residue and sign tuple to an element of by weak approximation theorem, then takes its principal ideal as a ray class. Different lifts differ by a principal ray factor. Its kernel consists exactly of tuples represented by global units. Every ordinary ideal class has a representative prime to the finite modulus, again by weak approximation theorem; this gives surjectivity of the last map. If denotes the ray units, the kernel of the unit map is . The Chinese remainder theorem and counting units in each prime-power quotient give the ray class number formula
First take . Its ring of integers is , where and . The Minkowski bound for ideal classes is , so every ideal class has a representative of norm one and . Its units are the six roots of unity. Modulo seven, the polynomial has distinct roots , and therefore
The unit group of this quotient has order . The unit maps to , which has order six; consequently unit reduction is injective and . The ray class number formula gives .
We also identify the quotient explicitly. Conjugation interchanges the two factors, so the residue norm is . Its kernel has order six and equals the image of the six units, since . Hence
The field has degree six over , since the degrees over are twelve and two. It is unramified outside seven by the cyclotomic computation and the base-change argument above. At primes over seven, has completion , and is the tame degree-six cyclotomic extension; its conductor exponent is one. Its relative arithmetic Artin symbol at an ideal prime to seven acts by
If with , then . Thus the Artin map kills the principal ray subgroup. It factors through the order-six ray class group; the residue norm quotient computed above shows that it is onto the degree-six Galois group, so the fields coincide. This proves the explicit ray class field of Q of square root minus three modulo seven:
Now take , and write . Its ring of integers is , its discriminant is , and its units are . The quotient by is
whose two units are both images of . The ray class exact sequence therefore gives .
For its class number, the Minkowski bound for ideal classes is , so each ideal class contains an integral ideal of norm at most three. The primes of norms two and three are
These are the only nontrivial possibilities within the bound, and their ideal classes coincide and have order at most two. The ideal is not principal: its being principal would give an integer solution to , which is impossible. Thus , the ideal class group is , and the ray field is the Hilbert class field.
We verify its actual identity rather than stopping at the degree. Put
The two quadratic fields and are distinct, so and . The integral elements are a rational basis. Their trace matrix is the Kronecker product of the two quadratic trace matrices, with discriminants and . Its determinant is therefore . The discriminant-index formula for an integral lattice shows that the field discriminant divides . On the other hand the relative discriminant ideal formula gives
The norm on the right is a positive integer, so equality is forced. Thus the relative discriminant ideal is the unit ideal, and is unramified at every finite prime. There are no real places of . The extension is quadratic and therefore Abelian; its degree equals , identifying it with the Hilbert class field of Q of square root minus six. Hence the ray class field of Q of square root minus six modulo square root minus six is
The existence theorem of global class field theory, together with reciprocity, gives an inclusion-reversing bijection between finite abelian extensions inside a fixed algebraic closure and open finite-index subgroups of the idèle class group . The subgroup for is , and
Equivalently, for each modulus , subgroups between the ray-principal group and the ideal group classify abelian extensions whose conductor divides . Their quotients are identified with the corresponding Galois groups by the Artin map. Changing the modulus gives the same extension when the induced congruence subgroup is the same.
The conductor criterion says that a finite place has conductor exponent zero exactly when the extension is unramified there; a real place is absent from the conductor exactly when it stays real. Thus conductor one means unramified at every finite place and no real-to-complex ramification.
Apply the existence theorem to the open subgroup of which is the image of
The idele-to-ideal map identifies the quotient by this subgroup with the ordinary ideal class group, which is finite. Therefore its class field exists and satisfies
Its conductor is one, so it is everywhere unramified. Conversely any everywhere-unramified abelian extension has conductor one; its Artin map kills , hence factors through this quotient and corresponds to an extension contained in . This proves that is exactly the Hilbert class field, the maximal abelian everywhere-unramified extension. Here the ordinary ideal class group is appropriate because the infinite factors include all , rather than only the positive real factors used in a narrow ray class group.
For a number field and a modulus of a number field , let be the group of fractional ideals prime to its finite part. Let consist of principal ideals generated by elements congruent to one modulo its finite part and positive at each real place in its infinite part. The ray class group is .
The classification theorem of class field theory asserts the existence of a ray class field and an Artin map isomorphism
Its intermediate fields correspond contravariantly to subgroups of this ray class group. Equivalently, for each congruence subgroup of fractional ideals there is a unique finite abelian extension with Artin group kernel and group . Every finite abelian extension occurs for some modulus. For a fixed modulus, these are exactly the extensions whose conductor divides that modulus; the same field may be presented using larger moduli, with the appropriate pulled-back group kernel.
We quote the conductor facts needed to specialize this classification. The finite conductor exponent is zero exactly at the unramified primes. A real place occurs in the conductor exactly when it becomes complex. Thus conductor one means unramified at every finite prime and split at every real place. With the ray class group is the ordinary ideal class group, so classification gives an extension with
It is unramified at all finite primes, and its real places split. Conversely, every finite abelian extension with those properties has conductor one and lies in . This proves the existence and maximality of the ordinary Hilbert class field. Its degree is finite by finiteness of the ideal class group. The real-place convention matters: allowing real places to become complex gives the narrow class field instead; for the imaginary quadratic field in part (ii) this distinction disappears.
There is no infinite component in the modulus . The ordinary ideal class group of is trivial, and its unit group is . The ray class exact sequence therefore gives
Concretely, a fractional ideal prime to has a rational generator with . Reducing modulo is well-defined up to multiplication by the units . Its ray class is trivial precisely when one of the two generators is congruent to one. Thus the quotient has the two classes and . No positivity restriction is imposed on a generator.
To identify the corresponding field, put . The maximal real subfield of the fifth cyclotomic field is fixed by complex conjugation, the element of . For a prime , the Frobenius automorphism of is . Its restriction to thus corresponds exactly to the residue class of modulo . Multiplicativity extends this to the Artin reciprocity map on all fractional ideals prime to , whose kernel is exactly . Its field discriminant also confirms that is unramified outside ; moreover is a totally real number field. The uniqueness in the Main theorem of class field theory now gives
Including the real place changes the ray class group: a principal generator must then be positive as well as congruent to one. The residue and signature group of a modulus gives
Here the isomorphism sends to . Consequently , of degree four. The finite modulus gives the real quadratic field; the modulus with the real place gives the full cyclotomic field. The printed finite-modulus assertion needs no correction.
For a number field and a modulus of a number field , let be the group of fractional ideals prime to , and let consist of principal fractional ideals with at the finite modulus and at the real places in . The ray class group is .
The Main theorem of class field theory states that there is a unique finite abelian ray class field for which the Artin reciprocity map induces
It is unramified outside the finite modulus and has no ramification at real places omitted from . More generally, subgroups with correspond, with inclusions reversed, to intermediate abelian fields, with Galois group . Every finite abelian extension occurs for some modulus. Equivalently, is the maximal abelian extension with conductor of an abelian extension dividing . This states both reciprocity and the existence theorem of global class field theory.
The idele group is the multiplicative restricted product
Its restricted product topology has basic open sets , where is finite and contains every infinite place, and is open in . In particular, the restriction to almost all local unit groups is part of the topology, not merely the unrestricted product topology.
The diagonal map is injective and well-defined by finite support of the principal ideal's valuations; its image consists of principal ideles. To prove discreteness of principal ideles, take the neighbourhood of which requires at every finite place and in the ordinary real or complex modulus at every infinite place. A diagonal element in it is a global unit, so . If , the nonzero integer has absolute value at least one, but the archimedean bounds make its absolute value less than . This contradiction proves is a discrete subgroup of .
For a modulus of a number field, write for its finite ideal part together with any selected real places. Let be the group of fractional ideals coprime to the finite part. Let consist of principal ideals with locally at each finite place in the modulus, and at each selected real place. The ray class group is
Equivalently it is the quotient , with the corresponding principal-unit factors at finite places and positive multiplicative factors at selected real places. The question now assumes that no infinite places occur.
Put . Global units map to by reduction. To map to the ray class group, choose, by the Chinese remainder theorem, an integral having the prescribed unit residues at all , and send the tuple to the ray class of . A different choice changes the ratio by an element congruent to one at every such place, so the map is well-defined and multiplicative.
The forgetful map to the ordinary ideal class group is surjective: weak approximation for number fields multiplies an ideal by a principal ideal so that all its valuations in vanish. Its kernel consists exactly of classes represented by principal ideals coprime to , and their generators supply the local unit residues. Finally, a residue tuple maps to the identity ray class precisely when its chosen differs from a congruence-one generator by a global unit. Thus the ray class exact sequence is
The leftmost arrow need not be injective, explaining the absence of an initial zero.
For , the ring of integers of Q of square root two is . Its absolute field norm is a Euclidean function. Indeed, for , choose nearest integers ; writing , , both bounded by , gives . Applying this to a quotient proves Euclidean division, hence the ring is a principal ideal domain and . This is norm-Euclideanity of the integers adjoined square root two.
Write and . Their ideal norms are and , respectively; and the residue field at is , with because . The finite local quotient product for the requested modulus is
The first factor consists of and .
The given fundamental unit and generate the global units. Their images are
The first image has order six; its cube is and its square is , generating the first factor and the order-three subgroup of the second. The second image supplies the missing order-two element of . Thus the global unit map is surjective onto all local unit residues. By the exact sequence, or the unit-surjectivity criterion for a trivial finite ray class group,
There is no positivity condition here: the modulus has no infinite part, so using the unit is legitimate and essential in the surjectivity calculation.
Here a divisor is a modulus of a number field, rather than an arbitrary real-weighted divisor. Write
where 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 . Put
Let consist of the principal ideals with . The generalized ideal class group is the ray class group
Let be the unit group, let be the group of ray units, and define the residue and signature group of a modulus
The 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 are
and
For 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 image
The given ideal class group has order . The second short exact sequence therefore gives
To determine the group structure, retain the ideal that generates the ordinary ideal class group. We have : all generators , and lie in , while
puts 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. Consequently
The 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 .
Let be the group of fractional ideals prime to . Let consist of principal ideals with
for every and for every real place . The ray class group is
Principal fractional ideal Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
A principal fractional ideal of an integral domain with fraction field is for a nonzero . Its generators differ by a unit in a ring in . For a number field, taking and 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.
For , reduction of modulo gives . Its unit group is covered by the units of . The ray class exact sequence therefore identifies the ray class group with the ordinary ideal class group, of order two. Consequently this ray class field is the Hilbert class field of Q of square root minus six. To verify its lack of ramification, the integral basis candidate , where , has discriminant . The relative discriminant formula also forces the field discriminant to be divisible by . Equality proves that the relative discriminant ideal is trivial.
The ring of integers is , where , and its class number is one by the Minkowski bound for ideal classes. Modulo seven it is . The six roots of unity reduce to the kernel of the product map on the two residue unit groups, so the ray class group is , of order six. The relative Artin symbol on is exponentiation by the norm of a fractional ideal modulo seven. It kills the principal ray subgroup, and , proving that this is the ray class field.
For a positive integer , the finite ray class group of is : the unit group permits either sign of a rational generator. Its ray class field is the maximal real subfield of the cyclotomic field . Including the real place requires positive principal generators and gives the full group and full cyclotomic field. Thus modulus gives , while gives . The Artin reciprocity map sends a prime to the exponent , taken modulo in the finite case. Ramification at real places is possible only when those places are included in the modulus of a number field.