The polynomial has no root in , so it is an irreducible polynomial. The quotient ring of by the ideal it generates is therefore a field with eight elements. The seven nonzero elements form a group of order seven, so each satisfies by Lagrange's theorem. Thus this field splits . A root different from one has order seven; it cannot lie in and generates this degree-three field extension, since three is prime and the tower law applies. Therefore
An element is an algebraic element over if some nonzero polynomial in vanishes at . A field extension is an algebraic extension if each of its elements is an algebraic element over . If , the vectors are linearly dependent, producing such a polynomial. Thus every finite field extension is an algebraic extension.
The converse fails for the field of algebraic numbers . It is an algebraic extension of by definition, but it contains primitive th roots of unity of degree for arbitrarily large primes , by the permitted irreducibility of the cyclotomic polynomial. The tower law would make every such degree at most if the latter were finite, a contradiction.
Regular heptagon 2026-10-31
A regular heptagon is a regular polygon with seven sides. Its unit-circle vertices have complex coordinates for . It cannot be constructed from a unit segment by a straightedge and compass construction: the first coordinate has degree three over , since the seventh cyclotomic field has degree six and degree two over its real subfield. Every finite constructible coordinate extension has power-of-two degree, which cannot contain a degree-three subextension by the tower law.