Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 28 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Fix a non-Archimedean local field , write , and use the arithmetic Frobenius normalization throughout: a uniformizer maps to the automorphism inducing on the maximal unramified extension. The Local Artin map, or local reciprocity map, is the canonical continuous group homomorphismwhere is the maximal abelian extension inside a fixed algebraic closure with its separable part understood. Its finite projection to every finite abelian extension is onto and has kernel exactly the norm subgroup of a local field extension:In particular, the quotient has order . This is how local class field theory turns abelian extension problems into computations inside a multiplicative group.
One precise definition of the finite reciprocity map uses the cup-product construction of local reciprocity. For a finite Galois extension with group , the local fundamental class is specified by local Brauer invariant . Cup product gives an isomorphismThe finite Local Artin map is its inverse, composed with the quotient map from . For abelian the target is itself. Taking the compatible inverse limit over finite abelian extensions defines .
The essential inputs to this cohomological construction have concrete arithmetic content. The local Brauer invariant identifies with ; restriction to multiplies the invariant by , so its kernel is cyclic of that order and has the distinguished generator . For every subgroup , Hilbert theorem 90 gives , while the same invariant calculation over the fixed field gives cyclic of order . These are the hypotheses of the algebraic cup-product isomorphism in Tate cohomology of a finite group. It is obtained by dimension shifting in group cohomology with a projective resolution of the trivial module and the extension representing the fundamental class. Thus the norm-kernel statement comes from the degree-zero definition of Tate cohomology of a finite group, rather than from an arbitrary assignment of an automorphism to each element. In an unramified extension of degree , the fundamental class is the cyclic algebra with arithmetic Frobenius generator and parameter a uniformizer; the isomorphism sends that Frobenius to the class of the uniformizer. This explains the chosen sign of reciprocity.
Several properties follow immediately from this construction. If are finite abelian extensions, restricting to gives . The Local Artin map is therefore compatible with the finite projections defining its infinite target. For any finite separable extension and , its norm compatibility isHere is abelian, so the displayed restriction makes sense. An outline of the compatibility proof is to use the corestriction map in group cohomology: on multiplicative coefficients its degree-zero map is the norm. The cup-product projection formula, together with restriction and corestriction of the local fundamental class, gives exactly the commuting reciprocity diagram. The compatibility is an arithmetic instance of the functoriality of the cohomological definition.
The Local Artin map has dense image, because every finite abelian quotient receives a surjective map. Its kernel is trivial, and it extends to an isomorphismwhere this profinite completion uses the open finite-index subgroups of the topological multiplicative group. The original map is generally not onto: on the unramified quotient it sends the integer valuation into , rather than producing every profinite integer. Its units map onto the abelian inertia group. For a finite abelian extension, the corresponding unit image is its inertia group, while the valuation accounts for its residue extension. Indeed , so the valuation quotient has order ; the full norm quotient has order , leaving unit image of order . Since unit images act trivially on the residue field, they give precisely the inertia group. More finely, the image of the higher principal-unit group in a finite abelian extension is its rth upper ramification group, for each integer . The use of upper ramification numbering is essential for compatibility with quotients.
The existence theorem of local class field theory states that every open finite-index subgroup is for a unique finite abelian extension . Inclusions are reversed: larger extensions have smaller norm subgroups. In the established reciprocity isomorphism, the proof is simply to take the fixed field of the open subgroup corresponding to . Conversely a finite extension gives an open kernel of a finite continuous projection. Uniqueness follows because that kernel specifies its fixed field. The substantive existence problem is therefore to prove that the reciprocity isomorphism realizes all open finite-index subgroups; it is not just this final fixed-field argument.
The Lubin–Tate description of local reciprocity provides an explicit route to that existence problem. Choose a uniformizer and a Lubin–Tate series , with its associated Lubin–Tate formal group . Solving successively by total degree constructs the law with linear part ; the analogous equations construct the endomorphisms with linear coefficient . The congruence supplies the divisibility needed at each step. These endomorphisms satisfy and make the torsion an -module.
If denotes the rfold iterate, the primitive level-r Lubin–Tate torsion points are roots ofReduction modulo is , and the constant term is , so this is an Eisenstein polynomial. Its roots therefore generate a totally ramified extension of degree . A primitive point generates the entire torsion module, and all points are its images under the integral convergent endomorphisms . The torsion field is therefore a Galois extension of . The action map into is injective, and the computed degree equals the order of this unit group, proving it is an isomorphism. Passing to the inverse limit gives for the Lubin–Tate tower .
The unramified tower and are linearly disjoint field extensions: a finite common subextension would be both unramified and totally ramified, hence trivial. The Lubin–Tate description of local reciprocity on their compositum isThe inverse on the unit action goes with the arithmetic Frobenius convention; changing to geometric Frobenius inverts the whole reciprocity map. The reciprocity theorem identifies this explicit action with the finite cup-product maps, independently of the chosen uniformizer. Its proof compares the fundamental class with the norm relations between consecutive torsion fields. The construction makes the possible finite kernels concrete: on the compositum of the degree-d unramified field with the kernel isThese subgroups are cofinal among open finite-index subgroups. Indeed any such contains for sufficiently large , and contains for some positive , since the class of in has finite order. Taking the appropriate fixed subgroup in this explicit finite compositum realizes . This proves the open-subgroup part of existence once the norm compatibility of the explicit and cohomological constructions is established. Together with the finite reciprocity maps it also shows that .
As a direct check, on a finite unramified extension the construction reduces toThe earlier elementary unit-norm proof shows its kernel is exactly . At , the Lubin–Tate cyclotomic example takes and . Its torsion is , so a unit acts by . These examples exhibit both the valuation and unit parts of local reciprocity with consistent signs.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 24 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
First include the trivial absolute value if that convention is allowed. For a nontrivial Non-Archimedean absolute value on , every integer has absolute value on a field at most one, and some nonzero integer has absolute value on a field less than one: otherwise every nonzero rational number, being a quotient of two integers, would have absolute value on a field one. Factoring that integer shows that some prime number has .
There cannot be two such prime numbers. If and for distinct prime numbers, choose integers with . Then the ultrametric inequality givesEvery other prime number therefore has absolute value on a field one. Factoring numerator and denominator of a rational number givesThus the nontrivial equivalence classes are precisely the p-adic absolute values, one for each prime number.
Now let be a number field, with ring of integers of a number field . If the restriction of an absolute value on a field to is trivial, a monic polynomial over satisfied by forces : if , its leading term would strictly dominate the other terms. Applying the same argument to forces for . Thus a nontrivial absolute value on a field defined on has a nontrivial restriction, associated with some prime number .
Every has , by applying the same leading-term argument to its monic integral equation. Consequentlyis a proper prime ideal: it is an ideal by the ultrametric inequality, and with implies that at least one factor has absolute value on a field less than one. It is nonzero because it contains .
The localization lies in the valuation ring of the absolute value on a field: a denominator outside has absolute value on a field one. Since is a Dedekind domain, is a discrete valuation ring. Choose its uniformizer . Each has a unique expressionBoth and lie in the valuation ring, so . Also belongs to its maximal ideal, hence . Therefore .
Conversely each nonzero prime ideal of gives the Non-Archimedean absolute value for any , using the discrete valuation of . All choices of are equivalent, and different prime ideals are distinguished by the elements of having absolute value on a field less than one. We have proved Non-Archimedean absolute values on a number field:The trivial class is additional when trivial absolute values on a field are admitted.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 24 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A local field is nondiscrete and locally compact. In the non-Archimedean case its valuation ring is compact by the scaling argument in part (b). Any Cauchy sequence has a tail in a translate of a compact ball, so has a convergent subsequence; the Cauchy property forces the whole sequence to converge. Thus the field is complete. Part (b) gives a discrete valuation, a uniformizer , and a finite residue field , .
We construct the coefficient field rather than presuming it exists. The polynomial has derivative in characteristic . Every residue element therefore has a unique polynomial root lift by Hensel's lemma. The set of these lifts is a field: qth powers preserve addition and multiplication, so sums and products remain polynomial root lifts; a nonzero lift has inverse . Reduction identifies with . This is the finite coefficient field in positive-characteristic local fields.
For , choose with the same residue, write , and repeat with . Completeness givesThe first nonzero coefficient determines the valuation, so the expansion is unique. Multiplying an arbitrary field element by a suitable power of reduces it to this case. Consequently substitution gives a valued-field isomorphismAddition and multiplication agree with those of Laurent series by convergence, and a nonzero series has a nonzero leading coefficient, establishing injectivity as well as surjectivity.
Conversely, is complete for its T-adic absolute value on a field. Its valuation ring is compact: fixing finitely many coefficients gives the finite partitions into balls, and the successive coefficient choices realize the inverse limit of the finite rings . Equivalently it is the product of countably many finite discrete coefficient sets. Thus it is a non-Archimedean local field. Distinct give nonisomorphic valued fields because their residue fields have different sizes. Replacing by any number in gives an equivalent absolute value on a field.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 24 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Put . For an unramified extension the ramification index is one and . The residue has degree over . Thus are linearly independent over : a nonzero linear dependence can be divided by a coefficient of least valuation and reduced to a nonzero relation among the reduced powers. Hence , and generates .
The same argument gives the integral statement, which is stronger than merely generating the field. WriteIf , divide by . Since remains a uniformizer in the unramified extension and the reduced powers form a basis of , the resulting sum has nonzero residue. Therefore . In particular is integral if and only if every coefficient is integral. This proves unramified residue generator integral basis:
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 24 5 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be a finite Galois extension of non-Archimedean local fields, with Galois group , normalized valuation , integer ring , and residue characteristic . The lower ramification numbering isThese higher ramification groups measure successively finer agreement with the identity. The group is the inertia group, the kernel of the action on the residue field. Each is normal in : conjugation permutes integral elements and preserves their valuations. The groups eventually become trivial, since each nonidentity automorphism moves some integral element and its displacement has finite valuation.
Let , the maximal unramified subextension of a local field extension. Then is the Galois group of the residue extension, cyclic and generated by a Frobenius automorphism. For a uniformizer of , the uniformizer criterion for lower ramification groups givesTo see why one uniformizer suffices, the extension is totally ramified and its integer ring is . Elements of fix its coefficients. Differences of powers of are divisible by , so the valuation bound for implies it for every integral element. The converse follows by testing itself.
The tame inertia quotient is seen explicitly fromIt is a homomorphism because inertia acts trivially on the residue field, and its kernel is . Thus is cyclic of order not divisible by . For , the homomorphismhas kernel . Indeed composing two automorphisms adds the leading displacements, since and inertia fixes residue coefficients. Hence each is an elementary abelian p-group. Eventual triviality makes a p-group; the prime-to-p quotient makes it the unique Sylow subgroup of . This is the wild inertia group. Tame ramification means .
The filtration also measures the different exponent. For the totally ramified extension over , the minimal polynomial of an algebraic element of has polynomial roots , . The derivative formula givesFor a fixed , its displacement valuation is the number of indices for which it belongs to . Interchanging the finite sums therefore gives different exponent from ramification groups:The unramified part contributes zero. More generally different in a tower follows by taking products of bases of a module dual for the trace pairing, and givesThus a tame extension has different exponent , while nontrivial wild groups contribute additional positive terms.
The lower numbering restricts to subgroups: if , its groups are , directly from the definition using the same top-field valuation. Quotients need a different indexing. For real put and define the Herbrand functionThis upper ramification numbering stretches or compresses intervals according to the inertia indices. The quotient theorem says that for a normal subgroup , upper ramification groups commute with quotients:In particular the same upper index has a meaning compatible with passing to a smaller Galois extension, which lower indices generally lack.
For a tame totally ramified extension the picture is simple: , all with are trivial, and the different exponent is . The extension for odd illustrates this, giving exponent .
A mixed-characteristic wild family is the lower ramification filtration of a prime-power cyclotomic extension. Take with odd and . If and modulo , thenThe last equality follows because has order and its uniformizer valuation scales by the ramification index in that cyclotomic tower. The lower breaks are . Integrating the successive indices gives upper breaks .
In equal characteristic there is an equally explicit wild example. Start with and an Artin–Schreier extensionThere is no polynomial root in : a negative-valuation element has , while the right side has valuation . Adjoining a polynomial root splits the polynomial, whose polynomial roots are for , so the extension is cyclic of degree . The valuation equation forces total ramification, and . Choose with and set . Then is a uniformizer. For a nonidentity automorphism ,the first binomial coefficient is nonzero modulo , and all subsequent terms have strictly higher valuation. ThereforeThis is the ramification break of an Artin–Schreier pole. It shows concretely that wild breaks, unlike tame inertia, can occur arbitrarily far out in the filtration.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 24 5 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The polynomial is Eisenstein at every prime number , so a polynomial root generates a totally ramified cubic field . The splitting-field Galois group is a transitive subgroup of , hence or . Its polynomial discriminant isThe product of the three polynomial root differences is a square root of , transformed by the sign of the polynomial root permutation. Thus the group is exactly when is a square, and otherwise it is . In the latter case the splitting field isIndeed adjoining one polynomial root leaves a quadratic factor, whose polynomial discriminant is , so the square root of supplies its remaining polynomial roots.
Suppose first that . The unit reduces to , and Hensel's lemma makes it a square exactly when is a square modulo . Quadratic reciprocity givesIf , the field generated by is already the cyclic splitting field, totally ramified of degree three. If , the nonsquare unit gives an unramified quadratic field . Since and have coprime degrees, . Its residue degree is at least two and its ramification index at least three; their product is six, so they are exactly two and three. Thus its inertia group is the normal inside .
In both cases the ramification index is three and is not divisible by . The wild inertia group is trivial, so all positive lower groups are trivial. As a different check, has valuation two in when , agreeing with tame different exponent .
For the polynomial discriminant is , which is nonsquare. Hence . The quadratic subfield can be written with . It is ramified of degree two, by the Eisenstein polynomial . Together with the totally ramified cubic field this forces to be divisible by both two and three. Since , the splitting field is totally ramified. In its normalized valuation,
All differences between distinct polynomial roots have the same valuation, since permutes the polynomial root pairs and preserves the absolute value on a field. Alsohas valuation six, so each polynomial root difference has valuation three. A nonidentity three-cycle fixes , and thereforeThe transposition fixing negates , so sends to and has displacement valuation . The other transpositions have the same value by conjugacy. The uniformizer criterion now determines every group:For the wild case the different exponent is . Independently, the cubic subfield has different exponent , and the quadratic extension is tame with exponent one. The tower formula gives , confirming the filtration. Its positive upper break is , because . This completes ramification of the splitting field of X3 plus pX plus p for every odd prime number.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 21 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For a complete discretely valued field with perfect residue field , the Witt residue sequence is the split exact sequenceThe first map identifies the unramified Brauer classes. The residue map is canonical; a splitting is chosen by a uniformizer and sends an unramified character to the cyclic Brauer class . Changing may change this splitting by an unramified class. This is the version of Witt's theorem used here.
Now suppose . Fix arithmetic Frobenius . Define the local Brauer invariant byHere is an explicit cohomological construction. Set and . The permitted vanishing , together with Hilbert 90 and inflation, identifies with . Normalize the valuation . Its induced map sends a multiplicative two-cocycle to the integer-valued two-cocycle , givingThe middle isomorphism is the connecting map for , since positive-degree continuous cohomology of the trivial module vanishes.
To see that the valuation map is an isomorphism, its module sequence splits using , and the unit part has zero second cohomology. For each finite unramified cyclic extension , cyclic cohomology identifies that unit contribution with . The norm on residue-field units is surjective. On the principal-unit quotient of level , the norm is the residue trace, through . The trace of a finite separable field extension is surjective; successive corrections and completeness therefore make the norm surjective on all units. Passing to the direct limit gives the asserted vanishing. Finally, a continuous character of is uniquely specified by its value on arithmetic Frobenius, and that value can be any element of . The invariant map is an isomorphism.
In concrete terms, if is the unramified extension of degree and lifts arithmetic Frobenius, the cyclic algebra with and hasIndeed its standard two-cocycle has value when the powers of wrap past and value one otherwise. Valuation turns this into the connecting cocycle for the character with Frobenius value . This also fixes the sign of the normalization.
For restriction and corestriction of local Brauer invariants, let be the residue field of , the ramification index and . A finite extension of local fields has , and . Every class of is , with unramified. After restriction to , its character has Frobenius value and its parameter has valuation . ThusFor corestriction, write a class of as . Choose a character of the finite-field absolute group such that . This is possible because restriction is multiplication by on , which is divisible. Inflate both characters to the local fields. The norm projection formula for cyclic Brauer pairings givesThis projection identity follows from the cohomological transfer and cup-product identity; on multiplicative degree-zero coefficients transfer is the field norm, and the identity in higher degree follows by the cochain definition or dimension shifting. The norm parameter has -valuation , so its invariant is . ThereforeThis argument uses the character-and-norm description directly and does not cancel multiplication by in , where such cancellation would be invalid. For purely inseparable steps in equal characteristic, absolute Galois groups identify, restriction uses inclusion of multiplicative coefficient modules, and Brauer corestriction uses the field norm on them. The same projection calculation applies. Factoring a general finite extension into separable and purely inseparable steps covers all finite extensions in the question.
Lastly, a class with invariant in lowest terms has Brauer period . The unramified extension of degree splits it, so its division-algebra degree divides . Conversely a maximal subfield of the division algebra splits it and has degree equal to that division-algebra degree; the restriction formula forces to divide that degree. These standard splitting-field properties are among the permitted inputs. Thus the index of a central simple algebra equals its period over a local field. The central division algebras of degree are exactly those with invariants and . The Brauer class determines its division representative uniquely, so there areisomorphism classes, where is the Euler totient function. This includes the single degree-one algebra .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 28 1 b i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Write . First, is compact. A compact neighborhood of zero contains a sufficiently small closed ball , since ; that ball is closed in the compact neighborhood. Scaling back proves compactness of . Also is complete: a Cauchy sequence has a tail in a translate of a compact neighborhood, hence a convergent subsequence, and the Cauchy condition makes the whole sequence converge. This is the completeness of locally compact nontrivially valued fields argument.
The additive subgroup is open: a sufficiently small ball around any of its points stays in by the ultrametric inequality. Thus the compact discrete quotient is finite. Choose a set of representatives, with zero representing the zero coset. For , recursively choose and such that , beginning with . ThenFor arbitrary , multiply first by a large power of to put it in , then divide the resulting expansion by that power. This gives the digit expansion with a nonuniformizer.
For uniqueness, take the first exponent at which two expansions differ. After dividing their difference by , all the later terms belong to the closed subgroup , whereas does not, because the representatives are distinct. The difference cannot be zero. Conversely every series with coefficients in and only finitely many nonzero negative-index terms converges by completeness and . Every element therefore has a unique expansion , with the harmless initial zero coefficients understood as part of the same indexed series. No assumption that is a uniformizer is needed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 28 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Normalize to have value group , and extend it to an algebraic closure. Suppose is a root of a monic Eisenstein polynomial of degree . A root cannot have nonpositive valuation: the leading term would then have uniquely smallest valuation. If , the constant term has valuation one, all the other nonleading terms have valuation strictly greater than one, and the leading term has valuation . Cancellation forces . The value group of is , so . Since , equality holds throughout. Thus the polynomial is irreducible and the extension is totally ramified.
Conversely, let be totally ramified of degree , and choose a uniformizer . Its extended value is . The same denominator argument gives , so . Every conjugate has valuation , by the unique extension of an absolute value to a finite extension of a complete field. The nonleading coefficients of its minimal polynomial are elementary symmetric expressions in these conjugates, so their valuations are positive, hence at least one because the coefficients lie in . The constant coefficient is their product and has valuation exactly one. Its minimal polynomial is an Eisenstein polynomial, and .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 22 3 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
We use two precise facts about the formal group of an elliptic curve. At a prime of good reduction, its kernel of reduction of an elliptic curve is identified by the uniformizer with the group . For odd this group is torsion-free. To see the second fact, the integral invariant differential of a formal group law has the form , with . Integrating constructs the formal logarithmIt is a group homomorphism to the additive group. For and ,when is odd. Hence the series converges and , so it is injective. The target has no nonzero torsion. Therefore reduction is injective on the entire rational torsion subgroup at an odd prime of good reduction, including its -primary part.
For the present elliptic curve, , so every odd is a prime of good reduction. If , the Legendre symbol of is . The values and cancel in the sum of the Legendre symbols of , yieldingThe rational torsion subgroup injects into each of these groups, so it is finite and its order divides every such .
For any odd prime , the Dirichlet theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions supplies infinitely many with and . Discard the finitely many dividing . Since , it cannot divide . Similarly choose , again avoiding ; then , so .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 24 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
An absolute value on a field is a map satisfyingA Non-Archimedean absolute value satisfies the stronger ultrametric inequality . Two equivalent absolute values induce the same topology, or equivalently differ by a positive real power. The trivial absolute value on a field takes value one on every nonzero element. The rational classification and the compactness criterion below concern nontrivial absolute values on a field; the trivial exceptions are given explicitly.
Here the additive valuation has real values. For any , the mutually inverse constructions areMultiplicativity becomes , and the ultrametric inequality becomes . Equivalent real-valued valuations differ by positive scaling, so these constructions give the required bijection on equivalence classes. Changing merely rescales the valuation.
To justify the topology formulation, is equivalent to . Thus two nontrivial absolute values on a field with the same topology give the same strict positivity relation on their additive valuations. Fix with . Comparing the signs of , for integers and positive integers , shows that and have identical rational cuts. They are equal, proving for . If one allows valuations in arbitrary ordered groups, the nontrivial classes arising this way are precisely rank-one valuations: higher-rank ordered value groups do not embed order-preservingly in .
For a nontrivial Non-Archimedean absolute value on , for every integer , by repeatedly applying the ultrametric inequality to sums of ones. Some prime must have , otherwise prime factorization and multiplicativity would make every nonzero rational have value one. There is at most one such prime: if both , a Bezout identity contradicts the ultrametric inequality. If , another Bezout identity gives . HenceThis proves the non-Archimedean part of the Ostrowski theorem. If the trivial absolute value on a field is admitted, it supplies one additional class and is not equivalent to any p-adic absolute value.
The valuation ring, its maximal ideal, and its residue field areSuppose the absolute value on a field is nontrivial and is compact. The ideal is an open additive subgroup of , so is discrete; as a continuous image of a compact space it is finite. The subgroup is also closed, since all its cosets are open, and is therefore compact. The continuous function attains a maximum on , with . Choose with . Then the positive values of have least element . Division with remainder in this additive subgroup of proves . Thus is a discretely valued field and is a uniformizer.
Conversely, normalize the discrete valuation by . If has elements, has elements. Each quotient therefore supplies a finite cover by balls of radius tending to zero. The ring is a closed subset of the complete metric field , hence complete and totally bounded, so it is compact. Equivalently,This is the local compactness criterion for a complete non-Archimedean field, with nontriviality understood. For the trivial absolute value on a field, has the discrete topology and is compact exactly when is a finite field; its value group is zero rather than a nonzero discrete cyclic group.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 24 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The inverse different is the trace-dual latticeThe integral closure is finite free over the complete discrete valuation ring . Choose an integral basis and use the nondegenerate trace pairing to form its dual basis over . This exhibits as a full, finite -lattice. It is stable under multiplication by , because for , and bounded denominators make it a fractional ideal of . Integral elements have integral field traces, so . A nonzero fractional ideal of a discrete valuation ring is invertible; its inverse is consequently an integral ideal, the different ideal .
Assume now , with monic separable minimal polynomial of degree . Lagrange interpolation at its distinct roots givesIndeed, these are the leading coefficients in the interpolation formula for . For any element of , this trace is the coefficient of in its degree-less-than- representative modulo . The resulting pairing on the basis is integral and unimodular: reversing the order of one basis makes its matrix triangular with diagonal ones, since entries vanish when the exponent sum is less than . Thus it identifies with its full -dual. Translating back to the trace pairing proves
For a totally ramified extension of degree , any uniformizer is an Eisenstein generator of a totally ramified extension, and . To see the latter equality, use the common residue field to expand an integral element in powers of with digits from ; reduce powers using its Eisenstein polynomial and take limits in the finite complete -module generated by . Write that polynomial as , with for . When , the derivative's leading term has valuation , while every other nonzero derivative term has valuation at least . There can be no cancellation of the unique smallest term. Therefore
For the prime-power p-adic cyclotomic extension, put and . Modulo , the shifted cyclotomic polynomial is , while its constant term is , not a multiple of . It is therefore Eisenstein, so is a uniformizer and . Fromwe obtain, by differentiating the numerator at ,The denominator is a primitive- root of unity minus one and has -valuation . The different exponent is consequently , givingThis includes : the extension is trivial and its different exponent is zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 24 3 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Choose with and put . The Eisenstein polynomial shows that has degree , is totally ramified, and has uniformizer . Its subfield is the field from the previous part. Because is odd,Thus contains and , and contains all roots of . Conversely , while . Their coprime degrees force their compositum to have degree . It is contained in and hence equals it. Therefore is exactly the splitting field, not merely an extension containing it.
The Galois group has a normal subgroup of order , acting by . The st roots of unity already lie in by the Hensel lemma. The maps , with , supply a complement of order . Its conjugation acts faithfully on , so .
Normalize . Total ramification and the uniformizer criterion for lower ramification groups reduce the calculation to . For nonidentity ,since and . For , write with . Its multiplier has residue , so . The lower ramification numbering is thereforeAll later groups are trivial. The wild lower break is , not one. In the upper ramification numbering, the Herbrand function sends this break to : , for , and above it.
As an independent consistency check, the different exponent from ramification groups is . The derivative of the Eisenstein polynomial gives the same answer, , since .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 24 3 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The geometric sum givesSince , its factorization at the nonidentity th roots of unity yieldsEach factor is a unit, and Wilson theorem gives . Set . Then is a principal unit andThe minus sign comes from the product of the nonzero elements of the residue field, not from an arbitrary choice of uniformizer.
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.