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Practice Notes Fields and Galois Theory

The document provides an overview of fields and Galois theory, defining key concepts such as rings, fields, and their characteristics. It discusses the properties of field extensions, including the degree of an extension and the existence of roots for irreducible polynomials. Additionally, it presents propositions and theorems related to field characteristics and extensions, supported by examples illustrating these concepts.

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ahona.mukherjee
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
7 views8 pages

Practice Notes Fields and Galois Theory

The document provides an overview of fields and Galois theory, defining key concepts such as rings, fields, and their characteristics. It discusses the properties of field extensions, including the degree of an extension and the existence of roots for irreducible polynomials. Additionally, it presents propositions and theorems related to field characteristics and extensions, supported by examples illustrating these concepts.

Uploaded by

ahona.mukherjee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Practice notes: Fields and Galois Theory

We denote 0 as additive identity and 1 as multiplicative identity.


Definition of Ring:
A Ring R is a non-empty set equipped with two binary operations “+” and “·”
such that the following are true:
(i) R is an abelian group under “+”.
(ii) R is closed under multiplication.
(iii) “·” is distributive over “+” i.e for any a, b, c ∈ R, a · (b + c) = (a · b) + (a · c).
(iv) 1 ̸= 0 (if 1 ∈ R)
(v) If 1 ∈ R, for ∀ x ∈ R, 1 · x = x · 1 = x

A field F is a commutative ring with 1 such that for every non-zero element in
F, there exists a multiplicative inverse.

Commutative ring 1∈F

FIELD

α ∈ F \{0} =⇒ ∃ α−1 ∈ F such that α · α−1 = α−1 · α = 1

In other words F × = F \{0} is an abelian group under multiplication!


Now we are going to encounter one of the first invariants associated with field
F which is characteristic and we will now observe the following behaviour in F:
As F is a field, 1F ∈ F =⇒ 1F +1F ∈ F =⇒ (1F +1F )+1F = (1F +1F +1F ) ∈
F.... =⇒ (1F + 1F + .... n times ) ∈ F i.e F contains additive subgroup
generated by 1F
So let us define n · 1F = (1F + 1F + .... n times )

1
n · 1F is distinct for every positive integer n

There are two possibilities:

∃ n ∈ Z+ such that n · 1F = 0

CHARACTERISTIC OF A FIELD: DEFINITION


A characteristic of a field, denoted by Ch(F ) is the smallest positive integer “p”
such that (p · 1F ) = 0 if such a “p” exists or Ch(F ) = 0 otherwise.
Examples :
(i) Fields Q and R have characteristic 0 each.
(ii) Finite field Z/pZ has characteristic “p” for any prime “p”.
(iii) The integral domain Fp [x] wth polynomials in variable x with coefficients
in Fp has characteristic p.

Define (−n) · 1F = −(n · 1F ) = additive inverse of (n · 1F )

Proposition 1: The characteristic of a field F is either 0 or a prime “p”.


Proof: Given a field F, we can have two possibilities :
(i)Ch(F ) = 0 (nothing needs to be explained further)
(ii)Ch(F ) ̸= 0 =⇒ ∃ n ∈ Z+ such that n is the smallest positive integer such
that n · 1F = 0. Suppose n is composite =⇒ n = rs where r, s ∈ / {0, 1, n}.
Thus n · 1F = 0 =⇒ (r · s) · 1F = 0 =⇒ r · (s · 1F ) = 0.
Now as 0 < s < n =⇒ (s · 1F ) ̸= 0. Thus ∃ α ∈ F such that α is mult. inv. of
(s · 1F ). Thus r · (s · 1F ) · α = 0 =⇒ r = 0 ( =⇒ ⇐=)

We can see a natural ring homomorphism φ : Z −→ F defined by φ(n) =


(n · 1F ) with kernel(φ)=Ch(F )Z. Now basically φ maps Z to additive subgroup
generated by 1F .
Now By first isomorphism theorem, we can take quotient ring Z/(Ker(φ)) and
say that Z/(Ker(φ)) ∼ = Im(φ) ∼= < 1F , + > ( smallest additive subgroup gen-
erated by 1F ).
Thus we see that F has a subfield (specifically < 1F , + > for finite character-
istic) which is isomorphic to either Q (field of fractions of Z) or to Fp = Z/pZ
(field of fractions of Z/pZ) depending on Ch(F ).

Proposition 2: The characteristics of a field F is either 0 or a prime “p”. Then


for any α ∈ F , p · α = 0
Proof: Ch(F ) = p =⇒ p · 1F = 0 =⇒ (p · 1F ) · α = 0 =⇒ p · α = 0

2
Prime subfield: The prime subfield of a field F is the subfield generated by
1F , multiplicative identity of F. It is isomorphic to either Q or Z/pZ
Examples:
(i) The prime subfield of both Q and R is Q.
(ii) The prime subfield of Fp [x] is isomorphic to Fp .
How does the subfield look like for non-zero characteristic? −→ It is additive
subgroup generated by 1F . .Let us write this in form of a proposition.

Proposition: The subfield generated by 1F in case of Ch(F ) ̸= 0 is


simply the additive subgroup generated by 1F .
Proof:
Two ways of approaching it :
Simply use the map φ : Z −→ F where we will see that basically the image is
the subfield generated by 1F (Call it SI ) and by first isomorphism theorem it
will be isomorphic to Z/pZ where p = Ch(F ). As Z/pZ is basically < 1, + >
and φ(1) = 1F =⇒ SI =< 1F , +F >.
For Q whose characteristic is 0, we see that 1 does not add to give 1/2. Thus
additive subgroup generated by 1 here is simply a proper subset of subfield
generated by 1.
Next is simply by using definition of field F(do later)

DEFINITION OF EXTENSION FIELD:


If K is a field and F is a subfield contained in K, then K is called extension field
(or simply extension) of field F, denoted by K/F or simply by a diagram

K
|
F

Directly from definition, Every field is an extension of its prime subfield.


Now If K is the extension field of F, then F is called the base field of the
extension.

Given K/F is any extension, then multiplication in K makes it a


vector space over F

Proof:
We are given a field extension K/F i.e F is contained in K. For any α ∈ F =⇒
α ∈ K, we can say that α · k ∈ K for any k ∈ K =⇒ and For any k1 , k2 ∈ K
and α, β ∈ F , αk1 , βk2 ∈ K =⇒ αk1 + βk2 ∈ K =⇒ K is a vector space
over F


y

3
Every field F is a vector space over its prime subfield (subfield generated by
multiplicative identity 1F ).

Definition: Degree of a field extension: The degree (or relative degree or


index) of a field extension K/F is the dimension of field K as a vector space
over field F denoted by [K : F ].
Extension is finite. −→ Degree [K : F ] is finite.
Otherwise INFINITE!

An important class of field extensions are obtained by trying to solve equations


over a field F.
For example for F = R, we see that there is no solution to the simple equation
x2 + 1 = 0.
Thus the question arises: Does there exist a larger field that contains R that
solves this equation?
This led Gauss to introduce complex numbers C = R + Ri where i is defined
such that it solves x2 + 1 = 0
Now one defines addition and multiplication using usual elementary algebra and
it is easy to show that C is a field and contains R.

QUESTION: Given any field F and a polynomial p(x) ∈ F [x], does there exist
an extension K of F such that K contains a solution to p(x)? We may assume
that p(x) is irreducible in F [x] −→ Yes!

That comes from following two propositions in Ring theory:


Proposition 2: Let φ : F −→ F ′ be a homomorphism. Then φ is either
identically 0 or injective so that the image is either 0 or isomorphic
to F .
Proof: We know fact that:
F is a field ⇐⇒ The only ideals of F are 0 and F .
Thus For the map φ : F −→ F ′ , Ker(φ) is an ideal in F =⇒ Ker(φ) = 0 or
Ker(φ) = F .
→ Ker(φ) = 0 =⇒ φ is injective
→ Ker(φ) = F =⇒ φ(F ) = 0 =⇒ the map is identically zero.
∗∗
THEOREM: Let F be a field and p(x) ∈ F [x] be an irreducible poly-
nomial. Then there exists a field K containing an isomorphic copy of
F such that it contains a root of p(x). Identifying F with this isomor-
phic copy shows that there exists a field extension of F such that it
contains a root of p(x).
Proof:
Given F is a field =⇒ F [x] is a Principal Integral Domain =⇒ Ideal
generated by p(x) is maximal as prime ideals are maximal in PIDs.
Thus the quotient ring F [x]/ < p(x) > is a field.

4
Now we know that there is a natural homomorphism φ : F [x] −→ F [x]/ <
p(x) > with a 7−→ a < p(x) >.
Now if we restrict the domain to F as F ⊆ F [x] (constant polynomials), the
new restricted domain map (Let’s name it φr : F −→ F [x]/ < p(x) >) actually
is a map between fields. So by previous proposition PROPOSITION 2, as
this is not a zero-map, the image must be isomorphic to F ( That is what the
propositions says).
Thus we see that F (x)/ < p(x) > has an isomorphic copy of F and as φ(F ) is
a subfield of F (x)/ < p(x) > where p(x) ≡ 0.
Now for polynomial x in F [x] we see that φ(x) = x̄ and now for x we see
p(x)= p(x) = 0 in F [x]/ < p(x) >−→ ( Essentially here what we do is that using
a polynomial in F (x), we detect and identify a root of p(x) in F (x)/ < p(x) >
using map φ (not φr ).)

Theorem: Let F be a field and p(x) ∈ F [x]. Let K = F [x]/ < p(x) >
and let θ = x(mod p(x)). Then the set {1, θ, θ2 ...., θ(n−1) } form the basis
of the field K as a vector space over field F . Thus the degree of the
extension K/F is n i.e dimension of K as a vector space over F . Thus

K = {a0 + a1 θ + a2 θ2 + ... + a(n−1) θ(n−1) ai ∈ F }

with all polynomials in θ with degree < n.

Proof: Let a(x) ∈ F [x] and we know F [x] is a PID =⇒ F [x] is a Euclidean
domain i.e we can divide a(x) by p(x).
Thus by generalised Euclid’s algorithm, ∃ q(x), r(x) ∈ F [x] such that a(x) =
q(x)p(x) + r(x) where r(x) = 0 or deg(r(x)) < deg(p(x)) = n. Thus every
polynomial in F [x] is equivalent to a polynomial of degree less than n in F[x].
Thus the set {1, x, x2 , ..., x(n−1) } forms basis of F [x].
Thus the image φ of {1, x, x2 , ..., x(n−1) } i.e {1, θ, θ2 , ..., θ(n−1) } forms basis of
K over F as a vector space.
Now we have to show that the set {1, θ, θ2 , ..., θ(n−1) } is linearly independent.
Let us take coefficients b0 , b1 , b2 , ..., b(n−1) in F such that
b0 + b1 θ + b2 θ2 + ... + b(n−1) θ(n−1) ≡ 0 =⇒ p(x) divides b0 + b1 θ + b2 θ2 + ... +
b(n−1) θ(n−1) but that is not possible as:
deg(b0 + b1 θ + b2 θ2 + ... + b(n−1) θ(n−1) ) < deg(p(x))
Thus {1, θ, θ2 , ..., θ(n−1) } forms a basis for K/F .

Examples:
(i) F = R and p(x) = x2 + 1 which is irreducible in R. Now by the theorem
above R[x]/ < (x2 + 1) > is a field that contains a copy of F = R and contains
a root of (x2 + 1) and for θ = x(mod (x2 + 1)) θ2 + 1 = 0
Basis of this R[x]/ < (x2 + 1) > is {1, θ} and thus all elements of R[x]/ <
(x2 + 1) > are of the form a0 + a1 θ.
Addition in R[x]/ < (x2 + 1) >:

5
For two elements (a + bθ), (c + dθ), (a + bθ) + (c + dθ) = (a + c) + (b + d)θ
Multiplication in R[x]/ < (x2 + 1) >:
For two elements (a + bθ), (c + dθ), (a + bθ) · (c + dθ) = (ac + bdθ2 ) + (ad + bc)θ =
(ac − bd) + (ad + bc)θ
It is the same interaction as complex numbers, just that i is replaced by x
here. Now we can develop an isomorphism from R[x]/ < (x2 + 1) > to C where
(a + bx) 7−→ (a + bi)

(ii)F = Q, then Q[x]/ < (x2 + 1) >∼


= Qi i.e Q[i]

(iii)F = Q and p(x) = (x2 − 2) which is irreducible in Q by eisentein criterion.


Thus We see that K = Q[x]/ < (x2 − 2) > is a field and contains a copy of
F = Q. Now the basis set of K is {1, θ} where θ = x(mod p(x)).
Now Addition in K:
For (a + bθ), (c + dθ), (a + bθ) + (c + dθ) = (a + c) + (b + d)θ
Multiplication in K:
For (a + bθ), (c + dθ), (a + bθ) · (c + dθ) = (ac + bdθ2 ) + (ad + bc)θ = (ac + 2bd) +
(ad + bc)θ √
As we know from our knowledge √ 2 satisfies (x2 − 2) we can √
try to guess a map
φ : Q[x]/ < (x2 − 2) >−→ Q[ 2] where (a + bx) 7−→ (a + b 2) and this is an
isomorphism ! Thus

Q[x]/ < (x2 − 2) >∼
= Q[ 2]

(iv)F = Q and p(x) = (x3 − 2) (irreducible by Eisenstein Criterion).We will see


that :
Q[x]/ < (x3 − 2) > ∼ = {a0 + a1 ω + a2 ω 2 ai ∈ Q}
where ω 3 = 2
Now as (x3 − 2) is irreducible in Q =⇒ all polynomials of degree less than 3
are somewhat “co-prime” to (x3 − 2) . Suppose we want inverse of (1 + θ).
Then by Euclid’s algorithm, ∃ a(x), b(x) ∈ F [x] such that a(x)(x+1)+b(x)(x3 −
2) = 1 =⇒ a(θ)(1 + θ) ≡(x3 −2) 1 =⇒ a(θ) is inverse of (1 + θ) in
Q[x]/ < (x3 − 2) >. Thus for every polynomial of degree less than deg((x3 − 2)),
we can find an inverse this way.
Now from manipulations, {cleverly using the formula of x3 + 1 = (x + 1)(x2 −
x + 1)} so take a(x) = 31 (x2 − x + 1) and b(x) = − 31 .

(v) If θ ∈ K is a root of the polynomial : a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + ... + a(n−1) x(n−1)


Then we can find (θ)−1 by doing the following θ is root of p(x) =⇒ a0 + a1 θ +
a2 θ2
(vi) F = F2 and p(x) = (x2 + x + 1) which is irreducible over F2 . Let K =
F2 [x]/⟨(x2 + x + 1)⟩

6
Let F be a subfield of the field K and let α ∈ K be an element in K. Now
the collection of subfields containg F and α is non-empty as K is a field that
contains both F and α. Thus the intersection of all subfields containg F and α
gives the unique minimal subfield containing F and α.

Field generated by a collection of elements {α, β, ...} in K over F :


Let K be an extension of field F and let {α, β, ...} be a collection of elements
in K. Then the smallest subfield of K containing field F and the set of .
elements {α, β, ...} ∈ K is called the field generated by {α, β, ...} over F
denoted by F (α, β, ...)

Definition of simple extension: Let K be an extension of field F and


there exists an α ∈ K such that K is generated by a single element α
over F . Then K = F (α) and thus K is called a simple extension of F
and α is called primitive element for the extension.

Theorem 6: Let F be a field and p(x) ∈ F [x]. Let K be an extension of


F containing α as a root of p(x) i.e p(α) = 0. If F (α) denotes subfield
of K generated by α over F , then

F (α) ∼
= F [x]/⟨p(x)⟩

Proof:
Let us take the homomorphism φ1 : F [x] −→ F (α) where a(x) 7−→ a(α).
Now it is clear that p(x) ∈ Ker(φ1 ) =⇒ ⟨p(x)⟩ ⊆ Ker(φ1 )

Thus the homomorphism φ2 : F [x]/ ⟨p(x)⟩ −→ F (α) where a(x) 7−→ r(α) where
r(x) denotes the remainder we get on dividing a(x) by p(x), is well defined
as ⟨p(x)⟩ ⊆ Ker(φ1 ) (proved earlier in Group Theory).

As p(x) is irreducible over F [x], thus F [x]/⟨p(x)⟩ and as Ker(φ2 ) ⊆ F [x]/⟨p(x)⟩ =⇒


φ2 (x) = α ̸= 0 and by PROPOSITION 2, F [x]/⟨p(x)⟩ isin isomorphism with
its image.
Now α ∈ Im(φ2 ) and Im(φ2 ) contains all constant polynomials of F [x] and
F ⊆ F [x] =⇒ Im(φ2 ) ⊆ F (α) is a subfield and F (α) is the smallest subfield
of K containing F and α =⇒ Im(φ2 ) = F (α). Thus:

F (α) ∼
= F [x]/⟨p(x)⟩

Let us take two field F and F ′ such that there is a ring isomorphism φ :
F −→ F ′ . Thus using this, we can define a ring isomorphism φ′ from F [x]

7
to F ′ [x] such that a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + ... + a(n−1) x(n−1) 7−→ φ(a0 ) + φ(a1 )x +
φ(a2 )x2 + ... + φ(a(n−1) x(n−1) )
Then we see that for some irreducible p(x) in F [x], say φ′ (p(x)) = p′ (x). Thus
now as the ideal generated by p(x) is maximal (call it Ip(x) ), thus the ideal
generated by p′ (x) is also maximal (call it Ip′ (x) ) as φ′ is an isomorphism =⇒
F ′ [x]/Ip′ (x) is a field and p′ (x) is irreducible in F ′ [x].
Thus the map σ : F [x]/Ip(x) −→ F ′ [x]/Ip′ (x) defined by :
(a(x) + Ip(x) ) 7−→ (φ′ (a(x)) + Ip′ (x) ) is an isomorphism! Let us prove this fact
which will again prove the next theorem:
σ(a1 (x)) = σ(a2 (x)) =⇒ φ′ (a1 (x) − a2 (x)) ∈ Ip′ (x) =⇒ (a1 (x) − a2 (x)) ∈
φ−1 (Ip′ (x) ) =⇒ a1 (x)−a2 (x) = f (x)p(x) =⇒ a1 (x)+Ip(x) = a2 (x)+Ip(x) −→
ONE-ONE

As φ′ is an isomorphism, for any b′ (x) ∈ F ′ [x], ∃ b(x) ∈ F [x] such that


φ′ (b(x)) = b′ (x),
Thus for any b′ (x) + Ip′ (x) ∈ F ′ [x]/Ip′ (x) , b′ (x) + Ip′ (x) = φ′ (b(x)) + Ip′ (x) =
σ(b(x) + Ip(x) ) −→ SURJECTIVE

Theorem 8: Theorem 8. Let φ : F −→ F ′ be an isomorphism of fields.


Let p(x) ∈ F [x] be an irreducible polynomial and let p′ (x) ∈ F ′ [x] be
the irreducible polynomial obtained by applying the map φ to the
coefficients of p(x). Let α be a root of p(x) (in some extension of F )
and let β be a root of p′ (x) (in some extension of F ′ ). Then there is
an isomorphism σ : F (α) −→ F ′ (β) such that α 7−→ β mapping α to β
and extending φ, i.e., such that σ restricted to F is the isomorphism
φ.

Proof:
Combine the fact that F (α) ∼= F [x]/⟨p(x)⟩ and F ′ (β) ∼
= F ′ [x]/⟨p′ (x)⟩ and from
the fact we proved just before the theorem,we see F [x]/⟨p(x)⟩ ∼ = F ′ [x]/ ⟨p′ (x)⟩
Show

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