If is a finite algebraic extension, it can be defined by a polynomial . The polynomial discriminant, , is well-defined up a factor of a non-zero square. The discriminant root field of the extension is , which is well-defined.
If , then the Galois group for is a subgroup of , well-defined up to conjugation. The discriminant root field can alternatively be described as the fixed field of .
Note if , there are only a small number of possibilities for quadratic extensions of . If is odd, we let denote any unit in which is not a square modulo . Then, the quadratic extensions of are (which is the unramified quadratic extension), , and .
For , there are seven quadratic extensions of . Here we let denote any value in which is congruent to modulo (for example, ) so again is the quadratic unramified extension; the other six quadratic extensions are , , , , , and .
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- Last edited by John Jones on 2023-04-07 13:18:15
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