Skip to main content

Questions tagged [galois-theory]

Galois theory, named after Évariste Galois, provides a connection between field theory and group theory. Using Galois theory, certain problems in field theory can be reduced to group theory, which is, in some sense, simpler and better understood.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
27 votes
1 answer
2k views

Galois Group as a Sheaf

I've noticed that the Galois groups associated to Galois field extensions $L$ of a given field $K$ seem remarkably like a sheaf, with the field extensions taking the place of open set, and the Galois ...
David Corwin's user avatar
  • 15.4k
13 votes
2 answers
5k views

Primitive element theorem without building field extensions

Is there are nice way to prove the primitive element theorem without using field extensions? The primitive element theorem says that if $x$ and $y$ are algebraic over $F$ and $y$ is separable over $F$...
Russell O'Connor's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
551 views

Probability of an extension being normal

Let $P$ be the probability that an elliptic curve with a rational point has an infinite number of rational points. From what I understand, the value of P is unknown. This got me thinking about a ...
Daniel Barter's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
1k views

Why do generic polynomials work in reality?

I understand that a generic $G$-polynomial $f(t_1,...,t_n)[X]$ over field $k$ has Galois group $G$ over $k(t_1,...,t_n)$. And basically any $G$ extension of $k$ should be generated by a realization of ...
Syed's user avatar
  • 601
8 votes
3 answers
2k views

Computing only the order of Galois group (not the group itself).

My question is related to this one: Computing the Galois group of a polynomial. I was wondering if there is a faster algorithm just to compute the order of the group rather than the group itself. ...
Syed's user avatar
  • 601
16 votes
0 answers
1k views

Galois theory timeline (II)

This question is a sequel. I structured the previous one around Emil Artin's classic treatment of Galois theory from the 1940s, though making clear some reservations of my own about whether Artin ...
Charles Matthews's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
349 views

Non-representability by a binary quadratic form

Let $k$ be an arbitrary field, $d\in k$, and $d$ is not a square in $k$. Consider the binary quadratic form $f(x,y)=x^2-d y^2$ (it is the norm from $k(\sqrt{d})$ to $k$). I am looking for a reference ...
Mikhail Borovoi's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
390 views

Is the (regular) inverse Galois problem known for the field C(x,y)?

I'd be surprised if somebody proved the inverse Galois problem for $\mathbb{C}(x,y)$, but I wanted to make sure.
Makhalan Duff's user avatar
61 votes
4 answers
8k views

Degree of sum of algebraic numbers

This is an elementary question (coming from an undergraduate student) about algebraic numbers, to which I don't have a complete answer. Let $a$ and $b$ be algebraic numbers, with respective degrees $...
François Brunault's user avatar
29 votes
3 answers
4k views

Galois theory timeline

A recent question on the history of Galois theory wasn't the most satisfactory. But the historical issues do seem quite attractive. They relate to innovation, and to exposition. There is a perspective ...
Charles Matthews's user avatar
26 votes
4 answers
6k views

What was Galois theory like before Emil Artin?

I read that the primitive element theorem for fields was fundamental in expositions of Galois theory before Emil Artin reformulated the subject. What are the differences between pre and post-Artin ...
teil's user avatar
  • 4,351
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

what is the first Galois cohomology group of the Galois module End(T_l(A)) for some abelian variety A over a finite field k and l some prime number different from the characteristic of the base field?

According to Serre's book 'Galois cohomology', Galois chomology group are always torsion, but it seems to me that H^1(k, End_{Z_l}(T_l(A)))=coker(Frob-1) on End_{Z_l}(T_l(A)), which has the same Z_l ...
Heer's user avatar
  • 997
8 votes
4 answers
9k views

Cyclic extensions

Hi. Are there nice/simple examples of cyclic extensions $L/K$ (that is, Galois extensions with cyclic Galois group) for which $L$ cannot be written as $K(a)$ with $a^n\in K$? Thanks.
Randomblue's user avatar
  • 2,967
11 votes
1 answer
2k views

Maximal extension almost everywhere unramified and totally split at one place

Fix a finite set of primes $S$ and an additional prime $p$. Let $K$ be the maximal extension of $\mathbb{Q}$ that is unramified outside $S$ and $\infty$ and totally split at $p$. Is the extension $K$ ...
Peter Scholze's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
1k views

Splitting of a division algebra with an involution of second kind

Let $k$ be a field, $K/k$ a separable quadratic extension, and $D/K$ a central division algebra of dimension $r^2$ over $K$ with an involution $\sigma$ of second kind (i.e. $\sigma$ acts non-trivially ...
Mikhail Borovoi's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
1k views

What can we say about center of rational absolute Galois group?

Well the question is in the title. I asked myself this question while thinking about something in Grothendieck-Teichmüller theory. I guess class field theory gives some insight into this, or I am ...
krolik's user avatar
  • 283
32 votes
3 answers
4k views

Fundamental groups of topoi

Just yesterday I heard of the notion of a fundamental group of a topos, so I looked it up on the nLab, where the following nice definition is given: If $T$ is a Grothendieck topos arising as category ...
Lars's user avatar
  • 4,450
7 votes
2 answers
1k views

A split short exact sequence of algebraic fundamental groups

If we have a variety, $X$, over a field, $k$, and $x$ is a geometric point of $X$, and let $\bar x$ be a geometric point of $X_{k^s} := X \times_k k^s$ above $x$ then we have the following short exact ...
Makhalan Duff's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
3k views

method of finding roots of polynominal equations with arithmetic operations and roots and other functions

Lets recall Platonic construction in plane geometry. It is impossible to square a circle using only ruler and callipers. But is also known that it is possible to do it with ruler which has a mark on ...
kakaz's user avatar
  • 1,626
41 votes
5 answers
15k views

Computing the Galois group of a polynomial

Does there exist an algorithm which computes the Galois group of a polynomial $p(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x]$? Feel free to interpret this question in any reasonable manner. For example, if the degree of $p(...
Simon Thomas's user avatar
  • 8,298
43 votes
4 answers
9k views

Fields with trivial automorphism group

Is there a nice characterization of fields whose automorphism group is trivial? Here are the facts I know. Every prime field has trivial automorphism group. Suppose L is a separable finite extension ...
Vipul Naik's user avatar
  • 7,320
1 vote
0 answers
2k views

What is the Galois group of a polynomial over a finite field? [closed]

If I have a polynomial which I've factorised into irreducibles over GF(p), p prime, and it doesn't have any repeated factors, then what is its Galois group over this finite field (and what is the ...
jsmith12's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
752 views

Transformations of integer polynomials under combinations of their roots

I'm wondering whether the following ideas/questions give rise to an existing body of research. (Accordingly: please suggest appropriate changes to the tags!) Preamble We consider polynomials f &...
Niel de Beaudrap's user avatar
17 votes
1 answer
1k views

Does there exist a number field, unramified over a predetermined finite set of primes of Q, such that the inverse regular Galois problem is correct for that number field?

The question is: for any finite group, $G$, and any finite set of primes (of $\mathbb{Z}$), $P$, is there a number field $K$, such that there is a regular $G$-Galois extension of $\mathbb{P}^1_K$, and ...
H. Hasson's user avatar
  • 1,522
8 votes
3 answers
2k views

Is there a notion of Galois extension for Z / p^2?

The above title is in fact a special case of what I want to ask. Certainly we have a well defined notion of Galois extension for $ \mathbb{Q}_p $. The intersections of these extensions to the ring ...
abcdxyz's user avatar
  • 2,824
9 votes
1 answer
820 views

When the splitting fields of shifted generic polynomials are linearly disjoint?

Let me start by rigorously pose my question. Let $K$ be an algebraically closed field of characteristic $2$, let $n$ be an even integer number, let $f(X) = X^n + T_1 X^{n-1} + \cdots + T_n$, be the ...
Lior Bary-Soroker's user avatar
21 votes
3 answers
2k views

Surprising Analogue of Q

I was describing Manish Kumar's work a few weeks ago to a fellow graduate student, and she stumped me with a big-picture question I couldn't answer. Manish Kumar proved that the commutator subgroup ...
H. Hasson's user avatar
  • 1,522
7 votes
1 answer
452 views

Computing stable reduction of finite covers of curves in practice

The general theory is described in various places, but I'll be following (sketchily) the description of this process appearing in section 1 of Bouw and Wewers' "Reduction of covers and Hurwitz spaces"....
H. Hasson's user avatar
  • 1,522
7 votes
2 answers
5k views

Galois group of a product of irreducible polynomials

Hello Suppose given a polynomial $P=Q_1\cdots Q_k$ of degree $n$, where each $Q_i$ is irreducible. Suppose also that I know the Galois group $G_i$ (over the rationals) of each irreducible factor $Q_i$...
Randomblue's user avatar
  • 2,967
13 votes
2 answers
590 views

What are Mean Values of Ideal Densities in Galois Extensions?

In an unfinished (and as of now unpublished) article intended for the encyclopedia of mathematics, Arnold Scholz wrote: "Classifying extensions according to the Galois group of their normal closure ...
Franz Lemmermeyer's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

A special integral polynomial

Given $n \in \mathbf{N}$,is always possible to construct a monic polynomial in $\mathbf{Z}[x]$ of degree $2n$, whose roots are in $\mathbf{C} \setminus \mathbf{R}$ and whose Galois group over $\mathbf{...
Roberto Svaldi's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
416 views

sheaves of representations on galois groups, can there be interesting cohomology?

Consider a field $K$ (of characteristic 0, say) and its absolute galois group $G_K^{ab} = Gal(\overline{K}/K)$, given the Krull topology: $U_E(\sigma) = \sigma Gal(\overline{K}/E)$ form a basis of the ...
Tom Bachmann's user avatar
39 votes
2 answers
2k views

What are the possible sets of degrees of irreducible polynomials over a field?

Hopefully this is not too easy an exercise. Let $F$ be a field. Let $I \subset \mathbb{N}$ be the set of all positive integers $d$ such that there exists an irreducible polynomial of degree $d$ over ...
Qiaochu Yuan's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
2k views

How to show the galois group of a polynomial is not an alternating group?

I am trying to prove that a certain class of polynomials have symmetric galois group. Using the Newton polygon, I have shown that the galois groups of these polynomials are transitive on $k$-sets for ...
Adam 's user avatar
  • 1,327
7 votes
1 answer
264 views

For a given finite group G, is there a cover of P^1 over Q s.t. over C it's G-Galois?

For any finite group, G, we can find a cover of ℙ1ℂ which is G-Galois. The regular inverse Galois problem is equivalent to there existing such a cover that descends with action to ℚ. ...
H. Hasson's user avatar
  • 1,522
15 votes
5 answers
4k views

Given a number field $K$, when is its Hilbert class field an abelian extension of $\mathbb{Q}$?

Given a number field $K$, when is its Hilbert class field an abelian extension of $\mathbb{Q}$? I am going to be on the road soon, so pleas don't be offended if I don't respond quickly to a comment.
Scarlet's user avatar
  • 203
31 votes
2 answers
4k views

Number theory textbook based on the absolute Galois group?

I've just finished reading Ash and Gross's Fearless Symmetry, a wonderful little pop mathematics book on, among other things, Galois representations. The book made clear a very interesting ...
13 votes
2 answers
2k views

Galois group of a product of polynomials

How can I compute the Galois group of the polynomial $fg\in K[x]$ assuming that I know the Galois groups of $f\in K[x]$ and $g\in K[x]$? Let's suppose for simplicity that the field $K$ is perfect.
roger123's user avatar
  • 2,782
73 votes
2 answers
8k views

The inverse Galois problem and the Monster

I have a slight interest in both the inverse Galois problem and in the Monster group. I learned some time ago that all of the sporadic simple groups, with the exception of the Mathieu group $M_{23}$, ...
aorq's user avatar
  • 4,994
12 votes
2 answers
2k views

What, precisely, is the relationship between "fields of moduli" and "moduli spaces"?

Notation The term "field of moduli" comes in up in different scenarios, but let's consider the following: Let X->ℙ1 be a G-Galois cover, where everything is over the algebraic closure of ...
H. Hasson's user avatar
  • 1,522
43 votes
3 answers
7k views

transcendental Galois theory

Suppose we define an arbitrary field extension $K/F$ to be Galois if, for all subextensions $L$ of $K/F$, we have $K^{\operatorname{Aut}(K/L)} = L$. In words: for any element $x$ of $K \setminus L$, ...
Pete L. Clark's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
3k views

Is there a simple relationship between K-theory and Galois theory?

I can (barely) understand the definition of the higher algebraic K-groups a la the plus construction right now (I have some past familiarity with K-theory for C*-algebras and can recall the rudiments ...
Steve Huntsman's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
513 views

Field of Definition of a Meromorphic Function

Question Let X be a smooth, projective curve over the algebraic closure of ℚ. Let f:X->ℙ1 be a meromorphic function. Assume that the zeros and the poles are defined over some number field,...
H. Hasson's user avatar
  • 1,522
18 votes
1 answer
1k views

A Galois Theory Computation

Excuse me for the specificity of this question, but this is a silly computation that's been giving me trouble for some time. I want to explicitly realize the order 21 Frobenius group over ℂ(x), ...
H. Hasson's user avatar
  • 1,522
3 votes
2 answers
826 views

Explicit expression of an alternating polynomial in characteristic $2$?

Although the question is easy to pose, I think some background will help to motivate it, so I'll start with it. Consider variables $X=(X_1, \ldots, X_n)$ over a field $K$ and the elementary symmetric ...
Lior Bary-Soroker's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
746 views

Field extension containing the eigenvectors of a Hermitian matrix

Let H be a (finite-dimensional) Hermitian matrix with algebraic numbers for its entries, all of which lie in some minimal field extension of the rational numbers; call this field ℚ(H) for short. ...
Steve Flammia's user avatar
14 votes
3 answers
1k views

"Conjugacy rank" of two matrices over field extension

I have posted this elsewhere and got only a partial reply. I don't know whether this qualifies the question for an open-problem tag; if it does, please anyone insert it. Let $L$ be a field, and $K$ a ...
darij grinberg's user avatar
84 votes
8 answers
13k views

The inverse Galois problem, what is it good for?

Several years ago I attended a colloquium talk of an expert in Galois theory. He motivated some of his work on its relation with the inverse Galois problem. During the talk, a guy from the audience ...
105 votes
10 answers
18k views

"Understanding" $\mathrm{Gal}(\bar{\mathbb{Q}}/\mathbb{Q})$

I have heard people say that a major goal of number theory is to understand the absolute Galois group of the rational numbers $G = \mathrm{Gal}(\bar{\mathbb{Q}}/\mathbb{Q})$. What do people mean when ...
Jonah Sinick's user avatar
  • 7,062
73 votes
10 answers
22k views

Galois groups vs. fundamental groups

In a recent blog post Terry Tao mentions in passing that: "Class groups...are arithmetic analogues of the (abelianised) fundamental groups in topology, with Galois groups serving as the analogue ...
Harold Williams's user avatar

1
13 14 15 16
17