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I'm reading Algebraic Number Theory by Jurgen Neukirch. I have some problems with some of the exercises in Section 9 of Chapter 1.

They are:

1) If $L / K$ is a Galois extension of algebraic number fields with non-cyclic Galois group, then there are at most finitely many non-split prime ideals of $K$.

2) Let $L / K$ be a finite (not necessarily Galois) extension of algebraic number fields and $N / K$ the normal closure of $L / K$. Show that a prime ideal $p$ of $K$ is totally split in $L$ if and only if it is totally split in $N$.

I have worked on them for a long time but couldn't get any idea of it.

Can you please help? Thank you!

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    For 2), see https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/189986/2018-12-02

4 Answers 4

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for question1,what about using the following lemma:

    If L / K is separable, then there are only finitely many prime     ideals of K which are ramified in L. 

we can suppose the extension L/K is finite.And we know a prime splits totally iff it is unramified,so we can say that when a prime ideal is nonsplit ,it must be ramified...so we can say 1) is right.

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    @Alex B oh....thanks2011-05-17
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1) Let $G=$ Gal$(L/K)$, $p \in K$. Suppose $p$ is unramified and nonsplit. (Since only finitely many primes are ramified, it suffices to show that this cannot occur.) Since $p$ is unramified and nonsplit and $efg=|G|$, we see that $f=|G|$ and the decomposition group $D_p$ is isomorphic to $G$. But we also have that $D_p$ is isomorphic to the Galois group of the residue field of $L/K$ at $p$, which is cyclic of order $f$. This contradicts our hypothesis on $G$.

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For (2), I think the key is the discussion Neukirch has earlier in that section (top of page 55), namely:

Let $\mathfrak{p}$ be a prime in $K$, and let $P_{\mathfrak{p}}$ be the set of primes of $L$ lying over $\mathfrak{p}$. Let $G=\mathrm{Gal}(N/K)$, and let $H=\mathrm{Gal}(N/L)$ be the subgroup corresponding to $H$. If $\mathfrak{P}$ is a prime of $N$ lying over $\mathfrak{p}$, then $G_{\mathfrak{P}} = \{\sigma\in G\mid \sigma\mathfrak{P}=\mathfrak{P}\}$, the decomposition group of $\mathfrak{P}$, is also a subgroup of $G$.

Neukirch states (and leaves as an exercise) that the map from the double cosets of $G$ modulo $H$ and $G_{\mathfrak{P}}$, $H\setminus G/G_{\mathfrak{P}}$ to $P_{\mathfrak{p}}$ given by $H\sigma G_{\mathfrak{P}} \longmapsto \sigma \mathfrak{P}\cap L$ gives a bijection between the double cosets and $P_{\mathfrak{p}}$.


Assume that this is indeed the case (that is, the bijection is as given; I'll prove it below).

Showing that $\mathfrak{p}$ splits completely is equivalent to showing that $G_{\mathfrak{P}}$ is trivial (middle of page 54). So we prove that $G_{\mathfrak{P}}$ is trivial if and only if $\mathfrak{p}$ splits completely in $L$.

If $G_{\mathfrak{P}}$ is trivial (that is, if $\mathfrak{p}$ splits completely in $N$), then the double cosets are just the cosets of $H$ in $G$, and there are $[G:H] = [L:K]$ cosets (by the Fundamental Theorem of Galois Theory); that means that there are $[L:K]$ primes of $L$ lying over $\mathfrak{p}$, so $\mathfrak{p}$ splits completely in $L$ (this part can also be done simply by looking at the ramification and decomposition indices, which are multiplicative in towers).

Conversely, if $\mathfrak{p}$ splits completely in $L$, then the number of double cosets $H\setminus G/G_{\mathfrak{P}}$ equals $[L:K] = [G:H]$; this is the same as the number of right cosets of $H$; since each double coset decomposes as a disjoint union of right cosets of $H$, it follows that $H\sigma G_{\mathfrak{P}} = H\sigma$ for all $\sigma\in G$, and in particular all conjugates of $G_{\mathfrak{P}}$ are contained in $H$. That is, the normal subgroup generated by $G_{\mathfrak{P}}$ is contained in $H$.

But since $N$ is the normal closure of $L$, and $H$ corresponds to $L$, then by the Fundamental Theorem of Galois Theory we know that $H$ is core-free: the largest normal subgroup of $G$ contained in $H$ is the trivial group. That means that the normal subgroup generated by the decomposition group is trivial, hence the decomposition group $G_{\mathfrak{P}}$ itself is trivial. And this proves that $\mathfrak{p}$ splits completely in $N$, as desired.


So it all comes down to establishing the bijection mentioned above: the map takes the double coset $H\sigma G_{\mathfrak{P}}$ to $\sigma\mathfrak{P}\cap L$.

First, the map is well defined: if $\tau\in G_{\mathfrak{P}}$, then $\tau\mathfrak{P}=\mathfrak{P}$, so $\sigma\mathfrak{P}\cap L = \sigma\tau\mathfrak{P}\cap L$. And if $\rho\in H$, then $\rho$ fixes $L$ pointwise, so $\rho\sigma\mathfrak{P}\cap L = \rho(\sigma\mathfrak{P}\cap L) = \sigma\mathfrak{P}\cap L$. So $\rho\sigma\tau$ corresponds to the same prime of $L$ as \sigma, and the map is well-defined.

To see that the map is onto, given any prime \mathfrak{q}$ of $L$ lying above $\mathfrak{p}$, there is a prime $\mathfrak{Q}$ of $N$ lying above $\mathfrak{q}$, and the transitive action of the Galois group guarantees the existence of $\sigma\in G$ such that $\sigma\mathfrak{P}=\mathfrak{Q}$. Thus, $H\sigma G_{\mathfrak{P}}$ maps to $\sigma\mathfrak{P}\cap L = \mathfrak{Q}\cap L = \mathfrak{q}$ (since $\mathfrak{Q}$ lies above $\mathfrak{q}). This proves that the map is onto.

Finally, to show that the map is one to one, suppose that \sigma\mathfrak{P}\cap L = \phi\mathfrak{P}\cap L = \mathfrak{q}$. Then $\sigma\mathfrak{P}$ and $\phi\mathfrak{P}$ both lie above $\mathfrak{q}$, so there exists $\rho\in \mathrm{Gal}(N/L) = H$ such that $\rho\sigma\mathfrak{P} = \phi\mathfrak{P}$. Therefore, $\phi^{-1}\rho\sigma\mathfrak{P} = \mathfrak{P}$, so $\phi^{-1}\tau\sigma\in G_{\mathfrak{P}}$, hence there exists $\rho\in G_{\mathfrak{P}}$ such that $\tau\sigma\rho^{-1} = \phi$. Hence, $\phi$ lies in the double coset $H\sigma G_{\mathfrak{P}}$, so $H\phi G_{\mathfrak{P}}=H\sigma G_{\mathfrak{P}}$, showing that the correspondence is one-to-one.

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The following is a rather incomplete answer.

In the same section of Neukirch, there is the following exercise:

Exercise 3: If a prime ideal $\mathfrak{p}$ of $K$ is totally split in two separable extensions $L$ and L' of $K$, then it also totally split in the compositum LL'.

It is clear that question 2) reduces to Exercise 3 since the Galois closure is the compositum of all "conjugates" of L. Each conjugate L' is isomorphic to $L$, so $\mathfrak{p}$ splits completely in L', too.

A reference for the proof of Exercise 3 is pp.40 (chapter II, section 1) of Lang's "algebraic number thoery", but it uses completion, which is yet to be introduced in Neukirch's book.

However, I had a hard time to prove Exercise 3 directly. I am also curious about the following exercise on the same page, which really puzzles me (I was hoping to reduce Ex3 to it).

Exerciese 2: For every integeral ideal $\mathfrak{a}$ of $\mathcal{O}_L$, there exists a $\theta \in \mathcal{O}_L$ such that the conductor $\mathfrak{F}=\{\alpha\in \mathcal{O}_L\mid \alpha \mathcal{O}_L \subseteq \mathcal{O}_K[\theta]\}$ is coprime to $\mathfrak{a}$ and $L=K(\theta)$.

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    [This](http://math.mit.edu/~swshin/Fall11/HW3sol.pdf) could be interesting for "exercise 3", section 8 (p. 52) above.2016-12-21