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Suppose $E = K(a)$ and $E/K$ is a Galois extension. Show that if $H \leq \operatorname{Gal}(E/K)$ then the fixed field $E^H = K(\operatorname{Tr}_{E/{E^H}}(a))$.

$K(\operatorname{Tr}_{E/{E^H}}(a)) \subseteq E^H$ is trivial, but what about the other containment?

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Let $K=\mathbb{Q}(i)$, $a=2^{1/4}$. Then $\text{Gal}(E/K)$ is the group of $4$-th roots of $1$, acting on $a$ by ($u^4=1$) $a\mapsto u a$. Take $H=\{1,-1\}$, then $\text{Tr}_{E/E^H}(a)=2^{1/4}-2^{1/4}=0$. The claim is therefore false.

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    Ah, this is reassuring. I couldn't figure out why this would be true!2011-11-20
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    Isn't $-1 \in H$ the map which conjugates a complex number, so it acts trivially on $2^{1/4}$ so then $\operatorname{Tr}_{E/{E^H}}(a) = 2^{1/4} + 2^{1/4}$2011-11-20
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    Also isn't $E^H = \mathbb{Q}(i)$ so the statement holds true since $E^H = \mathbb{Q}(i) = K = \operatorname{Tr}_{E/{E^H}}(a) = K$2011-11-20
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    @user19820: no. The complex conjugation doesn't fix $i\in K$, so it's not in the Galois group. As I wrote, a $u\in\text{Gal}(E/K)$ acts by $2^{1/4}\mapsto u 2^{1/4}$. $E^H$ is $K(2^{1/2})$2011-11-20
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    Can you explain why $E^H = K(2^{1/2})$? Every way I see it, I get that $E^H = K$2011-11-20
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    If $2^{1/4}\mapsto -2^{1/4}$ then $(2^{1/4})^2=2^{1/2}\mapsto 2^{1/2}$, so $2^{1/2}\in E^H$ (consider degrees to get the equality $E^H=K(2^{1/2})$). [Notice that $E^H=K$ only if $H=\text{Gal}(E/K)$ (recall Galois correspondence).]2011-11-20
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    Ah I see, thanks! This must be why I couldn't prove this2011-11-20
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Another counterexample - one that I should have seen right away - is the following:

Let $K$ be the field of two elements, and let $a$ be a root of $x^4+x+1=0$. In this case $E=K(a)$ is the field of 16 elements, so $Gal(E/K)$ is cyclic of order four. The Frobenius mapping $F:E\rightarrow E, x\mapsto x^2$ is a generator of the Galois group. If $H$ is the subgroup generated by $F^2$, then we run into a similar problem, because $$ Tr_{E/E^H}(a)=\sum_{\sigma\in H}\sigma(a)=a+a^4=1 $$ is in the prime field.

The most obvious positive result related to this question is the following. Let's make a stronger assumption that $a$ generates a normal basis of $E/K$, in other words, the set of conjugates of $a$ is a $K$-basis of $E$. In that case it is clear that $$ s:=Tr_{E/E^H}(a)=\sum_{\sigma\in H}\sigma(a) $$ is a fixed point of an automorphism $\tau\in Gal(E/K)$, iff $\tau\in H$, because otherwise we violate the linear independence (over $K$) of the conjugates of $a$. Thus, by Galois correspondence, the smallest extension field of $K$ containing $s$ is $K(s)=E^H.$