English

Arithmetic properties encoded in the Galois module structure of $K^\times/K^{\times p^m}$

Number Theory 2022-10-19 v2

Abstract

The power classes of a field are well-known for their ability to parameterize elementary pp-abelian Galois extensions. These classical objects have recently been reexamined through the lens of their Galois module structure. Module decompositions have been computed in several cases, providing deep new insight into absolute Galois groups. The surprising result in each case is that there are far fewer isomorphism types of indecomposables than one would expect generically, with summands predominately free over associated quotient rings. Though non-free summands are the exception both in their form and prevalence, they play the critical role in controlling arithmetic conditions in the field which allow the rest of the decomposition to be so simple. Suppose m,nNm,n \in \mathbb{N} and pp is prime. In a recent paper, a surprising and elegant decomposition for pmp^mth power classes has been computed when the underlying Galois group is a cyclic group of order pnp^n. As with previous module decompositions, at most one non-free summand appears. Outside of a particular special case when p=2p=2, the structure of this exceptional summand was determined by a vector a{,0,,n}m\mathbf{a}\in \{-\infty,0,\dots,n\}^m and a natural number dd. In this paper we give field-theoretic interpretations for a\mathbf{a} and dd, showing they are related to the solvability of a family of Galois embedding problems and the cyclotomic character associated to K/FK/F.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2105.13221,
  title  = {Arithmetic properties encoded in the Galois module structure of $K^\times/K^{\times p^m}$},
  author = {Jan Minac and Andrew Schultz and John Swallow},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2105.13221},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

v1: 36 pages. v2: 37 pages, to appear in Journal of Number Theory