Related papers: Pfister Numbers over Rigid Fields

The generic quadratic form of even dimension n with trivial discriminant over an arbitrary field of characteristic different from 2 containing a square root of -1 can be written in the Witt ring as a sum of 2-fold Pfister forms using n-2…

For a discrete valuation ring $R$ with quotient field $K$ and residue field $F$ both of characteristic not 2, we study low-dimensional quadratic forms with Witt class in the $n$-th power of the fundamental ideal of $F$ resp. $K$ and point…

The isotropy of multiples of Pfister forms is studied. In particular, an improved lower bound on the value of their first Witt index is obtained. This result and certain of its corollaries are applied to the study of the weak isotropy index…

Let $F$ be a field of characteristic not $2$ with finitely many square classes. Using combinatorial arguments applied to objects related to vector spaces over finite fields, we deduce an upper bound for the number of Pfister forms over $F$.…

This paper presents fundamental algorithms for the computational theory of quadratic forms over number fields. In the first part of the paper, we present algorithms for checking if a given non-degenerate quadratic form over a fixed number…

We offer some elementary characterisations of group and round quadratic forms. These characterisations are applied to establish new (and recover existing) characterisations of Pfister forms. We establish "going-up" results for group and…

We study formally real, non-pythagorean fields which have an anisotropic torsion form that contains every anisotropic torsion form as a subform. We obtain consequences for certain invariants and the Witt ring of such fields and construct…

A $3$-fold and a $5$-fold quadratic Pfister forms are canonically associated to every symplectic involution on a central simple algebra of degree $8$ over a field of characteristic $2$. The same construction on central simple algebras of…

Let $q$ be a unimodular quadratic form over a field $K$. Pfister's famous local--global principle asserts that $q$ represents a torsion class in the Witt group of $K$ if and only if it has signature $0$, and that in this case, the order of…

Let $F$ be a field of characteristic $2$, $\pi$ be an $n$-fold bilinear Pfister form over $F$ and $\varphi$ an arbitrary quadratic form over $F$. In this note, we investigate Witt index, defect, total isotropy index and higher isotropy…

The isotropy of multiples of Pfister forms is studied. In particular, an improved lower bound on the values of their first Witt indices is obtained. A number of corollaries of this result are outlined. An investigation of generic Pfister…

Given a field $F$ of characteristic 2, we prove that if every three quadratic $n$-fold Pfister forms have a common quadratic $(n-1)$-fold Pfister factor then $I_q^{n+1} F=0$. As a result, we obtain that if every three quaternion algebras…

This article is the first in a series devoted to computing the class groups of real quadratic fields. We present a new relation between the class number and the index of unit groups. This relation generalizes Hilbert class field theory for…

The epicenter of this paper concerns Pfister quadratic forms over a field $F$ with a Henselian discrete valuation. All characteristics are considered but we focus on the most complicated case where the residue field has characteristic 2 but…

In this note, we construct explicit examples of $F_Q$-minimal quadratic forms of dimension $5$ and $7$, where $F_Q$ is the function field of a conic over a field $F$ of characteristic $2$. The construction uses the fact that any set of $n$…

In this note, we prove the existence of a set of $n$-fold Pfister forms of cardinality $2^n$ over $\mathbb{C}(x_1,\dots,x_n)$ which do not share a common $(n-1)$-fold factor. This gives a negative answer to a question raised by Becher. The…

We study the necessary conditions for sets of quadratic $n$-fold Pfister forms to have a common $(n-1)$-fold Pfister factor. For any set $S$ of $n$-fold Pfister forms generating a subgroup of $I_q^n F/I_q^{n+1} F$ of order $2^s$ in which…

Let F be a field of characteristic different from 2. The u-invariant and the Hasse number of a field F are classical and important field invariants pertaining to quadratic forms. These invariants measure the suprema of dimensions of…

We show that over any field $F$ of $\operatorname{char}(F)=2$ and 2-rank $n$, there exist $2^n$ bilinear $n$-fold Pfister forms that have no slot in common. This answers a question of Becher's in the negative. We provide an analogous result…

We give an upper bound for the norm of the determinant of additively indecomposable, totally positive definite quadratic forms defined over the ring of integers of totally real number fields. We apply these results to find lower and upper…