The Unsolvability of Quintic and Higher Polynomials:

A Study on Galois Theory and

The Abel-Ruffini Theorem
By Joey Wachtveitl

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 When we work with a polynomial in mathematics, one of the most common goals is generally
to solve it by finding its roots. This comes naturally to us as we grow in our mathematical
understanding. We start with simple polynomials of degree two, that is polynomials of the
form ax2 + bx + c = 0. We learn the quadratic formula and use it for years as we continue our
education. Then we start to see higher polynomials of degree three and four. We learn how
to solve those as well. Though not as elegant as a quadratic they still have general formulas
that we can use and we are well on our way. Then we come across those polynomials of degree
five and higher and all of our intuition on finding roots seems to fail us. Why is this? What
makes these polynomials so weird and peculiar. Degree two, three, and four have formulas why
not those of higher degree. This is a question that was asked as far back as the 16th and 17th
century. As it turns out it is actually those polynomials of degree two, three, and four that are
the odd ones out. So how do we know there is no general formula for those polynom=ials degree
five and higher? Could it be that perhaps we have just not yet found it? This question was
answered in the 1800’s and it was thanks to a branch of mathematics called Galois Theory. We
will look at Galois Theory and the subsequent development of the Abel-Ruffini Theorem which
came from it to answer the question of the solvability of the quintic and higher polynomials.
We will explore Galois Theory and look at some examples of Galois groups and then use that
to look at and better understand the Abel-Ruffini theorem. Let us start with a brief history
Galois Theory.
In the study of abstract algebra field of mathematics, Galois theory, which is named after the
mathematician Evariste Galois, provides a connection between field theory and group theory.
We use Galois theory to allow us to reduce problems on field theory to group theory. This helps
us work with something simpler and somewhat better understood. Galois first used permutation
groups to describe how we can relate the various roots of a given polynomial equation to one
another. A more modern approach that was developed by mathematicians and uses the study of
automorphisms of field extensions. The question ”why is there no formula for the roots of a fifth
(or higher) degree polynomial equation in terms of the coefficients of the polynomial, using only
the usual algebraic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) and application
of radicals (square roots, cube roots, etc.)?” led to the birth and development of Galois theory.
The beautiful answer as well as a detailed explanation to why the solving of equations of degree
four and lower are possible according to the above approach. It also explains in detail why
their solutions are of the form that they are. Even further, it tells is in a conceptually clear
and practical way in which some particular equation of degree higher than four can be solved
in that manner. Questions concerning problems in compass and straightedge construction are
addressed and answered with Galois theory. the ratios of lengths that can be constructed using
the above method are also given an elegant and insightful characterization. Thus in using these
parts of Galois theory, we can answer with relative ease classical geometric problems such as
which regular polygons are constructible. Also we can see why it is not possible to trisect every
angle using a compass and straightedge. That being said for the purposes of our problem we
will look at Galois groups and what makes them solvable.
Let’s take a look at a permutation group approach to Galois Theory. Given a polynomial,
we may find that for various algebraic equations we have connections between the various roots.
For example, If we have two roots, lets call them A and B, we have A2 + 5B 3 = 7. The central
idea of Galois’ theory is to look at the rearrangements or permutations of the roots so that for
any algebraic equation we have they are then satisfied by the roots after the roots have been
permuted or rearranged. Originally, the theory was been developed for algebraic equations
that had coefficients in the rational numbers. However, we can extend them to equations with
coefficients from any field, but for our examples we will not look that far as the simple example
will suffice for our purposes. We will show that these permutations together form a permutation

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group. This permutation group is what we call a Galois group of the polynomial. These groups
will be described in great detail in the following examples. Let’s look at the quadratic equation
x2 − 4x + 1 = 0. We are able √ to find the roots of√this polynomial using the quadratic formula.
The two roots are A = 2 + 3 and B = 2 − 3. We can now see that some examples of
algebraic equations which are satisfied our roots A and B include, A + B = 4 and AB = 1.
Clearly, if we permute A and B in either of these equations, that permutation yields another
equation which is also true. For example, for the equation A + B = 4 we can permute A and
B and yield B + A = 4. Furthermore, a less obvious but still true consequence is that every
possible algebraic relation with rational coefficients between A and B holds. That is given any
such equation, permuting A and B yields another true equation. This fact is derived from the
theory of symmetric polynomials. For us in which we are looking at the simple cases, we can
replace the theory with the formula manipulations involving binomial theorem. We may be
concerned√initially that for an equation in which A and B are related by the algebraic equation
A−B −2 3 √ = 0, does not remain true when A and B are permuted. However, since it has the
coefficient −2 3 which is not rational it should not concern us. So we can now conclude that the
Galois group of the polynomial x2 − 4x + 1 consists of two permutations: We have the identity
permutation in which A and B are unmoved, and we have the permutation which exchanges A
and B. Upon further inspection we can see that it is a cyclic group of order two, and this makes
it isomorphic to Z/2Z. similarly, we can discuss any quadratic polynomial ax2 + bx + c, where
a, b and c are rational numbers. If the polynomial has rational roots, then the Galois group is
trivial; that is to say, it contains only one permutation which is the identity permutation. For
example x2 − 4x + 4 = (x − 2)2 ,or x2 − 3x + 2 = (x − 2)(x − 1) each of which have rational
roots. If it has two irrational roots, then the Galois group contains two permutations, as we
saw above. For example x2 − 2. Now let us consider the polynomial x4 − 10x2 + 1, We can
also write this polynomial as (x2 − 5)2 − 24. We want to have a description of the Galois group
for this polynomial. And like before we want it to be over the field of rational numbers. The
polynomial
√ √has the four
√ roots√ listed below
√ √ √ √
A = 2 + 3, B = 2 − 3, C = − 2 + 3, D = − 2 − 3
We find that there are 24 possible ways to permute these four roots; however, not all of these 24
permutations end up being members of the Galois group. To be a member of the Galois group
the elements must preserve any algebraic equation with rational coefficients involving A, B, C
and D. Given that we see that the equations that work are,
AB = −1, AC = 1, A + D = 0
From this it should then follow that, if ϕ is a permutation that belongs to the Galois group, we
must then have the following, ϕ(B) = −1/ϕ(A), ϕ(C) = −1/ϕ(A), ϕ(D) = −ϕ(A) We see that
this then implies that the permutation is well defined by the image of A, and that the Galois
group has 4 elements, which are as follows
(A, B, C, D) → (A, B, C, D)
(A, B, C, D) → (B, A, D, C)
(1)
(A, B, C, D) → (C, D, A, B)
(A, B, C, D) → (D, C, B, A)
Thus we can see that the Galois group is isomorphic to the Klein four-group. Now that we have
seen how to generate Galois groups, what does it mean for them to be solvable? Be definition we
say that A group G is called solvable if it has a subnormal series whose factor groups (quotient
groups) are all abelian. That is let G = G1 B G2 B · · · B Gk where Gk represents the subgroup
generated by the identity. We say G is solvable iff ∀ i Gi /Gi+1 is abelian.
Now that we have a basic overview of the Galois Theory, we can look at the Abel-Ruffini the-
orem. In algebra, the AbelRuffini theorem (also known as Abel’s impossibility theorem) states

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that for the general polynomial equations of degree five or higher that there is no algebraic solu-
tion or solution in radicals with arbitrary coefficients. The theorem is named for mathematician
Paolo Ruffini, who made in 1799 made an incomplete proof, and also for Niels Henrik Abel, who
in 1824 provided a complete proof based on Ruffini’s work.. The theorem does not tell us that
there is no solution for some higher-degree polynomial equation. In fact, upon study we see
that the opposite is in fact true. We see that for every non-constant polynomial equation in one
unknown, with real or complex coefficients, there is at least one complex number as a solution.
Thus, by polynomial division, we see that it can have as many complex roots as its degree, if we
count repeated roots. This is the fundamental theorem of algebra. Using numerical methods
we can compute them to any desired degree of accuracy. Using these methods we see that they
are no different from solutions to polynomial equations of the second, third, or fourth degrees.
Also this theorem does not say that polynomials of degree higher than four cannot be solved in
radicals.For example consider the equation xn − 1 = 0. Clearly this equation can be solved in
radicals for every positive integer n. Instead this theorem only tells us that there is no general
solution in radicals that can be applied to all equations of a given polynomial which has degree
greater than four. Now again to summarize we know that the solution of an equation for any
polynomial of second-degree can be expressed in terms of its coefficients, using only addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division, and square roots, in the familiar quadratic
√ formula: the
(b2 −4ac)
roots of the polynomials of the form ax2 + bx + c = 0(witha 6= 0) are −b 2a
We also know that analogous formulas for third-degree equations and fourth-degree equations
(using square roots and cube roots) have been known since the 16th century but are tedious to
calculate and are not needed for the purpose of this topic, rather it is sufficient to simply note
that they exist. What the AbelRuffini theorem tells us is that for general equations of fifth
degree or higher, there is no similar formula. It could be that the equations of the fifth degree
and higher could be split in several types and, for each one of these specific types, there could
be some given algebraic solution that is valid within that specific type.
By constructing the Galois group for a fifth degree polynomial we see that it only applies
to the general polynomial; If we looked at specific polynomials of the fifth degree may have
different Galois groups. These Galois groups would possibly have different properties. For ex-
ample consider the polynomial x5 − 1. It has a splitting field generated by a primitive 5th root
of unity, Thus we see that its Galois group is abelian and the equation itself is then solvable
by radicals. Moreover, the argument here does not yield any rational-valued quintic that has
a Galois group of S5 or A5 . But, since the result is on the general polynomial, what it does
tell us is that a general quintic formula similar to those for degrees four and lower in which the
roots of a quintic are then only a finite combination of the arithmetic operations and radicals
in terms of the coefficients is impossible. Upon further inspection we see that the proof is not
valid if we try to apply it to polynomials whose degree is less than five. We see that the group
A4 is not simple, because the subgroup {e, (12)(34), (13)(24), (14)(23)}, is isomorphic to the
Klein four-group, and thus it is a normal subgroup. We also see that the groups A2 and A3
are simple, but since they are also abelian. Clearly, A2 is the trivial group and A3 is the cyclic
group of order 3. Thus they are not a problem. We also see that if one was to work with five
concrete algebraically independent complex numbers instead of five indeterminates the proof
remains valid since, by the same argument we have that Gal(E/F ) = S5 .

References

Rosen, Michael I. (1995), ”Niels Hendrik Abel and Equations of the Fifth Degree”, American
Mathematical Monthly, 102 (6): 495505
Artin, E., & Milgram, A. N. (1998). Galois theory. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.