Math 541 Honors Paper: A short discussion on Solving for the roots of polynomials by radicals

Tianyu Tao
Abstract In this paper we discuss the problem of solving for the roots of a polynomial with coecients from a eld F , that is, expressing the root of a polynomial in terms of the algebraic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and the extraction of nth roots of its coecients. We shall using concepts from both group theory, ring theory, eld theory and Galois theory to understand the criterion for a general polynomial to be able solved by radicals, we will prove some simple results but most of the theorems will be just stated and used without proof.

Introduction

It is know from elementary algebra the concept of solving an Algebra equation with degree n, that is an equation of the form an xn + + a1 x + a0 = 0, where in general, an , , a0 are elements from a eld F , with an = 0, and x is the unknown. We shall call polynomials whose coecients from a given eld a polynomial over F . Usually, since an was assumed to be nonzero, we divide an on both sides of the equation and the polynomial on the left hand side is said to be monic and we consider equation of the form xn + + a1 x + a0 = 0. For n = 1, the equation is just x + a0 /a1 = 0, and it is easily nd that x = a0 /a1 ; for n = 2, the solution can be nd by the well-know quadratic formula learned in high school; with some ingenuity, we could nd similar formulas for solution in terms of formulas with algebraic operation of addition, multiplication and taking the nth root of the coecients in the case n = 3 and 4. It is this papers main purpose to understand when these types of formula for roots of an equation in terms of algebraic operations of the coecients can be found.

Facts from eld theory

We begin by explaining some ideas from eld theory that necessary for us to understand the question of solving an equation by radicals. In general, we can study polynomials over F , since we can perform the usual operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to the coecients. It should be noted, that an algebraic equation with over a eld F may not have a solution in some eld, for example, let F = R, the equation x2 + 2 = 0 does not have an solution in R, but it happens in a larger eld which containing R as a subeld, namely the complex eld C, this equation does have a solution. So we want rst to make sure such situation is in general valid so we will not be worried about the existence of a solution before even nding a formula for it. Here we introduce the concept of eld extension rst. Denition 1. If K is a eld containing the subeld F , then K is said to be an extension eld (or extension) of F , and be denoted by K/F .

Honors Paper

Math 541 Spring 2012

Tianyu Tao

Another way to look at the extension K over F is that we can think of elements of K as vectors and elements in F as scalars, and the multiplication dened in K makes K an vector space over F , so this gives us a natural way of measuring the size of an extension: Denition 2. The degree of a eld extension K/F , denoted by [K : F ], is the dimension of the vector space of K over F , if [K : F ] is nite, the extension is said to be nite and otherwise it is said to be innite. For example, the eld extension C over R has degree 2, since every element in C can be written of the form a + bi where i is the number has the property that i2 + 1 = 0, and a, b are members in R, here we merely have {1, i} as a basis for the vector space of C over R. With the concept of eld extension in mind, we could make our question more precise: given a polynomial p(x) over F , does the equation p(x) = 0 has a solution in some extension eld K of F ? Before we answering this question, let us remark one thing: when asking whether a polynomial has a root in a certain eld, we are really asking whether this polynomial contains a linear factor of the form x , in other words, we want to factor the polynomial in a given eld. It is a fact, proved in [1] that each solution of a polynomial corresponds to a linear factor of a polynomial p(x). Hence, we should be interested in those polynomial which does not factor into linear factors in F , since it was demonstrated that the equation may not in general have a solution in F . This is where we consider irreducible polynomials in the ring F [x], that is, polynomial in F [x] which cannot be written as the product of two non-constant polynomials in F [x]. We seek for the existence of the roots of an irreducible polynomial over some extension eld K of F , in particular, we have: Theorem 1. Let p(x) F [x] be an irreducible polynomial, then there exists a eld K as an extension of F (or that K contains an isomorphic copy of F as an subeld) that p(x) contains a root in K Proof. see [1]. In fact, the simple extension F () which contains a root of p(x) over F is isomorphic to the one we constructed in theorem 1: Now we have a eld extension of F that contains a root of p(x), but we can think in other direction: Note rst that K is a eld containing a root and F as a subeld, we can then nd all subelds of K which has this property, and intersect them to get a minimal subeld that containing F and , this is very similar when we were discuss groups generated by subsets of a group and ideal generated by subset of a ring, and it gives us the following denition: Denition 3. Let K be an extension of a eld F and let , , . . . K, the smallest subeld of K containing both F and , be . . . is called the eld generated by , , . . . over F and be denoted by F (, , . . .), in particular, when the list contains a singleton , the eld F () is said to be a simple extension of F ; if the list , is nite, K/F is said to be nitely generated. Also, there is a simple connection between simple extension and nitely generated extension, namely we have: Proposition 1. F (, ) = (F ())(), so by induction, we get an nitely generated extension by simply iterating simple extension over each element in the list of elements in a nite extension Proof. see [1] or [2]. Denition 4. An element K, where K is an extension of F , is said to be algebraic over F if is a root of some nonzero polynomial in F [x]. 2 May 11, 2012

Honors Paper

Math 541 Spring 2012

Tianyu Tao

It turns out that an extension K/F is nite precisely when it is generated by a nite number of algebraic elements over F , in particular, the simple extension F ()/F is nite precisely when is algebraic over F . We shall take this as granted although the proof is not hard. A nitely generated extension is therefore the smallest subeld containing the simple eld generated by each of the single elements in its list of generator, we could carry this notion of elds containing other elds to a larger extent, namely, we can dene the composite eld of two subelds K1 and K2 of a eld K to be the smallest subeld of K containing both K1 and K2 , we shall denote it by K1 K2 . this concept will be used in the next section. Now given any eld F , we have for any polynomial f (x) F [x], there is an extension of K which contains a root of f (x), and we have demonstrated how to construct nitely generated eld by iterating simple extension successively. Since any polynomial can only have a nite number of roots, it is natural to consider a eld extension which contains all the roots of a given polynomial f (x), this leads us to the following concept and denition: Denition 5. An extension eld K of F is called an splitting eld of a polynomial f (x) F [x] if K contains all the roots of f (x) and no proper subeld of K has this property, or equivalently, f (x) factors completely into linear factors in K[x] while this does not hold in any proper subeld of K. We can easily seen by preceding discussions how to obtain such an eld, in particular, we have the following theorem: Theorem 2. For any eld F and any polynomial f (x) F [x], the splitting eld of f (x) exists. Proof. see [1] or [2] For example, a spitting eld for x2 2 Q[x] is Q( 2), the eld obtained by throwing in the roots of the equation x2 2 = 0 into Q. The next result on splitting eld is that it is unique for a given polynomial, so we speaking of the splitting eld when the polynomial is given. Theorem 3. Any two splitting eld for a given polynomial are isomorphic. Proof. see [1] or [2] Once we have the splitting eld F of a polynomial f (x), we know it can be factored into products of linear factors completely, however, we know from our experience in elementary algebra that it could happen that one linear factors can be contained multiple times, that is, a polynomial might contain a root with multiplicity, in this case, we dene the polynomial to be separable over F if it has no multiple roots, otherwise, we call it inseperable. we can even extend the notion of separability of polynomials to the elds generated by the roots of a polynomial, let K be a eld, if every element of K is the root of a separable polynomial over F , the eld is called separable over F , otherwise it is called inseparable over F . Note, in the case of a splitting eld, if a polynomial is not separable, for example, say (x 1)2 , then there is a separable polynomial in this eld containing exactly the same roots, namely x 1. Hence we can see that the splitting eld of a polynomial over a eld F should be separable. With these concepts from eld theory, we turn now into the discussion of some Galois theory, which is crucial in considering our main problem.

May 11, 2012

Honors Paper

Math 541 Spring 2012

Tianyu Tao

Galios Theory

Let us rst recall the denition of automorphism, it is an isomorphism with the range is the same as the domain K, we denote the collection of all automorphism of K by Aut(K), in class we proved that Aut(K) is a group under the function compositions. Given an automorphism of K and an elements of K, either () = or not, if this is the case, we say x the element . Similarly, given a subset F of K, is said to x F if xes all elements of F , hence we dene: Denition 6. If K/F is an extension of elds, then Aut(K/F ) is dened to be the collection of automorphisms of K which x F . We know Aut(K) is a group with composition, it is true that Aut(K/F ) is a subgroup of Aut(K). Members of Aut(K/F ) have a particularly nice property when we considering the roots of polynomials over F [x]. Proposition 2. Let K/F be a eld extension, if K is algebraic over F , i.e., there exists a nonzero polynomial in F [x] having as a root, then for any Aut(K/F ), we have () is a root of the same polynomial over F . Proof. Let p(x) = xn + an xn1 + + a0 be the polynomial having as a root, then applying to p(), since xes F , namely the coecients, we see () must satisfy the same equation p(x) = 0. Now, given an extension eld K/F , we associate the group Aut(K/F ), we could do it reversely, so we introduce the notion of xed eld: Proposition 3. Let H be a subgroup of the group of Aut(K), then the collection F , consists of elements of K which xed by all the elements of H forms a subeld of K, and it is called the xed eld of H. Proof. If h H and a, b F , then h(a) = a, h(b) = b since F is xed by H, one then performs the appropriate computation to nd that F is closed under addition, subtraction, multiplication and inversion. Note, given two subelds F1 , F2 with F1 F2 , then any automorphism of K that xes F2 also xes F1 , so we have Aut(K/F2 ) Aut(K/F1 ); on the other hand, if H1 H2 Aut(K) are subgroups of automorphism of K, then the elements in the xed eld F2 of H2 must also xed by all the elements in H1 , this show the xed eld of H1 , F1 has F2 as its subset. In other words, the association of xed elds and groups is inclusion reversing. Lets see two examples: 3), (a). Let K = Q( F = Q, elements in K are of the form a + b 3, a, b Q, we consider Aut(K/F ) =Aut(Q( 2)/Q). Since elements Aut(K/F ) xes members of Q, we have (a + b 3) = a + b( 3), we know 3 is the root of the irreducible, monomial polynomial x2 3, this polynomial has another root 3, so by our preceding remarks, is determined by its action on 3 and either ( 3) = 3 or ( 3) = 3, so in this case, we see Aut(Q( 2)/Q) consists two members {1, }, one is the identity, the other is dened by the map 3 3. On the other hand, the xed eld of Aut(K/F ) = {1, } is the set of elements a + b 3 in Q( 3) such that (a + b 3) = a + b 3 (everything is xed by the identity, so we can just consider elements which are xed by ), this forces the b = 0, in other words, the xed eld of {1, } is Q.

May 11, 2012

Honors Paper

Math 541 Spring 2012

Tianyu Tao

(b). We let K = Q( 3 3), F = Q. Again, if Aut(K/F ), then ( 3 3) is a root of the polynomial of x3 3, the only possible candidate is 3 3 in K, hence Aut(K/F ) consists only the identity. On other hand, the xed eld of Aut(K/F ) is the whole eld K, as it consists exactly of the identity. In the rst example, when we begin with the subeld Q of Q( 3), we get the automorphism group Aut(K/F ) = {1, }, by considering the xed eld of {1, }, get back to the eld Q; we but this is not true in the second case when we start with Q Q( 3 3), we get only the trivial group containing the identity, and its xed eld is the whole eld Q( 3 3), not Q. One reason for this is that in the second example, Q( 3 3) is not the splitting eld of the polynomial x3 3, since the other two roots are, complex numbers. These observations lead us to have the concept of Galois group. First, it turns out that, the size of the group Aut(K/F ) is related to the size of the eld extension K/F , in particular we have the following proposition from [1]: Proposition 4. Let K/F be a nite eld extension, then |Aut(K/F )| [K : F ], equality holds if and only if F is the xed eld of Aut(K/F ). Proof. see [1] Denition 7. Let K/F be a nite extension, if |Aut(K/F )| = [K : F ], then we say that K is Galois over F , and K/F is a Galois extension, and Aut(K/F ) is called the Galois group of K/F , denoted by Gal(K/F ). If K happens to be the splitting eld of some polynomials f (x) over F , it can be shown that |Aut(K/F )| = [K : F ] precisely when f (x) is separable over F , so in this case K/F is Galois, and we say the group Aut(K/F ) is the Galois group of f (x) over F . We shall now state the Fundamental Theorem of Galois Theory, this result connects our observation in the previous two examples to the general situation. Theorem 4 (Fundamental theorem of Galois Theory:). Let K/F be a Galois extension, and set G =Gal(K/F ), then there exists a bijection between subeld of K containing F (F E K) and the subgroup H of G (1 H G), which are relates by the correspondence: E corresponds to the elements of G which x E, and H corresponds to its xed eld. And we have the following properties: I. If E1 , E2 corresponds to H1 , H2 , then E1 E2 if and only if H2 H1 . II. [K : E] = |H|, and [E : F ] = |G : H|, the index of H in G. III. K/E is always Galois, and Gal(K/E) = H. IV. E is Galois over F if and only if H is a normal subgroup in G, when this is the case, we have Gal(E/F ) G/H. = V. Let E1 , E2 corresponds to H1 , H2 , then the intersection of E1 and E2 corresponds to the group generated by H1 and H2 ; the composite eld E1 E2 corresponds to the intersection of H1 and H2 Proof. see[1] This theorem gives us a very precise way of translating between the structures of subelds in an extension eld into its corresponding Galois group when the extension happens to be Galois. It thus enable us to use the knowledge from group theory to study the structure about certain elds, which turns out to be extremely useful. We now end this section and starts to talk about the question of solving equations by radicals.

May 11, 2012

Honors Paper

Math 541 Spring 2012

Tianyu Tao

Solve Equations by Radicals

The simplest polynomial that could be solved by radical is of the form xn a over Q, one then just express the root as the nth root of a. It is then enough to just consider the roots of the polynomial xn 1 over Q, where its roots are very familiar with us - the nth roots of unities. We know, the nth roots of unities are members of complex numbers, they are given by the 2ki expression e n , there are n distinct nth roots of unity, hence, the splitting eld of xn 1 over Q is the nite extension generated by these n distinct roots of unity, however, as we learned, the set of nth roots of unity forms a group that is isomorphic to the cyclic group of order n under multiplication, hence the n distinct roots of unity can be generated by one of the (n) single elements, we call them the primitive nth roots of unity, let n be such an element, then the eld Q(n ) is the splitting eld of xn 1 over Q, which we call the cyclotomic eld of nth roots of unity. We now let n a represent one root of the polynomial xn a over F , where F is a eld that contains nth root of unity, then any other roots diers from it by a multiple of a nth roots of unity, we consider the eld F ( n a) = K, if K contains some primitive nth roots of unity, then it Galois since it is then splitting eld of xn a. Take Gal(K/F ), then ( n a) is another the root of xn a, so ( n a) = n n a for some nth roots of unity if we take Gal(K/F ), n, by denition of Galois group, it xes elements in F , hence ( n a) = (n n a) = n ( n a). But ( n a) another root of xn a, so it equals n n a for some other nth root of unity n , is thus ( n a) = n n n a, this shows theres a homomorphism between Gal(K/F ) and the group of nth roots of unity, the kernel of this homomorphism is the automorphism which xes n a, which is just the identity, hence the homomorphism is an injection, we proved: Proposition 5. The Galois group of F ( n a) is a subgroup of the cyclic group Zn when F contains the nth roots of unity. 1 We say the extension K/F is cyclic if it is Galois and its Galois group is cyclic. In fact, this is an if and only if statement, that is, we have the converse of the above proposition: Proposition 6. A cyclic extension of degree n over a eld F contains the nth roots of unity is of the form F ( n a) for some a F . Proof. see [1] We say extensions of the form F ( n a) for a F a simple radical extension. In order to make precise the notion of solving an equation by radicals, we rst observe the structure of a 3 radical expression, for example, take 1 + 3, we can form it by two steps: from the base eld F which contains roots of unity and Q, adjoin the root 3, then 1 + 3 is an element in F ( 3), we 3 3 then adjoining 1 + 2 to F (1+ 3) to arrive at our extension eld K = F (1+ 3)( 1 + 3). In general, element that could be expressed as a radical can be applied by some similar procedure to arrive at such an eld obtained by successively adjoining simple radical extensions. Denition 8. An element is algebraic (it has to be a root in the rst place) over F can be expressed by radicals if is an element of a eld K which can be obtained by a succession of simple radical extensions, the extension K is called a root extension. If a polynomial p(x) has all its roots can be expressed by radicals, we call the polynomial can be solved by radicals.
1 This is not true if the eld has characteristic dividing n, the characteristic of a eld F if the smallest interger n for which the sum of n identity in F equals 0, for details, see [1] or [2].

May 11, 2012

Honors Paper

Math 541 Spring 2012

Tianyu Tao

Let us recall some facts from group theory, a nite group G is called solvable if there exists a chain of subgroups: 1 = Gs Gs1 Gi+1 Gi G0 = G where Gi /Gi+1 is cyclic, we have following facts for solvable groups: Proposition 7. Subgroups and quotient groups of a solvable group are solvable, and if H G and G/H are both solvable, we have G is solvable Proof. see [1]. We shall now state Galois theorem that links the question of solving equation by radicals to the concepts we have been talked about, the theorem is that: Theorem 5. The polynomial f (x) can be solved by radicals if and only if its Galois group is a solvable group. We will describe the proof here, although some details will be omitted, the proof follows from that in [1], rst, suppose f (x) can be solved by radicals, then each root of f (x) is contained () () () () () () in a root extension F = K0 K1 Ks = K , where Ki+1 = Ki ( n ai ) for some ai Ki , in fact, by a lemma in [1], such a root extension can always be made such () () that K /F is Galois, and each extension Ki+1 /Ki is cyclic, we then form the composite eld L = K K K (if the roots of f (x) are , , . . . , ) of these eld extensions for each root, this eld is of the same type as each K , i.e. L/F is Galois and each root of f (x) is contained in a root extension which end at L. So we let Gi be subgroups of Gal(L/F ), corresponding to the series of subelds of F , by Fundamental theorem of Galois theory, Gal(Ki+1 /Ki ) Gi /Gi+1 , = but Gal(Ki+1 /Ki ) is cyclic, hence Gal(L/F ) is a solvable group, as L contains the splitting eld of f (x), the Galois group of f (x) is a subgroup of G, so it is then solvable. For the other part, if the Galois group G of f (x) over F is a solvable group, let S be the splitting eld of f (x), then we take the xed elds corresponding to the subgroups contained in the chain forms the composition series of G, we then get a chain of elds F K0 Ki Ki+1 Ks where each Ki+1 /Ki is cyclic since its corresponding groups form cyclic quotients, one then forms the composite eld of the Ks with the cyclotomic eld so that the resulting eld contains the appropriate roots of unity. After this, we will have the adjacent elds in the result sequence of elds forms cyclic extensions, so in fact they form simple radical extensions, the whole extension is then a root extension. So f (x) is solvable by radicals.

Concluding remarks:

This is the nal result we state in this paper, we shall mention again that results in this paper are all essentially from [1] and [2], with the authors own understanding and organization, due to the limited time, we omitted as much proofs as we can to avoid unnecessary details, but further readings and study could be inspired after reading this paper, since we can see the power and beauty of Galois theory, although in a somehow hand-waving-way.

May 11, 2012

Honors Paper

Math 541 Spring 2012

Tianyu Tao

References
[1] Dummit, D, S and Foote, R, M Abstract Algebra. John Wiley and Sons, INC, 3rd Edition, 2003. [2] Herstein I.N, Abstract Algebra. John Wiley and Sons, INC, 3rd Edition, 1996.

May 11, 2012