Cyclotomic fieldIn number theory, a cyclotomic field is a number field obtained by adjoining a complex root of unity to Q, the field of rational numbers. Cyclotomic fields played a crucial role in the development of modern algebra and number theory because of their relation with Fermat's Last Theorem. It was in the process of his deep investigations of the arithmetic of these fields (for prime n) – and more precisely, because of the failure of unique factorization in their rings of integers – that Ernst Kummer first introduced the concept of an ideal number and proved his celebrated congruences.
Ideal numberIn number theory an ideal number is an algebraic integer which represents an ideal in the ring of integers of a number field; the idea was developed by Ernst Kummer, and led to Richard Dedekind's definition of ideals for rings. An ideal in the ring of integers of an algebraic number field is principal if it consists of multiples of a single element of the ring, and nonprincipal otherwise. By the principal ideal theorem any nonprincipal ideal becomes principal when extended to an ideal of the Hilbert class field.
Group theoryIn abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as groups. The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as rings, fields, and vector spaces, can all be seen as groups endowed with additional operations and axioms. Groups recur throughout mathematics, and the methods of group theory have influenced many parts of algebra. Linear algebraic groups and Lie groups are two branches of group theory that have experienced advances and have become subject areas in their own right.
Dedekind zeta functionIn mathematics, the Dedekind zeta function of an algebraic number field K, generally denoted ζK(s), is a generalization of the Riemann zeta function (which is obtained in the case where K is the field of rational numbers Q). It can be defined as a Dirichlet series, it has an Euler product expansion, it satisfies a functional equation, it has an analytic continuation to a meromorphic function on the complex plane C with only a simple pole at s = 1, and its values encode arithmetic data of K.
Dirichlet's unit theoremIn mathematics, Dirichlet's unit theorem is a basic result in algebraic number theory due to Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet. It determines the rank of the group of units in the ring OK of algebraic integers of a number field K. The regulator is a positive real number that determines how "dense" the units are. The statement is that the group of units is finitely generated and has rank (maximal number of multiplicatively independent elements) equal to where r1 is the number of real embeddings and r2 the number of conjugate pairs of complex embeddings of K.
Unique factorization domainIn mathematics, a unique factorization domain (UFD) (also sometimes called a factorial ring following the terminology of Bourbaki) is a ring in which a statement analogous to the fundamental theorem of arithmetic holds. Specifically, a UFD is an integral domain (a nontrivial commutative ring in which the product of any two non-zero elements is non-zero) in which every non-zero non-unit element can be written as a product of prime elements (or irreducible elements), uniquely up to order and units.
Iwasawa theoryIn number theory, Iwasawa theory is the study of objects of arithmetic interest over infinite towers of number fields. It began as a Galois module theory of ideal class groups, initiated by (岩澤 健吉), as part of the theory of cyclotomic fields. In the early 1970s, Barry Mazur considered generalizations of Iwasawa theory to abelian varieties. More recently (early 1990s), Ralph Greenberg has proposed an Iwasawa theory for motives.
Hilbert class fieldIn algebraic number theory, the Hilbert class field E of a number field K is the maximal abelian unramified extension of K. Its degree over K equals the class number of K and the Galois group of E over K is canonically isomorphic to the ideal class group of K using Frobenius elements for prime ideals in K. In this context, the Hilbert class field of K is not just unramified at the finite places (the classical ideal theoretic interpretation) but also at the infinite places of K.
Principal ideal theoremIn mathematics, the principal ideal theorem of class field theory, a branch of algebraic number theory, says that extending ideals gives a mapping on the class group of an algebraic number field to the class group of its Hilbert class field, which sends all ideal classes to the class of a principal ideal. The phenomenon has also been called principalization, or sometimes capitulation. For any algebraic number field K and any ideal I of the ring of integers of K, if L is the Hilbert class field of K, then is a principal ideal αOL, for OL the ring of integers of L and some element α in it.
Ernst KummerErnst Eduard Kummer (29 January 1810 – 14 May 1893) was a German mathematician. Skilled in applied mathematics, Kummer trained German army officers in ballistics; afterwards, he taught for 10 years in a gymnasium, the German equivalent of high school, where he inspired the mathematical career of Leopold Kronecker. Kummer was born in Sorau, Brandenburg (then part of Prussia). He was awarded a PhD from the University of Halle in 1831 for writing a prize-winning mathematical essay (De cosinuum et sinuum potestatibus secundum cosinus et sinus arcuum multiplicium evolvendis), which was published a year later.
