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Dirichlet's unit theorem

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Algebraic number field

In mathematics, an algebraic number field (or simply number field) is an extension field of the field of rational numbers such that the field extension has finite degree (and hence is an algebraic field extension). Thus is a field that contains and has finite dimension when considered as a vector space over . The study of algebraic number fields, and, more generally, of algebraic extensions of the field of rational numbers, is the central topic of algebraic number theory.

Ring of integers

In mathematics, the ring of integers of an algebraic number field is the ring of all algebraic integers contained in . An algebraic integer is a root of a monic polynomial with integer coefficients: . This ring is often denoted by or . Since any integer belongs to and is an integral element of , the ring is always a subring of . The ring of integers is the simplest possible ring of integers. Namely, where is the field of rational numbers. And indeed, in algebraic number theory the elements of are often called the "rational integers" because of this.

Dedekind zeta function

In 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.

Class number formula

In number theory, the class number formula relates many important invariants of a number field to a special value of its Dedekind zeta function. We start with the following data: K is a number field. [K : Q] = n = r1 + 2r2, where r1 denotes the number of real embeddings of K, and 2r2 is the number of complex embeddings of K. ζK(s) is the Dedekind zeta function of K. hK is the class number, the number of elements in the ideal class group of K. RegK is the regulator of K. wK is the number of roots of unity contained in K.

Cyclotomic field

In 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.

Algebraic K-theory

Algebraic K-theory is a subject area in mathematics with connections to geometry, topology, ring theory, and number theory. Geometric, algebraic, and arithmetic objects are assigned objects called K-groups. These are groups in the sense of abstract algebra. They contain detailed information about the original object but are notoriously difficult to compute; for example, an important outstanding problem is to compute the K-groups of the integers.

Algebraic integer

In algebraic number theory, an algebraic integer is a complex number which is integral over the integers. That is, an algebraic integer is a complex root of some monic polynomial (a polynomial whose leading coefficient is 1) whose coefficients are integers. The set of all algebraic integers A is closed under addition, subtraction and multiplication and therefore is a commutative subring of the complex numbers. The ring of integers of a number field K, denoted by OK, is the intersection of K and A: it can also be characterised as the maximal order of the field K.

Ideal class group

In number theory, the ideal class group (or class group) of an algebraic number field K is the quotient group JK/PK where JK is the group of fractional ideals of the ring of integers of K, and PK is its subgroup of principal ideals. The class group is a measure of the extent to which unique factorization fails in the ring of integers of K. The order of the group, which is finite, is called the class number of K. The theory extends to Dedekind domains and their field of fractions, for which the multiplicative properties are intimately tied to the structure of the class group.

Euclidean domain

In mathematics, more specifically in ring theory, a Euclidean domain (also called a Euclidean ring) is an integral domain that can be endowed with a Euclidean function which allows a suitable generalization of the Euclidean division of integers. This generalized Euclidean algorithm can be put to many of the same uses as Euclid's original algorithm in the ring of integers: in any Euclidean domain, one can apply the Euclidean algorithm to compute the greatest common divisor of any two elements.

S-unit

In mathematics, in the field of algebraic number theory, an S-unit generalises the idea of unit of the ring of integers of the field. Many of the results which hold for units are also valid for S-units. Let K be a number field with ring of integers R. Let S be a finite set of prime ideals of R. An element x of K is an S-unit if the principal fractional ideal (x) is a product of primes in S (to positive or negative powers).