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Notice that
lead(pq) = lead(p)lead(q).
3. We say that p is a monic polynomial if an = 1, so its leading term is xn .
For example deg(3x4 + 2x + 5) = 4 and lead(3x4 + 2x + 5) = 3x4 . The
polynomial x2 + 3x is monic but 5x2 + x is not monic.
Theorem (Division algorithm) Let f, g k[x] with g 6= 0. Then we can
divide f by g getting polynomial quotient Q and polynomial remainder R where
the degree of R is less than the degree of the divisor g. More precisely, there
exist Q, R k[x] such that
f = Qg + R and deg(R) < deg(g).
Moreover, Q and R are uniquely determined.
Proof. The long division algorithm familiar from high school always leads
to the required Q and R. Here is one way to present that algorithm.
Let Z be the set of pairs (q, r) such that q, r k[x] and f = qg + r. No
requirement is placed on the degree of the polynomial r. (The set Z depends
on the choice of f and g 6= 0). The set Z is nonempty, because (0, f ) Z.
If (q, r) Z and deg(r) deg(g) we can define
lead(r) lead(r)
(q , r ) = (q + ,r g) Z
lead(g) lead(g)
and it is easy to see that
deg(r ) < deg(r).
Now construct the sequence
(q0 , r0 ), (q1 , r1 ), . . . , (qN , rN )
where
(q0 , r0 ) = (0, f )
(qi+1 , ri+1 ) = (qi , ri ) is defined for i 0 if deg(ri ) deg(g)
deg(rN ) < deg(g).
The quotient and remainder we seek are Q = qN and R = rN .
If f = Q1 g + R1 = Q2 g + R2 and
QED
Notice that the division algorithm can fail in a polynomial ring such as Z[x]
where the coefficients come from a ring that is not a field. The division of x3
by 2x2 + 1 does not lead to quotient and remainder with integer coefficients.
Corollary Let f k[x] and a k. Then f (a) = 0 if and only if x a is a
factor of f .
Proof: Using the division algorithm to divide f by x a, we get
f (x) = Q(x)(x a) + R
where R k is constant because deg(R) < deg(x a) = 1. Hence f (a) = R.
If f (a) = 0, then f (x) = Q(x)(x a) which shows that x a is a factor of f .
QED
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1.3 Unique factorization
Once again, k is a field.
With the division algorithm for k[x] in hand, we can develop a theory of
factorization in k[x] by imitating the theory for the integers Z.
Definitions Let p and q be two polynomials in k[x]
1. We say that p divides q in k[x] (written p|q) if there is a polynomial
g k[x] such that q = pg.
2. We say that g is a greatest common divisor of p and q if g k[x] is a
divisor of both p and q and moreover g contains every other such common
divisor as a factor. (We will soon show that if p and q are not both zero,
a greatest common divisor does exist.) We will write gcd(p, q) to denote
the monic greatest common divisor.
Definition A nonzero polynomial p k[x] is irreducible if it can not be
factored in the form
p = fg
as a product of two polynomials both with degree smaller than that of p.
Irreducible polynomials are the polynomial version of prime numbers. Every
nonzero polynomial is a product of irreducible polynomials for simple reasons.
The deeper fact, that we will prove, is that the factorization into a product of
irreducibles is unique.
Examples
x2 + 5x + 6 = (x + 2)(x + 3) is reducible.
p = x2 2 is irreducible in Q[x], but since p = (x + 2)(x 2) it is
reducible in R[x].
q = x2 + 1 is irreducible in R[x], but since q = (x + i)(x i) it is reducible
in C[x].
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Proof. Just imitate the proof of the analogous results for integers, using the
division algorithm for polynomials in place of the division algorithm for integers.
QED
Example. Find the gcd of
f = x7 + x6 + 4x4 2x3 + 4x 8
and
g = x4 x3 2x 4.
Solution. We use the division algorithm to create the sequenmce of remain-
ders (f, g, R1 , R2 , . . .) where each Ri is the remainder upon long division of the
preceding two terms in the sequence. Obtain R1 by dividing f by g, obtain R2
by dividing g by R1 , and stop when you get a remainder equal to zero. A great-
est common divisor is the last nonzero term in the sequence. For this example,
the remainder sequence is
20 2 40
f, g, 14x3 + 12x2 + 28x + 24, x , 0.
49 49
A greatest common divisor is (20/49)x2 40/49. Multiplying by 49/20 leads
to the monic gcd:
gcd(f, g) = x2 + 2.
x2 + 2x + 1 = (x + 1)2 = (x + 3)2 .
In Z/8Z we have
(x + 1)(x + 3) = (x + 5)(x + 7).
Theorem For a polynomial f k[x] of degree n 1, the number of solutions
in the field k of the equation f (x) = 0 can not be greater than n.
Proof: If a1 , a2 , . . . ar are solutions, then x a1 , . . . x ar are r different
irreducible factors of f . By uniqueness of factorization the degree product p =
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(x a1 ) (x ar ) must divide f , whose degree n must be greater than or equal
to the degree of its divisor p, which is r. Thus r n. QED
Corollary In any field, the equation xn = 1 has a maximum of n solutions.
The solutions are called the nth roots of unity.
Be careful, once again, to remember that the corollary can be false if the
polynomial coefficients do not come from a field. The equation x2 = 1 has four
solutions in Z/8Z.
If d|N , the cyclic group C contains one and only one cyclic group of order
d, which contains all the elements of order d in G. Hence nC (d) = (d).
If d|N and nG (d) 6= 0, then there is a G with order d. The subgroup
hai G generated by a is cyclic of order d, and all its elements are solutions
in k of the equation xd = 1. Since this equation has a maximum of d solutions,
the full solution set of xd = 1, which contains all the elements of order d in G,
is the cyclic group hai. Therefore nG (d) = (d).
Hence, in all cases, nG (d) nC (d). Since
X
nG (d) nC (d) = 0
d|N
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Generators of Um are called primitive roots mod p. It is conjectured, but
not proved, that 2 is a primitive root mod an infinite number of primes.
Let gp be smallest positive primitive roots mod a prime p. We have
p 2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29 31 37 41 43 47
.
gp 1 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 5 2 3 2 6 3 5
It is an additive subgroup of k[x]. Observe that gf k[x] f k[x] for all g k[x]
because multiples of gf are also multiples of f .
Definition We say two polynomials g, h k[x] are congruent mod f if and
only if any (and hence all) of the following three equivalent conditions is met:
1. f divides g h.
2. g = h + f p for some p k[x]
3. The additive cosets g + f k[x] and h + f k[x] of f k[x] in k[x] are the same.
Theorem Let f k[x] where deg(f ) 1 and k is a field. Let k[x]/f k[x] be
the set of cosets of f k[x] in k[x].
1. For every g k]x] there is exactly one polynomial R with such deg(R) <
deg(f ) and g R mod f . In fact, R is the remainder when you divide g
by f as in the division algorithm:
g = Qf + R.
2. Addition and multiplication in k[x]/f k[x] are well defined via the defini-
tions
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2. Lets just check that for any m g and n h mod f the product mn is
always in the same coset gh + f k[x]. We have, for some p, q k[x]
m = g + fp
n = h + fq
mn = gh + (gq + hp + pqf )f gh + f k[x].
To find the product of [R1 ] and [R2 ], we multiply and then apply the
division algorithm:
[R1 ][R1 ] = [R] where R1 R2 = Qf + R.
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To find the inverse of R 6= 0 , we first apply the euclidean algorithm to
find polynomials r, s k[x] such rR + sf = 1. Then [R]1 = [r], but it
is possible that deg(r) n. So apply the division algorithm to find the
remainder R1 when you divide r by f to get r = Q1 f + R1 . We have
[R]1 = [R1 ].
We can thus represent [g] k[x]/f k[x] by the matrix of Mg with respect
to the standard basis (1, 0, 0, . . .) = 1, (0, 1, 0 . . .) = , . . . of k n . The
first column of the matrix gives the vector representation of g0 = g, the
second the representation of g1 , the third of g2 , etc.
Since all elements of k[x]/f [x] are polynomials in [x], we can also express
all elements of k[x]/f [x] as polynomials in the matrix for = [x].
If f = c0 + c1 x + cn xn , the element [x] k[x]/f k[x] is represented by
the matrix
0 0 0 0 c0
1 0 0 0 c1
Mx = 0 1 0 0 c2
...
0 0 0 1 cn1
The characteristic polynomial of Mx is f (x) and f (Mx ) is the zero matrix.
Calculation in k[x]/f k[x] (addition, multiplication, inverse) correspond
exactly to matrix addition, multiplication, and inverse.
1.7 Examples
Example 1, the most classic. We will construct the complex numbers from the
real numbers. Take k = R the field of real numbers, and f (x) = x2 + 1.
Since f is quadratic its factors (if any) would be linear. But linear fac-
tors correspond to solutions of the equation f (x) = 0 in R, which dont exist.
Therefore f (x) is irreducible and
C = R[x]/(x2 + 1)R[x]
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is a field. As a real vector space, it has dimension 2.
The elements of C can be written with two real parameters (u, v) in three
ways:
1. u + v = [u + vx], cosets of (x2 + 1)R[x] in R[x]. We have 2 + 1 = 0. It is
traditional to write = i and call this field the field of complex numbers.
The inverse of 1 + 2 is 1/5 2/5 as can be shown by the calculation
u + v + w2 , u, v, w Q
There are in fact real number zeros of this determinant, but we have take k = Q
so all we need verify is that there are no nonzero solutions with u, v, w rational
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numbers. Since all terms have degree 3, it is enough to show that there are no
nonzero integer solutions. By investigating the eight possible parities for the
u, v, w it is easy to see that u, v, and w must all be even, but then the same
can be said of u/2, v/2, and w/2. You can divide by 2 again and again, always
getting integers. This is only possible if u = v = w = 0.
Example 3. k[x]/(x c)k[x].
When we choose a linear (automatically irreducible) polynomial f (x) = xc,
the quotient field is isomorphic to k itself. Given a polynomial g(x) k[x], the
element [g(x)] = g(x) + (x c)k[x] k[x]/(x c)k[x] corresponds to g(c) k
because the remainder when you divide g(x) by x c is g(c).
Example 4 A = R/f R[x] where f (x) = x2 1 = (x + 1)(x 1).
Since f is reducible, A is not a field. Well, what is it?
Thinking back to the Chinese Remainder theorem, we had, for example an
isomorphism
Z/6z Z/2Z Z/3Z.
This suggests (correctly) that there is an isomorphism
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