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TauCeti.NumberTheory.Cyclotomic.Irreducible

Irreducibility of the cyclotomic polynomial from the degree of a cyclotomic extension #

Mathlib proves [L : K] = φ n for an n-th cyclotomic extension L / K once Φ_n is known to be irreducible over K (IsCyclotomicExtension.finrank). This file records the converse: the degree of L / K is always at most φ n, and as soon as it is at least φ n the polynomial Φ_n is irreducible over K. That converse and Mathlib's forward direction give the equivalence IsCyclotomicExtension.irreducible_cyclotomic_iff_finrank_eq_totient.

Main results #

References #

This is the degree bookkeeping of Milne, Algebraic Number Theory, proof of Proposition 6.2, and of Sharifi, Algebraic Number Theory, proof of Lemma 3.1.13, where the base field is .

The degree of a cyclotomic extension is at most φ n.

The bound is unconditional: nothing is assumed about cyclotomic n K. That is what separates it from Mathlib's IsCyclotomicExtension.finrank, which gives the sharper [L : K] = φ n but only under Irreducible (cyclotomic n K). Reach for this one when that irreducibility is unknown, or is itself what is being proved.

Source: Milne, Algebraic Number Theory, proof of Prop. 6.2 ("we know [ℚ[ζ] : ℚ] ≤ φ(p^r)"); Sharifi, Algebraic Number Theory, proof of Lemma 3.1.13 ("[ℚ(µ_{p^r}) : ℚ] ≤ deg Φ_{p^r}").

A cyclotomic extension of full degree has irreducible cyclotomic polynomial. This is the converse of Mathlib's IsCyclotomicExtension.finrank, and with it gives the equivalence irreducible_cyclotomic_iff_finrank_eq_totient.

Source: Milne, Algebraic Number Theory, proof of Prop. 6.2 ("(3.34) implies [ℚ[ζ] : ℚ] ≥ φ(p^r). This proves (a)"); Sharifi, proof of Lemma 3.1.13 ("which forces [ℚ(µ_{p^r}) : ℚ] = p^{r−1}(p − 1)").

Φ_n is irreducible over K exactly when the cyclotomic extension has degree φ n. The forward direction is Mathlib's IsCyclotomicExtension.finrank; the converse is irreducible_cyclotomic_of_totient_le_finrank.

Source: as for the two lemmas it combines.