In mathematics, a quadratically closed field is a field in which every element has a square root. [1] [2]
A quadratic closure of a field F is a quadratically closed field containing F which embeds in any quadratically closed field containing F. A quadratic closure for any given F may be constructed as a subfield of the algebraic closure Falg of F, as the union of all iterated quadratic extensions of F in Falg. [4]
In mathematics, an algebraic extension is a field extension L/K such that every element of the larger field L is algebraic over the smaller field K; that is, if every element of L is a root of a non-zero polynomial with coefficients in K. A field extension that is not algebraic, is said to be transcendental, and must contain transcendental elements, that is, elements that are not algebraic.
In mathematics, particularly abstract algebra, an algebraic closure of a field K is an algebraic extension of K that is algebraically closed. It is one of many closures in mathematics.
In geometry and algebra, a real number is constructible if and only if, given a line segment of unit length, a line segment of length can be constructed with compass and straightedge in a finite number of steps. Equivalently, is constructible if and only if there is a closed-form expression for using only integers and the operations for addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and square roots.
In mathematics, more specifically in ring theory, a Euclidean domain 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. In particular, the greatest common divisor of any two elements exists and can be written as a linear combination of them. Also every ideal in a Euclidean domain is principal, which implies a suitable generalization of the fundamental theorem of arithmetic: every Euclidean domain is a unique factorization domain.
In mathematics, a field is a set on which addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are defined and behave as the corresponding operations on rational and real numbers do. A field is thus a fundamental algebraic structure which is widely used in algebra, number theory, and many other areas of mathematics.
Field theory is the branch of mathematics in which fields are studied. This is a glossary of some terms of the subject.
In ring theory and related areas of mathematics a central simple algebra (CSA) over a field K is a finite-dimensional associative K-algebraA which is simple, and for which the center is exactly K.
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 .
In mathematics, a square is the result of multiplying a number by itself. The verb "to square" is used to denote this operation. Squaring is the same as raising to the power 2, and is denoted by a superscript 2; for instance, the square of 3 may be written as 32, which is the number 9. In some cases when superscripts are not available, as for instance in programming languages or plain text files, the notations x^2 (caret) or x**2 may be used in place of x2. The adjective which corresponds to squaring is quadratic.
In mathematics, a real closed field is a field F that has the same first-order properties as the field of real numbers. Some examples are the field of real numbers, the field of real algebraic numbers, and the field of hyperreal numbers.
In mathematics, a quaternion algebra over a field F is a central simple algebra A over F that has dimension 4 over F. Every quaternion algebra becomes a matrix algebra by extending scalars, i.e. for a suitable field extension K of F, is isomorphic to the 2 × 2 matrix algebra over K.
In mathematics, a composition algebraA over a field K is a not necessarily associative algebra over K together with a nondegenerate quadratic form N that satisfies
In mathematics, a universal quadratic form is a quadratic form over a ring that represents every element of the ring. A non-singular form over a field which represents zero non-trivially is universal.
In mathematics, a Witt group of a field, named after Ernst Witt, is an abelian group whose elements are represented by symmetric bilinear forms over the field.
In mathematics, a Euclidean field is an ordered field K for which every non-negative element is a square: that is, x ≥ 0 in K implies that x = y2 for some y in K.
In mathematics, Hurwitz's theorem is a theorem of Adolf Hurwitz (1859–1919), published posthumously in 1923, solving the Hurwitz problem for finite-dimensional unital real non-associative algebras endowed with a positive-definite quadratic form. The theorem states that if the quadratic form defines a homomorphism into the positive real numbers on the non-zero part of the algebra, then the algebra must be isomorphic to the real numbers, the complex numbers, the quaternions, or the octonions. Such algebras, sometimes called Hurwitz algebras, are examples of composition algebras.
In algebra, a Pythagorean field is a field in which every sum of two squares is a square: equivalently it has Pythagoras number equal to 1. A Pythagorean extension of a field is an extension obtained by adjoining an element for some in . So a Pythagorean field is one closed under taking Pythagorean extensions. For any field there is a minimal Pythagorean field containing it, unique up to isomorphism, called its Pythagorean closure. The Hilbert field is the minimal ordered Pythagorean field.
In field theory, a branch of mathematics, the Stufes(F) of a field F is the least number of squares that sum to −1. If −1 cannot be written as a sum of squares, s(F) = . In this case, F is a formally real field. Albrecht Pfister proved that the Stufe, if finite, is always a power of 2, and that conversely every power of 2 occurs.
In mathematics, the Pythagoras number or reduced height of a field describes the structure of the set of squares in the field. The Pythagoras number p(K) of a field K is the smallest positive integer p such that every sum of squares in K is a sum of p squares.
In mathematics, the universal invariant or u-invariant of a field describes the structure of quadratic forms over the field.
