Algebraic number fieldIn 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.
Glossary of field theoryField theory is the branch of mathematics in which fields are studied. This is a glossary of some terms of the subject. (See field theory (physics) for the unrelated field theories in physics.) A field is a commutative ring (F,+,*) in which 0≠1 and every nonzero element has a multiplicative inverse. In a field we thus can perform the operations addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The non-zero elements of a field F form an abelian group under multiplication; this group is typically denoted by F×; The ring of polynomials in the variable x with coefficients in F is denoted by F[x].
Simple extensionIn field theory, a simple extension is a field extension which is generated by the adjunction of a single element, called a primitive element. Simple extensions are well understood and can be completely classified. The primitive element theorem provides a characterization of the finite simple extensions. A field extension L/K is called a simple extension if there exists an element θ in L with This means that every element of L can be expressed as a rational fraction in θ, with coefficients in K; that is, it is produced from θ and elements of K by the field operations +, −, •, / .
Splitting fieldIn abstract algebra, a splitting field of a polynomial with coefficients in a field is the smallest field extension of that field over which the polynomial splits, i.e., decomposes into linear factors. A splitting field of a polynomial p(X) over a field K is a field extension L of K over which p factors into linear factors where and for each we have with ai not necessarily distinct and such that the roots ai generate L over K. The extension L is then an extension of minimal degree over K in which p splits.
Separable extensionIn field theory, a branch of algebra, an algebraic field extension is called a separable extension if for every , the minimal polynomial of over F is a separable polynomial (i.e., its formal derivative is not the zero polynomial, or equivalently it has no repeated roots in any extension field). There is also a more general definition that applies when E is not necessarily algebraic over F. An extension that is not separable is said to be inseparable.
