Composite field (mathematics)

A composite field or compositum of fields is an object of study in field theory. Let K be a field, and let , be subfields of K. Then the (internal) composite[1] of and is the field defined as the intersection of all subfields of K containing both and . The composite is commonly denoted .

Properties

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Equivalently to intersections we can define the composite   to be the smallest subfield[2] of K that contains both   and  . While for the definition via intersection well-definedness hinges only on the property that intersections of fields are themselves fields, here two auxiliary assertion are included. That 1. there exist minimal subfields of K that include   and   and 2. that such a minimal subfield is unique and therefor justly called the smallest.

It also can be defined using field of fractions

 

where   is the set of all  -rational expressions in finitely many elements of  .[3]

Let   be a common subfield and   a Galois extension then   and   are both also Galois and there is an isomorphism given by restriction

 

For finite field extension this can be explicitly found in Milne[4] and for infinite extensions this follows since infinite Galois extensions are precisely those extensions that are unions of an (infinite) set of finite Galois extensions.[5]

If additionally   is a Galois extension then   and   are both also Galois and the map

 

is a group homomorphism which is an isomorphism onto the subgroup

 

See Milne.[6]

Both properties are particularly useful for   and their statements simplify accordingly in this special case. In particular   is always an isomorphism in this case.

External composite

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When   and   are not regarded as subfields of a common field then the (external) composite is defined using the tensor product of fields.[7] Note that some care has to be taken for the choice of the common subfield over which this tensor product is performed, otherwise the tensor product might come out to be only an algebra which is not a field.

Generalizations

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If   is a set of subfields of a fixed field K indexed by the set I, the generalized composite field[8] can be defined via the intersection

 

Notes

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  1. ^ Roman, p. 42.
  2. ^ Roman, p. 42.
  3. ^ Lubin, Jonathan. "The elements in the composite field FK".
  4. ^ Milne, p. 40; take into account the preliminary definition of Galois as finite on p. 37
  5. ^ Milne, p. 93 and 99
  6. ^ Milne, p. 41 and 93
  7. ^ "Compositum", Encyclopedia of Mathematics, EMS Press, 2001 [1994]
  8. ^ Roman, p. 42.

References

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