1. Let G be a finite abelian group.
(a) If a, b ∈ G have orders n and m, respectively, and if gcd(n, m) = 1,
show that ab has order nm.
(b) If a, b ∈ G have orders n and m, respectively, show that there exists an
element of G whose order is lcm(n, m).
(c) Show that there exists an element of G whose order is exp(G).
Proof. Let G be a finite abelian group.
(a) Let a, b ∈ G with ord(a) = n, ord(b) = m and gcd(n, m) = 1. Since G is
abelian, we have
(ab)nm = anm bnm = (an )m (bm )n = e.
Hence ord(ab) | nm. Suppose that (ab)k = e. Then
ak bk = e ⇒ ak = b−k .
Thus ak ∈ ⟨a⟩ and b−k ∈ ⟨b⟩. Since gcd(n, m) = 1, we have
⟨a⟩ ∩ ⟨b⟩ = {e}.
Hence n | k and m | k, so nm | k. Therefore,
ord(ab) = nm.
(b) Let a, b ∈ G with ord(a) = n and ord(b) = m. Set d = gcd(n, m),
n = dn1 , m = dm1 with gcd(n1 , m1 ) = 1. Let a1 = ad and b1 = bd . Then
ord(a1 ) = n1 and ord(b1 ) = m1 . By (a),
ord(a1 b1 ) = n1 m1 .
Since lcm(n, m) = n1 m1 d, the element (a1 b1 )d has order lcm(n, m).
(c) By definition,
exp(G) = lcm{ord(x) | x ∈ G}.
Applying (b) repeatedly, there exists g ∈ G such that
ord(g) = exp(G).
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3. Let F be a finite field. Prove that for any positive integer n, there exists
an irreducible polynomial of degree n over F .
Proof. Let F be a finite field with q elements. By the theory of finite fields,
for each positive integer n, there exists a finite field E with q n elements such
that F is a subfield of E. Hence E/F is a finite field extension with
[E : F ] = n.
Choose an element α ∈ E \ F . Then α is algebraic over F , and therefore it
has a minimal polynomial mα (x) ∈ F [x]. By definition, mα (x) is irreducible
over F , and
deg mα (x) = [F (α) : F ].
Since F (α) ⊆ E and [E : F ] = n, we have
[F (α) : F ] | n.
Choosing α such that F (α) = E, we obtain
deg mα (x) = [E : F ] = n.
Therefore, there exists an irreducible polynomial of degree n over F .
5. Determine the irreducible factorization of x4 + 1 over F3 .
Proof. Consider the polynomial f (x) = x4 + 1 over F3 = {0, 1, 2}. We first
check whether f (x) has a root in F3 . We compute
f (0) = 1, f (1) = 2, f (2) = 2.
Hence f (x) has no linear factor over F3 . Assume that f (x) factors as a
product of two quadratic polynomials:
x4 + 1 = (x2 + ax + b)(x2 + cx + d), a, b, c, d ∈ F3 .
Comparing coefficients, we obtain
a + c = 0,
ac + b + d = 0,
ad + bc = 0,
bd = 1.
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Since bd = 1 in F3 , we have (b, d) = (1, 1) or (2, 2).
If b = d = 1, then c = −a and −a2 + 2 = 0, which has no solution in F3 .
If b = d = 2, then c = −a and −a2 + 1 = 0, which gives a2 = 1. Thus
a = ±1, and we obtain
x4 + 1 = (x2 + x + 2)(x2 − x + 2).
Finally, the discriminant of both quadratic polynomials is
∆=1−8≡2 (mod 3),
which is not a square in F3 . Hence both factors are irreducible over F3 .
Therefore,
x4 + 1 = (x2 + x + 2)(x2 − x + 2)
is the irreducible factorization of x4 + 1 over F3 .
7. Let q be a power of a prime p, and let n be a positive integer not divisible
by p. Let Fq be the finite field of q elements. If K is the splitting field of
xn − 1 over Fq , show that
K = Fq m ,
where m is the order of q in the group of units (Z/nZ)× .
Proof. Since gcd(n, p) = 1, we have
(xn − 1)′ = nxn−1 ̸= 0 in Fq [x].
Hence xn − 1 has n distinct roots, namely the n-th roots of unity. Let ζ be
a primitive n-th root of unity. Then the splitting field of xn − 1 over Fq is
K = Fq (ζ).
Since K is a finite extension of Fq , there exists m ≥ 1 such that
K = Fq m .
The multiplicative group F× m
q m is cyclic of order q − 1. Thus ζ ∈ Fq m if and
only if
n | (q m − 1),
or equivalently,
qm ≡ 1 (mod n).
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By definition, the order of q in (Z/nZ)× is the smallest positive integer m
satisfying this congruence. Therefore,
K = Fq m ,
where m is the order of q in (Z/nZ)× .
9. Show that x4 − 7 is irreducible over F5 .
Proof. In the field F5 , we have 7 ≡ 2 (mod 5), hence
x4 − 7 = x4 − 2.
For any x ∈ F5 = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4}, we compute
04 = 0, 14 = 1, 24 = 16 ≡ 1, 34 = 81 ≡ 1, 44 = 256 ≡ 1 (mod 5).
Thus x4 ∈ {0, 1} for all x ∈ F5 , and therefore x4 − 2 ̸= 0 for every x ∈ F5 .
Hence x4 − 7 has no linear factor over F5 . Suppose that x4 − 2 factors over
F5 as a product of two quadratic polynomials:
x4 − 2 = (x2 + ax + b)(x2 + cx + d), a, b, c, d ∈ F5 .
Expanding and comparing coefficients yields
a + c = 0,
ac + b + d = 0,
ad + bc = 0,
bd = −2.
From a + c = 0 we obtain c = −a, and the equation ad + bc = 0 becomes
a(d − b) = 0.
If a = 0, then b + d = 0 and bd = −2, which implies b2 = 2, impossible in
F5 .If d = b, then bd = b2 = −2 = 3, which is also impossible in F5 . Thus no
such factorization exists.
Since x4 − 7 has no linear factor and cannot be written as a product of
two quadratic polynomials over F5 , it follows that x4 − 7 is irreducible over
F5 .
11. Let F be a field with |F | = q. Determine, with proof, the number of
monic irreducible polynomials of prime degree p over F , where p need not
be the characteristic of F .
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Proof. Let Nd denote the number of monic irreducible polynomials of degree
n
d over F . Recall the identity for the factorization of xq − x over a finite
field: !
qn
Y Y
x −x= f (x) ,
d|n f ∈Id
where Id is the set of all monic irreducible polynomials of degree d in F [x].
For n = p, where p is a prime number, the only positive divisors of n are
d = 1 and d = p. Thus, the identity simplifies to:
!
p
Y Y
xq − x = f (x) f (x) .
f ∈I1 f ∈Ip
By comparing the degrees of both sides of the equation, we obtain:
X X
qp = deg(f ) + deg(f ).
f ∈I1 f ∈Ip
Since there are exactly q monic irreducible polynomials of degree 1 (each of
the form x − a for a ∈ F ), the first sum is 1 · q. Let Np = |Ip | be the number
of monic irreducible polynomials of degree p. The second sum is then p · Np .
Substituting these into the degree equation yields:
q p = q + pNp .
Solving for Np , we find:
qp − q
Np = .
p
According to Fermat’s Little Theorem, q p ≡ q (mod p), which ensures that
q p − q is divisible by p and thus Np is an integer. Therefore, the number of
p
monic irreducible polynomials of prime degree p over F is q p−q .