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This document discusses several methods for determining whether a polynomial is irreducible, including: - Gauss' Lemma and Eisenstein's Criterion, which provide sufficient conditions for irreducibility over the integers and rational numbers - A degree 1 polynomial is always irreducible over a field - For degrees 2 and 3, irreducibility over a field depends on the polynomial not having a root in the field - Irreducibility is preserved under linear transformations of polynomials - If a polynomial is irreducible modulo a prime p, it is irreducible over the integers It then provides examples applying these methods to determine irreducibility of specific polynomials over different rings.

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LUIS FELIPE MOSQUERA HERNANDEZ
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53 views2 pages

WS8Sols PDF

This document discusses several methods for determining whether a polynomial is irreducible, including: - Gauss' Lemma and Eisenstein's Criterion, which provide sufficient conditions for irreducibility over the integers and rational numbers - A degree 1 polynomial is always irreducible over a field - For degrees 2 and 3, irreducibility over a field depends on the polynomial not having a root in the field - Irreducibility is preserved under linear transformations of polynomials - If a polynomial is irreducible modulo a prime p, it is irreducible over the integers It then provides examples applying these methods to determine irreducibility of specific polynomials over different rings.

Uploaded by

LUIS FELIPE MOSQUERA HERNANDEZ
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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WORKSHEET # 8

IRREDUCIBLE POLYNOMIALS

We recall several different ways we have to prove that a given polynomial is irreducible. As always, k is a field.
Theorem 0.1 (Gauss’ Lemma). Suppose that f ∈ Z[x] is monic of degree > 0. Then f is irreducible in Z[x] if
and only if it is irreducible when viewed as an element of Q[x].
Lemma 0.2. A degree one polynomial f ∈ k[x] is always irreducible.
Proposition 0.3. Suppose that f ∈ k[x] has degree 2 or 3. Then f is irreducible if and only if f (a) 6= 0 for all
a ∈ k.
Proposition 0.4. Suppose that a, b ∈ k with a 6= 0. Then f (x) ∈ k[x] is irreducible if and only if f (ax + b) ∈ k[x]
is irreducible.
Theorem 0.5 (Reduction mod p). Suppose that f ∈ Z[x] is a monic1 polynomial of degree > 0. Set fp ∈ Zmodp [x]
to be the reduction mod p of f (ie, take the coefficients mod p). If fp ∈ Zmodp [x] is irreducible for some prime p,
then f is irreducible in Z[x].
WARNING: The converse need not be true.
Theorem 0.6 (Eisenstein’s Criterion). Suppose that f = xn + an−1 xn−1 + · · · + a1 x1 + a0 ∈ Z[x] and also that
there is a prime p such that p|ai for all i but that p2 does NOT divide a0 . Then f is irreducible.
1. Consider the polynomial f (x) = x3 + x2 + x + 2. In which of the following rings of polynomials is f irreducible?
Justify your answer.
(a) R[x]
(b) C[x]
(c) Zmod2 [x]
(d) Zmod3 [x]
(e) Zmod5 [x]
(f) Q[x]

Solution:
(a) It is reducible (= not irreducible) because it is a cubic polynomial and therefore has a root α. Thus f can
be factored as f (x) = (x − α)g(x).
(b) The root from (a) is also a complex number, and so f is reducible in C[x] as well.
(c) Mod 2, f2 = x3 + x2 + x, which has a root at x = 0 and so is reducible.
(d) Mod 3, f3 = x3 +x2 +x+2. 0 is not a root, f2 (1) = 5 = 2 6= 0, and finally f2 (2) = 8+4+2+2 = 16 = 1 6= 0.
In particular, f3 is irreducible.
(e) Mod 5, f5 = x3 + x2 + x + 2. Note 1 is a root, and so f5 is reducible.
(f) f is irreducible since f3 is irreducible by Theorem 0.5.

1The same is true as long as the leading coefficient is not divisible by p.

1
WORKSHEET #8 2

2. Show that x4 + 1 is irreducible in Q[x] but not irreducible in R[x].


Hint: For Q[x], use Proposition 0.4. For R[x], try a factorization into two linear terms

Solution: First consider f (x) = x4 + 1 so that f (x + 1) = (x + 1)4 + 1 = x4 + 4x3 + 6x2 + 4x2 + 2. Eisenstein’s
criterion applies and so f (x + 1) is irreducible in Q[x]. But thus so is f (x) by Proposition 0.4.
For the second part, consider
√ √ √ √ √ √
(x2 − 2x + 1)(x2 + 2x + 1) = x4 + 2x3 + x2 − 2x3 − 2x2 − 2x + x2 + 2x + 1 = x4 + 1
which proves that f (x) is reducible.

3. Consider 3x2 + 4x + 3 ∈ Zmod5 [x]. Show it factors both as (3x + 2)(x + 4) and as (4x + 1)(2x + 3). Explain why
this does NOT contradict unique factorization of polynomials.

Solution: First note that


(3x + 2)(x + 4) = 3x2 + 12x + 2x + 8 = 3x2 + 4x + 3
and that
(4x + 1)(2x + 3) = 8x2 + 12x + 2x + 3 = 3x2 + 4x + 3
On the other hand, 2 · 3 = 1 in Zmod5 , and so
(4x + 1)(2x + 3) = (4x + 1)(23)(2x + 3) = ((4x + 1)2)(3(2x + 3)) = (8x + 2)(6x + 9) = (3x + 2)(x + 4).
This completes the proof.

4. Completely factor all the polynomials in question 1. into irreducible polynomials in each of the rings (c)–(f).

Solution:
(c) Zmod2 [x], f = x(x2 + x + 1)
(d) Zmod3 [x], f = (x3 + x2 + x + 2)
(e) Zmod5 [x], f = (x − 1)(x2 + 2x + 3)
(f) Q[x], f = (x3 + x2 + x + 2)

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