KRONECKER-WEBER FOR KIDS

1. God created the integers and all else was the work
of man
I remember that this famous quote by Kronecker made no sense to
me when I saw it on the pages of my Math 112 notes. It seemed out
of place in a world of limits, complex numbers and power series, not
to mention how atheistic it sounded. For me it took several years to
get a coherent picture of what Kronecker probably had in mind. In
this handout I attempt to explain a tiny bit of ”the work of man” by
exhibiting a special case of the famous Kronecker-Weber Theorem.
Of course, we have to start with what God has given us, namely the
integers. That seems fairly easy, but soon one realizes that, as Jerry
Shurman once put it, ”The integers are simply too small.” Even worse,
the field of fractions of the integers, the rationals, is essentially as small
as the integers. Even simple algebraic relations like x2 − 2 = 0 are
not satisfied by any rational number. But man, being the inquisitive
creature that its nature entails, found a way around this by imagining
that there were rational number with unusual properties. Moreover
these new ”rationals” had ”integers” of their own. Not surprisingly
man’s imagination was outrunning his means and he soon realized that
there was no use of all that. He had created something too big, in
fact immeasurably bigger than the numbers that God had given him,
so he had to rethink his approach and focus on what was manageable
and finite. So he created Algebraic Number Theory. But, as it often
happens, the new numbers that man created had questions of their
own.

2. Two pages of definitions and theorems

Since the goal of this handout is to prove in a reasonable amount
of detail a special case of the Kronecker-Weber Theorem we have to
run through a lot of definitions and theorems (most of which for us
will be just facts because we won’t prove them) before we get to the
interesting part.
Algebraic Number Theory is the study of finite extensions of Q. All
of the definitions and theorems that follow can be found in [Mar] or
[Rib] .
1
2 KRONECKER-WEBER FOR KIDS

DEFINITION: A complex number will be called an algebraic num-

ber if it is algebraic over Q and the set of all such numbers will be
denoted by Q.

DEFINITION: A complex number is an algebraic integer iff it is
a root of some monic polynomial with coefficients in Z. The set of such
number will denoted by Z.

THEOREM: Z ⊂ Q ⊂ C. Moreover, Z is a ring and Q is a
field. 
It is not too difficult to see that [Q : Q] cannot be finite and so
we wouldn’t have powerful tools under our belt, such as induction or
linear algebra, when we need them. So we have to contend ourselves
with what are called number fields.
DEFINITION: A number field is a subfield of C having finite
degree over Q.

Since this implies that all elements of a number field are algebraic
over Q, we have that any such field is a subfield of Q. The ring that is
the intersection of a number field with Z is the analogue of Z in Q, in
the sense that Q ∩ Z = Z.
DEFINITION: For any number field L the ring LZ = Z ∩ L is
called the ring of integers in L and such rings will be called number
rings.

However, there is one way in which Z does not appear to be analogous
to Z. This is unique
√ factorization of elements √
into irreducibles.
√ For
example, in Q( 10) we have 6 = 2 · 3 = (4 + 10)(4 − 10). This
in itself does not show that factorization is not unique, but using an
argument involving some basic Algebraic Number Theory it can be
shown that in fact everything in sight (except 6) is irreducible.
It turns out that in the case of number rings we have something,
which is almost as good. Namely unique factorization into prime ideals.
THEOREM: Let LZ be a number ring. Every non-zero ideal of LZ
is uniquely expressible as a product of prime ideals, i.e. for any ideal
I of LZ we have
n
Y
I= Piei ,
i=1
for some prime ideals Pi ’s and positive integers ei . 
Returning to our original example, one can compute
√ √ √
h6i = h2ih3i = h2, 10i2 h3, 4 + 10ih3, 2 + 10i,
 KRONECKER-WEBER FOR KIDS 3
√
and all
√ the ideals on the right are prime in Q( 10)Z , which incidentally
is Z[ 10], but this may not be the case in general.
We will leave things like the additive structure and the multiplicative
structure of LZ and L aside and focus on the following question. If we
have two number fields F ⊆ L and p ∈ FZ , what can we say about the
factorization of the ideal p in LZ ? We have used the concepts of an
ideal and element as if they are the same, and we will continue to do
so with the hope that this won’t cause any conclusion. Note that when
we say the ideal p of LZ , we mean LZ · hpi. To sum up, until further
notice ”a prime” will mean a prime ideal.
THEOREM: Let L and F be number fields. Let p be a prime of
FZ = Z ∩ F , and P a prime of LZ = Z ∩ L. Then the following are
equivalent:
(1) LZ · p ⊆ P , that is P | LZ · p;
(2) p ⊆ P;
(3) P ∩ FZ = p;
(4) P ∩ F = p. 

When any of the above conditions holds, we will say that P lies over
p and p lies under P .
THEOREM: Every prime P of LZ lies over a unique prime p of
FZ ; every prime p of FZ lies under some prime P of LZ . 
The following definitions and theorem are crucial (note that they
make sense because of the previous theorem):
DEFINITION: Suppose that p = gi=1 Piei . Then
Q

(1) g is called the decomposition number of p in L/F ;

(2) for every i = 1, . . . , g, ei is called the ramification index of Pi ;
(3) the dimension fi of LZ /Pi over FZ /p is called the inertial degree
of Pi in L/F .

THE DECOMPOSITION EQUATION THEOREM: Let n =
[L : F ], then with the above notation
g
X
n= ei fi . 
i=1

DEFINITION: Suppose that p = gi=1 Piei , n = [L : F ]. Then if

Q
g = n we say that p splits completely in L/F , on the other hand if ei > 1
for some i ∈ {1, . . . , g} then we say that p ramifies or equivalently is
ramified in LZ .

4 KRONECKER-WEBER FOR KIDS

In the case of L/F being normal (and therefore Galois, since we are
working over Q and consequently separability is not an issue) we can
say even more.
TRANSITIVITY OF THE GALOIS ACTION ON IDEALS:
If P and P 0 are any prime ideals of LZ such that P ∩ FZ = P 0 ∩ FZ 6= ∅
then there exist σ ∈ G such that σ(P ) = P 0 .
Proof: Let G = {σ1 , . . . , σn } = Gal(L/F ). Assume that P 0 6=
σi (P ) for every σi ∈ G. Then, since σi (P ) is a prime ideal, we can use
the Chinese Remainder Theorem to find an x ∈ LZ , such that
x≡0 mod P 0
x≡1 mod σi (P ), i = 1, . . . , n.
Let
n
Y
a= σi (x),
i=1

then from Galois Theory we know that a ∈ FZ and a ∈ P 0 . Hence

a ∈ FZ ∩ P 0 = p, for some prime ideal p of FZ . But then a ∈ FZ ∩ P
and therefore a ∈ P . However a ∈
/ P , since σi (x) ∈
/ P for i = 1, . . . , n
−1 −1
(otherwise x = σ σ(x) ∈ σ (P ) for some index i).
We have obtained a contradiction and hence there exists σi ∈ G such
that σi (P ) = P 0 . 
And we have:
THE GALOIS DECOMPOSITION Q EQUATION: If L/F is
normal (i.e. Galois) of degree n, if p = gi=1 Piei in LZ and if [KZ /Pi :
FZ /p] = fi , then e1 = e2 = · · · = eg , f1 = · · · = fg . Moreover if FZ /p is
a finite field then theQLZ /Pi are isomorphic.
Proof: Let p = gi=1 Piei .
For any σ ∈ G we have
g
Y
p = σ(p) = σ(Pi )ei .
i=1

But for any Pj , 1 ≤ j ≤ g, there exists τ ∈ G, so that τ (P1 ) = Pj .

Now applying unique factorization we get e1 = ej for all j = 1, . . . , g.
Similarly, we have
LZ /Pj = LZ /τ (P1 ) ∼
= LZ /P1 .
and thus f1 = fj for all j = 1, . . . , g.
The last statement in the theorem follows from the uniqueness of
finite fields. 
 KRONECKER-WEBER FOR KIDS 5

After seeing Galois Theory do all the work for us we need to define
an important invariant of a number field called the discriminant.
Let σ1 , . . . , σn be the automorphisms of L. For any n-tuple of ele-
ments a1 , . . . , an ∈ L define the discriminant (δ) of a1 , . . . , an to be the
square of the determinant of the matrix with ij th entry σi (aj ), i.e.
δ(a1 , . . . , an ) = |σi (aj )|2 .
THEOREM: For any number field L there exist element a1 , . . . , an ∈
LZ that form both a basis for L over Q and a basis for LZ over Z. 
THEOREM: For any number field L the discriminant of an integral
basis is invariant under a change of integral basis and is called the
discriminant of L and denoted by δL . 
It is not too difficult to see that δL ∈ Z. Finally, we come to an
important theorem, which will be used repeatedly:
THEOREM: Let p be a prime in Z then p ramifies in a number
ring LZ ⇐⇒ p | δL . 
With this our summary of facts will end, but the reader who wants
to learn more about other questions and developments in Algebraic
Number Theory can read about them in [Mar] and [Rib] .

3. The easy part of Kronecker-Weber

We have already proved the Fundamental Theorem of Cyclic Exten-
sions in class, in this section we will prove a special case of what can
be called the Fundamental Theorem of Abelian Extensions, namely
THE KRONECKER-WEBER THEOREM: If L is a number
field, which is an Abelian extension of Q, then there exists a root of
unity ζ, such that L ⊆ Q(ζ). 
The above theorem says that any abelian extension of Q is contained
in a cyclotomic field. We won’t show the whole proof here, but a rather
mini-version (I will try to convince you in class that in fact it is quite
mini indeed). Nevertheless, the results that we show are actually part
of the general proof in [Rib] .
First, let’s show a reduction step that uses Galois Theory in an
essential way.
THE REDUCTION STEP: If the theorem is true for Abelian
extensions having degree a power of a prime, then it is true for any
finite Abelian extension of Q.
6 KRONECKER-WEBER FOR KIDS

Proof: Let G = Gal(L/Q) and let L be a number field and an

Abelian extension of Q of degree n. We will show that L is the compo-
sition of finitely many fields L1 , . . . , Ls and each Li has degree a power
of a prime.
To do that we will use the Fundamental Theorem of Finite Abelian
Groups. By this theorem we have
s
M
G= Hi ,
i=1

where |Hi | is a power of a prime (not necessarily the same one) for all
i’s. For any i, such that 1 ≤ i ≤ s define
M
Li = Hj .
j6=i

Of course, all of the Li ’s are subgroups of G, so let Li be the fixed field

of Li . Then by the Fundamental Theorem of Galois Theory we have
[Li : Q] = [G : Li ] = |Hi |,
which is a power of a prime. Moreover, any automorphism that fixes
L1 · · · Ls must fix all of the Li ’s, so we have
s
\
Gal(L/L1 · · · Ls ) ⊆ Li = {0},
i=1

thus L = L1 · · · Ls .
Now assuming that the theorem is true for all the Li ’s we may write
Li ⊆ Q(ξi ),
where ξi is a primitive root of unity. Let ζ be a primitive root of unity
of order equal to the least common multiple of the orders of the ξi ’s.
Then
L = L1 · · · Ls ⊆ Q(ξ1 , . . . , ξs ) ⊆ Q(ζ).
And this finishes the proof of the reduction step. 
We will show an easy special case of the theorem when the degree
of the extension and the discriminant are a power of the same odd
rational prime. Even in this case we will make some assumptions,
which are theorems in their own right. As usual we will refer the
reader to [Mar] of [Rib] for the proofs. From now on p will denote an
odd prime number of Z.
CASE 1: If [L : Q] = pm , δL = pk , where m, k ≥ 1, then the
theorem holds.
 KRONECKER-WEBER FOR KIDS 7

Proof: Let R = Q(ζ) where ζ is a primitive root of unity of order

pm+1 . We have shown in class that R/Q has degree pm (p − 1) and
Gal(R/Q) ∼ = Z/pm+1 Z and is cyclic. We assume that δR is a power
of p.
Let R0 be the fixed field of the subgroup of Gal(R/Q) of order (p−1).
Then we have [R0 : Q] = pm and also R0 is a cyclic extension. We also
see that δR0 is a power of p, since if q divides δR0 then it ramifies in R0
and therefore is must ramify in R, but then q | δR and so q = p.
Consider the composite field LR0 . By a problem we had to do on
our exam we have
[LR0 : Q] = [LR0 : R0 ][R0 : Q] = [L : L ∩ R0 ][R0 : Q],
so [LR0 : Q] is a power of a prime. Assume that δLR0 is a power of the
same prime (we can show that this is the case by an argument similar
to the one for δR0 ).
0 R = Q(ζ)
LR
; c :

0
Lc ;R

L ∩O R0

Q
It can be shown that LR0 /Q is a cyclic extension, so assume that, then
the subgroup of Gal(LR0 /Q), Gal(LR0 /L ∩ R0 ) is also cyclic. But by
Galois Theory
Gal(LR0 /L ∩ R0 ) ∼
= Gal(L/L ∩ R0 ) × Gal(R0 /L ∩ R0 ).
Thus one of the groups on the right is trivial, i.e. L = L ∩ R0 or
R0 = L ∩ R0 .
If L = L ∩ R0 then L ⊆ R0 , if R0 = L ∩ R0 then R0 ⊆ L, but both
have the same degree over Q and thus in either case
L ⊆ R0 ⊆ Q(ζ). 

Combining this with our reduction step, we have shown that:

MINI KRONECKER-WEBER: If L = L1 · · · Lt is a finite Abelian
Extension of Q, and if for 1 ≤ i ≤ t we have [Li : Q] = pm ki
i , δLi = pi
i

for some odd primes pi and m, k ≥ 1 then there exists a primitive root
of unity ζ, such that L ⊆ Q(ζ). 
8 KRONECKER-WEBER FOR KIDS

It is rather unfortunate that the condition on the discriminant is

almost never true. I will show some very chilling examples of this in
class.
Finally, we show the following theorem, which will expand the fields
that we can use in the reduction step even further:
KRONECKER-WEBER FOR QUADRATIC FIELDS: If L/Q
is a number field of degree 2, then there exists a root of unity ζ such
that L ⊆ Q(ζ). √
Proof: WLOG assume that L = Q( d), where d is square-free.
From a homework problem we know that L/Q is Galois over Q, so we
can use it in our reduction step.
Fix the notation ξn to mean a primitive nth root of unity.
Since d is square-free we have d = ±2e p1 · · · pr , where e = 0 or 1,
r ≥ 0 and all the pi ’s are odd primes, but then
√ √ √ √ √
L = Q( d) ⊆ Q( −1, 2, p1 , . . . , pr ).
Now we√ tackle each of the
√ elements we have adjoined separately.
First, −1 = ξ4 . Thus −1 ∈ Q(ξ4 ) ⊂ Q(ξ8 ).
Also we have
(ξ8 + ξ8−1 )2 = ξ82 + ξ8−2 + 2 = ξ4 + ξ4−1 + 2 = 2,
√
so 2 ∈ Q(ξ8 ).
Finally, we have to deal with the case p, p 6= 2.
Consider the group Z/pZ× . We know that this is a cyclic group, so
for exactly half of the elements a ∈ Z/pZ× the equation a = x2 has a
solution, while the other half make such an equation impossible.
Define the Legendre Symbol, (a/p), by (a/p) = 1 iff a is an element,
such that the equation a = x2 can be solved and (a/p) = −1 iff a makes
the equation impossible to solve. It is not difficult to see that (∗/p) is
a group homomorphism from Z/pZ× onto {±1}.
Since we are starting to learn about representation theory in class,
let’s be ridiculous and observe that (∗/p) is in fact a character, since
we can identify 1 with the n × n identity matrix I, for any Z≥1 .
Look at the sum in Q(ξp ):
X x
τ= ξpx .
×
p
x∈Z/pZ

Using the fact that the Legendre symbol is a homomorphism, we have

X  xy 
2
τ = ξpx+y .
×
p
x,y∈Z/pZ
 KRONECKER-WEBER FOR KIDS 9

But we can write y = x · t for some t ∈ Z/pZ× , yielding

X  x · xt 
2
τ = ξpx(1+t)
p
x,t∈Z/pZ×
X  x2   t 
= ξpx(1+t)
p p
x,t∈Z/pZ×
X t
= ξpx(1+t)
p
x,t∈Z/pZ×
 
 
X t  X x(1+t) 
= ξp .
×
p ×
t∈Z/pZ x∈Z/pZ

Observe that if 1 + t 6= 0 then we have

X
ξpx(1+t) = ξp + ξp2 + · · · + ξpp−1 = −1,
x

while if 1 + t = 0 then
X
ξpx(1+t) = 1 + 1 + · · · + 1 = (p − 1).
x

The last thing to notice is that since there are an equal number of
P that have (∗/p) equal to 1 as there are with (∗/p) = −1, we
elements
have t (t/p) = 0.
Returning to the calculation of τ 2 this gives
  X t
2 −1
τ = (p − 1) + (−1)
p −16=t
p
   
−1 X t
= p−
p t
p
 
−1
= p−0
p
= ±p.
√ √ √
Thus ±p ∈ Q(ξp ). Which immediately gives p ∈ Q(ξp ) or p ∈
√
Q( −1, ξp ) ⊆ Q(ξ8 , ξp ).
Combining everything that we have found out so far we get
√
L = Q( d) ⊆ Q(ξ8 , ξp1 , . . . , ξpr ) ⊆ Q(ζ),
where ζ is a primitive root of unity of degree m = 8p1 · · · pr . 
We have shown an improved version of our mini-Kronecker-Weber:
10 KRONECKER-WEBER FOR KIDS

KRONECKER-WEBER FOR KIDS: If L = L1 · · · Lt is a finite

Abelian Extension of Q, and for 1 ≤ i ≤ t we have [Li : Q] = pm i ,
i

δLi = pki i for some odd primes pi and m, k ≥ 1 OR [Li : Q] = 2 then

there exists a primitive root of unity ζ, such that L ⊆ Q(ζ). 
It seems most appropriate to finish with an example. Tracing back
through our proofs we see that we can be certain that the composite
field √
N = Q( 3)Q(ξ11 ) ⊆ Q(ξ30 ).
In class I will use an on-line MAGMA (a computer algebra system)
calculator to show that [N : Q] = 20.
4. References
The books that were used in preparation for this handout are:
[Mar] D. Marcus, Number Fields, Universitext series of Springer.
[Rib] P. Ribenboim, Classical Theory of Algebraic Numbers, Univer-
sitext series of Springer.
Both can be found in the Reed College library. 
Aleksandar Petrov, Reed College MS 986, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd.,
Portland, OR 97202
E-mail address: aleks@reed.edu