1.II.20G

Number Fields
Part II, 2006

Let α,β,γ\alpha, \beta, \gamma denote the zeros of the polynomial x3nx1x^{3}-n x-1, where nn is an integer. The discriminant of the polynomial is defined as

Δ=Δ(1,α,α2)=(αβ)2(βγ)2(γα)2\Delta=\Delta\left(1, \alpha, \alpha^{2}\right)=(\alpha-\beta)^{2}(\beta-\gamma)^{2}(\gamma-\alpha)^{2}

Prove that, if Δ\Delta is square-free, then 1,α,α21, \alpha, \alpha^{2} is an integral basis for k=Q(α)k=\mathbb{Q}(\alpha).

By verifying that

α(αβ)(αγ)=2nα+3\alpha(\alpha-\beta)(\alpha-\gamma)=2 n \alpha+3

and further that the field norm of the expression on the left is Δ-\Delta, or otherwise, show that Δ=4n327\Delta=4 n^{3}-27. Hence prove that, when n=1n=1 and n=2n=2, an integral basis for kk is 1,α,α21, \alpha, \alpha^{2}.