Chapter 1

Algebraic Numbers and Algebraic

Integers

1.1 Rings of integers

We start by introducing two essential notions: number field and algebraic inte-
ger.

Definition 1.1. A number field is a finite field extension K of Q, i.e., a field

which is a Q-vector space of finite dimension. We note this dimension [K : Q]
and call it the degree of K.

Examples 1.1. 1. The field

√ √
Q( 2) = {x + y 2 | x, y ∈ Q}

is a number field. It is of degree 2 over Q. Number fields of degree 2 over

Q are called quadratic fields. More generally, Q[X]/f (X) is a number field
if f is irreducible. It is of degree the degree of the polynomial f .

2. Let ζn be a primitive nth root of unity. The field Q(ζn ) is a number field
called cyclotomic field.

3. The fields C and R are not number fields.

Let K be a number field of degree n. If α ∈ K, there must be a Q-linear

dependency among {1, α, . . . , αn }, since K is a Q-vector space of dimension n.
In other words, there exists a polynomial f (X) ∈ Q[X] such that f (X) = 0.
We call α an algebraic number.

Definition 1.2. An algebraic integer in a number field K is an element α ∈ K

which is a root of a monic polynomial with coefficients in Z.

3
4 CHAPTER 1. ALGEBRAIC NUMBERS AND ALGEBRAIC INTEGERS
√ √
Example 1.2. Since X 2 −2 = 0, 2 ∈ Q( 2) is an algebraic integer. Similarly,
i ∈ Q(i) is an algebraic integer, since X 2 + 1 = 0. However, an element a/b ∈ Q
is not an algebraic integer, unless b divides a.
Now that we have the concept of an algebraic integer in a number field, it is
natural to wonder whether one can compute the set of all algebraic integers of
a given number field. Let us start by determining the set of algebraic integers
in Q.
Definition 1.3. The minimal polynomial f of an algebraic number α is the
monic polynomial in Q[X] of smallest degree such that f (α) = 0.
Proposition 1.1. The minimal polynomial of α has integer coefficients if and
only if α is an algebraic integer.
Proof. If the minimal polynomial of α has integer coefficients, then by definition
(Definition 1.2) α is algebraic.
Now let us assume that α is an algebraic integer. This means by definition
that there exists a monic polynomial f ∈ Z[X] such that f (α) = 0. Let g ∈ Q[X]
be the minimal polyonial of α. Then g(X) divides f (X), that is, there exists a
monic polynomial h ∈ Q[X] such that

g(X)h(X) = f (X).

(Note that h is monic because f and g are). We want to prove that g(X)
actually belongs to Z[X]. Assume by contradiction that this is not true, that
is, there exists at least one prime p which divides one of the denominators of
the coefficients of g. Let u > 0 be the smallest integer such that pu g does
not have anymore denominators divisible by p. Since h may or may not have
denominators divisible by p, let v ≥ 0 be the smallest integer such that pv h has
no denominator divisible by p. We then have

pu g(X)pv h(X) = pu+v f (X).

The left hand side of this equation does not have denominators divisible by p
anymore, thus we can look at this equation modulo p. This gives

pu g(X)pv h(X) ≡ 0 ∈ Fp [X],

where Fp denotes the finite field with p elements. This give a contradiction,
since the left hand side is a product of two non-zero polynomials (by minimality
of u and v), and Fp [X] does not have zero divisor.
Corollary 1.2. The set of algebraic integers of Q is Z.
Proof. Let ab ∈ Q. Its minimal polynomial is X − ab . By the above proposition,
a
b is an algebraic integer if and only b = ±1.

Definition 1.4. The set of algebraic integers of a number field K is denoted

by OK . It is usually called the ring of integers of K.
1.1. RINGS OF INTEGERS 5

The fact that OK is a ring is not obvious. In general, if one takes a, b two
algebraic integers, it is not straightforward to find a monic polynomial in Z[X]
which has a + b as a root. We now proceed to prove that OK is indeed a ring.

Theorem 1.3. Let K be a number field, and take α ∈ K. The two statements
are equivalent:

1. α is an algebraic integer.

2. The Abelian group Z[α] is finitely generated (a group G is finitely generated

if there exist finitely many elements x1 , ..., xs ∈ G such that every x ∈ G
can be written in the form x = n1 x1 + n2 x2 + ... + ns xs with integers
n1 , ..., ns ).

Proof. Let α be an algebraic integer, and let m be the degree of its minimal
polynomial, which is monic and with coefficients in Z by Proposition 1.1. Since
all αu with u ≥ m can be written as Z-linear combination of 1, α, . . . , αm−1 , we
have that
Z[α] = Z ⊕ Zα ⊕ . . . ⊕ Zαm−1
and {1, α, . . . , αm−1 } generate Z[α] as an Abelian group. Note that for this
proof to work, we really need the minimal polynomial to have coefficients in Z,
and to be monic!
Conversely, let us assume that Z[α] is finitely generated, with generators
a1 , . . . , am , where ai = fi (α) for some fi ∈ Z[X]. In order to prove that α is
an algebraic integer, we need to find a monic polynomial f ∈ Z[X] such that
f (α) = 0. Let N be an integer such that N > deg fi for i = 1, . . . , m. We have
that
Xm
αN = bj aj , bj ∈ Z
j=1

that is
m
X
αN − bj fj (α) = 0.
j=1

Let us thus choose

m
X
f (X) = X N − bj fj (X).
j=1

Clearly f ∈ Z[X], it is monic by the choice of N > deg fi for i = 1, . . . , m, and

finally f (α) = 0. So α is an algebraic integer.

Example 1.3. We have that

na o
Z[1/2] = | b is a power of 2
b
1
is not finitely generated, since 2 is not an algebraic integer. Its minimal poly-
nomial is X − 12 .
6 CHAPTER 1. ALGEBRAIC NUMBERS AND ALGEBRAIC INTEGERS

Corollary 1.4. Let K be a number field. Then OK is a ring.

Proof. Let α, β ∈ OK . The above theorem tells us that Z[α] and Z[β] are finitely
generated, thus so is Z[α, β]. Now, Z[α, β] is a ring, thus in particular α ± β and
αβ ∈ Z[α, β]. Since Z[α±β] and Z[αβ] are subgroups of Z[α, β], they are finitely
generated. By invoking again the above theorem, α ± β and αβ ∈ OK .
Corollary 1.5. Let K be a number field, with ring of integers OK . Then
QOK = K.
Proof. It is clear that if x = bα ∈ QOK , b ∈ Q, α ∈ OK , then x ∈ K.
Now if α ∈ K, we show that there exists d ∈ Z such that αd ∈ OK (that
is αd = β ∈ OK , or equivalently, α = β/d). Let f (X) ∈ Q[X] be the minimal
polynomial of α. Choose d to be the least common multiple of the denominators
of the coefficients of f (X), then (recall that f is monic!)
µ ¶
deg(f ) X
d f = g(X),
d

and g(X) ∈ Z[X] is monic, with αd as a root. Thus αd ∈ OK .

1.2 Norms and Traces

Definition 1.5. Let L/K be a finite extension of number fields. Let α ∈ L.
We consider the multiplication map by α, denoted by µα , such that

µα : L → L
x 7→ αx.

This is a K-linear map of the K-vector space L into itself (or in other words, an
endomorphism of the K-vector space L). We call the norm of α the determinant
of µα , that is
NL/K (α) = det(µα ) ∈ K,
and the trace of α the trace of µα , that is

TrL/K (α) = Tr(µα ) ∈ K.

Note that the norm is multiplicative, since

NL/K (αβ) = det(µαβ ) = det(µα ◦ µβ ) = det(µα ) det(µβ ) = NL/K (α)NL/K (β)

while the trace is additive:

TrL/K (α+β) = Tr(µα+β ) = Tr(µα +µβ ) = Tr(µα )+Tr(µβ ) = TrL/K (α)+TrL/K (β).

In particular, if n denotes the degree of L/K, we have that

NL/K (aα) = an NL/K (α), TrL/K (aα) = aTrL/K (α), a ∈ K.

1.2. NORMS AND TRACES 7

Indeed, the matrix of µa is given by a diagonal matrix whose coefficients are all
a when a ∈ K.
Recall that the characteristic polynomial of α ∈ L is the characteristic poly-
nomial of µα , that is

χL/K (X) = det(XI − µα ) ∈ K[X].

This is a monic polynomial of degree n = [L : K], the coefficient of X n−1 is

−TrL/K (α) and its constant term is ±NL/K (α).
√
Example
√ 1.4. Let L be the quadratic field Q( 2), K = Q, √ and take α ∈
Q( 2). In order to compute µα , we need to fix a basis of Q( 2) as Q-vector
space, say √
{1, 2}.
√
Thus, α can be written α = a + b 2, a, b ∈ Q. By linearity, it is enough to
compute µα on the basis elements:
√ √ √ √ √
µα (1) = a + b 2, µα ( 2) = (a + b 2) 2 = a 2 + 2b.

We now have that

µ ¶
¡ √ ¢ a 2b ¡ √ √ ¢
1, 2 = a + b 2, 2b + a 2
b a
| {z }
M

and M is the matrix of µα in the chosen basis. Of course, M changes with a

change of basis, but the norm and trace of α are independent of the basis. We
have here that

NQ(√2)/Q (α) = a2 − 2b2 , TrQ(√2)/Q (α) = 2a.

Finally, the characteristic polynomial of µα is given by

µ µ ¶¶
a b
χL/K (X) = det XI −
2b a
µ ¶
X −a −b
= det
−2b X − a
= (X − a)(X − a) − 2b2
= X 2 − 2aX + a2 − 2b2 .

We recognize that the coefficient of X is indeed the trace of α with a minus

sign, while the constant coefficient is its norm.
We now would like to give another equivalent definition of the trace and
norm of an algebraic integer α in a number field K, based on the different
roots of the minimal polynomial of α. Since these roots may not belong to K,
we first need to introduce a bigger field which will contain all the roots of the
polynomials we will consider.
8 CHAPTER 1. ALGEBRAIC NUMBERS AND ALGEBRAIC INTEGERS

Definition 1.6. The field F̄ is called an algebraic closure of a field F if all the
elements of F̄ are algebraic over F and if every polynomial f (X) ∈ F [X] splits
completely over F̄ .

We can think that F̄ contains all the elements that are algebraic over F , in
that sense, it is the largest algebraic extension of F . For example, the field of
complex numbers C is the algebraic closure of the field of reals R (this is the
fundamental theorem of algebra). The algebraic closure of Q is denoted by Q̄,
and Q̄ ⊂ C.

Lemma 1.6. Let K be number field, and let K̄ be its algebraic closure. Then
an irreducibe polynomial in K[X] cannot have a multiple root in K̄.

Proof. Let f (X) be an irreducible polynomial in K[X]. By contradiction, let

us assume that f (X) has a multiple root α in K̄, that is f (X) = (X − α)m g(X)
with m ≥ 2 and g(α) 6= 0. We have that the formal derivative of f 0 (X) is given
by

f 0 (X) = m(X − α)m−1 g(X) + (X − α)m g 0 (X)

= (X − α)m−1 (mg(X) + (X − α)g 0 (X)),

and therefore f (X) and f 0 (X) have (X − α)m−1 , m ≥ 2, as a common factor

in K̄[X]. In other words, α is root of both f (X) and f 0 (X), implying that the
minimal polynomial of α over K is a common factor of f (X) and f 0 (X). Now
since f (X) is irreducible over K[X], this common factor has to be f (X) itself,
implying that f (X) divides f 0 (X). Since deg(f 0 (X)) < deg(f (X)), this forces
f 0 (X) to be zero, which is not possible with K of characteristic 0.

Thanks to the above lemma, we are now able to prove that an extension of
number field of degree n can be embedded in exactly n different ways into its
algebraic closure. These n embeddings are what we need to redefine the notions
of norm and trace. Let us first recall the notion of field monomorphism.

Definition 1.7. Let L1 , L2 be two field extensions of a field K. A field

monomorphism σ from L1 to L2 is a field homomorphism, that is a map from
L1 to L2 such that, for all a, b ∈ L1 ,

σ(ab) = σ(a)σ(b)
σ(a + b) = σ(a) + σ(b)
σ(1) = 1
σ(0) = 0.

A field homomorphism is automatically an injective map, and thus a field

monomorphism. It is a field K-monomorphism if it fixes K, that is, if σ(c) = c
for all c ∈ K.
1.2. NORMS AND TRACES 9

Example 1.5. We consider the number field K = Q(i). Let x = a + ib ∈ Q(i).

If σ is field Q-homomorphism, then σ(x) = a + σ(i)b since it has to fix Q.
Furthermore, we need that
σ(i)2 = σ(i2 ) = −1,
so that σ(i) = ±i. This gives us exactly two Q-monomorphisms of K into
K̄ ⊂ C, given by:
σ1 : a + ib 7→ a + ib, σ2 : a + ib 7→ a − ib,
that is the identity and the complex conjugation.
Proposition 1.7. Let K be a number field, L be a finite extension of K of degree
n, and K̄ be an algebraic closure of K. There are n distinct K-monomorphisms
of L into K̄.
Proof. This proof is done in two steps. In the first step, the claim is proved in
the case when L = K(α), α ∈ L. The second step is a proof by induction on
the degree of the extension L/K in the general case, which of course uses the
first step. The main idea is that if L 6= K(α) for some α ∈ L, then one can find
such intermediate extension, that is, we can consider the tower of extensions
K ⊂ K(α) ⊂ L, where we can use the first step for K(α)/K and the induction
hypothesis for L/K(α).
Step 1. Let us consider L = K(α), α ∈ L with minimal polynomial f (X) ∈
K[X]. It is of degree n and thus admits n roots α1 , . . . , αn in K̄, which are
all distinct by Lemma 1.6. For i = 1, . . . , n, we thus have a K-monomorphism
σi : L → K̄ such that σi (α) = αi .
Step 2. We now proceed by induction on the degree n of L/K. Let α ∈ L and
consider the tower of extensions K ⊂ K(α) ⊂ L, where we denote by q, q > 1,
the degree of K(α)/K. We know by the first step that there are q distinct K-
monomomorphisms from K(α) to K̄, given by σi (α) = αi , i = 1, . . . , q, where
αi are the q roots of the minimal polynomial of α.
Now the fields K(α) and K(σi (α)) are isomorphic (the isomorphism is given
by σi ) and one can build an extension Li of K(σi (α)) and an isomorphism
τi : L → Li which extends σi (that is, τi restricted to K(α) is nothing else than
σi ):
τi
L - Li
n n
q q

K(α) - K(σi (α))

σi
´
´
q ´
´ q
´
K
Now, since
n
[Li : K(σi (α))] = [L : K(α)] = < n,
q
10 CHAPTER 1. ALGEBRAIC NUMBERS AND ALGEBRAIC INTEGERS

we have by induction hypothesis that there are nq distinct K(σi (α))-monomorphisms

θij of Li into K̄. Therefore, θij ◦ τi , i = 1, . . . , q, j = 1, . . . , nq provide n distinct
K-monomorphisms of L into K̄.
Corollary 1.8. A number field K of degree n over Q has n embeddings into C.
Proof. The proof is immediate from the proposition. It is very common to find
in the literature expressions such as “let K be a number field of degree n, and
σ1 , . . . , σn be its n embeddings”, without further explanation.
Definition 1.8. Let L/K be an extension of number fields, and let α ∈ L. Let
σ1 , . . . , σn be the n field K-monomorphisms of L into K̄ ⊂ C given by the above
proposition. We call σ1 (α), . . . , σn (α) the conjugates of α.
Proposition 1.9. Let L/K be an extension of number fields. Let σ1 , . . . , σn be
the n distinct embeddings of L into C which fix K. For all α ∈ L, we have
n
Y n
X
NL/K (α) = σi (α), TrL/K (α) = σi (α).
i=1 i=1

Proof. Let α ∈ L, with minimal polynomial f (X) ∈ K[X] of degree m, and let
χK(α)/K (X) be its characteristic polynomial.
Let us first prove that f (X) = χK(α)/K (X). Note that both polynomials are
monic by definition. Now the K-vector space K(α) has dimension m, thus m
is also the degree of χK(α)/K (X). By Cayley-Hamilton theorem (which states
that every square matrix over the complex field satisfies its own characteristic
equation), we have that
χK(α)/K (µα ) = 0.
Now since
χK(α)/K (µα ) = µχK(α)/K (α) ,
(see Example 1.7), we have that α is a root of χK(α)/K (X). By minimality
of the minimal polynomial f (X), f (X) | χK(α)/K (X), but knowing that both
polynomials are monic of same degree, it follows that
f (X) = χK(α)/K (X). (1.1)
We now compute the matrix of µα in a K-basis of L. We have that
{1, α, . . . , αm−1 }
is a K-basis of K(α). Let k be the degree [L : K(α)] and let {β1 , . . . , βk } be a
K(α)−basis of L. The set {αi βj }, 0 ≤ i < m, 1 ≤ j ≤ k is a K-basis of L. The
multiplication µα by α can now be written in this basis as
 
  0 1 ... 0
B 0 ... 0  0 0
 0 B 0 
 0 

 ..


µα =  .  , B= . .. 
 .. . ..   . 
 0 0 1 
0 0 ... B
| {z } a0 a1 . . . am−1
k times
1.2. NORMS AND TRACES 11

where ai , i = 0, . . . , m − 1 are the coefficients of the minimal polynomial f (X)

(in other words, B is the companion matrix of f ). We conclude that
NL/K (α) = NK(α)/K (α)k ,
TrL/K (α) = kTrK(α)/K (α),
χL/K (X) = (χK(α)/K )k = f (X)k ,
where last equality holds by (1.1). Now we have that
f (X) = (X − α1 )(X − α2 ) · · · (X − αm ) ∈ Q̄[X]
m
X Ym
= Xm − αi X m−1 + . . . ± αi ∈ Q[X]
i=1 i=1
m m−1
= X − TrK(α)/K (α)X + . . . ± NK(α)/K (α) ∈ Q[X]
where last equality holds by (1.1), so that
à m !k
Y
NL/K (α) = αi ,
i=1
m
X
TrL/K (α) = k αi .
i=1

To conclude, we know that the embeddings of K(α) into Q̄ which fix K are
determined by the roots of α, and we know that there are exactly m distinct
such roots (Lemma 1.6). We further know (see Proposition 1.7) that each of
these embeddings can be extended into an embedding of L into Q̄ in exactly k
ways. Thus
n
Y
NL/K (α) = σi (α),
i=1
Xn
TrL/K (α) = σi (α),
i=1

which concludes the proof.

√
Example 1.6. Consider the field extension Q( 2)/Q. It has two embeddings
√ √ √ √
σ1 : a + b 2 7→ a + b 2, σ2 : a + b 2 7→ a − b 2.
√ √
Take √
the element α = a √+ b 2 ∈ Q( 2). Its two conjugates are σ1 (α) = α =
a + b 2, σ2 (α) = a − b 2, thus its norm is given by
NQ(√2)/Q (α) = σ1 (α)σ2 (α) = a2 − 2b2 ,
while its trace is
TrQ(√2)/Q (α) = σ1 (α) + σ2 (α).
It of course gives the same answer as what we computed in Example 1.4.
12 CHAPTER 1. ALGEBRAIC NUMBERS AND ALGEBRAIC INTEGERS
√
Example√1.7. Consider
√ again the field extension Q( 2)/Q. Take the element
α = a + b 2 ∈ Q( 2), whose characteristic polynomial√ is given by,√say, χ(X) =
p0 + p1 X + p2 X 2 . Thus χ(α) = p0 + p1 (a √ + b 2) + p 2 (a2
+ 2ab 2 + 2b2 ) =
2 2
(p0 + p1 a + p2 a + p2 2b ) + (p1 b + p2 2ab) 2, and
µ ¶
p0 + p1 a + p2 a2 + p2 2b2 2bp1 + 4p2 ab
µχ(α) =
p1 b + p2 2ab p0 + p1 a + p2 a2 + p2 2b2

(see Example 1.4). On the other hand, we have that

µ ¶ µ ¶2
a 2b a 2b
χ(µα ) = p0 I + p1 + p2 .
b a b a

Thus we have that µχ(α) = χ(µα ).

√
Example 1.8. Consider the number √ field extensions Q ⊂ Q(i) ⊂ Q(i, 2).
There are four embeddings of Q(i, 2), given by
√ √
σ1 : i 7→ i, 2 7→ 2
√ √
σ2 : i 7→ −i, 2 7→ 2
√ √
σ3 : i 7→ i, 2 7→ − 2
√ √
σ4 : i 7→ −i, 2 7→ − 2

We have that

NQ(i)/Q (a + ib) = σ1 (a + ib)σ2 (a + ib) = a2 + b2 , a, b ∈ Q

but

NQ(i,√2)/Q (a + ib) = σ1 (a + ib)σ2 (a + ib)σ3 (a + ib)σ4 (a + ib)

= σ1 (a + ib)σ2 (a + ib)σ1 (a + ib)σ2 (a + ib)
= σ1 (a + ib)2 σ2 (a + ib)2
= (a2 + b2 )2

since a, b ∈ Q.

Corollary 1.10. Let K be a number field, and let α ∈ K be an algebraic integer.

The norm and the trace of α belong to Z.

Proof. The characteristic polynomial χK/Q (X) is a power of the minimal poly-
nomial (see inside the proof of the above theorem), thus it belongs to Z[X].

Corollary 1.11. The norm NK/Q (α) of an element α of OK is equal to ±1 if

and only if α is a unit of OK .
1.2. NORMS AND TRACES 13

Proof. Let α be a unit of OK . We want to prove that its norm is ±1. Since α
is a unit, we have that by definition 1/α ∈ OK . Thus

1 = NK/Q (1) = NK/Q (α)NK/Q (1/α)

by multiplicativity of the norm. By the above corollary, both NK/Q (α) and its
inverse belong to Z, meaning that the only possible values are ±1.
Conversely, let us assume that α ∈ OK has norm ±1, which means that the
constant term of its minimal polynomial f (X) is ±1:

f (X) = X n + an−1 X n−1 + · · · ± 1.

Let us now consider 1/α ∈ K. We see that 1/α is a root of the monic polynomial

g(X) = 1 + an−1 X + · · · ± X n ,

with g(X) ∈ Z[X]. Thus 1/α is an algebraic integer.

Let us prove a last result on the structure of the ring of integers. Recall that a
group G is finitely generated if there exist finitely many elements x1 , . . . , xs ∈ G
such that every x ∈ G can be written in the form x = n1 x1 + . . . + ns xs ,
with n1 , . . . , ns integers. Such a group is called free if it is isomorphic to Zr ,
r ≥ 0, called the rank of G. We now prove that OK is not only a ring, but
it is furthermore a free Abelian group of rank the degree of the corresponding
number field.
Proposition 1.12. Let K be a number field. Then OK is a free Abelian group
of rank n = [K : Q].
Proof. We know by Corollary 1.5 that there exists a Q-basis {α1 , . . . , αn } of
K with αi ∈ OK for i = 1, . . . , n (take a basis of K with elements in K,
and multiply the elements by the proper factors to obtain elements in OK as
explained in Corollary 1.5). Thus, an element x ∈ OK can be written as
n
X
x= ci αi , ci ∈ Q.
i=1

Our goal is now to show that the denominators of ci are bounded for all ci and
all x ∈ OK . To prove this, let us assume by contradiction that this is not the
case, that is, that there exists a sequence
n
X
xj = cij αi , cij ∈ Q
i=1

such that the greatest denominator of cij , i = 1, . . . , n goes to infinity when

j → ∞. Let us look at the norm of such an xj . We know that NK/Q (xj ) is the
determinant of an n × n matrix with coefficients in Q[cij ] (that is coefficients
are Q-linear combinations of cij ). Thus the norm is a homogeneous polynomial
14 CHAPTER 1. ALGEBRAIC NUMBERS AND ALGEBRAIC INTEGERS

in cij , whose coefficients are determined by the field extension considered. Fur-
thermore, it belongs to Z (Corollary 1.10). Since the coefficients are fixed and
the norm is in Z, the denominators of cij cannot grow indefinitely. They have
to be bounded by a given constant B. Thus we have shown that
n
1 M
OK ⊂ Zαi .
B i=1

Since the right hand side is a free Abelian group, OK is free. Furthermore, OK
contains n elements which are linearly independent over Q, thus the rank of OK
is n.
Example 1.9. Let ζp be a primitive pth root of unity. One can show that the
ring of integers of Q(ζp ) is

Z[ζp ] = Z ⊕ Zζp · · · ⊕ Zζpp−2 .

Proposition 1.13. Let K be a number field. Let α ∈ K. If α is the zero of a

monic polynomial f with coefficients in OK , then α ∈ OK . We say that OK is
integrally closed.
Proof. Let us write f (X) = X m + am−1 X m−1 + . . . + a0 , with ai ∈ OK . We
know by the above proposition that OK is a free abelian group which is finitely
generated. Since
αm = −am−1 αm−1 − · · · − a0 ,
we have that OK [α] is finitely generated as Abelian group. Thus Z[α] ⊂ OK [α]
is also finitely generated, and α is an algebraic integer by Theorem 1.3.

The main definitions and results of this chapter are

• Definition of a number field K of degree n and its ring
of integers OK .
• Properties of OK : it is a ring with a Z-basis of n
elements, and it is integrally closed.
• The fact that K has n embeddings into C.
• Definition of norm and trace, with their characteri-
zation as respectively product and sum of the conju-
gates.