Fall 2002 Math 250A, G. Bergman sol’n in radicals, p.

Solution in radicals of polynomials of degree ≤ 4

The idea of these exercises can be motivated as follows. Suppose u and are the roots of a
2
quadratic equation x + ax + b = 0. The quadratic formula expresses these roots as u = A 0 + A1 , =
A 0 − A1 , where A 0 is a polynomial in the coefficients of the given equation, and A1 is the square root
of such a polynomial; this is clearly consistent with the fact that A 0 is the same in both expressions,
while A1 changes sign. And in fact, if we solve the above pair of equations for A 0 and A1 and then
write out the resulting expressions for A 0 and A12 and compare with the expressions for the coefficients
a and b of the given quadratic equation in terms of u and , we immediately see that we can express
A 0 and A12 in terms of a and b, allowing us to rederive the quadratic formula.
Below, we will seek to generalize this idea to get cubic and quartic formulas as well.
Throughout these exercises:
n will denote one of the values 2, 3, 4 (the degree of the equation we seek to solve),
F will be a field which contains primitive mth roots of unity for all m ≤ n, hence has
characteristic either 0 or > n,
u1 , ... , un will be elements of F (which we will later take to be roots of a polynomial; but to
begin with, they will just be arbitrary elements on which we will perform some interesting
manipulations)
ω (when used) will denote a primitive cube root of unity assumed to lie in F,
i (when used) will denote a primitive fourth root of unity assumed to lie in F.
(1) For each of the systems of equations (a)-(d) below, assuming the the existence in F of the roots of
unity occurring in those equations, verify that u1 , ... , un can be written in the form shown, for unique
A 0 , ... , An − 1 ∈F. You may assume results of undergraduate linear algebra. (Suggestion: Write each of
these systems of equations as a matrix equation, and compute the square of the matrix in question. You
can simplify your computation by noting certain properties of the rows and columns which force most
columns to have zero product with most rows. Also recall the condition on the characteristic, mentioned in
the definition of F above.)

(a) n=2 u1 = A 0 + A1
u 2 = A 0 − A1 .

(b) n=3 u1 = A 0 + A1 + A 2
u 2 = A 0 + ω A1 + ω 2 A 2
u 3 = A 0 + ω 2 A1 + ω A 2 .

(c) n=4 u1 = A 0 + A1 + A 2 + A 3
u 2 = A 0 + i A1 − A 2 − i A 3
u 3 = A 0 − A1 + A 2 − A 3
u 4 = A 0 − i A1 − A 2 + i A 3 .

(d) n=4 u1 = A 0 + A1 + A 2 + A 3
u 2 = A 0 + A1 − A 2 − A 3
u 3 = A 0 − A1 + A 2 − A 3
u 4 = A 0 − A1 − A 2 + A 3 .
Fall 2002 Math 250A, G. Bergman sol’n in radicals, p.2

(2) Suppose we perform a permutation σ on the elements u1 , ... , un , writing ui′ = uσ (i) , and obtain a
representation of the new elements ui′ in terms of elements Ai′ ∈F, using the same systems of equations
as above. Show that in all four of cases (a-d), we get A0′ = A 0 , and that in three of the four cases, but
not in the remaining one, we can say that the elements A1′ , ... , An′ − 1 are obtained from A1 , ... , An − 1 by
a combination of a permutation, and multiplication by certain mth roots of unity, for some m ≤ n.
(Suggestion: either verify the result for a certain small number of permutations σ ∈Sn and show that the
whole result follows, or note certain conditions characterizing the set of expressions giving the A’s, i.e.,
the rows of your inverse matrix, verify that any permutation of the u’s, i.e., the columns, will
approximately preserve those conditions, and deduce that such a permutation will have the asserted affect
on the A’s.)
(3) Deduce that in each of the three ‘‘good’’ cases, the n − 1 elementary symmetric polynomials in
A1m, ... , Anm− 1 can be expressed as polynomials in the n elementary symmetric polynomials in
u1 , ... , un . Here m, which depends on n, is as in the preceding question.
(4) Deduce from this that for 2 ≤ n ≤ 4, we can find formulas for the solution of polynomial equations
of degree n if we have such formulas for polynomial equations of degree n − 1, and can take mth roots
(for the same m as in the last two questions). More precisely, you should show that under those
assumptions, we can get formulas associating to a polynomial equation of degree n a finite set of
elements, possibly more than n of them, among which the n roots must lie.
In the next two parts, you get to put the above theory into practice! Note that though (6) deals with a
harder case than (5), it asks for less: only that you go through the reduction, and not that you grind out an
explicit formula.
Before doing either or both of these, you might look ahead at (7), and see whether you wish to
incorporate the idea thereof into your calculations. Alternatively, you could do (7) afterwards and show
retroactively how it can be used to sharpen the results you get in (5) and/or (6).
(5) Carry out the procedure outlined in (1-4) for n = 3, culminating in a formula for solving the general
monic cubic equation x 3 + ax 2 + bx + c = 0.
(6) Carry out the reduction outlined above for n = 4. That is, derive formulas which can be used to solve
a quartic equation x 4 + ax 3 + bx 2 + cx + d = 0 in terms of the roots of an appropriate cubic.
Suggestion: begin by showing how you can reduce to the case u1 + u 2 + u 3 + u 4 = 0.
We now return to the problem noted in (4), that our procedure gives us a set of ‘‘candidate roots’’,
which may be larger than the set of actual roots of our polynomial. You might prepare for the next
problem by determining how many ‘‘candidate roots’’ it gives in each case. Be careful; some cases that
may look at first as though they are different will turn out to be the same.
(7) Verify that in the ‘‘good’’ cases of (2) arising in the solution of the cubic and quartic equations, one
has A1′ ... An′ − 1 = A1 ... An − 1 . Translate this into a statement about symmetric polynomials, and show
how it allows us to modify our procedures so as to get exactly the set of roots of the given equation.
(8) (Assumes the student has seen a presentation of the resolvant cubic of a quartic polynomial; e.g.,
Hungerford, Lemmas V.4.9 and V.4.10.) In the n = 4 case, suppose the coefficients of the given monic
quartic equation lie in a field K ⊆ F. Show that for A1 , A 2 , A 3 defined as in (1)(d), the extension
fields K(A12), K(A22), K(A32) are the fields generated over K by the three roots of the resolvant cubic of
the given quartic.