\documentclass{lecture} \begin{document} \section{Extensions of ordered fields} If a field $k$ admits a structure of ordered field, we will say that $k$ is \emph{orderable}. For an \emph{ordered} field $k$, an extension $L / k$ is called \emph{oderable} if the field $L$ is orderable such that the induced order on $k$ coincides with the fixed order on $k$. \begin{definition}[] Let $k$ be a field. A quadratic form $q\colon k^{n} \to k$ is called \emph{isotropic} if there exists $x \in k \setminus \{0\} $ such that $q(x) = 0$. Otherwise, the quadratic form is called \emph{anisotropic}. \end{definition} \begin{bem}[] Recall that, given a quadratic form $q$ on a finite-dimensional $k$-vector space $E$, there always exists a basis of $E$ in which $q(x_1, \ldots, x_n) = a_1x_1^2 + \ldots + a_r x_r^2$, where $r = \text{rg}(q) \le n = \text{dim } E$ and $a_1, \ldots, a_r \in k$. The form $q$ is non-degenerate on $E$ if and only if $r = \text{dim } E$. \end{bem} \begin{bsp}[] \begin{itemize} \item A field $k$ is real if and only if for all $n \in \N$, the form $x_1^2 + \ldots + x_n^2$ is anisotropic. \item A degenerate quadratic form is isotropic. \item If $k$ is algebraically closed and $n \ge 2$, all quadratic forms on $k^{n}$ are isotropic. \item If $(k, \le )$ is an ordered field and $q(x_1, \ldots, x_n) = a_1 x_1^2 + \ldots + a_n x_n^2$ with $a_i > 0$ for all $i$, then $q$ and $-q$ are anisotropic on $k^{n}$. \end{itemize} \end{bsp} \begin{definition} Let $k$ be a field and $L$ an extension of $k$. A quadratic form $q\colon k^{n} \to k$ induces a quadratic form $q_L \colon L^{n} \to L$. The form $q$ is called \emph{anisotropic over $L$} if $q_L$ is anisotropic. \end{definition} It can be checked that, on an ordered field $(k, \le )$, a quadratic form $q$ is anisotropic if and only if it is non-degenerate and of constant sign. The interest of this notion for us is given by the following result. \begin{theorem} \label{thm:charac-orderable-extension} Let $(k, \le )$ be an ordered field and $L$ be an extension of $k$. Then the following conditions are equivalent: \begin{enumerate}[(i)] \item The extension $L / k$ is orderable. \item For all $n \ge 1$ and all $a = (a_1, \ldots, a_n) \in k^{n}$ such that $a_i > 0$ for all $i$, the quadratic form $q(x_1, \ldots, x_n) = a_1x_1^2 + \ldots + a_n x_n^2$ is anisotropic over $L$ (i.e. all positive definite quadratic forms on $k$ are anisotropic over $L$). \end{enumerate} \end{theorem} \begin{proof} (i)$\Rightarrow$(ii): Assume that there is an ordering of $L$ that extends the ordering of $k$ and let $n \ge 1$. Let $a = (a_1, \ldots, a_n) \in k^{n}$ with $a_i > 0$ for all $i$. Then $a_i > 0$ still holds in $L$. Since squares are non-negative for all orderings, the sum $a_1 x_1^2 + \ldots + a_n x_n^2$ is a sum of positive terms in $L$. Therefore it can only be $0$, if all of its terms are $0$. Since $a_i \neq 0$, it follows $x_i = 0$ for all $i$. (ii)$\Rightarrow$(i): Define \[ P = \bigcup_{n \ge 1} \left\{ \sum_{i=1}^{n} a_i x_i^2 \colon a_i \in k, a_i > 0, x_i \in L \right\} .\] The set $P$ is stable by sum and product and contains all squares of $L$, so it is a cone in $L$. Suppose $-1 \in P$. Then there exists $n \ge 1$ and $a = (a_1, \ldots, a_n) \in k^{n}$ with $a_i > 0$ and $x = (x_1, \ldots, x_n) \in L^{n}$ such that $-1 = \sum_{i=1}^{n} a_i x_i^2$. So \[ a_1 x_1^2 + \ldots + a_n x_n^2 + 1 = 0 ,\] meaning that the quadratic form $a_{1} x_1^2 + \ldots + a_n x_n^2 + x_{n+1}^2$ is isotropic on $L^{n+1}$, contradicting (ii). Thus $P$ is a positive cone containing all positive elements of $k$. By embedding $P$ in a maximal positive cone, the claim follows. \end{proof} \begin{satz}[] Let $(k, \le )$ be an ordered field and let $c > 0$ be a positive element in $k$. Then $k[\sqrt{c}]$ is an orderable extension of $k$. \end{satz} \begin{proof} If $c$ is a square in $k$, there is nothing to prove. Otherwise, $k[\sqrt{c}]$ is indeed a field. Let $n \ge 1$ and let $a = (a_1, \ldots, a_n) \in k^{n}$ with $a_i > 0$ for all $i$. Assume that $x = (x_1, \ldots, x_n) \in k[\sqrt{c}]^{n}$ satisfies \[ a_1 x_1^2 + \ldots + a_n x_n^2 = 0 .\] Since $x_i = u_i + v_i \sqrt{c} $ for some $u_i, v_i \in k$, we can rewrite this equation as \[ \sum_{i=1}^{n} a_i (u_i^2 + c v_i^2) + 2 \sum_{i=1}^{n} u_i v_i \sqrt{c} = 0 .\] Since $1$ and $\sqrt{c}$ are linearly independent over $k$, we get $\sum_{i=1}^{n} a_i (u_i^2 + c v_i^2) = 0$, hence $u_i = v_i = 0$ for all $i$, since all terms in the previous sum are non-negative. So $x_i = 0$ for all $i$ and (ii) of \ref{thm:charac-orderable-extension} is satisfied. \end{proof} \begin{satz} Let $(k, \le )$ be an ordered field and let $P \in k[t]$ be an irreducible polynomial of odd degree. Then the field $L \coloneqq k[t]/ (P)$ is an orderable extension of $k$. \end{satz} \begin{proof} Denote by $d$ the degree of $P$ and proceed by induction on $d \ge 1$. If $d = 1$, then $L = k$. Now assume $d \ge 2$. Let $n \ge 1$ and $a_1, \ldots, a_n \in k$ with $a_i > 0$. Denote by $q_L$ the quadratic form \[ q_L(x_1, \ldots, x_n) = a_1 x_1^2 + \ldots + a_n x_n^2 \] on $L^{n}$. If $q_L$ is isotropic over $L$, then there exist polynomials $g_1, \ldots, g_n \in k[t]$ with $\text{deg}(g_i) < d$ and $h \in k[t]$ such that \begin{equation} q_L(g_1, \ldots, g_n) = h P \label{eq:quad-form} \end{equation} Let $g$ be the greatest common divisor of $g_1, \ldots, g_n$. Since $q_L$ is homogeneous of degree $2$, $g^2$ divides $q_L(g_1, \ldots, g_n)$. Since $P$ is irreducible, $g$ divides $h$. We may thus assume that $g = 1$. The leading coefficients of the terms on the left hand side of (\ref{eq:quad-form}) are non-negative, thus the sum has even degree $< 2d$. Since the degree of $P$ is odd, $h$ must be of odd degree $< d$. Therefore, $h$ has an irreducible factor $h_1 \in k[t]$ of odd degree. Let $\alpha$ be a root of $h_1$. By evaluating (\ref{eq:quad-form}) at $\alpha$, we get \[ q_{k[\alpha]}(g_1(\alpha), \ldots, g_n(\alpha)) = 0 \] in $k[\alpha]$. Since the $gcd(g_1, \ldots, g_n) = 1$ and $k[t]$ is a principal ideal domain, there exist $h_1, \ldots, h_n \in k[t]$ such that \[ h_1 g_1 + \ldots + h_n g_n = 1 .\] In particular \[ h_1(\alpha) g_1(\alpha) + \ldots + h_n(\alpha) g_n(\alpha) = 1 ,\] so not all $g_i(\alpha)$ are $0$ in $k[\alpha]$. Thus $q_{k[\alpha]}$ is isotropic over $k[\alpha] = k[t] / (h_1)$ contradicting the induction hypothesis. \end{proof} \end{document}