Encyclopedia > Root of unity

  Article Content

Root of unity

In mathematics, a complex number z is called an n-th root of unity if zn = 1 (here, n is a positive integer).

For every positive integer n, there are n different n-th roots of unity. For example, the third roots of unity are 1, (-1 +i√3) /2 and (-1 - i√3) /2. In general, the n-th roots of unity can be written as:

<math>e^{2 \pi ij/n}</math>
for j = 0, ..., n-1 (see pi and exponential function); this is a consequence of Euler's identity. Geometrically, the n-th roots of unity are located on the unit circle in the complex plane, forming the corners of a regular n-gon.

The n-th roots of unity form a group under multiplication of complex numbers. This group is cyclic. A generator of this group is called a primitive n-th root of unity. The primitive n-th roots of unity are precisely the numbers of the form exp(2πij/n) where j and n are coprime. Therefore, there are φ(n) different primitive n-th roots of unity, where φ(n) denotes Euler's phi function.

The n-th roots of unity are precisely the zeros of the polynomial p(X) = Xn - 1; the primitive n-th roots of unity are precisely the zeros of the n-th cyclotomic polynomial

<math>
\Phi_n(X) = \prod_{k=1}^{\phi(n)}(X-z_k)\; </math> where z1,...,zφ(n) are the primitive n-th roots of unity. The polynomial Φn(X) has integer coefficients and is irreducible over the rationals (i.e., cannot be written as a product of two positive-degree polynomials with rational coefficients).

Every n-th root of unity is a primitive d-th root of unity for exactly one positive divisor d of n. This implies that

<math>
X^n - 1 = \prod_{d|n} \Phi_d(X).\; </math> This formula represents the factorization of the polynomial Xn - 1 into irreducible factors and can also be used to compute the cyclotomic polynomials recursively. The first few are
Φ1(X) = X - 1
Φ2(X) = X + 1
Φ3(X) = X2 + X + 1
Φ4(X) = X2 + 1
Φ5(X) = X4 +X3 + X2 + X + 1
Φ6(X) = X2 - X + 1
In general, if p is a prime number, then all p-th roots of unity except 1 are primitive p-th roots, and we have
<math>
\Phi_p(X)=\frac{X^p-1}{X-1}=\sum_{k=0}^{p-1} X^k </math> Note that, contrary to first appearances, not all coefficients of all cyclotomic polynomials are 1, -1, or 0.

By adjoining a primitive n-th root of unity to Q, one obtains the n-th cyclotomic field Fn. This field contains all n-th roots of unity and is the splitting field of the n-th cyclotomic polynomial over Q. The field extension Fn/Q has degree φ(n) and its Galois group is naturally isomorphic to the multiplicative group of units of the ring Z/nZ.

As the Galois group of Fn/Q is abelian, this is an abelian extension. Every subfield of a cyclotomic field is an abelian extension of the rationals. In these cases Galois theory can be written out quite explicitly in terms of Gaussian periods[?]: this theory from the Disquisitiones Arithmeticae of Gauss was published many years before Galois.

Conversely, every abelian extension of the rationals is such a subfield of a cyclotomic field - a theorem of Kronecker[?].



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Quadratic formula

... that does not depend on x) to the expression to the left of "=", that will make it a perfect square trinomial of the form x2 + 2xy + y2. Since "2xy" in this case is ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 22.6 ms