Existence and Solution by Radicals
J.M. McNamee and V.Y. Pan
Abstract
We consider proofs that every polynomial has one zero (and hence n) in the complex plane. This was proved by Gauss in 1799, although a flaw in his proof was pointed out and fixed by Ostrowski in 1920, whereas other scientists had previously made unsuccessful attempts. We give details of Gauss’ fourth (trigonometric) proof, and also more modern proofs, such as several based on integration, or on minimization. We also treat the proofs that polynomials of degree 5 or more cannot in general be solved in terms of radicals. We define groups and fields, the set of congruence classes mod p (x), extension fields, algebraic extensions, permutations, the Galois group. We quote ...
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