Local eld

In mathematics, a local eld is a special type of eld that

is a locally compact topological eld with respect to a non-
discrete topology.[1] Given such a eld, an absolute value Bm := {a K : |a| m}.
can be dened on it. There are two basic types of local
Then, the b+B make up a neighbourhood basis of b in
elds: those in which the absolute value is Archimedean
K.
and those in which it is not. In the rst case, one calls
the local eld an Archimedean local eld, in the second A topological eld with a non-discrete locally compact
case, one calls it a non-Archimedean local eld. Local topology has an absolute value dened as follows. First,
elds arise naturally in number theory as completions of consider the additive group of the eld. As a locally com-
global elds. pact topological group, it has a unique (up to positive
scalar multiple) Haar measure . Dene || : K R by[3]
While Archimedean local elds are quite well known in
mathematics for 250 years and more, the rst examples
of non-Archimedean local elds, the elds of p-adic num-
(aX)
bers for positive prime integer p, were introduced by Kurt |a| :=
(X)
Hensel at the end of the 19th century.
Every local eld is isomorphic (as a topological eld) to for any measurable subset X of K (with 0 < (X) < ).
one of the following: This absolute value does not depend on X nor on the
choice of Haar measure (since the same scalar multi-
ple ambiguity will occur in both the numerator and the
Archimedean local elds (characteristic zero): the
denominator).
real numbers R, and the complex numbers C.

Non-Archimedean local elds of characteristic zero:

nite extensions of the p-adic numbers Qp (where p 2 Basic features of non-
is any prime number).
Archimedean local elds
Non-Archimedean local elds of characteristic p
(for p any given prime number): nite extensions For a non-Archimedean local eld F (with absolute value
of the eld of formal Laurent series Fq((T)) over a denoted by ||), the following objects are important:
nite eld Fq (where q is a power of p).
its ring of integers O = {a F : |a| 1} which
There is an equivalent denition of non-Archimedean lo- is a discrete valuation ring, is the closed unit ball of
cal eld: it is a eld that is complete with respect to a F, and is compact;
discrete valuation and whose residue eld is nite. In
the units in its ring of integers O = {a F :
particular, very important for number theory classes of
|a| = 1} which forms a group and is the unit sphere
local elds show up as the completions of algebraic num-
of F;
ber elds with respect to their discrete valuation corre-
sponding to one of their maximal ideals. It should be the unique non-zero prime ideal m in its ring of in-
mentioned that research papers in modern number the- tegers which is its open unit ball {a F : |a| < 1}
ory often consider a more general notion, requiring only ;
that the residue eld be perfect of positive characteris-
tic, not necessarily nite.[2] This article uses the former a generator of m called a uniformizer of F;
denition.
its residue eld k = O/m which is nite (since it is
compact and discrete).

1 Induced absolute value Every non-zero element a of F can be written as a = n u

with u a unit, and n a unique integer. The normalized
Given such an absolute value on K, the following topology valuation of F is the surjective function v : F Z {}
can be dened on K: for a positive real number m, dene dened by sending a non-zero a to the unique integer n
the subset B of K by such that a = n u with u a unit, and by sending 0 to . If

1
2 4 HIGHER-DIMENSIONAL LOCAL FIELDS

q is the cardinality of the residue eld, the absolute value 2.3 Structure of the unit group
on F induced by its structure as a local eld is given by[4]
The multiplicative group of non-zero elements of a non-
Archimedean local eld F is isomorphic to
|a| = q v(a) .
An equivalent and very important denition of a non-
F = () q1 U (1)
Archimedean local eld is that it is a eld that is complete
with respect to a discrete valuation and whose residue where q is the order of the residue eld, and q is the
eld is nite. group of (q1)st roots of unity (in F). Its structure as an
abelian group depends on its characteristic:
2.1 Examples
If F has positive characteristic p, then
1. The p-adic numbers: the ring of integers of Qp is
the ring of p-adic integers Zp. Its prime ideal is pZp
and its residue eld is Z/pZ. Every non-zero element
of Q can be written as u pn where u is a unit in Zp F
= Z Z/(q 1) ZN
p
and n is an integer, then v(u pn ) = n for the normal-
ized valuation. where N denotes the natural numbers;

2. The formal Laurent series over a nite eld: the

If F has characteristic zero (i.e. it is a nite exten-
ring of integers of Fq((T)) is the ring of formal
sion of Qp of degree d), then
power series Fq[[T]]. Its maximal ideal is (T) (i.e.
the power series whose constant term is zero) and
its residue eld is Fq. Its normalized valuation is re-
lated to the (lower) degree of a formal Laurent series
F
= Z Z/(q 1) Z/pa Zdp
as follows:
( ) where a 0 is dened so that the group of p-
v i=m ai T
i
= m
(where am is non-zero). power roots of unity in F is pa .[6]

3. The formal Laurent series over the complex num-

bers is not a local eld. For example, its residue eld 3 Theory of local elds
is C[[T]]/(T) = C, which is not nite.
This theory includes the study of types of local elds, ex-
2.2 Higher unit groups tensions of local elds using Hensels lemma, Galois ex-
tensions of local elds, ramication groups ltrations of
The nth higher unit group of a non-Archimedean local Galois groups of local elds, the behavior of the norm
eld F is map on local elds, the local reciprocity homomorphism
and existence theorem in local class eld theory, lo-
cal Langlands correspondence, Hodge-Tate theory (also
{
}
U (n)
= 1 + m = u O : u 1 (mod m )
n n called p-adic Hodge theory), explicit formulas for the
Hilbert symbol in local class eld theory, see e.g.[7]
for n 1. The group U (1) is called the group of principal
units, and any element of it is called a principal unit.
The full unit group O is denoted U (0) . 4 Higher-dimensional local elds
The higher unit groups form a decreasing ltration of the
unit group Main article: Higher local eld

A local eld is sometimes called a one-dimensional local

O U (1) U (2)
eld.
whose quotients are given by A non-Archimedean local eld can be viewed as the eld
of fractions of the completion of the local ring of a
one-dimensional arithmetic scheme of rank 1 at its non-
O /U (n)

= (O/mn ) and U (n) /U (n+1) O/m singular point.
for n 1.[5] (Here " " means a non-canonical isomor- For a non-negative integer n, an n-dimensional local eld
phism.) is a complete discrete valuation eld whose residue eld
 3

is an (n 1)-dimensional local eld.[8] Depending on the 8 Further reading

denition of local eld, a zero-dimensional local eld is
then either a nite eld (with the denition used in this A. Frohlich, Local elds, in J.W.S. Cassels and A.
article), or a perfect eld of positive characteristic. Frohlich (edd), Algebraic number theory, Academic
From the geometric point of view, n-dimensional local Press, 1973. Chap.I
elds with last nite residue eld are naturally associated
Milne, James, Algebraic Number Theory.
to a complete ag of subschemes of an n-dimensional
arithmetic scheme.

9 External links
5 See also Hazewinkel, Michiel, ed. (2001) [1994], Local
eld, Encyclopedia of Mathematics, Springer Sci-
Hensels lemma ence+Business Media B.V. / Kluwer Academic Pub-
lishers, ISBN 978-1-55608-010-4
ramication group

Local class eld theory

Higher local eld

6 Notes
[1] Page 20 of Weil 1995

[2] See, for example, denition 1.4.6 of Fesenko & Vostokov

2002

[3] Page 4 of Weil 1995

[4] Weil 1995, chapter I, theorem 6

[5] Neukirch 1999, p. 122

[6] Neukirch 1999, theorem II.5.7

[7] Chapters 1-4, 7 of Fesenko & Vostokov 2002

[8] Denition 1.4.6 of Fesenko & Vostokov 2002

7 References
Weil, Andr (1995), Basic number theory, Clas-
sics in Mathematics, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-
Verlag, ISBN 3-540-58655-5

Fesenko, Ivan B.; Vostokov, Sergei V. (2002), Local

elds and their extensions, Translations of Mathe-
matical Monographs, 121 (Second ed.), Providence,
RI: American Mathematical Society, ISBN 978-0-
8218-3259-2, MR 1915966

Neukirch, Jrgen (1999). Algebraic Number The-

ory. Grundlehren der mathematischen Wissen-
schaften. 322. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-
3-540-65399-8. MR 1697859. Zbl 0956.11021.
4 10 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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