Irreducible Polynomials that Factor mod Every Prime

Reed Jacobs

Princeton University

12 July 2020

Reed Jacobs (Princeton University) Irreducible Polynomials that Factor mod Every Prime 12 July 2020 1 / 23
Table of Contents

1 Irreducible Polynomials
2 Symmetry Groups
3 The Dedekind-Kummer and Chebotarev Theorems
4 Back to symmetry groups

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Irreducible Polynomials

Definition 1.1

If P(x) = an x n + an−1 x n−1 + · · · + a1 x + a0 is a polynomial with

integer coefficients, we say it is irreducible over the integers if it
is impossible to factor P(x) into non-constant integer polynomials of
degree less than n.

Example 1.2

Here are a couple examples of irreducible polynomials: 7x + 12,

x 2 − 91, x 4 + 1, 3x 3 + 2.

Do we know any better ways than bashing to prove a polynomial is

irreducible?

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Irreducibility Tests

1 Eisenstein’s criterion! This says: If P(x) = an x n + · · · + a1 x + a0 is an

integer polynomial, and for some prime p, p divides every ai except an
and p 2 doesn’t divide a0 , then P(x) is irreducible over the integers.
Example 1.3

If p is prime, x p−1 + x p−2 + · · · + x + 1 is irreducible.

2 Reduction modulo p!
Idea 1.4:
Show that for some prime p, for any hypothetical factorization of
P(x), P(x) and its factorization always have different remainders
when divided by p.

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Example: 5x 3 + 17x − 93 modulo 2

Let’s see how this works in practice. Given P(x), we replace all its
coefficients with their remainders after division by p. Instead of an integer
polynomial, think of this as a polynomial with “classes of remainders
modulo p” for coefficients, or a polynomial modulo p for short.

Then we say P(x) is irreducible modulo p if it is impossible to factor P(x)

into non-constant polynomials modulo p of smaller degree.
Example 1.5

If p = 2, 5x 3 + 17x − 93 becomes 1x 3 + 1x + 1. No remainder class

modulo 2 is a root, so it is irreducible modulo 2.

This implies it is irreducible over the integers: If P(x) = 5x 3 + 17x − 93

factored as F (x)G (x), P(x) would factor as F (x) · G (x) modulo 2!

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Eisenstein’s modulo p

We can use this idea to prove Eisenstein’s criterion. Let

P(x) = an x n + · · · + a1 x + a0 , suppose some prime p divides every
coefficient but an , and assume p 2 doesn’t divide a0 . Suppose for
contradiction we have some factorization P(x) = F (x)G (x).

Modulo p, P(x), and hence F (x)G (x), becomes an x n 6= 0. So F (x) and

G (x) become b1 x c1 and b2 x c2 modulo p. The constant terms of F (x) and
G (x) vanish modulo p, so both constant terms are divisible by p.

But the constant term of P(x) is the product of F (x)’s and G (x)’s
constant terms, which means it is divisible by p 2 ! Contradiction. 

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An Example Where this Doesn’t Work

Earlier, we showed x 4 + 1 is irreducible over the integers. Let’s try

factoring this polynomial modulo 5. 1 ≡ −4 (mod 5), so x 4 + 1 ≡ x 4 − 4,
which we factor with difference of squares:

x 4 + 1 ≡ (x 2 + 2)(x 2 − 2).

So x 4 + 1 factors modulo 5 even though it is irreducible over the integers.

In fact, x 4 + 1 is not irreducible modulo p for any prime p!

To prove this, and even further to classify all such polynomials, we’ll
introduce the idea of a polynomial’s symmetry group.

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Introducing Symmetry Groups
Let P(x) be an integer polynomial, not necessarily irreducible. If P(x) has
degree d, then it will have d roots, counted with multiplicity, in the
complex plane. Intuitively, its symmetry group is the number of ways to
scramble these roots in a way that preserves algebraic relationships.
Example 2.1
√
−1+ −3
Let P(x) = x 2 +x +1. It is irreducible, and it has roots ω1 = 2
√
−1− −3
and ω2 = 2 . Notice that:
√ 2
ω12 = 1
4−1 + −3
 √ 
= 41 1 − 2 −3 − 3
√
−2−2 −3
= 4 = ω2 .

If σ is an element of the symmetry group, we require σ(ω 2 ) = σ(ω)2 .

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Introducing Symmetry Groups, cont.

This is what we mean by “the symmetry group preserves algebraic

relationships.” In general, if ψ, ω are any roots of P(x) and σ is a
scrambling (permutation) of the roots, we require,

σ(ω · ψ) = σ(ω) · σ(ψ) (1)

σ(ω + ψ) = σ(ω) + σ(ψ), (2)

in order for σ to be in the symmetry group. However, ω · ψ and ω + ψ are

not always roots of P(x), so in general, we need to define elements of the
C
symmetry group on the subset of “generated” by the roots of P(x).

It’s also useful to define elements of the symmetry group on all the
rational numbers; we declare σ(q) = q for all rational q.

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Symmtery Groups, the Definition

Q
For any complex numbers z1 , . . . , zn , let (z1 , . . . , zn ) be the set of all
sums, products, differences, and quotients involving the zi and any rational
numbers.
Definition 2.2
Let P(x) be an integer polynomial of degree n with complex roots
α1 , . . . , αn . The symmetry group of P(x) is the set of all functions
Q
σ from (α1 , . . . , αn ) to itself, such that:

σ(a · b) = σ(a) · σ(b) (3)

σ(a + b) = σ(a) + σ(b) (4)
σ(q) = q, (5)

for all a, b ∈ Q(α1, . . . , αn ) and all rational q.

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Why This is Good

Let α be a root of P(x), and let σ be an element of P(x)’s symmetry

group. We apply σ to the equation P(α) = 0:

σ(an αn + · · · + a1 α + a0 ) = σ(0)
σ(an αn ) + · · · + σ(a1 α) + σ(a0 ) = 0
σ(an )σ(α)n + · · · + σ(a1 )σ(α) + σ(a0 ) = 0
an σ(α)n + · · · + a1 σ(α) + a0 = 0
P(σ(α)) = 0.

In other words, if α is a root of P(x), then so is σ(α), so this definition

makes precise the idea that the symmetry group scrambles the roots of
P(x).

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Some Examples
Example 2.1 cont.

The roots of P(x) = x 2 + x + 1, ω1 and ω2 , satisfy ω12 = ω2 and

ω22 = ω1 . So if σ is an element of the symmetry group, σ(ω2 ) is
determined by σ(ω1 ) and vice versa:

σ(ω2 ) = σ(ω12 ) = σ(ω1 )2 .

This means the symmetry group of P(x) has two elements: “Do
nothing” and “Swap ω1 and ω2 .”

Example 2.3
√ √ √
P(x) = x 3 − 2 has roots 3 2, ω1 3 2, ω2 3 2. However, an
√ element of
the symmetry group σ is not just determined by where 3 2 goes, but
also where ω1 goes:

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Some Examples, cont.
Example 2.3 cont.
√
3
√
3
σ(ω1 2) = σ(ω1 )σ( 2).
√
However, the map σ is determined by σ(ω1 ) and σ( 3 2). All 2 · 3 = 6
possible choices for each of these values yield distinct elements of
the symmetry group, and every element of the symmetry group arises
from such a choice.

In Example 2.1, the size of the symmetry group equalled the degree of
P(x), but in Example 2.3, it was larger than P(x)’s degree. In general, the
symmetry group of P(x) has size at most d!, where d is P(x)’s degree.
Definition 2.4
If the symmetry group’s size equals P(x)’s degree, P(x) is said to be
normal.

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A Geometric Interpretation

Examples 2.1 and 2.3 both have very nice geometric interpretations. To
see them, we plot the roots of each polynomial within the complex plane.
Behold, the Illuminati!

In this diagram, the red circle is the unit circle, and the marked red points
are the roots of x 3 − 1 = (x − 1)(x 2 + x + 1). The blue points are the
roots of x 3 − 2.

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A Geometric Interpretation, cont.

The symmetry group of x 2 + x + 1 consists of doing nothing or swapping

ω1 and ω2 . But we can see using this picture, or see algebraically, that this
map is complex conjugation (restricted to (ω1 , ω2 )! Q
For x 3 − 2, you can think of the symmetry group√ of the polynomial
√ √as the
set of symmetries of the blue triangle. Sending 3 2 to ω1 3 2 or ω2 3 2
corresponds to rotating the blue triangle 120◦ or 240◦ about the origin.

However, we must also consider where ω1 and ω2 go. It’s fairly natural to
consider “swap them” as reflecting the triangle about the real axis. And
“do nothing” is the “do nothing symmetry” of the triangle.

So we’ve identified this polynomial’s symmetry group with the set of

symmetries of an equilateral triangle!

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Preliminaries on Permutations
Let P(x) be a polynomial of degree n. Labelling the complex roots of
P(x) as α1 , . . . , αn , each element of the symmetry group corresponds to
some permutation of the αi , of which there are n!. This correspondence
will be a one-to-one correspondence precisely when P is normal.

If σ sends α1 to αi1 , then αi1 to αi2 , and so on, eventually sending αik
back to 1, we represent σ like this:

(1i1 i2 · · · ik ) · · · (· · · ),

where the other blocks are for roots not in the sequence starting from 1.
Each group in parentheses is called a cycle, and if a cycle has k numbers
in its block, we call it a k-cycle.
Example 3.1

In this notation, the symmetry group of x 2 + x + 1 is {(1), (12)}.

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The Symmetry Group and Irreducibility

We say the symmetry group is transitive if for every αi and every αj , some
element of the symmetry group maps αi to αj . Now, we have the
following theorem:
Theorem 3.2
If P(x) is a polynomial with no repeated roots whose symmetry group
is transitive, it is irreducible.

Suppose for contradiction this is true for P(x), yet P(x) is not irreducible.
Factorize P(x) = F (x)G (x) for nonconstant integer polynomials F , G .

The slide “Why This is Good” shows that the symmetry group sends roots
of F to roots of F and roots of G to roots of G . Since P is square-free,
the symmetry group cannot send a root of F to a root of G , which
violates transitivity. 

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The Dedekind-Kummer Theorem
Theorem 3.3 (Dedekind-Kummer)

Let P(x) be a normal, irreducible integer polynomial, and let p be a

prime that doesn’t divide the discriminant of P(x). If P(x) factors
into irreducibles modulo p as:

F 1 · F2 · · · Fk ,

then the symmetry group of P(x) contains an element with cycle

lengths d1 , d2 , . . . , dk , where di is the degree of Fi .

It’s named after these two scary-looking German dudes.

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Example: x 4 + 1
Example 3.4

Let’s work out an example with x 4 + 1. We take on faith that this

polynomial has discriminant 28 , so Theorem 3.3 applies to all odd
primes.

Modulo 5, we had the factorization into irreducibles x 4 + 1 = (x 2 +

2)(x 2 − 2), so Theorem 3.3 says x 4 + 1’s symmetry group has an
element with cycle structure (ab)(cd).

Modulo 17, we have the factorization

x 4 + 1 = (x + 2)(x + 15)(x + 8)(x + 9),

so Theorem 3.3 says the cycle structure (a)(b)(c)(d)– which is just

“do-nothing”– appears.

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Dedekind-Kummer in Reverse

One way to interpret the Dedekind-Kummer theorem is that it gives us a

map from primes p which don’t divide the discriminant of P(x) into the
set of “cycle shapes” that occur in P(x)’s symmetry group.

A natural question to ask about this map is, which cycle shapes occurring
in the symmetry group are actually hit? In other words, given a cycle
structure, when is there a prime p not dividing the discriminant, such that
factoring P(x) modulo p and using Theorem 3.3 gets us that cycle
structure?

We say a prime p generates a cycle structure C in this way.

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Chebotarev’s Theorem
The answer is given by Chebotarev’s theorem, and it says the answers to
the questions asked on the previous slide are “all of them” and “always.”
But it says much more than that:
Theorem 3.5 (Chebotarev)

Let P(x) be a normal polynomial, and let σ be an element of its

symmetry group with cycle structure C . Then the proportion of
primes p that generate C is equal to the proportion of elements of
the symmetry group having cycle structure C .

It was proven by this happy-looking Russian dude:

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When modulo p Reduction Always Fails

Combining Theorems 3.3 and 3.4 leads us to the following result:

Theorem 4.1
Let P(x) be a normal, irreducible polynomial of degree d. Then
P(x) is not irreducible modulo every prime p if and only if the cycle
structure of a single d-cycle does not appear in P(x)’s symmetry
group.

If P(x) contains a d-cycle, Theorem 3.5 guarantees that we can find a

prime modulo which P(x) is irreducible.

Conversely, if P(x) is not irreducible modulo some prime, the

Dedekind-Kummer theorem shows that the symmetry group of P(x)
contains a d-cycle.

We will show that x 4 + 1 is such a polynomial.

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x 4 + 1 Factors modulo Every Prime

To determine x 4 + 1’s symmetry group, we will find its roots. One can
check that the roots are: √
± 2(1 ± i)
,
2
where the ±’s range over all 4 total possibilities.
√
Q
For this polynomial, (α1 , . . . , α4 ) contains both 2 and i, and an
element
√ of the symmetry group is determined uniquely by where it sends i
and 2. It must send both these to themselves or to their negatives, since
the symmetry group preserves roots of x 2 + 1 and x 2 − 2.

All 4 possibilities work. Further, every element of this symmetry group,

when composed√ with √ itself, is the “do-nothing map,” since the maps
i → ±i and 2 → ± 2 both have this property. This means this
symmetry group does not contain a 4-cycle, so Theorem 4.1 says x 4 + 1
factors modulo every prime.
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