Locally compact skew-field
A set endowed with both the algebraic structure of a skew-field and a locally compact topology (cf. Locally compact space). It is required that the algebraic operations, that is, addition, multiplication and transitions to negative and inverse elements (the latter is defined only on the set of non-zero elements
) are continuous in the given topology. Since any skew-field is locally compact with respect to the discrete topology, it is assumed that the topology of
is not discrete.
The study of locally compact skew-fields is based on the existence of a Haar measure on the locally compact group (the additive group of the skew-field). Let
be a Haar measure on
and let
be a compact set in
of positive measure. Then the formula
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defines a homomorphism (the modulus) of the multiplicative group into the multiplicative group
of positive real numbers. By definition one puts
.
The "modulus" function satisfies the inequality
![]() |
with some constant . If this inequality holds for
, then
is said to be non-Archimedean, or ultrametric. Otherwise
is called an Archimedean skew-field. A skew-field
is Archimedean if and only if it is connected. Any Archimedean skew-field is isomorphic to either the field of real numbers, the field of complex numbers or the skew-field of quaternions.
An ultrametric skew-field is totally disconnected (cf. Totally-disconnected space). The "modulus" function determines a non-Archimedean metric on
. Any such skew-field is an extension of finite degree of either the field
of rational
-adic numbers for some prime number
(in the case when
has characteristic 0) or the field
of formal power series over the field
of
elements (in the case when
has characteristic
). The field
(respectively, the field
) lies in the centre of
. In each of these cases
is called a
-skew-field, or a
-field.
An ultrametric skew-field contains a unique maximal subring
, defined by the condition
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This ring is local (cf. Local ring). Its maximal ideal is defined by the condition
![]() |
and all elements with modulus 1 are invertible in .
is a principal ideal, and the residue field
is a finite field of characteristic
.
In the case when the -skew-field is not commutative, it has dimension
over its centre
and ramification index
over
. Also, there is an intermediate field
such that
, where
is an unramified extension of
of degree
, and all automorphisms of
over
are induced by inner automorphisms of
.
References
[1] | N. Bourbaki, "Elements of mathematics. Commutative algebra" , Addison-Wesley (1972) (Translated from French) |
[2] | A. Weil, "Basic number theory" , Springer (1974) |
[3] | B.L. van der Waerden, "Algebra" , 1–2 , Springer (1967–1971) (Translated from German) |
[4] | J.W.S. Cassels (ed.) A. Fröhlich (ed.) , Algebraic number theory , Acad. Press (1986) |
[5] | L.S. Pontryagin, "Topological groups" , Princeton Univ. Press (1958) (Translated from Russian) |
Locally compact skew-field. Encyclopedia of Mathematics. URL: http://encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Locally_compact_skew-field&oldid=40924