Additive structure of multiplicative subgroups of fields and Galois theory (Q1769044)

The W-group of the field \(F\) is defined as \(\mathcal{G}_F= \text{Gal}(F^{(3)}/F)\), where \(F^{(3)}\) is the compositum of all quadratic extensions of \(F(\sqrt{\dot F})\) which are Galois over \(F.\) It is known that the Witt ring \(W(F)\) of \(F\) determines its W-group \(\mathcal{G}_F\) and under certain assumption on the level the converse is also true. Thus \(\mathcal{G}_F\) reflects the properties of \(F\) that depends on the behaviour of quadratic forms over \(F.\) In the paper by the second author and \textit{M. Spira} [Math. Z. 205, No. 4, 519--530 (1990; Zbl 0692.12005)] it was shown that there is a 1-1 correspondence between orderings of the field \(F\) and certain involutions in \(\mathcal{G}_F.\) Such an involution generates a two-element subgroup \(H\) of \(\mathcal{G}_F\) for which we have \(\Phi(\mathcal{G}_F)\cap H=\{1\}=\Phi(H)\), where \(\Phi(\mathcal{G}_F)\) and \(\Phi(H)\) denote the Frattini subgroups of \(\mathcal{G}_F\) and \(H,\) respectively. As the authors acknowledged, this fact motivated them to consider so called essential subgroups. A closed subgroup \(H\) of \(\mathcal{G}_F\) is an essential subgroup if \(\Phi(H)=\Phi(\mathcal{G}_F)\cap H\) (for any closed subgroup \(H\) we have only inclusion \(\Phi(H)\subseteq \Phi(\mathcal{G}_F)\cap H\)) and two essential subgroups \(H_1, H_2\) are equivalent if \(H_1\Phi(\mathcal{G}_F)=H_2\Phi(\mathcal{G}_F).\) Thus a two-element subgroup \(H\) corresponds to an ordering if and only if \(H\) is essential. An ordering is a subgroup of \(\dot{F}/\dot{F}^2\), so there is a 1-1 correspondence between two-element essential subgroups of \(\mathcal{G}_F\) and certain subgroups of \(\dot{F}/\dot{F}^2.\) Surprisingly, as the authors point out, it generalizes to the following: for a closed subgroup \(H\) of \(\mathcal{G}_F\), the assignment \(H\mapsto P_H:=\{a\in\dot{F}\mid (\sqrt{a})^\sigma=\sqrt{a}\), \(\forall \sigma\in H\}\) induces a 1-1 correspondence between equivalence classes of essential subgroups of \(\mathcal{G}_F\) and subgroups of \(\dot{F}/\dot{F}^2.\) For an essential subgroup \(H\) of \(\mathcal{G}_F\) the authors refer to \(P_H\) as an \(H-\)ordering on \(F.\) The main aim of the paper is to examine the connection between the Galois-theoretic properties of an essential subgroup \(H\) and the algebraic properties of the corresponding \(H\)-ordering. Let \((F,T)\) be a field with an \(H\)-ordering \(T.\) The pair \((L,S)\) is said to be a \(T-\)extension if \(L\) is an extension field of \(F\) in the maximal Galois 2-extension \(F(2)\) of \(F\), \(S\) is a subgroup of \(\dot{L}\), \(T=S\cap \dot{F}\), and the induced injection \(\dot{F}/T\rightarrow \dot{L}/S\) is an isomorphism. An extension \((L,S)\) of \((F,T)\) is said to be an \(H-\)extension if \(S\) is an \(H-\)ordering of \(L.\) An extension \((L,S)\) of \((F,T)\) is called an \(H-\)closure if it is a maximal \(T\)-extension which is also an \(H\)-extension. The paper is organized in the following way. The authors start with the description of all possible two-generator essential subgroups of W-groups. Next they give a Galois-theoretic characterization of two important additive properties of \(H\)-orderings: stability under addition and ridigity, which generalize the results on ridigity and on realizability of certain Galois groups obtained by the last two authors in [J. Algebra 137, 1--11 (1991; Zbl 0726.12002)]. In the next section existence and nonexistence of \(H-\)closures is discussed. Although not every \(H\)-ordering admits \(H\)-closure, it is shown that for essential subgroups generated by two elements it is possible to make closures. The last part of the paper contains classification of rigid \(H\)-orderings and construction of their closures.