Cubic hypersurfaces and a result of Hermite (Q580457)

The paper is devoted to a new proof of the following classical result, due to Hermite (1861): Theorem. Let k be an infinite field, and K/k a separable extension of degree 5. Then there exists an element \(\eta\) in K whose minimal polynomial over k is of the form \(x^ 5+ax^ 3+bx+c\). The problem is reduced to the finding of k-rational points on some special cubic surface. Analogous statements are established also for degree 6 (in char\((k)\neq 2,3)\) and over quasi-local fields for degree 7 and 8. Some intermediate results are closely related with the conjecture of Cassels and Swinnerton-Dyer: Let \(V\subset {\mathbb{P}}^ n_ k\) be a cubic hypersurface defined over k. If V contains a k-rational zero-cycle of degree \(\delta\) prime to 3, then it contains a k-rational point.