Similarity of quadratic and symmetric bilinear forms in characteristic 2 (Q1983963)

The theory of quadratic and symmetric bilinear forms bifurcates in characteristic two. This characteristic is therefore often avoided in formulations of classical theorems. The paper under review examines three well-known theorems for arbitrary quadratic forms away from characteristic two, but which in characteristic two were previously only known for quadratic forms which are non-singular, in the sense that the associated bilinear form is non-degenerate. In each case, it is shown that in fact the theorem holds in full generality: Scharlau's norm principle: Consider a finite field extension \(L:F\), and a quadratic form \(q\) over \(F\). The norm of any similarity factor of \(q\) over \(L\) is a similarity factor of \(q\) over \(F\). Isometry descent: Consider a field extension \(L:F\) of odd degree. Two quadratic or symmmetric bilinear forms over \(F\) are isometric if and only if they become isometric over \(L\). (In all but the borderline cases, this is a well-known and direct consequence of a theorem of Springer.) Similarity descent: Consider a field extension \(L:F\) of odd degree. Two quadratic or symmmetric bilinear forms over \(F\) are similar if and only if they become similar over \(L\). (Away from characteristic two, this was previously shown by \textit{J. Black} and \textit{A. Quéguiner-Mathieu} [Enseign. Math. (2) 60, No. 3--4, 377--395 (2014; Zbl 1336.16045)], and by \textit{A. S. Sivatski} [J. Pure Appl. Algebra 223, No. 9, 4102--4121 (2019; Zbl 1455.11061)]). Interestingly, isometry and similarity descent for bilinear forms are shown to hold in greater generality in characteristic two than in other characteristics: They hold for separable algebraic field extensions of arbitrary degree.