The determination of units in real cyclic sextic fields (Q1134184)

This book gives a table of fundamental units and class numbers for cyclic sextic fields with conductor \(f_6\): the table is complete for \(f_6\le 995\) and continues with a few gaps to \(f_6\le 2021\). The gaps are due either to lack of necessary information about the cyclic cubic subfield, or because the size of coefficients is too great to be printed with the format used or for the computer program to deal with. The table is preceded by a thorough and lucid account of the method used, a brief outline of which is as follows: A cyclic sextic field \(K_6\) has a quadratic subfield \(K_2\) with fundamental unit \(\mu\), and a cyclic cubic subfield \(K_3\) with fundamental units \(\tau, \tau'\): the fundamental units of \(K_6\) can be taken to be \(\mu, \tau, \tau'\), and two others, \(\varepsilon_1\) and \(\varepsilon_2\). A relative unit of \(K_6\) is defined to be one whose relative norms to \(K_2\) and \(K_3\) are both \(\pm 1\): once the group \(U_6^*\) of relative units has been determined \(\varepsilon_1\) and \(\varepsilon_2\) can be found. It is shown that \(U_6^*\) can be generated by a unit \(\xi_R\), and this is the end result of a chain of units \(\xi_A\), \(\xi_0\), \(\xi_R\). \(\xi_A\) is constructed using Bergström's product formula and \(\xi_0\) is obtained from \(\xi_A\) by multiplication by suitable powers of \(\mu\), \(\tau\), and \(\tau'\) so that \(\xi_0\) belongs to \(U_6^*\) and therefore is of the form \(\pm \xi_R^K \xi_R^{'L}\), where \(K\), \(L\) are integers. \(K\) and \(L\) are determined by taking square roots when possible, and by obtaining bounds by use of the mean square modulus function. Multilength arithmetic is needed at several stages.