On Clifford algebras and conjugate splittings (Q1176666)

The author establishes a connection between the theory of Clifford algebras of binary forms and what he calls conjugate splittings of polynomials: If \(f(x)\) is polynomial over field \(F\), and \(A\) is an \(F\)- algebra, then a conjugate splitting of \(f(x)\) over \(A\) is a decomposition \(f(x)=(x-y^{-(n-1)}\theta y^{(n-1)})(x-y^{-(n-2)}\theta y^{(n- 2)})\cdots(x-\theta)\) in \(A[x]\) where \(\theta,y\in A\) and \(y^ n\in F\). The element \(y^ n\) is called the associated constant of the splitting. This sort of decomposition originally arose in the work of J. H. M. Wedderburn (1921) on the structure of division algebras of degree three. The author proves that such a decomposition exists if and only if there is a homomorphism from the Clifford algebra of the binary form \(g\) to \(A\), where \(g(u,v)\) is the homogenization of \(f\). The rest of the paper consists of consequences of this result and several examples. In particular for binary cubic forms the author has previously shown that the Clifford algebra is Azumaya with center the coordinate ring of a certain elliptic curve. Using this it is shown for example that there exist monic irreducible polynomials over the rationals of degree three and elements \(\alpha\in Q\) such that there is no central simple \(Q\)-algebra of degree three in which the polynomial has a conjugate splitting with associated constant \(\alpha\). It is also shown how in some cases conjugate splittings procedure points of infinite order on the elliptic curves which determine the center of the appropriate Clifford algebra. In the last section these ideas are applied to give, for a separable field extension \(L/F\) of degree three, norm conditions equivalent to the triviality of the relative Brauer group \(B(L/F)\).