2-Sylow subgroups of \(K_ 2O_ F\) for real quadratic fields \(F\) (Q1344425)

Consider a real quadratic field \(F = \mathbb{Q}(\sqrt d)\) and a natural integer \(m\) dividing \(d\). The author proves that \(\{-1,m\}\) is a square in \(K_ 2 O_ F\) if and only if there exists \(\varepsilon \in \{\pm 1, \pm 2\}\) such that for any prime \(p\) dividing \(d\), the equation \(\varepsilon z^ 2 \equiv (mx^ 2 + d)/my^ 2 \pmod p\) has a solution \(\neq (0,0,0)\). This allows him, in special cases, to determine the Sylow subgroup \((K_ 2O_ F)_ 2\) by computing only Legendre symbols. In particular, he gives some families of examples for which \((K_ 2 O_ F)_ 2\) is not killed by 2.