Polynomials of degree 4 defining units (Q1687708)

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Polynomials of degree 4 defining units
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    Polynomials of degree 4 defining units (English)
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    4 January 2018
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    Let \(\mathbb{Z}G\) be the integral group ring of a finite group \(G\), \(U(\mathbb{Z}G)\) its group of units. There has been considerable effort devoted to construct units of the integral group ring over the past decades. Let \(C_n=\langle x\rangle\) be a cyclic group of finite order \(n\), then every element of \(\mathbb{Z}C_n\) is the result of evaluating a polynomial \(P(X)\in\mathbb{Z}[X]\) of degree less than \(n\) at \(x\). When \(P(x)\in U(\mathbb{Z}C_n)\), \(P(X)\) is said to define a unit on order \(n\). \textit{Z. Marciniak} and \textit{S. K. Sehgal} [Lect. Notes Pure Appl. Math. 248, 279--286 (2006; Zbl 1110.16034)] proved that the only normalized (i.e., \(P(1)=1\)) irreducible polynomial of degree 2 defining units is \(\Phi_6(X)=X^2-X+1\); for degree 3 Marciniak found \(X^3+X^2-1\) and \(-X^3+X+1\). Recently, the authors found all polynomials defining units on infinitely many orders [Math. Z. 283, No. 3--4, 1195--1200 (2016; Zbl 1356.16030)]. The main results of the present paper are as follows. A shift of \(P(X)\) is the polynomial obtained from \(P\) by cyclically permuting the coefficients. Let \(U_{a,b}(X)= aX^4+bX^3+(1-2a-2b)X^2+bX+a\). If \(P(X)\) is a normalized irreducible polynomial of degree 4 defining units on order \(n\geq5\) then either (1) \(n=5\) and \(P(X)\) equals a shift of \(U_{a,b}(X)\) for some integers \(a,\,b\); (2) \(n=7\) and \(P(X)\) equals either \(X^4+X^3-1\) or \(-X^4+X+1\); or (3) \(n\geq7\) and \(P(X)\) equals \(U_{a,b}(X)\) for some integers \(a,\,b\). Moreover, it is shown that if \(n>5\) then the number of irreducible normalized polynomials of degree 4 defining units on order \(n\) is finite, for \(n\leq10\) all these are explicitly listed, for instance if \(n=7\) then these are \(X^4+X^3-1\), \(-X^4+X+1\) and the \(U_{a,b}(X)\) with \((a,b)\in\{(1,0),(1,-1),(-1,2)\}\). For \(n=11\) the corresponding Diophantine equation for \(a, b\) seems too complicated to be solved.
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    group ring
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    integral
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    unit
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    generic unit
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    integral polynomial
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    defining unit
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