CM-fields and skew-symmetric matrices (Q1882779)

\textit{S. D. Cohen} and \textit{R. W. K. Odoni} [Glasg. Math. J. 32, No. 1, 35--46 (1990; Zbl 0708.11055)] proved that every CM-field can be generated by an eigenvalue of some skew-symmetric matrix with rational coefficients. It is natural to ask for the minimal dimension of such a matrix. They showed that every CM-field of degree \(2n\) is generated by an eigenvalue of a skew-symmetric matrix over \(\mathbb Q\) of dimension at most \(4n+2\). The aim of the present authors is to show that this bound can be improved to \(2n+3\) if \(n\equiv 1\bmod 4\), \(2n+1\) if \(n\equiv 3\bmod 4\) and \(2n+4\) if \(n\) is even.