A condition for divisibility of the class number of real \(p\)th cyclotomic field by an odd prime distinct from \(p\) (Q1969678)

For a prime \(p=2n+1\), let \(K_p^+\) denote the maximal real subfield of the \(p\)th cyclotomic field, and let \(h_p^+\) be the class number of \(K_p^+\). The author studies the divisibility of \(h_p^+\) by odd primes \(l\neq p\). He introduces an \(n\times n\) matrix \(M\) with rational \(l\)-integral entries defined in a bit complicated but purely elementary way and shows that the rank of \(M\) over \(\mathbb{Z}/ l\mathbb{Z}\) attains its maximum value \(n-1\) only if \(h_p^+\) is prime to \(l\). For the case that rank\(_l M<n-1\) he derives a necessary and sufficient condition for \(l\mid h_p^+\) in terms of the cyclotomic units of \(K_p^+\). He extends these results to the subfields of \(K_p^+\) and shows how to check, for any subfield \(K\), whether \(l\) divides its class number \(h_K\). The procedure is illustrated by four examples. The article includes a table showing all odd prime factors \(l\leq 31\) of \(h_p^+\) for \(3<p<700\) together with the corresponding minimal subfields \(K\) such that \(l|h_K\). It is interesting to compare the data in this table with \textit{R. Schoof's} table, published in \textit{L. C. Washington's} book ``Introduction to Cyclotomic Fields'' [2nd ed., Springer (1996)], giving the ``probable'' values of \(h_p^+\) for \(p<10^4\).