On Euclidean ideal classes in certain abelian extensions (Q2197676)

For an algebraic number field \(K\), let \({\mathcal O}_K\), \({\mathcal O}_K^\times\), and \({\text {Cl}}_K\) be, respectively, its ring of integers, unit group, and class group. Let \(E_K\) be the set of all fractional ideals of \(K\) containing \({\mathcal O}_K\). Assume \({\mathcal O}_K^\times\) is infinite and call its rank the unit rank of \(K\). An ideal class \([\mathfrak J]\) of \({\text {Cl}}_K\) is called a Euclidean ideal class if there exists a map \(\psi:E_K\rightarrow {\mathbb N}\) such that for any ideal \(\mathfrak a \in [\mathfrak J]\) and for all ideals \(\mathfrak b \in E_K\) and for all \(x\in \mathfrak {ab}\setminus \mathfrak a\), there exists \(z\in x+\mathfrak a\) such that \[\psi(z^{-1}\mathfrak {ab})<\psi(\mathfrak b).\] By restricting to a finer family of number fields, the authors of the present paper are able to improve upon a result obtained in [\textit{H. Graves} and \textit{M. R. Murty}, Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 141, No. 9, 2979--2990 (2013; Zbl 1329.11115)] by proving the following theorem. Theorem 1. Suppose that \(K\) is a number field with unit rank greater than or equal to 3 and its Hilbert class field \(H(K)\) is abelian over \(\mathbb Q\). Also suppose that the conductor of \(K\) is \(f\) and \({\mathbb Q}(\zeta_f)\) over \(K\) is cyclic. Then \({\text {Cl}}_K\) is cyclic if and only if it has a Euclidean ideal class. As an immediate corollary they obtain Corollary 2. Let \(K\) be an abelian number field with conductor \(f\) and assume the unit rank of \(K\) is greater than or equal to 3. If \({\mathbb Q}(\zeta_f)\) over \(K\) is cyclic, then \({\mathcal O}_K\) is Euclidean if and only if it is a PID. Under the assumption that the \textit{P. D. T. A. Elliott} and \textit{H. Halberstam} [in: Sympos. Math., Roma 4, Teoria numeri Dic. 1968, e Algebra, Marzo 1969, 59--72 (1970; Zbl 0238.10030)] conjecture is true, the authors are able to strengthen the above results. They prove Theorem 3. Let \(K\) be a number field such that the Hilbert class field \(H(K)\) is abelian and the Galois group \(\text{Gal}({\mathbb Q}(\zeta_f)/K)\) is cyclic where \(f\) is the conductor of \(K\). Now if the Elliott and Halberstam conjecture is true and the unit rank of \(K\) is strictly greater than one, then \({\text {Cl}}_K\) is cyclic if and only if it has a Euclidean ideal class. As an immediate corollary they obtain Corollary 4. Let \(K\) be an abelian number field with conductor \(f\) and assume the unit rank of \(K\) is strictly greater than one. Suppose that the Elliott and Halberstam conjecture is true. If \({\mathbb Q}(\zeta_f)\) over \(K\) is cyclic, then \({\mathcal O}_K\) is Euclidean if and only if it is a PID. The proofs of Theorems 1 and 3 assume that \(f\) is the smallest even integer such that \(K\subseteq {\mathbb Q}(\zeta_f)\). However, in the final section of the paper the authors show that their arguments used to prove Theorems 1 and 3 actually prove stronger results in the sense that these latter results include number fields \(K\subset {\mathbb Q}(\zeta_{2^k})\), for all \(k\geq1\) where \({\mathcal O}_K\) is a PID and \(\zeta_{2^k}\) is the \(2^k\)-th primitive root of unity.