Variations on the theme of solvability by radicals (Q2377583)

Abel's theorem in classical Galois theory states that, for any integer \(n\geq 5\), the general algebraic equation \[ a_0w^n+a_1w^{n-1}+\cdots+a_{n-1}w+a_n=0 \] of degree \(n\) over the field of complex numbers is not solvable by radicals, that is, there are no formulae for expressing the roots of a generic equation of this type in terms of its coefficients by means of iterated operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and raising to a power with positive rational exponent. This famous theorem is usually considered (and proved) as a purely algebraic result in the textbook literature. However, already forty-five years ago, V. I. Arnold pointed out that the problem of solvability by radicals for polynomial equations over \(\mathbb{C}\) may be interpreted from the analytic-topological point of view, and that topological proofs of the unsolvability of some analytic problems are often much stronger than their classical counterparts. Arnold's lectures from 1963/1964 have recently been revised and published in book form by \textit{V. B. Alekseev} [Abel's theorem in problems and solutions. Based on the lectures of Professor V. I. Arnold. With a preface and an appendix by Arnold and an appendix by A. Khovanskii. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. (2004; Zbl 1065.12001)], where the reader will find an excellent description of Arnold's topological approach to this topic. Roughly speaking, Arnold suggested to study algebraic functions as multivalued analytic functions, to investigate their monodromy groups as topological invariants, and to describe the topological obstructions to the representability by radicals in terms of monodromy. A. G. Khovanskii, a former student of Arnold's and the author of the paper under review, has developed this original approach into a certain topological variant of Galois theory that yields various new and stronger results on the unsolvability of algebraic and differential equations in a very explicit form [cf.: \textit{A. G. Khovanskii}, On Solvability and Unsolvability of Equations in Explicit Form, Russ. Math. Surv. 59, 661--736 (2004; Zbl 1069.34133)]. In the present article, the author presents a number of additional, very recent theorems on the solvability and unsolvability of algebraic equations by radicals along this analytic-topological path. As to the contents, the paper consists of twelve sections which are organized as follows. Section 1 derives explicit formulae for inverting Chebyshev polynomials by arithmetic operations and radicals. Section 2 shows how the inversion of the Chebyshev polynomial of degree 3 can be used to solve a cubic equation by radicals, whereas Section 3 recalls how an algebraic equation of degree 4 can be reduced to a cubic equation. The following Sections 4--6 are devoted to determining the monodromy groups of the inverses of the Chebyshev polynomials and related algebraic functions. These explicit calculations are used to show that the Riemann surfaces associated to the respective algebraic functions are completely determined by their local behavior near the branch points. Section 7 discusses some general properties of transitive permutation groups in the context of Galois theory, mainly with a view toward their application in the later parts of the paper. Section 8 provides an explicit new unsolvability criterion for particular irreducible algebraic equations in terms of their local monodromy, while Section 9 characterizes algebraic functions of prime degree that are representable by radicals. Section 10 gives a classification of those polynomials of prime degree whose inverse algebraic functions are representable by radicals, and Section 11 turns to the corresponding topological classification problem for rational functions of prime degree. Finally, in Section 12, the latter classification is completed in the case of prime degree \(p\equiv-1 \pmod{12}\).