Class numbers of imaginary abelian number fields. III (Q2553636)

The following theorem is proved in this paper. Theorem: Let \(l\) be a prime number, and let \(K_l\) be the field of the \(l\)-th roots of unity. Let \(h_1\) denote the first factor of the class number of \(K_l\). Then \(h_1\) is greater than 1 for all \(l\ge23\). H. L. Montgomery has given a much better proof of this theorem (till now unpublished). In this connection, it should also be noted that J. Masley has determined all the cyclotomic fields with class number one. Parts I and II see ibid. 23, 97--104 (1971; Zbl 0213.06903); 23, 335--348 (1971; Zbl 0226.12006).