On the 3-rank of the ideal class group of quadratic fields (Q363259)

\textit{A. Scholz} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 166, 201--203 (1932; JFM 58.0181.05)] has shown that the rank \(r\) of the \(3\)-class group of the complex quadratic field \(\mathbb Q(\sqrt{-m}\,)\) and the rank \(s\) of the real quadratic field \(\mathbb Q(\sqrt{3m}\,)\) are related by the inequalities \(s \leq r \leq s+1\). In this article, the author establishes a list of several conditions that are equivalent to \(r = s+1\) (the expression ``resp. \(r = s\)'' in Theorem 1 seems to be a relic from an earlier version of the manuscript). In a second theorem, these results are applied to the construction of a family of complex quadratic number fields with \(3\)-rank at least \(2\).