Unit Groups and Class Numbers of Real Cyclic Octic Fields (Q3979968)

D. Shanks introduced the so-called `simplest' quadratic and cubic fields, followed by M.-N. Gras with the `simplest' cyclic quartic and sextic fields. These are extension fields of \(\mathbb{Q}\) generated by a root of an irreducible polynomial from one parameter families of quadratic, cubic, quartic and sextic polynomials. Each of these fields has an explicit system of fundamental units which are relatively small, so consequently the class number \(h\) is relatively large. The author identifies a pattern in these constructions which is extended to define an analogous family of real cyclic octic fields. Let \(\rho\) be the largest real root of \[ Q(x)=x^ 8-8ax^ 7-28x^ 6+56ax^ 5+70x^ 4-56ax^ 3-28x^ 2+8ax+1, \] and let \(K_ a=\mathbb{Q}(\rho)\). For \(\varepsilon=1+\sqrt 2\), \(\varepsilon^{2n+1}=a_ n+b_ n\sqrt 2\), \(a_ n,b_ n\in\mathbb{Z}\). The author constructs a set of seven small independent units of \(K_{a_ n}\), which are subsequently conjectured to be a system of fundamental units when \(b_ n\) is square free. From this set of units the author obtains bounds on the regulator and obtains an asymptotic value for the class number \(h: \log h\sim3\log(a_ n)\) as \(h\to\infty\). The paper continues with explicit computations for \(a_ 0=1\), \(a_ 1=7\), \(a_ 2=41\), \(a_ 4=1393\), \(a_ 5=8119\), and concludes with a suggested construction for analogous `simplest' \(2^ n\)-tic fields.