Trace forms of Galois field extensions in the presence of roots of unity (Q4539573)

Let \(L/K\) be a \(G\)-Galois extension of fields and let \(G_2\) be a Sylow \(2\)-subgroup of \(G\). Let \(e\) be the minimal value of the exponent of a non-Abelian subgroup of \(G_2\). The principal result of this article is the proof of the fact that if \(G_2\) is non-Abelian and if \(K\) contains a primitive \(e\)th root of unity, then the trace form \(q_{L/K}\) is hyperbolic over \(K\). The result holds more generally for \(L/K\) a \(G\)-Galois algebra. Moreover, it is shown via an example that the condition on existence of roots of unity in \(K\) cannot be substantially weakened. In particular, for every \(2\)-power \(n\) greater than 4, there exists a non-Abelian group \(G\) of order \(n\) and a \(G\)-Galois extension \(L/K\) such that \(K\) contains a primitive \(n/4\) th root of unity, but not one of degree \(n/2\), and for which \(q_{L/K}\) is not hyperbolic. The authors first reduce the proof to showing that every non-Abelian \(2\)-group \(G\) of exponent \(d\) has the property that for every \(G\)-Galois extension \(L/K\), with \(K\) containing a primitive \(d\)th root of unity, the trace form \(q_{L/K}\) is hyperbolic. Next it is observed that if this were not true, a counterexample of minimal order would be a barely non-Abelian group. A complete list of barely non-Abelian \(2\)-groups is obtained, and it is shown that the property above in fact holds for each such group.