Reciprocity via Reciprocants (Q6995630)

The author introduces reciprocants, and using them, he proves the Law of Quadratic Reciprocity: if \(p\) and \(q\) are two distinct odd primes, then \(\left(\frac {p} {q}\right)\left(\frac {q} {p}\right)=(-1)^{{\frac {p-1} {2}}\frac {q-1} 2}\). Recall the Legendre symbol \(\left(\frac {a} {p}\right)\): if \(a\) is an integer not divisible by an odd prime \(p\), then \(\left(\frac {a} {p}\right)=1\) if and only if \(a\) is a square modulo \(p\), otherwise \(\left(\frac {a} {p}\right)=-1\).\N\NLet \(R\) be an integral domain. A nonzero polynomial \(f(x)\in R[x]\) is \textit{reciprocal} if it is equal to the polynomial obtained by reversing the order of its coefficients. The author proves that the resultant Res\((f,g)\) of two nonzero polynomials of \textit{even} degree has a canonical square root (\textit{the reciprocant} of \(f\) and \(g\)): Res\((f,g)=\)Rec\((f,g)^{2}\). The reciprocant is defined as Res\((f^{\sharp},g^{\sharp})\), where \(f^{\sharp}\) and \(g^{\sharp}\) are two reciprocal polynomials of degree \(\frac {\deg f} {2}\) and \(\frac {\deg g} {2}\), respectively. Hence Rec\((f,g)\in R\). We have Rec\((f,g)=\)Res\((f^{\sharp},g^{\sharp})=(-1)^{\deg (f^{\sharp})\deg (g^{\sharp)}} \)Res\((g^{\sharp},f^{\sharp})=(-1)^{{\frac{\deg f} 2}\frac{\deg g} 2}\)Rec\((g, f)\).\N\NFor an even positive integer \(n\) let \(g_{n}(x)\) be the reciprocal polynomial \(\frac {X_{n}-1} {X-1}=X^{n-1}+\dots +1\in \mathbb Z[x]\). If \(m\) and \(n\) are two coprime positive integers, then Res\((g_{m},g_{n})=1\), implying that Rec\((g_{m},g_{n})=\pm1\).\N\NIf \(p\) is an odd prime, then \(g_{p-1}=\Phi_{p}\) (the \(p\)th cyclotomic polynomial), so \(\deg \Phi_{p}=\frac {p-1} {2}\). The author proves that Rec\((\Phi_{p}, \Phi_{q})= \left(\frac {q} {p}\right)\), thus obtaining the Reciprocity Law. He also proves by the same methods that if \(p\) is an odd prime, then \(\left(\frac {2} {p}\right)=1\) if and only if \(p\equiv 1 \text{ or }p \equiv 7 \pmod 8\).\N\NAs mentioned by the author, ``we strive to keep the exposition as elementary as possible, with the goal of making the paper understandable by a reader who has taken basic undergraduate courses in number theory, abstract algebra, and linear algebra.''