On \(p^2\)-ranks in the class field tower problem (Q744932)

In this beautiful paper under review, the authors deal with the \(p\)-class field tower problem, an important and non-trivial topic of class field theory. Motivated by what is known when the prime \(p\) is \(2\), the authors investigate to which extent the \(p^2\)-rank of the class group of a number field \(K\) plays a role for the infinitude of the Hilbert \(p\)-class field tower. They also prove the infinitude of the Hilbert \(2\)-class field tower of real quadratic fields when the \(2\)-rank of the class group is \(5\). An important ingredient in their proofs is a variant of the so-called Gold-Shaferevich inequality.