Pythagoras numbers of fields

Quadratic forms over general fields (11E04) Forms over real fields (11E10) Fields related with sums of squares (formally real fields, Pythagorean fields, etc.) (12D15)

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The main result of this paper is Theorem 1: Let \(n\geq 1\) be an integer. Let \(F_0\) be a formally real field. Then there exists a formally real field \(F\) over \(F_0\) with Pythagoras number \(p(F)=n\). This is surprising since the only integers \(n\) which where known before to occur as values \(n=p(F)\) of a field \(F\) were of the shape \(n=2^m\) or \(n=2^m+1\). The proof uses an ingenious induction on \(n\) and the fact that all quadratic forms \(q=\langle 1,\dots, 1\rangle\) are excellent. This allows the function field methods of Knebusch and Merkurjev to be adapted to sums of squares. Theorems 2 and 3 concern refinements of Theorem 1: For \(n\geq 2\) with \(2^k+1\leq n\leq 2^{k+1}\), there exists a uniquely ordered field \(F\) with \(p(F)=n\) such that in addition \(\widetilde{u}(F)= u(F)= 2m\), where \(m\) is any integer satisfying \(m\geq 2^k\), or \(m=\infty\). (\(u\) denotes the \(u\)-invariant, \(\widetilde{u}\) denotes the Hasse number).

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