Undecidability of the theory of finite nearfields (Q1117270)

A well known result of James Ax from 1968 states that the theory of finite fields is decidable. Nearfields are defined by omitting one distributive law from the skewfield axioms. Hans Zassenhaus showed in 1936 that with seven exceptions all finite nearfields are Dickson nearfields and hence are derived from finite fields by suitable modifications of the multiplication. These results might give rise to the conjecture that the logical complexity of the two theories is comparable and that the theory of finite nearfields is also decidable. By using methods developed by Cherlin-Jordan it is shown in this paper that the theory of finite nearfields is in fact undecidable. Moreover, it is shown here that the theory of finite Dickson nearfields and the theory of finite nearfields of fixed characteristic are also undecidable. The method of proof involves interpreting the theory of finite symmetric graphs via two intermediate theories in the theory of finite nearfields and using result of Lavrov (1963) which states that the former theory is undecidable.