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Say that an algebraic number $\alpha\in{\mathbb C}$ is totally real iff ${\mathbb Q}[\alpha]$ is a totally real number field. The totally real numbers obviously form a subfield of $\mathbb R$, which I will denote by $\mathbb T$.

I ask myself several questions on the field ${\mathbb F}={\mathbb T}[i]$ : is it equal to ${\mathbb C}$ ? What is the intersection ${\mathbb F}\cap {\mathbb R}$ ?

The famous theorem of Artin&Schreier is obviously related to this, but I'm not sure how it might help here.

Ewan Delanoy
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3 Answers3

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You can't hope for it to equal $\mathbb{C}$: the most you could possibly hope for is the algebraic closure of $\mathbb{Q}$.

However, you don't get that: the algebraic closure of a field is a finite-degree extension if and only if the field itself is either real closed or is already algebraically closed.

Every real closed field is ordered and every positive number has a square root. $\mathbb{T}$ cannot be real closed: if $\alpha$ is any nonzero element that is neither totally positive nor totally negative, then neither $\sqrt{\alpha}$ nor $\sqrt{-\alpha}$ are totally real, and thus neither is an element of $\mathbb{T}$.

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    Good, though I don't think it completely answers the question. Does adjoining $i$ give you any real numbers you didn't have before? – Gerry Myerson Sep 07 '14 at 12:40
  • For example, does $\sqrt[3]{2}\in {\mathbb T}[i]$ ? I guess the answer is no, but I see no easy way to show it. – Ewan Delanoy Sep 07 '14 at 12:43
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    $[\mathbb{T}(\sqrt[3]{2}) : \mathbb{T}] = 3$, but $[\mathbb{T}(i) : \mathbb{T}] = 2$. –  Sep 07 '14 at 13:17
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$${\bf F}\cap{\bf R}={\bf T}$$ because $${\bf F}=\{\,a+bi:a,b\in{\bf T}\,\}$$ Since ${\bf T}\subset{\bf R}$, an element $a+bi$ of $\bf F$ is in $\bf R$ if and only if $b=0$, so said element of $\bf F$ is already in $\bf T$.

Gerry Myerson
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Here is another approach to showing $\mathbb T(i) \cap \mathbb R = \mathbb T$: we have $$ \mathbb T \subset \mathbb T(i) \cap \mathbb R \subset \mathbb T(i) $$ and the second containment is strict since $i \in \mathbb T(i)$ and $i \not\in \mathbb T(i) \cap \mathbb R$. Since $[\mathbb T(i):\mathbb T] = 2$, the middle field must be the bottom field: $\mathbb T(i) \cap \mathbb R = \mathbb T$.

KCd
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