Mathematics · Glossary

What is cyclotomic polynomial?

Definition 4.22 University Mathematics — Year 3 · Chapter 4 — Field Extensions and Galois Theory

Let n1n \geq 1 and ζn=e2iπ/n\zeta_n = \eu^{2\iu\pi/n}. The nn-th cyclotomic polynomial is Φn=gcd(k,n)=1, 1kn(Xζnk)\Phi_n = \prod_{\gcd(k,n)=1,\ 1 \le k \le n} \bigl(X - \zeta_n^k\bigr), of degree φ(n)\varphi(n); grouping the roots of Xn1X^n - 1 by exact order, Xn1=dnΦdX^n - 1 = \prod_{d \mid n}\Phi_d, which shows inductively that ΦnZ[X]\Phi_n \in \Z[X] (Euclidean division of monic integer polynomials).

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