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The Fundamental Theorem, Worked

The correspondence between subgroups of Gal(L/K) and intermediate fields, inclusion-reversing and degree-preserving, with normal subgroups matching normal subextensions. We prove the key half via Artin's theorem and then read a full lattice off a concrete example.

Two maps that undo each other

Fix a Galois extension L/K with group G = Gal(L/K). There are two natural maps. Up: a subgroup H ⊆ G goes to its fixed field L^H = { x ∈ L : σx = x for all σ ∈ H }, an intermediate field K ⊆ L^H ⊆ L. Down: an intermediate field F goes to Gal(L/F), the automorphisms fixing F pointwise, a subgroup of G. The fundamental theorem says these two are mutually inverse bijections.

Both maps reverse inclusions — a bigger subgroup fixes fewer elements, so a bigger H gives a smaller L^H. This makes the correspondence an order-reversing bijection between two lattices, an instance of a Galois connection that happens to be a perfect duality. The bottom of one lattice (the trivial subgroup, fixing everything: L^{1}=L) matches the top of the other, and vice versa.

Why it is a bijection: Artin

The hard direction is that you never lose information passing to the fixed field. Artin's theorem does the heavy lifting: if H is a finite group of automorphisms of L, then L over its fixed field L^H is Galois with Gal(L/L^H) = H, and crucially [L : L^H] = |H|. So the subgroup H is reconstructed exactly as Gal(L/L^H). Going the other way, |Gal(L/F)| = [L:F] because L/F is Galois too, and L^{Gal(L/F)} = F. The two round-trips both close.

Normal matches normal

The last clause is the prettiest. An intermediate field F is normal over K exactly when its subgroup H = Gal(L/F) is a normal subgroup of G, and then restriction gives Gal(F/K) = G/H. The word ‘normal’ matching in two senses is not a coincidence: σ(F)=F for every σ ∈ G is the field-theoretic statement, and σHσ⁻¹ = H is its translation into the group. The quotient G/H is born as the Galois group of the bottom piece.

L = Q(sqrt 2, sqrt 3),  G = Gal(L/Q) = {e, a, b, ab} = Z/2Z x Z/2Z.
  a: sqrt2 -> -sqrt2, sqrt3 -> +sqrt3
  b: sqrt2 -> +sqrt2, sqrt3 -> -sqrt3

Subgroups of G (all normal, since G is abelian) and their fixed fields:

  {e}            <->  L = Q(sqrt2, sqrt3)      [L:F] = 4
  {e, a}         <->  Q(sqrt3)                  fixed by a
  {e, b}         <->  Q(sqrt2)                  fixed by b
  {e, ab}        <->  Q(sqrt6)                  ab fixes sqrt2*sqrt3
  G             <->  Q                          [F:Q] = 1

Check the index/degree mirror for F = Q(sqrt2), H = {e, b}:
  [L:F] = |H| = 2       [F:Q] = [G:H] = 4/2 = 2.   OK.

Every subgroup is normal in G, so every one of the three
quadratic subfields is normal over Q, with Gal(F/Q) = G/H = Z/2Z.
The complete subgroup-field dictionary for the Klein-four example.