Thursday, August 18, 2016

Finitely generated algebraic field extensions are finite extensions?




Suppose I have F=k[a1,...,an] is a field. We know that F is a finitely generated algebra over k. However, if F is an algebraic extension over the field k does that mean the extension is finite? I think so. Here is my reasoning:



If F is a field then F can be rewritten as F=k(a1,...,an) (is this true?). Thus, since each ai is algebraic over k, k(a1) is a finite extension over k. So is k(a1,a2) and so on for a finite number of steps. Is my reasoning correct?


Answer



Your arguments are correct.



But we should mention that there is even more. Even without knowing that F is an algebraic extension, we get that the extension is finite. This is the famous Zariski's lemma leading to Hilbert's Nullstellensatz.


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