Galois-theoretic derivation of the cubic formula
We are trying to find the roots r1,r2,r3 of the polynomial x3+ax2+bx+c=0. From the equation
(x-r1)(x-r2)(x-r3)=x3+ax2+bx+c |
we see that
a | = | -(r1+r2+r3) | ||
b | = | r1r2+r1r3+r2r3 | ||
c | = | -r1r2r3 |
The goal is to explicitly construct a radical tower over the field k=ℂ(a,b,c) that contains the three roots r1,r2,r3.
Let L=ℂ(r1,r2,r3). By Galois theory we know that
Gal(L/ℂ(a,b,c))=S3. Let K⊂L be the fixed field of
A3⊂S3. We have a tower of field extensions