Ramification (mathematics)

For other uses, see Ramification.

In geometry, ramification is 'branching out', in the way that

the square root function, for complex numbers, can be seen
to have two branches differing in sign. The term is also used
from the opposite perspective (branches coming together)
as when a covering map degenerates at a point of a space,
with some collapsing of the fibers of the mapping.

Contents
1 In complex analysis
2 In algebraic topology
3 In algebraic number theory
3.1 In algebraic extensions of
3.2 In local fields
4 In algebra
5 In algebraic geometry
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

In complex analysis
In complex analysis, the basic model can be taken as the
z → zn mapping in the complex
plane, near z = 0. This is the
standard local picture in Riemann
surface theory, of ramification of
order n. It occurs for example in
the Riemann–Hurwitz formula for
the effect of mappings on the
genus. See also branch point.

In algebraic topology Using the Riemann surface of the

square root

In a covering map the Euler–Poincaré characteristic should

multiply by the number of sheets; ramification can therefore
be detected by some dropping from that. The z → zn
mapping shows this as a local pattern: if we exclude 0,
looking at 0 < |z| < 1 say, we have (from the homotopy point
of view) the circle mapped to itself by the n-th power map
(Euler–Poincaré characteristic 0), but with the whole disk the
Euler–Poincaré characteristic is 1, n – 1 being the 'lost' points
as the n sheets come together at z = 0.

In geometric terms, ramification is something that happens

in codimension two (like knot theory, and monodromy); since
real codimension two is complex codimension one, the local
complex example sets the pattern for higher-dimensional
complex manifolds. In complex analysis, sheets can't simply
fold over along a line (one variable), or codimension one
subspace in the general case. The ramification set (branch
locus on the base, double point set above) will be two real
dimensions lower than the ambient manifold, and so will not
separate it into two 'sides', locally―there will be paths that
trace round the branch locus, just as in the example. In
algebraic geometry over any field, by analogy, it also
happens in algebraic codimension one.

In algebraic number theory

In algebraic extensions of

See also: Splitting of prime ideals in Galois extensions

Ramification in algebraic number theory means a prime ideal

factoring in an extension so as to give some repeated prime
ideal factors. Namely, let be the ring of integers of an
algebraic number field , and a prime ideal of . For a field
extension

we can consider the ring of integers (which is the integral

closure of in ), and the ideal of . This ideal may
or may not be prime, but for finite

, it has a factorization into prime ideals:

where the are distinct prime ideals of . Then is said to

ramify in if

for some ; otherwise it is unramified. In other words,

ramifies in if the ramification index is greater than one
for some . An equivalent condition is that

has a non-zero nilpotent element: it is not a product of finite

fields. The analogy with the Riemann surface case was
already pointed out by Richard Dedekind and Heinrich M.
Weber in the nineteenth century.

The ramification is encoded in by the relative discriminant

and in by the relative different. The former is an ideal of
and is divisible by if and only if some ideal of
dividing is ramified. The latter is an ideal of and is
divisible by the prime ideal of precisely when is
ramified.

The ramification is tame when the ramification indices are

all relatively prime to the residue characteristic p of ,
otherwise wild. This condition is important in Galois module
theory. A finite generically étale extension

of Dedekind domains is tame if and only if the trace

is surjective.
In local fields

Main article: Ramification of local fields

The more detailed analysis of ramification in number fields

can be carried out using extensions of the p-adic numbers,
because it is a local question. In that case a quantitative
measure of ramification is defined for Galois extensions,
basically by asking how far the Galois group moves field
elements with respect to the metric. A sequence of
ramification groups is defined, reifying (amongst other
things) wild (non-tame) ramification. This goes beyond the
geometric analogue.

In algebra
Main article: Ramification theory of valuations

In valuation theory, the ramification theory of valuations

studies the set of extensions of a valuation of a field K to an
extension field of K. This generalizes the notions in algebraic
number theory, local fields, and Dedekind domains.

In algebraic geometry
There is also corresponding notion of unramified morphism
in algebraic geometry. It serves to define étale morphisms.

Let
be a morphism of schemes. The support of the
quasicoherent sheaf

is called the ramification locus of and the image of the

ramification locus,

, is called the branch locus of . If

we say that is formally unramified and if is also of

locally finite presentation we say that is unramified (see
Vakil 2017).

See also
Eisenstein polynomial
Newton polygon
Puiseux expansion
Branched covering

Look up ramification (mathematics) in Wiktionary, the

free dictionary.

References
Neukirch, Jürgen (1999). Algebraic Number Theory.
Grundlehren der mathematischen Wissenschaften.
 322. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-540-65399-
8. MR 1697859. Zbl 0956.11021.
Vakil, Ravi (18 November 2017). The Rising Sea:
Foundations of algebraic geometry (PDF). Retrieved 5
June 2019.

External links
"Ramification in number fields". PlanetMath.