Any field F is an abelian group (also called a

commutative group) under addition

Finite Fields ≡ Galois fields

Order of field = number of elements

For scalar n, n ⋅ a = a + a + … + a (which is an element

of F)

If there is no positive integer such that n ⋅ 1 = 0, F is

said to have characteristic 0