Field isomorphic to a transcendental extension of itself

abstract-algebrafield-theory

Let $k$ be any field and $K:=k(X_1,X_2,\dots)$ be the field of rational functions over $k$ in countably many variables. Now $K$ has the interesting property that it is isomorphic to a transcendental extension of itself namely $K\cong K(X)$.

Are there any other examples of this phenomenon or is the following true?

When $K$ is a field that is isomorphic to a transcendental extension of itself, then there is some field $k$ s.t. $K\cong k(X_1,X_2,\dots)$.

Best Answer

As written, no.

$\mathbb C$ is isomorphic to $\overline{\mathbb C(X)}$ which is a transcendental extension, but $\mathbb C$ is not isomorphic to anything of the form $k(X_1,X_2,\ldots)$ because the latter is not algebraically closed ($X_1$ does not have a square root, for example).

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