Real Analysis – Rational Functions as an Ordered Field and Non-Archimedean Property

ordered-fieldsrational-functionsreal-analysis

I read that the set of rational functions with rational coefficients forms an ordered field, yet it is non-archimedean. I tried googling this, but I don't think I understood the solution.

  1. How does one define an order on rational functions of the form $\mathbb{Q}(x)=p(x)/q(x)$?
  2. How do you show that $\mathbb{Q}(x)$ is non-archimedean? That there is no natural number $n$, such that $n>\mathbb{Q}(x)$? Do I substitute numerical values of $x$ and show that $\mathbb{Q}(x)$ is unbounded or something?

Best Answer

Consider the following order: let $f(x)=p(x)/q(x)$ be a rational function with

\begin{aligned}p(x)=a\cdot x^n &+ \text{ terms of degree less than $n$}\\ q(x)=b\cdot x^m &+ \text{ terms of degree less than $m$}\end{aligned}

where of course $a,b \in \mathbb{Q}$. Our order says that $f > 0$ if and only if $\frac{a}{b} >0$. Notice this defines the order throughout the field; if one wishes to determine whether $f_1 > f_2$, write the difference $f_1-f_2$ as a single rational function and determine whether it is $>0$, $=0$ or $<0$.

Now, this totally ordered field is not Archimedean. Indeed, consider the rational functions $f(x)=x$ and $g(x) = 1$. No matter how large you choose $n \in \mathbb{N}$, $f(x)>n\cdot g(x)$, because $\big(f-n\cdot g\big)(x)=x-n$ and the leading coefficient of $\big(f-n\cdot g\big)$ is $1$, which is positive.

Related Question