Polynomial with roots modulo all primes $p \equiv 3 \pmod 4$

finite-fieldsnumber theorypolynomials

Does there exist an irreducible polynomial $f \in \mathbb{Z}[X]$ of degree $n \geq 2$ with a zero modulo all primes $p \equiv 3 \pmod 4$?

For example, there is such a polynomial $X^2+1$ if we choose primes $p \equiv 1 \pmod 4$. Mostly using quadratic residues, we can come up with many such polynomials for various collections of primes, but I wasn't able to find one for primes $p \equiv 3 \pmod 4$.

Best Answer

Let $$f(x)= x^3-3x+4$$ It is irreducible and $$Disc(f) = 4(3)^3-27(-4)^2=-18^2$$

Let $k$ be the splitting field of $f\bmod p$. Factorize $$f(x)=\prod_{j=1}^3 (x-a_j)\in k[x]$$ Note that $$Disc(f)^{1/2}=(a_1-a_2)(a_1-a_3)(a_2-a_3)\in k, \qquad Disc(f)=\prod_{i\ne j} (a_i-a_j)$$

Because of the Frobenius automorphism, if $f\bmod p$ is irreducible then $k=\Bbb{F}_p[x]/(f(x))$ ie. $[k:\Bbb{F}_p]=3$ which implies that $k$ doesn't contain any quadratic subfield ie. $Disc(f)^{1/2}\in \Bbb{F}_p$.

And (exlucding the case $p=3$ where $f=(x+1)^3$ is reducible) since we know that $Disc(f)^{1/2}\in \Bbb{F}_p$ iff $p\not\equiv 3\bmod 4$ we get that $f$ is never irreducible when $p\equiv 3\bmod 4$, ie. $f\bmod p$ has a root.

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