Why is $t^p-x^p$ irreducible in $\mathbb{F_p}(x^p)[t]$

abstract-algebrafield-theoryirreducible-polynomialspolynomials

I'm reading about separability and the standard example of a non-separable extension is to build the quotient fields $L=Q(\mathbb{F_p}[x])$, $K=Q(\mathbb{F_p}[x^p])$ and to consider the element $x$ of the extension $L/K$, which is then shown to be inseparable. The claim is that its minimal polynomial is $f(t)=t^p-x^p$, which in $L$ has repeated roots, since $t^p-x^p=(t-x)^p$ in $L[t]$. My only issue with this is showing that $f$ is irreducible (and hence the minimal polynomial). The notes I'm reading claim this is true by Eisenstein's criterion, but it is not immediately clear to me how it is applicable to $K$.

My thought process was that if $\mathbb{F_p}[x^p]$ were a UFD, then by Gauss' lemma irreducibility of $f$ over $K$ would be equivalent to its irreducibility over $\mathbb{F_p}[x^p]$, where $x^p$ ought to be a prime (since it's an element of least degree in $\mathbb{F_p}[x^p]$ and therefore can't be written as a product of non-units). The claim would then follow by Eisenstein's criterion (if $q$ is a prime of a UFD $R$, then $t^n-q$ is irreducible in $R[t]$).

My question is therefore twofold: is $\mathbb{F_p}[x^p]$ a UFD and if so, is my reasoning correct? And a follow-up: I know that subrings $S\subset R$ of UFDs generally aren't UFDs themselves, but are there any criteria for subrings of $R[x]$ that are UFDs? E.g. when is $R[f]\subset R[x]$ again a UFD for some $f\in R[x]$?

Addendum: One last question: is $L/K$ algebraic?

Best Answer

Note that $x^p$ is transcendental over $\mathbb{F}_p$, and so there is a very natural isomorphism $\mathbb{F}_p[x]\cong\mathbb{F}_p[x^p]$. Thus $\mathbb{F}_p[x^p]$ is indeed a UFD, as it is isomorphic to a UFD. Same thing will be true if you replace $x^p$ by any other nonconstant polynomial in $\mathbb{F}_p[x]$.