Separable polynomial

From Galois

Template:Univariate polynomial upto associates property

Definition

Let be a field and be a nonzero polynomial. We say that is a separable polynomial if the following equivalent conditions are satisfied:

  1. and its formal derivative are relatively prime in .
  2. splits completely into distinct linear factors over its splitting field.
  3. For any field containing , is a square-free polynomial over , i.e., no square of a polynomial divides .
  4. The discriminant of is nonzero.