Strassmann's theorem

In mathematics, Strassmann's theorem is a result in field theory. It states that, for suitable fields, suitable formal power series with coefficients in the valuation ring of the field have only finitely many zeroes.

History

It was introduced by Reinhold Straßmann (1928).

Statement of the theorem

Let K be a field with a non-Archimedean absolute value | · | and let R be the valuation ring of K. Let f(x) be a formal power series with coefficients in R other than the zero series, with coefficients a_n converging to zero with respect to | · |. Then f(x) has only finitely many zeroes in R. More precisely, the number of zeros is at most N, where N is the largest index with |a_N| = max |a_n|.

As a corollary, there is no analogue of Euler's identity, e^2πi = 1, in C_p, the field of p-adic complex numbers.

See also

• p-adic exponential function