The determination of units in totally real cubic fields

Abstract

The determination of a pair of fundamental units in a totally real cubic field involves two operations—finding a pair of independent units (i.e. such that neither is a power of the other) and from these a pair of fundamental units (i.e. a pair ε1; ε2 such that every unit of the field is of the form with rational integral m, n). The first operation may be accomplished by exploring regions of the integral lattice in which two conjugates are small or else by factorizing small primes and comparing different factorizations—a trial-and-error method, but often a quick one. The second operation is accomplished by obtaining inequalities which must be satisfied by a fundamental unit and its conjugates and finding whether or not a unit exists satisfying these inequalities. Recently Billevitch ((1), (2)) has given a method, of the nature of an extension of the first method mentioned above, which involves less work on the second operation but no less on the first.