Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 January 2016
A radical of a field K is a non zero element of a given algebraic closure some positive power of which lies in K. The group R(K) of radicals reflects properties of the field K and is in turn easily determined as an extension of the multiplicative group K* of non zero elements of K. The elements of the quotient group R(K)/K* are then conveniently identified with certain subspaces of the algebraic closure, the radical spaces of K (cf. §1). What we are here concerned with is the corresponding arithmetic situation, in which we start with a Dedekind domain o with quotient field K. The role of the radicals is taken over by the radical modules. These form a group (o) which contains the group of fractional ideals of o (cf. §4).