Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2024 / ii / Paper 2 / 18H / a / Solution

Finite and separable imply simple by the primitive element theorem. Separable and simple imply finite: if $L=K(\alpha )$ and the extension is separable, then $\alpha$ is algebraic, so $[L:K]=\mathrm{deg}{m}_{\alpha ,K}<\infty$.

Finite and simple do not imply separable. In characteristic $p$, takeThen $L/K$ has degree $p$ and is simple, but the generator has inseparable minimal polynomial $X^p-t$. These are the finite separable simple extension implications.

Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.