Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2026 / ii / Paper 1 / 18F / Solution

Orbits of the root action are precisely roots belonging to the same irreducible factor, proving transitivity iff irreducibility.

For a same-degree counterexample, let $L=\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{2},\sqrt{3})$,Both split in $L$, but the first action has two orbits of size two while the second is transitive, so the subgroups are not conjugate in $S_4$.

Over a finite field, Frobenius cycle type proves the assertion. The given quartic reduces over ${\mathbb{F}}_2$ to $X^4+X^3+1$, which is irreducible, so its group there is cyclic of order four generated by a $4$-cycle.

Over $\mathbb{Q}$ the polynomial is irreducible by the same reduction. Modulo $3$ it factors as linear times irreducible cubic, so Dedekind factorization cycle test gives a $3$-cycle; modulo $2$ it gives a $4$-cycle. Its discriminant is $229$, and modulo $23$ its factor degrees are $1,1,2$, giving a transposition. These cycle types force the transitive group to be $S_4$.

Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.