On the class number and unit index of simplest quartic fields

Abstract

The term “simplest” field has been used to describe certain totally real, cyclic number fields of degrees 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8. For each of these degrees, the fields are defined by a one-parameter family of polynomials with constant term ±1. The regulator of these “simplest” fields is small in an asymptotic sense: in consequence, the class number of these fields tends to be large.