Decomposable and Indecomposable Algebras of Degree 8 and Exponent 2

We study the decomposition of central simple algebras of exponent $2$ into tensor products of quaternion algebras. We consider in particular decompositions in which one of the quaternion algebras contains a given quadratic extension. Let $B$ be a biquaternion algebra over $F(\sqrt{a})$ with trivial corestriction. A degree $3$ cohomological invariant is defined and we show that it determines whether $B$ has a descent to $F$. This invariant is used to give examples of indecomposable algebras of degree $8$ and exponent $2$ over a field of $2$-cohomological dimension $3$ and over a field $\mathbb M(t)$ where the $u$-invariant of $\mathbb M$ is $8$ and $t$ is an indeterminate. The construction of these indecomposable algebras uses Chow group computations provided by A. S. Merkurjev in Appendix.

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Source https://hal.science/hal-00809490
Author Barry, Demba
Maintainer CCSD
Last Updated May 11, 2026, 15:18 (UTC)
Created May 11, 2026, 15:18 (UTC)
Identifier hal-00809490
Language en
Rights https://about.hal.science/hal-authorisation-v1/
contributor Laboratoire Analyse, Géométrie et Applications (LAGA) ; Université Paris 8 (UP8)-Université Paris 13 (UP13)-Institut Galilée-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
creator Barry, Demba
date 2013-05-11T00:00:00
harvest_object_id d67dd86b-19ee-4510-963d-7ccb267ec6ba
harvest_source_id 3374d638-d20b-4672-ba96-a23232d55657
harvest_source_title test moissonnage SELUNE
metadata_modified 2025-10-06T00:00:00
relation info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/arxiv/1304.2620
set_spec type:UNDEFINED