Irreducibility criterion for certain trinomials

Abstract

In this article we study the irreducibility of polynomials of the form $x^n+\epsilon_1 x^m+p^k\epsilon_2$, $p$ being a prime number. We will show that they are irreducible for $m=1$. We have also provided the cyclotomic factors and reducibility criterion for trinomials of the form $x^n+\epsilon_1x^m+\epsilon_2$, where $\epsilon_i\in \{\, -1,+1\,\}$. This corrects few of the existing results of W. Ljuggren's on $x^n+\epsilon_1x^m+\epsilon_2$.