Totally p-adic Numbers of Degree 3

Abstract

The height of an algebraic number $\alpha$ is a measure of how arithmetically complicated $\alpha$ is. We say $\alpha$ is totally $p$-adic if the minimal polynomial of $\alpha$ splits completely over the field $\mathbb{Q}_p$ of $p$-adic numbers. In this paper, we investigate what can be said about the smallest nonzero height of a degree $3$ totally $p$-adic number. In particular, we provide an algorithm to determine, given a prime $p$, the smallest height of a degree $3$ totally $p$-adic number.