On the realization of subgroups of $PGL(2,F)$, and their automorphism groups, as Galois groups over function fields

Abstract

Let $F$ be any field. We give a short and elementary proof that any finite subgroup $G$ of $PGL(2,F)$ occurs as a Galois group over the function field $F(x)$. We also develop a theory of descent to subfields of $F$. This enables us to realize the automorphism groups of finite subgroups of $PGL(2,F)$ as Galois groups.