Embeddings of quadratic spaces over the field of $p$-adic numbers (2010.11905v1)

Abstract: Nondegenerate quadratic forms over $p$-adic fields are classified by their dimension, discriminant, and Hasse invariant. This paper uses these three invariants, elementary facts about $p$-adic fields and the theory of quadratic forms to determine which types of quadratic spaces -- including degenerate cases -- can be embedded in the Euclidean $p$-adic space $(\mathbb{Q}{p}^{n},x{1}^{2}+\cdots+x_{n}^{2})$, and the Lorentzian space $(\mathbb{Q}{p}^{n},x{1}^{2}+\cdots+x_{n-1}^{2}+\lambda x_{n}^{2})$, where $\mathbb{Q}{p}$ is the field of $p$-adic numbers, and $\lambda$ is a nonsquare in the finite field $\mathbb{F}{p}$. Furthermore, the minimum dimension $n$ that admits such an embedding is determined.