p-adic
Meaning
p-adic (not comparable)
(number theory) Of, pertaining to, (ultimately) derived from or defined in the context of p-adic numbers.
Examples
An important point is that the p-adic field, or respectively the real or complex field, corresponding to a prime ideal, plays exactly the role, in arithmetic, that the field of power series in the neighborhood of a point plays in the theory of functions: that is why one calls it a local field.
Although for p-adic numbers p should be a prime, base 10 was chosen to highlight the analogy with decimals.
Extensions of the concept p-adic numbers main The p-adic numbers may have infinitely long expansions to the left of the decimal point, in the same way that real numbers may have infinitely long expansions to the right.
For a prime p, the p-adic numbers arise by completing the rational numbers with respect to a different metric.
Introduction This section is an informal introduction to p-adic numbers, using examples from the ring of 10-adic (decadic) numbers.
These alternatives do not conflict with the notation for the p-adic integers.