My colleague and me were confronted with a question concerning the introductory chapter of a text on algebraic geometry. The scenario of a plane curve $C=Z(f)\subseteq \mathbb A_{\Bbbk}^2$ over a field $\Bbbk$ is considered, for a nonconstant polynomial $f\in\Bbbk[x,y]$. It was stated that the function field $\mathbb K:=\mathrm{Quot}(\Bbbk[x,y]/\langle f\rangle)$ is <b>obviously</b> of transcendence degree $1$ over $\Bbbk$ because $f(x,y)=0$ is a new relation between $x$ and $y$. The prerequisites to this text are basic undergraduate knowledge of algebra and topology. The question was about the obviousness of the above statement. We came up with a proof that only really requires some linear algebra. I found it rather cute. <a href="https://blag.nullteilerfrei.de/2013/05/13/the-function-field-of-a-plane-curve/#more-1877" class="more-link">Do you want to see it?</a>
I am writing this blag post from the <a href="http://www.math-conf.uni-hannover.de/spp1489/index.php" target="_blank">second annual meeting of the DFG priority programme SPP1489</a> (algorithmic and experimental methods in algebra, geometry and number theory). Apart from having a lot of fun, I am catching up on the recent developments in open-source computer algebra software. <a href="https://blag.nullteilerfrei.de/2012/02/29/open-source-computeralgebra-2012/#more-422" class="more-link">Do you want to know more?</a>