Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
To each field $F$ of characteristic not 2, one can associate a certain Galois group ${{\mathcal{G}}_{F}}$, the so-called $\text{W}$-group of $F$, which carries essentially the same information as the Witt ring $W(F)$ of $F$. In this paper we investigate the connection between ${{\mathcal{G}}_{F}}$ and ${{\mathcal{G}}_{F(\sqrt{a})}}$, where $F(\sqrt{a})$ is a proper quadratic extension of $F$. We obtain a precise description in the case when $F$ is a pythagorean formally real field and $a=-1$, and show that the $\text{W}$-group of a proper field extension $K/F$ is a subgroup of the $\text{W}$-group of $F$ if and only if $F$ is a formally real pythagorean field and $K=F(\sqrt{-1)}$. This theorem can be viewed as an analogue of the classical Artin-Schreier’s theorem describing fields fixed by finite subgroups of absolute Galois groups. We also obtain precise results in the case when $a$ is a double-rigid element in $F$. Some of these results carry over to the general setting.