The aim of this paper is to study the group of elliptic units of a cyclic extension $L$ of an imaginary quadratic field $K$ such that the degree $[L:K]$ is a power of an odd prime $p$. We construct an explicit root of the usual top generator of this group and we use it to obtain an annihilation result of the $p$-Sylow subgroup of the ideal class group of $L$.

For a finite abelian $p$-group $A$ of rank $d=\dim A/pA$, let $\mathbb{M}_A := \log_p |A|^{1/d}$ be its \emph{(logarithmic) mean exponent}. We study the behavior of the mean exponent of $p$-class groups in pro-$p$ towers $\mathrm{L}/K$ of number fields. Via a combination of results from analytic and algebraic number theory, we construct infinite tamely ramified pro-$p$ towers in which the mean exponent of $p$-class groups remains bounded. Several explicit examples are given with $p=2$. Turning to group theory, we introduce an invariant $\underline{\mathbb{M}}(G)$ attached to a finitely generated pro-$p$ group $G$; when $G=\operatorname{Gal}(\mathrm{L}/\mathrm{K})$, where $\mathrm{L}$ is the Hilbert $p$-class field tower of a number field $K$, $\underline{\mathbb{M}}(G)$ measures the asymptotic behavior of the mean exponent of $p$-class groups inside $\mathrm{L}/\mathrm{K}$. We compare and contrast the behavior of this invariant in analytic versus non-analytic groups. We exploit the interplay of group-theoretical and number-theoretical perspectives on this invariant and explore some open questions that arise as a result, which may be of independent interest in group theory.

We explicitly find regulators of an infinite family $\{L_m\}$ of the simplest quartic function fields with a parameter $m$ in a polynomial ring $\mathbb{F}_q [t]$, where $\mathbb{F}_q$ is the finite field of order $q$ with odd characteristic. In fact, this infinite family of the simplest quartic function fields are subfields of maximal real subfields of cyclotomic function fields, where they have the same conductors. We obtain a lower bound on the class numbers of the family $\{L_m\}$ and some result on the divisibility of the divisor class numbers of cyclotomic function fields which contain $\{L_m\}$ as their subfields. Furthermore, we find an explicit criterion for the characterization of splitting types of all the primes of the rational function field $\mathbb{F}_q (t)$ in $\{L_m\}$.

We construct unconditionally several families of number fields with the largest possible class numbers. They are number fields of degree 4 and 5 whose Galois closures have the Galois group $A_4, S_4$ and $S_5$. We first construct families of number fields with smallest regulators, and by using the strong Artin conjecture and applying zero density result of Kowalski-Michel, we choose subfamilies of $L$-functions which are zero free close to 1. For these subfamilies, the $L$-functions have the extremal value at $s=1$, and by the class number formula, we obtain the extreme class numbers.

We give an explicit treatment of cubic function fields of characteristic at least five. This includes an efficient technique for converting such a field into standard form, formulae for the field discriminant and the genus, simple necessary and sufficient criteria for non-singularity of the defining curve, and a characterization of all triangular integral bases. Our main result is a description of the signature of any rational place in a cubic extension that involves only the defining curve and the order of the base field. All these quantities only require simple polynomial arithmetic as well as a few square-free polynomial factorizations and, in some cases, square and cube root extraction modulo an irreducible polynomial. We also illustrate why and how signature computation plays an important role in computing the class number of the function field. This in turn has applications to the study of zeros of zeta functions of function fields.

To every pair of algebraic number fields with isomorphic Witt rings one can associate a number, called the {\it minimum number of wild primes}. Earlier investigations have established lower bounds for this number. In this paper an analysis is presented that expresses the minimum number of wild primes in terms of the number of wild dyadic primes. This formula not only gives immediate upper bounds, but can be considered to be an exact formula for the minimum number of wild primes.

We provide the reader with a uniform approach for obtaining various useful explicit upper bounds on residues of Dedekind zeta functions of numbers fields and on absolute values of values at $s=1$ of $L$-series associated with primitive characters on ray class groups of number fields. To make it quite clear to the reader how useful such bounds are when dealing with class number problems for $\CM$-fields, we deduce an upper bound for the root discriminants of the normal $\CM$-fields with (relative) class number one.

We give upper bounds on the modulus of the values at $s=1$ of Artin $L$-functions of abelian extensions unramified at all the infinite places. We also explain how we can compute better upper bounds and explain how useful such computed bounds are when dealing with class number problems for $\CM$-fields. For example, we will reduce the determination of all the non-abelian normal $\CM$-fields of degree $24$ with Galois group $\SL_2(F_3)$ (the special linear group over the finite field with three elements) which have class number one to the computation of the class numbers of $23$ such $\CM$-fields.

A formula is obtained for the rank of the $2$-Sylow subgroup of the ideal class group of imaginary bicyclic biquadratic fields. This formula involves the number of primes that ramify in the field, the ranks of the $2$-Sylow subgroups of the ideal class groups of the quadratic subfields and the rank of a $Z_2$-matrix determined by Legendre symbols involving pairs of ramified primes. As applications, all subfields with both $2$-class and class group $Z_2 \times Z_2$ are determined. The final results assume the completeness of D.~A.~Buell's list of imaginary fields with small class numbers.