Generalized Hilbert fields.
Abstract. Let F be a formally real field. Denote by G(F) and the Grothen-dieck group of quadratic forms over F and its torsion subgroup, respectively. In this paper we study the structure of the factor group . This reduced Grothendieck group is a free Abelian group. The main results of the paper describe some sets of generators for , which in many cases allow us to find a basis for the group. Throughout the paper we use the language of the reduced theory of quadratic forms. In the final part...