Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
Let $v$ be a henselian valuation of any rank of a field $K$ and let $\bar{v}$ be the unique extension of $v$ to a fixed algebraic closure $\overline{K}$ of $K$. In 2005, we studied properties of those pairs $\left( \theta ,\,\alpha \right)$ of elements of $\overline{K}$ with $\left[ K\left( \theta \right):K \right]\,>\,\left[ K\left( \alpha \right):K \right]$ where $\alpha $ is an element of smallest degree over $K$ such that
Such pairs are referred to as distinguished pairs. We use the concept of liftings of irreducible polynomials to give a different characterization of distinguished pairs.