Unramified extensions over low degree number fields

For various nonsolvable groups G, we prove the existence of extensions of the rationals Q with Galois group G and inertia groups of order dividing ge(G), where ge(G) is the smallest exponent of a generating set for G. For these groups G, this gives the existence of number fields of degree ge(G) with an unramified G-extension. The existence of such extensions over Q for all finite groups would imply that, for every finite group G, there exists a quadratic number field admitting an unramified G-extension, as was recently conjectured. We also provide further evidence for the existence of such extensions for all finite groups, by proving their existence when Q is replaced with a function field k(t) where k is an ample field.