Cohomological Mackey functors in number theory

We prove relations between the evaluations of cohomological Mackey functors over complete discrete valuation rings or fields and apply this to Mackey functors that arise naturally in number theory. This provides relations between λ- and μ-invariants in Iwasawa theory, between Mordell-Weil groups, Shafarevich-Tate groups, Selmer groups and zeta functions of elliptic curves, and between ideal class groups and regulators of number fields.     

Explicit Heegner points: Kolyvagin's conjecture and non-trivial elements in the Shafarevich-Tate group

Kolyvagin used Heegner points to associate a system of cohomology classes to an elliptic curve over Q and conjectured that the system contains a non-trivial class. His conjecture has profound implications on the structure of Selmer groups. We provide new computational and theoretical evidence for Kolyvagin's conjecture. More precisely, we explicitly approximate Heegner points over ring class fields and use these points to give evidence for the conjecture for specific elliptic curves of rank two. We explain how Kolyvagin's conjecture implies that if the analytic rank of an elliptic curve is at least two then the Zp-corank of the corresponding Selmer group is at least two as well. We also use explicitly computed Heegner points to produce non-trivial classes in the Shafarevich-Tate group.     

p-Adic liftings of the supersingular j-invariants and j-zeros of certain Eisenstein series

Let p>3 be a prime. We consider j-zeros of Eisenstein series Ek of weights k=p−1+Mpa(p²−1) with M,a?0 as elements of . If M=0, the j-zeros of Ep−1 belong to Qp(ζp²−1) by Hensel's lemma. Call these j-zeros p-adic liftings of supersingular j-invariants. We show that for every such lifting u there is a j-zero r of Ek such that ordp(r−u)>a. Applications of this result are considered. The proof is based on the techniques of formal groups.     

Complex multiplication and parity in Iwasawa theory

We give a new, somewhat elementary method for proving parity results about Iwasawa-theoretic Selmer groups and apply our method to certain Galois representations which are not self-dual. The main result is essentially that Iwasawa's λ-invariants for these representations over dihedral -extensions are even. Our approach is a specialization argument and does not make use of Neková?'s deformation-theoretic Cassels pairing, though Neková?'s theory implies our results. Examples of the representations we consider arise naturally in the study of CM abelian varieties defined over the totally real subfield of the reflex field of the CM type. We also discuss connections with “large Selmer rank” in the sense of Mazur-Rubin and give several examples in the context of abelian varieties and modular forms.     

Parity-induced Selmer growth for symplectic, ordinary families

Let p be an odd prime, and let K/K₀ be a quadratic extension of number fields. Denote by K_± the maximal Zp-power extensions of K that are Galois over K₀, with K₊ abelian over K₀ and K₋ dihedral over K₀. In this paper we show that for a Galois representation over K₀ satisfying certain hypotheses, if it has odd Selmer rank over K then for one of K_± its Selmer rank over L is bounded below by [L:K] for L ranging over the finite subextensions of K in K_±. Our method of proof generalizes a method of Mazur and Rubin, building upon results of Neková?, and applies to abelian varieties of arbitrary dimension, (self-dual twists of) modular forms of even weight, and (twisted) Hida families.     

Borne uniforme pour les homothéties dans l?image de Galois associée aux courbes elliptiques

Let K be a fixed number field and GK its absolute Galois group. We give a bound C(K), depending only on the degree, the class number and the discriminant of K, such that for any elliptic curve E defined over K and any prime number p strictly larger than C(K), the image of the representation of GK attached to the p-torsion points of E contains a subgroup of homotheties of index smaller than 12.     

Bernoulli-Hurwitz numbers, Wieferich primes and Galois representations

Let K be a quadratic imaginary number field with discriminant DK≠−3,−4 and class number one. Fix a prime p?7 which is unramified in K. Given an elliptic curve A/Q with complex multiplication by K, let be the representation which arises from the action of Galois on the Tate module. Herein it is shown that, for all but finitely many inert primes p, the image of a certain deformation of is “as large as possible”, that is, it is the full inverse image of a Cartan subgroup of SL(2,Zp). If p splits in K, then the same result holds as long as a certain Bernoulli-Hurwitz number is a p-adic unit which, in turn, is equivalent to a prime ideal not being a Wieferich place. The proof rests on the theory of elliptic units of Robert and Kubert-Lang, and on the two-variable main conjecture of Iwasawa theory for quadratic imaginary fields.     

On a refinement of Craig’s lattices

Let p be an odd prime. A family of (p−1)-dimensional over-lattices yielding new record packings for several values of p in the interval [149…3001] is presented. The result is obtained by modifying Craig’s construction and considering conveniently chosen Z-submodules of Q(ζ), where ζ is a primitive pth root of unity. For p≥59, it is shown that the center density of the (p−1)-dimensional lattice in the new family is at least twice the center density of the (p−1)-dimensional Craig lattice.     

On the j-Invariants of the Quadratic Q-Curves

The j-invariants of the quadratic Q-curves without complex multiplicationare studied. Some properties of the norms of these invariantsare shown and a relationship between the field Q(j) and thedegree of an isogeny of the Q-curve to its Galois conjugateis found. In the case when the degree of the isogeny is a primep, some properties of the primes of potentially multiplicativereduction for the Q-curve and of the reduction of j modulo aprime P in Q(j) over p when the Q-curve has potentially goodreduction at P are found.     

Quaternion algebras, Heegner points and the arithmetic of Hida families

Given a newform f, we extend Howard??s results on the variation of Heegner points in the Hida family of f to a general quaternionic setting. More precisely, we build big Heegner points and big Heegner classes in terms of compatible families of Heegner points on towers of Shimura curves. The novelty of our approach, which systematically exploits the theory of optimal embeddings, consists in treating both the case of definite quaternion algebras and the case of indefinite quaternion algebras in a uniform way. We prove results on the size of Neková???s extended Selmer groups attached to suitable big Galois representations and we formulate two-variable Iwasawa main conjectures both in the definite case and in the indefinite case. Moreover, in the definite case we propose refined conjectures à la Greenberg on the vanishing at the critical points of (twists of) the L-functions of the modular forms in the Hida family of f living on the same branch as f.     

Variation of Heegner points in Hida families

Given a weight two modular form f with associated p-adic Galois representation V _f , for certain quadratic imaginary fields K one can construct canonical classes in the Galois cohomology of V _f by taking the Kummer images of Heegner points on the modular abelian variety attached to f. We show that these classes can be interpolated as f varies in a Hida family and construct an Euler system of big Heegner points for Hida’s universal ordinary deformation of V _f . We show that the specialization of this big Euler system to any form in the Hida family is nontrivial, extending results of Cornut and Vatsal from modular forms of weight two and trivial character to all ordinary modular forms, and propose a horizontal nonvanishing conjecture for these cohomology classes. The horizontal nonvanishing conjecture implies, via the theory of Euler systems, a conjecture of Greenberg on the generic ranks of Selmer groups in Hida families.     

On Atkin and Swinnerton-Dyer congruence relations (3)

It is now well known that Hecke operators defined classically act trivially on genuine cuspforms for noncongruence subgroups of SL₂(Z). Atkin and Swinnerton-Dyer speculated the existence of p-adic Hecke operators so that the Fourier coefficients of their eigenfunctions satisfy three-term congruence recursions. In the previous two papers with the same title ([W.C. Li, L. Long, Z. Yang, On Atkin and Swinnerton-Dyer congruence relations, J. Number Theory 113 (1) (2005) 117-148] by W.C. Li, L. Long, Z. Yang and [A.O.L. Atkin, W.C. Li, L. Long, On Atkin and Swinnerton-Dyer congruence relations (2), Math. Ann. 340 (2) (2008) 335-358] by A.O.L. Atkin, W.C. Li, L. Long), the authors have studied two exceptional spaces of noncongruence cuspforms where almost all p-adic Hecke operators can be diagonalized simultaneously or semi-simultaneously. Moreover, it is shown that the l-adic Scholl representations attached to these spaces are modular in the sense that they are isomorphic, up to semisimplification, to the l-adic representations arising from classical automorphic forms.In this paper, we study an infinite family of spaces of noncongruence cuspforms (which includes the cases in [W.C. Li, L. Long, Z. Yang, On Atkin and Swinnerton-Dyer congruence relations, J. Number Theory 113 (1) (2005) 117-148; A.O.L. Atkin, W.C. Li, L. Long, On Atkin and Swinnerton-Dyer congruence relations (2), Math. Ann. 340 (2) (2008) 335-358]) under a general setting. It is shown that for each space in this family there exists a fixed basis so that the Fourier coefficients of each basis element satisfy certain weaker three-term congruence recursions. For a new case in this family, we will exhibit that the attached l-adic Scholl representations are modular and the p-adic Hecke operators can be diagonalized semi-simultaneously.     

Cohomological dimension of Markov compacta

We rephrase Gromov's definition of Markov compacta, introduce a subclass of Markov compacta defined by one building block and study cohomological dimensions of these compacta. We show that for a Markov compactum X, dimZ(p)X=dimQX for all but finitely many primes p where Z(p) is the localization of Z at p. We construct Markov compacta of arbitrarily large dimension having dimQX=1 as well as Markov compacta of arbitrary large rational dimension with dimZpX=1 for a given p.     

Iwasawa μ-invariants of elliptic curves and their symmetric powers

In an earlier paper we considered the effects that finite submodules can have on μ-invariants of Selmer groups. In this paper we examine some of the consequences of that theory to elliptic curves and their symmetric powers. One main result is the construction of an isogeny class of elliptic curves, all of which have positive μ-invariants. A second result is a connection between the behaviors of μ-invariants associated with the symmetric powers of an elliptic curve over , and the behavior of the μ-invariant of that elliptic curve over different extensions of .     

The kernel unipotent conjecture and the vanishing of Massey products for odd rigid fields

A major difficult problem in Galois theory is the characterization of profinite groups which are realizable as absolute Galois groups of fields. Recently the Kernel n-Unipotent Conjecture and the Vanishing n  -Massey Conjecture for n≥3$n\ge 3$ were formulated. These conjectures evolved in the last forty years as a byproduct of the application of topological methods to Galois cohomology. We show that both of these conjectures are true for odd rigid fields. This is the first case of a significant family of fields where both of the conjectures are verified besides fields whose Galois groups of p-maximal extensions are free pro-p-groups. We also prove the Kernel Unipotent Conjecture for Demushkin groups of rank 2, and establish various filtration results for free pro-p-groups, provide examples of pro-p-groups which do not have the kernel n-unipotent property, compare various Zassenhaus filtrations with the descending p-central series and establish new type of automatic Galois realization.     

Torsion points on some abelian surfaces of CM-type

Let A be a two-dimensional abelian variety of CM-type defined over Q, which is not simple over C. Let p be a prime number. We show that torsion points of A(Q) of prime order p are possible only for p≦7.     

Max-min of polynomials and exponential diophantine equations

In this paper we study the maximum-minimum value of polynomials over the integer ring Z. In particular, we prove the following: Let F(x,y) be a polynomial over Z. Then, maxx∈Z(T)miny∈Z|F(x,y)|=o(T1/2) as T→∞ if and only if there is a positive integer B such that maxx∈Zminy∈Z|F(x,y)|?B. We then apply these results to exponential diophantine equations and obtain that: Let f(x,y), g(x,y) and G(x,y) be polynomials over Q, G(x,y)∈(Q[x,y]−Q[x])∪Q, and b a positive integer. For every α in Z, there is a y in Z such that f(α,y)+g(α,y)bG(α,y)=0 if and only if for every integer α there exists an h(x)∈Q[x] such that f(x,h(x))+g(x,h(x))bG(x,h(x))≡0, and h(α)∈Z.     

Dedekind symbols with plus reciprocity laws

Dedekind symbols are generalizations of the classical Dedekind sums (symbols), and the symbols are determined uniquely by their reciprocity laws, up to an additive constant. For Dedekind symbols D and F, we can consider two kinds of reciprocity laws: D(p,q)−D(q,−p)=R(p,q) and F(p,q)+F(q,−p)=T(p,q). The first type, which we call minus reciprocity laws, have been studied extensively. On the contrary, the second type, which we call plus reciprocity laws, have not yet been investigated. In this note we study fundamental properties of Dedekind symbols with plus reciprocity law F(p,q)+F(q,−p)=T(p,q). We will see that there is a fundamental difference between Dedekind symbols with minus and plus reciprocity laws.     

Potentially good reduction of Barsotti-Tate groups

Let R be a complete discrete valuation ring of mixed characteristic (0,p) with perfect residue field, K the fraction field of R. Suppose G is a Barsotti-Tate group (p-divisible group) defined over K which acquires good reduction over a finite extension K^′ of K. We prove that there exists a constant c?2 which depends on the absolute ramification index e(K^′/Qp) and the height of G such that G has good reduction over K if and only if G[pc] can be extended to a finite flat group scheme over R. For abelian varieties with potentially good reduction, this result generalizes Grothendieck's “p-adic Néron-Ogg-Shafarevich criterion” to finite level. We use methods that can be generalized to study semi-stable p-adic Galois representations with general Hodge-Tate weights, and in particular leads to a proof of a conjecture of Fontaine and gives a constant c as above that is independent of the height of G.     

Torsion points on elliptic curves over function fields and a theorem of Igusa

If F   is a global function field of characteristic p>3$p>3$, we employ Tate's theory of analytic uniformization to give an alternative proof of a theorem of Igusa describing the image of the natural Galois representation on torsion points of non-isotrivial elliptic curves defined over F. Along the way, using basic properties of Faltings heights of elliptic curves, we offer a detailed proof of the function field analogue of a classical theorem of Shafarevich according to which there are only finitely many F-isomorphism classes of admissible elliptic curves defined over F with good reduction outside a fixed finite set of places of F. We end the paper with an application to torsion points rational over abelian extensions of F.