Abhyankar places admit local uniformization in any characteristic

We prove that every place P of an algebraic function field F|K of arbitrary characteristic admits local uniformization, provided that the sum of the rational rank of its value group and the transcendence degree of its residue field FP over K is equal to the transcendence degree of F|K, and the extension FP|K is separable. We generalize this result to the case where P dominates a regular local Nagata ring R⊆K of Krull dimension dimR?2, assuming that the valued field (K,vP) is defectless, the factor group vPF/vPK is torsion-free and the extension of residue fields FP|KP is separable. The results also include a form of monomialization.     

Algebras whose right nucleus is a central simple algebra

We generalize Amitsur's construction of central simple algebras over a field F which are split by field extensions possessing a derivation with field of constants F to nonassociative algebras: for every central division algebra D over a field F of characteristic zero there exists an infinite-dimensional unital nonassociative algebra whose right nucleus is D and whose left and middle nucleus are a field extension K of F splitting D, where F is algebraically closed in K.We then give a short direct proof that every p-algebra of degree m, which has a purely inseparable splitting field K of degree m and exponent one, is a differential extension of K and cyclic. We obtain finite-dimensional division algebras over a field F of characteristic $p>0$ whose right nucleus is a division p-algebra.     

On the cohomology of Witt vectors of p-adic integers and a conjecture of Hesselholt

Let K be a complete discrete valued field of characteristic zero with residue field kK of characteristic p>0. Let L/K be a finite Galois extension with Galois group G such that the induced extension of residue fields kL/kK is separable. Hesselholt (2004) [2] conjectured that the pro-abelian group {H¹(G,Wn(OL))}_n∈N is zero, where OL is the ring of integers of L and W(OL) is the ring of Witt vectors in OL w.r.t. the prime p. He partially proved this conjecture for a large class of extensions. In this paper, we prove Hesselholt?s conjecture for all Galois extensions.     

Near-fields and linear transformations of finite fields

A question about near-fields suggests the following problem: If F is a finite field, K is a finite extension of F, and H is a multiplicative subgroup of K¹, describe the F-linear maps φ: K → K which fix F and leave each coset of H invariant. A plausible conjecture would seem to be that φ must be a field automorphism. This is confirmed here in the case that |H| and |F| satisfy a certain numerical relation (and, in particular, when K/F is quadratic). The bulk of the argument consists of showing that an F-linear transformation of K which preserves F-conjugacy is almost always an automorphism.     

Some applications of the Hales-Jewett theorem to field arithmetic

Let K be a field whose absolute Galois group is finitely generated. If K neither finite nor of characteristic 2, then every hyperelliptic curve over K with all of its Weierstrass points defined over K has infinitely many K-points. If, in addition, K is not an algebraic extension of a finite field, then every elliptic curve over K with all of its 2-torsion rational has infinite rank over K. These and similar results are deduced from the Hales-Jewett theorem.     

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.     

Local constancy in families of non-abelian Galois representations

If is a a scheme of finite type over a local field F, and is a proper smooth family, then to each rational point one can assign an extension of the absolute Galois group of F by the geometric fundamental group G of the fibre . If F has uniformiser , and residue characteristic p, we show that the corresponding extension of the absolute Galois group of by the maximal prime to p quotient of G is locally constant in the -adic topology of . We give a similar result in the case of non-proper families, and families over -adic analytic spaces. Received August 14, 1998     

Relative integral bases over a Hilbert class field

Let K be a number field, H its Hilbert class field and L a Galois extension of K containing H. In this paper, we prove that L|H has a relative integral basis (RIB) if the order of G=Gal(L|H) is odd or if the 2-Sylow subgroups of G are not cyclic. If the order of G is even and the 2-Sylow subgroups are cyclic we reduce the problem of the existence of a RIB to a quadratic extension of H.     

Places of algebraic function fields in arbitrary characteristic

We consider the Zariski space of all places of an algebraic function field F|K of arbitrary characteristic and investigate its structure by means of its patch topology. We show that certain sets of places with nice properties (e.g., prime divisors, places of maximal rank, zero-dimensional discrete places) lie dense in this topology. Further, we give several equivalent characterizations of fields that are large, in the sense of F. Pop's Annals paper Embedding problems over large fields. We also study the question whether a field K is existentially closed in an extension field L if L admits a K-rational place. In the appendix, we prove the fact that the Zariski space with the Zariski topology is quasi-compact and that it is a spectral space.     

G-Closed fields and imbeddings of quadratic number fields

A field, K, that has no extensions with Galois group isomorphic to G is called G-closed. It is proved that a finite extension of K admits an infinite number of nonisomorphic extensions with Galois group G. A trinomial of degree n is exhibited with Galois group, the symmetric group of degree n, and with prescribed discriminant. This result is used to show that any quadratic extension of an A_n-closed field admits an extension with Galois group A_n.     

Cube root Ramanujan formulas and elementary Galois theory

The cube root Ramanujan formulas are explained from the point of view of Galois theory. Let F be a cyclic cubic extension of a field K. It is proved that the normal closure over K of a pure cubic extension of F contains a certain pure cubic extension of K. The proposed proof can be generalized to radicals of any prime degree q. In the case where the base field K is the field of rational numbers and the field F is embedded in the cyclotomic extension obtained by adding the pth roots of unity, the corresponding simple radical extension of the field of rational numbers is explicitly constructed. The proof of the main result illustrates Hilbert’s Theorem 90. An example of a particular formula generalizing Ramanujan’s formulas for degree 5 is given. A necessary condition for nested radical expressions of depth 2 to be contained in the normal closure of a pure cubic extension of the field F is given.     

On cubic Galois field extensions

We study Morton's characterization of cubic Galois extensions F/K by a generic polynomial depending on a single parameter s∈K. We show how such an s can be calculated with the coefficients of an arbitrary cubic polynomial over K the roots of which generate F. For K=Q we classify the parameters s and cubic Galois polynomials over Z, respectively, according to the discriminant of the extension field, and we present a simple criterion to decide if two fields given by two s-parameters or defining polynomials are equal or not.     

On the First Galois Cohomology Group of the Algebraic Group SL1(D)

Let A be a central simple algebra over a field F. Denote the reduced norm of A over F by Nrd: A* → F* and its kernel by SL₁(A). For a field extension K of F, we study the first Galois Cohomology group H ¹(K,SL₁(A)) by two methods, valuation theory for division algebras and K-theory. We shall show that this group fails to be stable under purely transcendental extension and formal Laurent series.     

Purely Inseparable Extensions and Ramification Filtrations

In this article, we investigate the shift of Abbes and Saito's ramification filtrations of the absolute Galois group of a complete discrete valuation field of positive characteristic under a purely inseparable extension. We also study a functoriality property for characteristic forms.     

Galois averages

In this paper, we introduce a notion of “Galois average” which allows us to give a suitable answer to the question: how can one extend a finite Galois extension E/F by a prime degree extension N/E to get a Galois extension N/F? Here, N/E is not necessarily a Kummer extension.     

Elementary Abelianp-extensions of algebraic function fields

LetK be a field of characteristicp>0 andF/K be an algebraic function field. We obtain several results on Galois extensionsE/F with an elementary Abelian Galois group of orderp ⁿ.

1. E can be generated overF by some elementy whose minimal polynomial has the specific formT ^pn?T?z.
2. A formula for the genus ofE is given.
3. IfK is finite, then the genus ofE grows much faster than the number of rational points (as [E∶F] → ∞).
4. We present a new example of a function fieldE/K whose gap numbers are nonclassical.

     

A birational anabelian reconstruction theorem for curves over algebraically closed fields in Arbitrary Characteristic

The aim of Bogomolov’s programme is to prove birational anabelian conjectures for function fields K|k of varieties of dimension ≥ 2 over algebraically closed fields. The present article is concerned with the 1-dimensional case. While it is impossible to recover K|k from its absolute Galois group alone, we prove that it can be recovered from the pair (Aut(\(\bar K\)|k), Aut(\(\bar K\)|K)), consisting of the absolute Galois group of K and the larger group of field automorphisms fixing only the base field.     

Infinitesimal group schemes as iterative differential Galois groups

This article is concerned with Galois theory for iterative differential fields (ID-fields) in positive characteristic. More precisely, we consider purely inseparable Picard-Vessiot extensions, because these are the ones having an infinitesimal group scheme as iterative differential Galois group. In this article we prove a necessary and sufficient condition to decide whether an infinitesimal group scheme occurs as Galois group scheme of a Picard-Vessiot extension over a given ID-field or not. In particular, this solves the inverse ID-Galois problem for infinitesimal group schemes. Furthermore, this gives a tool to tell whether all purely inseparable ID-extensions are in fact Picard-Vessiot extensions.     

Fiercely ramified cyclic extensions of p-adic fields with imperfect residue field

We study the ramification of fierce cyclic Galois extensions of a local field K of characteristic zero with a one-dimensional residue field of characteristic p > 0. Using Kato’s theory of the refined Swan conductor, we associate to such an extension a ramification datum, consisting of a sequence of pairs (δ _i , ω _i ), where δ _i is a positive rational number and ω _i a differential form on the residue field of K. Our main result gives necessary and sufficient conditions on such sequences to occur as a ramification datum of a fierce cyclic extension of K.     

Ramification of a finite flat group scheme over a local field

In this paper, we analyze ramification in the sense of Abbes-Saito of a finite flat group scheme over the ring of integers of a complete discrete valuation field of mixed characteristic (0,p). We deduce that its Galois representation depends only on its reduction modulo explicitly computed p-power. We also give a new proof of a theorem of Fontaine on ramification of a finite flat Galois representation, and extend it to the case where the residue field may be imperfect.