Quasisymmetric groups

One of the first problems in the theory of quasisymmetric and convergence groups was to investigate whether every quasisymmetric group that acts on the sphere , , is a quasisymmetric conjugate of a Möbius group that acts on . This was shown to be true for by Sullivan and Tukia, and it was shown to be wrong for by Tukia. It also follows from the work of Martin and of Freedman and Skora. In this paper we settle the case of by showing that any -quasisymmetric group is -quasisymmetrically conjugated to a Möbius group. The constant is a function .

     

Parametrization of local CR automorphisms by finite jets and applications

For any real-analytic hypersurface , which does not contain any complex-analytic subvariety of positive dimension, we show that for every point the local real-analytic CR automorphisms of fixing can be parametrized real-analytically by their jets at . As a direct application, we derive a Lie group structure for the topological group . Furthermore, we also show that the order of the jet space in which the group embeds can be chosen to depend upper-semicontinuously on . As a first consequence, it follows that given any compact real-analytic hypersurface in , there exists an integer depending only on such that for every point germs at of CR diffeomorphisms mapping into another real-analytic hypersurface in are uniquely determined by their -jet at that point. Another consequence is the following boundary version of H. Cartan's uniqueness theorem: given any bounded domain with smooth real-analytic boundary, there exists an integer depending only on such that if is a proper holomorphic mapping extending smoothly up to near some point with the same -jet at with that of the identity mapping, then necessarily .

Our parametrization theorem also holds for the stability group of any essentially finite minimal real-analytic CR manifold of arbitrary codimension. One of the new main tools developed in the paper, which may be of independent interest, is a parametrization theorem for invertible solutions of a certain kind of singular analytic equations, which roughly speaking consists of inverting certain families of parametrized maps with singularities.

     

Sieving by large integers and covering systems of congruences

An old question of Erdos asks if there exists, for each number , a finite set of integers greater than and residue classes for whose union is . We prove that if is bounded for such a covering of the integers, then the least member of is also bounded, thus confirming a conjecture of Erdos and Selfridge. We also prove a conjecture of Erdos and Graham, that, for each fixed number , the complement in of any union of residue classes , for distinct , has density at least for sufficiently large. Here is a positive number depending only on . Either of these new results implies another conjecture of Erdos and Graham, that if is a finite set of moduli greater than , with a choice for residue classes for which covers , then the largest member of cannot be . We further obtain stronger forms of these results and establish other information, including an improvement of a related theorem of Haight.

     

Représentations -adiques et normes universelles I. Le cas cristallin

Let be a crystalline -adic representation of the absolute Galois group of an finite unramified extension of , and let be a lattice of stable by . We prove the following result: Let be the maximal sub-representation of with Hodge-Tate weights strictly positive and . Then, the projective limit of is equal up to torsion to the projective limit of . So its rank over the Iwasawa algebra is .

     

Compatibility of local and global Langlands correspondences

We prove the compatibility of local and global Langlands correspondences for , which was proved up to semisimplification in M. Harris and R. Taylor, The Geometry and Cohomology of Some Simple Shimura Varieties, Ann. of Math. Studies 151, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton-Oxford, 2001. More precisely, for the -dimensional -adic representation of the Galois group of an imaginary CM-field attached to a conjugate self-dual regular algebraic cuspidal automorphic representation of , which is square integrable at some finite place, we show that Frobenius semisimplification of the restriction of to the decomposition group of a place of not dividing corresponds to by the local Langlands correspondence. If is square integrable for some finite place we deduce that is irreducible. We also obtain conditional results in the case .

     

Hilbert's Tenth Problem and Mazur's Conjecture for large subrings of

We give the first examples of infinite sets of primes such that Hilbert's Tenth Problem over has a negative answer. In fact, we can take to be a density 1 set of primes. We show also that for some such there is a punctured elliptic curve over such that the topological closure of in has infinitely many connected components.

     

Conformal restriction: The chordal case

We characterize and describe all random subsets of a given simply connected planar domain (the upper half-plane , say) which satisfy the ``conformal restriction' property, i.e., connects two fixed boundary points ( and , say) and the law of conditioned to remain in a simply connected open subset of is identical to that of , where is a conformal map from onto with and . The construction of this family relies on the stochastic Loewner evolution processes with parameter and on their distortion under conformal maps. We show in particular that SLE is the only random simple curve satisfying conformal restriction and we relate it to the outer boundaries of planar Brownian motion and SLE.     

Minkowski's conjecture, well-rounded lattices and topological dimension

Let be the diagonal subgroup, and identify with the space of unimodular lattices in . In this paper we show that the closure of any bounded orbit

meets the set of well-rounded lattices. This assertion implies Minkowski's conjecture for and yields bounds for the density of algebraic integers in totally real sextic fields.

The proof is based on the theory of topological dimension, as reflected in the combinatorics of open covers of and .

     

On intervals in subgroup lattices of finite groups

We investigate the question of which finite lattices are isomorphic to the lattice of all overgroups of a subgroup in a finite group . We show that the structure of is highly restricted if is disconnected. We define the notion of a ``signalizer lattice" in and show for suitable disconnected lattices , if is minimal subject to being isomorphic to or its dual, then either is almost simple or admits a signalizer lattice isomorphic to or its dual. We use this theory to answer a question in functional analysis raised by Watatani.

     

Pythagoras numbers of fields

A field of characteristic is said to have finite Pythagoras number if there exists an integer such that each nonzero sum of squares in can be written as a sum of squares, in which case the Pythagoras number of is defined to be the least such integer. As a consequence of Pfister's results on the level of fields, of a nonformally real field is always of the form or , and all integers of such type can be realized as Pythagoras numbers of nonformally real fields. Prestel showed that values of the form , , and can always be realized as Pythagoras numbers of formally real fields. We will show that in fact to every integer there exists a formally real field with . As a refinement, we will show that if and are integers such that , then there exists a uniquely ordered field with and (resp. ), where (resp. ) denotes the supremum of the dimensions of anisotropic forms over which are torsion in the Witt ring of (resp. which are indefinite with respect to each ordering on ).

     

On a correspondence between cuspidal representations of

Let be an irreducible, automorphic, self-dual, cuspidal representation of , where is the adele ring of a number field . Assume that has a pole at and that . Given a nontrivial character of , we construct a nontrivial space of genuine and globally -generic cusp forms on -the metaplectic cover of . is invariant under right translations, and it contains all irreducible, automorphic, cuspidal (genuine) and -generic representations of , which lift (``functorially, with respect to ") to . We also present a local counterpart. Let be an irreducible, self-dual, supercuspidal representation of , where is a -adic field. Assume that has a pole at . Given a nontrivial character of , we construct an irreducible, supercuspidal (genuine) -generic representation of , such that has a pole at , and we prove that is the unique representation of satisfying these properties.

     

Integral motives and special values of zeta functions

For each field , we define a category of rationally decomposed mixed motives with -coefficients. When is finite, we show that the category is Tannakian, and we prove formulas relating the behaviour of zeta functions near integers to certain groups.

     

Resultants and Chow forms via exterior syzygies

Given a sheaf on a projective space , we define a sequence of canonical and effectively computable Chow complexes on the Grassmannians of planes in , generalizing the well-known Beilinson monad on . If the sheaf has dimension , then the Chow form of the associated -cycle is the determinant of the Chow complex on the Grassmannian of planes of codimension . Using the theory of vector bundles and the canonical nature of the complexes, we are able to give explicit determinantal and Pfaffian formulas for resultants in some cases where no polynomial formulas were known. For example, the Horrocks-Mumford bundle gives rise to a polynomial formula for the resultant of five homogeneous forms of degree eight in five variables.

     

A solution to the L space problem

In this paper I will construct a non-separable hereditarily Lindelöf space (L space) without any additional axiomatic assumptions. The constructed space is a subspace of where is the unit circle. It is shown to have a number of properties which may be of additional interest. For instance it is shown that the closure in of any uncountable subset of contains a canonical copy of .

I will also show that there is a function such that if are uncountable and , then there are in and respectively with . Previously it was unknown whether such a function existed even if was replaced by . Finally, I will prove that there is no basis for the uncountable regular Hausdorff spaces of cardinality .

The results all stem from the analysis of oscillations of coherent sequences of finite-to-one functions. I expect that the methods presented will have other applications as well.

     

Presentations of finite simple groups: A quantitative approach

There is a constant such that all nonabelian finite simple groups of rank over , with the possible exception of the Ree groups , have presentations with at most generators and relations and total length at most . As a corollary, we deduce a conjecture of Holt: there is a constant such that for every finite simple group , every prime and every irreducible -module .

     

Heegaard surfaces and measured laminations, II: Non-Haken 3-manifolds

A famous example of Casson and Gordon shows that a Haken 3-manifold can have an infinite family of irreducible Heegaard splittings with different genera. In this paper, we prove that a closed non-Haken 3-manifold has only finitely many irreducible Heegaard splittings, up to isotopy. This is much stronger than the generalized Waldhausen conjecture. Another immediate corollary is that for any irreducible non-Haken 3-manifold , there is a number such that any two Heegaard splittings of are equivalent after at most stabilizations.

     

Universal characteristic factors and Furstenberg averages

Let be an ergodic probability measure-preserving system. For a natural number we consider the averages

where , and are integers. A factor of is characteristic for averaging schemes of length (or -characteristic) if for any nonzero distinct integers , the limiting behavior of the averages in (*) is unaltered if we first project the functions onto the factor. A factor of is a -universal characteristic factor (-u.c.f.) if it is a -characteristic factor, and a factor of any -characteristic factor. We show that there exists a unique -u.c.f., and it has the structure of a -step nilsystem, more specifically an inverse limit of -step nilflows. Using this we show that the averages in (*) converge in . This provides an alternative proof to the one given by Host and Kra.

     

Independence of of monodromy groups

Let be a smooth curve over a finite field of characteristic , let be a number field, and let be an -compatible system of lisse sheaves on the curve . For each place of not lying over , the -component of the system is a lisse -sheaf on , whose associated arithmetic monodromy group is an algebraic group over the local field . We use Serre's theory of Frobenius tori and Lafforgue's proof of Deligne's conjecture to show that when the -compatible system is semisimple and pure of some integer weight, the isomorphism type of the identity component of these monodromy groups is ``independent of '. More precisely, after replacing by a finite extension, there exists a connected split reductive algebraic group over the number field such that for every place of not lying over , the identity component of the arithmetic monodromy group of is isomorphic to the group with coefficients extended to the local field .

     

On the number of zero-patterns of a sequence of polynomials

Let be a sequence of polynomials of degree in variables over a field . The zero-pattern of at is the set of those ( ) for which . Let denote the number of zero-patterns of as ranges over . We prove that for and

for . For , these bounds are optimal within a factor of . The bound () improves the bound proved by J. Heintz (1983) using the dimension theory of affine varieties. Over the field of real numbers, bounds stronger than Heintz's but slightly weaker than () follow from results of J. Milnor (1964), H.E.  Warren (1968), and others; their proofs use techniques from real algebraic geometry. In contrast, our half-page proof is a simple application of the elementary ``linear algebra bound'.

Heintz applied his bound to estimate the complexity of his quantifier elimination algorithm for algebraically closed fields. We give several additional applications. The first two establish the existence of certain combinatorial objects. Our first application, motivated by the ``branching program' model in the theory of computing, asserts that over any field , most graphs with vertices have projective dimension (the implied constant is absolute). This result was previously known over the reals (Pudlák-Rödl). The second application concerns a lower bound in the span program model for computing Boolean functions. The third application, motivated by a paper by N. Alon, gives nearly tight Ramsey bounds for matrices whose entries are defined by zero-patterns of a sequence of polynomials. We conclude the paper with a number of open problems.

     

Isoperimetric inequalities in crystallography

Given a cubic space group (viewed as a finite group of isometries of the torus ), we obtain sharp isoperimetric inequalities for -invariant regions. These inequalities depend on the minimum number of points in an orbit of and on the largest Euler characteristic among nonspherical -symmetric surfaces minimizing the area under volume constraint (we also give explicit estimates of this second invariant for the various crystallographic cubic groups ). As an example, we prove that any surface dividing into two equal volumes with the same (orientation-preserving) symmetries as the A. Schoen minimal Gyroid has area at least (the conjectured minimizing surface in this case is the Gyroid itself whose area is ).