Hilbert's Irreducibility for $\mathbb{G}_m$

Abstract

Let $K$ be a number field and $S$ a finite set of non-archimedean places. Write $\mathcal{O}_S$ for the ring of $S$-integers of $K$ and $\mathcal{O}_S^\times$ for its unit group. Let $\pi : X \rightarrow \mathbb{P}^1$ be a morphism of (irreducible) curves defined over $K$, and denote by $\operatorname{Red}(\pi)$ the set of $\alpha \in \mathbb{P}^1(K)$ such that the fibre $\pi^{-1}(\alpha)$ is reducible (i.e. the Galois action on the fibre is intransitive). Hilbert's Irreducibility Theorem asserts that $\operatorname{Red}(\pi)$ is contained in a thin subset of $\mathbb{P}^1(K)$. In this paper we give an explicit description of $\mathcal{O}_S^\times \cap \operatorname{Red}(\pi)$. As an application we prove the following result inspired by a classical theorem of P\'{o}lya and Siegel. Let $p_1,\dotsc,p_s$ be rational primes. Let $f \in \mathbb{Q}[x]$.Then the following are equivalent: - There are infinitely many tuples $(e_1,\dotsc,e_s) \in \mathbb{N}^s$ such that the polynomial $f(x)-p_1^{e_1} \cdots p_s^{e_s}$ is reducible. - $f=p_1^{a_1} \cdots p_s^{a_s} g^\ell$ (with $\ell$ prime) or $f=-4 p_1^{a_1} \cdots p_s^{a_s} g^4$ for some $g \in \mathbb{Q}[x]$ and some integers $a_1,\dotsc,a_s$.