arXiv subjects

Ben Wieland

Publications and source records attributed to Ben Wieland.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2014

Irrationality measure and lower bounds for pi(x)

In this note we show how the irrationality measure of $ζ(s) = π^2/6$ can be used to obtain explicit lower bounds for $π(x)$. We analyze the key ingredients of the proof of the finiteness of the irrationality measure, and show how to obtain good lower bounds for $π(x)$ from these arguments as well. While versions of some of the results here have been done by other authors, our arguments are more elementary and yield a lower bound of order $x/\log x$ as a natural boundary.

math.NT↗

arXiv2013

Abelian quotients of subgroups of the mapping class group and higher Prym representations

A well-known conjecture asserts that the mapping class group of a surface (possibly with punctures/boundary) does not virtually surject onto $\Z$ if the genus of the surface is large. We prove that if this conjecture holds for some genus, then it also holds for all larger genera. We also prove that if there is a counterexample to this conjecture, then there must be a counterexample of a particularly simple form. We prove these results by relating the conjecture to a family of linear representations of the mapping class group that we call the higher Prym representations. They generalize the classical symplectic representation.

math.GT↗

arXiv2008

Iterated homotopy fixed points for the Lubin-Tate spectrum, with an Appendix: An example of a discrete G-spectrum that is not hyperfibrant

When G is a profinite group and H and K are closed subgroups, with H normal in K, it is not known, in general, how to form the iterated homotopy fixed point spectrum (Z^{hH})^{hK/H}, where Z is a continuous G-spectrum and all group actions are to be continuous. However, we show that, if G=G_n, the extended Morava stabilizer group, and Z=L_{K(n)}(E_n \wedge X), where L_{K(n)} is Bousfield localization with respect to Morava K-theory, E_n is the Lubin-Tate spectrum, and X is any spectrum with trivial G_n-action, then the iterated homotopy fixed point spectrum can always be constructed. Also, we show that (E_n^{hH})^{hK/H} is just E_n^{hK}, extending a result of Devinatz and Hopkins.

math.AT↗

arXiv2004

Plethystic algebra

The notion of a Z-algebra has a non-linear analogue, whose purpose it is to control operations on commutative rings rather than linear operations on abelian groups. These plethories can also be considered non-linear generalizations of cocommutative bialgebras. We establish a number of category-theoretic facts about plethories and their actions, including a Tannaka-Krein-style reconstruction theorem. We show that the classical ring of Witt vectors, with all its concomitant structure, can be understood in a formula-free way in terms of a plethystic version of an affine blow-up applied to the plethory generated by the Frobenius map. We also discuss the linear and infinitesimal structure of plethories and explain how this gives Bloch's Frobenius operator on the de Rham-Witt complex.

math.AC↗