arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Carlo Pagano.
In this article we study the three-variable unit equation $x + y + z = 1$ to be solved in $x, y, z \in \mathcal{O}_S^\ast$, where $\mathcal{O}_S^\ast$ is the $S$-unit group of some global function field. We give upper bounds for the height of solutions and the number of solutions. We also apply these techniques to study the Fermat surface $x^N + y^N + z^N = 1$.
We extend the Cohen-Lenstra heuristics to the setting of ray class groups of imaginary quadratic number fields, viewed as exact sequences of Galois modules. By asymptotically estimating the mixed moments governing the distribution of a cohomology map, we prove these conjectures in the case of $4$-ranks.
Let $K$ be a field of characteristic $p > 0$ and let $G$ be a subgroup of $K^\ast \times K^\ast$ with $\text{dim}_\mathbb{Q}(G \otimes_\mathbb{Z} \mathbb{Q}) = r$ finite. Then Voloch proved that the equation $ax + by = 1 \text{ in } (x, y) \in G$ for given $a, b \in K^\ast$ has at most $p^r(p^r + p - 2)/(p - 1)$ solutions $(x, y) \in G$, unless $(a, b)^n \in G$ for some $n \geq 1$. Voloch also conjectured that this upper bound can be replaced by one depending only on $r$. Our main theorem answers this conjecture positively. We prove that there are at most $31 \cdot 19^{r + 1}$ solutions $(x, y)$ unless $(a, b)^n \in G$ for some $n \geq 1$ with $(n, p) = 1$. During the proof of our main theorem we generalize the work of Beukers and Schlickewei to positive characteristic, which heavily relies on diophantine approximation methods. This is a surprising feat on its own, since usually these methods can not be transferred to positive characteristic.