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Jason P. Bell

Publications and source records attributed to Jason P. Bell.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv2016

On the Medvedev-Scanlon Conjecture for Minimal Threefolds of Non-Negative Kodaira Dimension

Motivated by work of Zhang from the early `90s, Medvedev and Scanlon formulated the following conjecture. Let $K$ be an algebraically closed field of characteristic $0$ and let $X$ be a quasiprojective variety defined over $K$ endowed with a dominant rational self-map $Φ$. Then there exists a point $α\in X(K)$ with Zariski dense orbit under $Φ$ if and only if $Φ$ preserves no nontrivial rational fibration, i.e., there exists no non-constant rational function $f\in K(X)$ such that $Φ^*(f)=f$. The Medvedev-Scanlon conjecture holds when $K$ is uncountable. The case where $K$ is countable (e.g., $K=\overline{\mathbb{Q}}$) is much more difficult; here the conjecture has only been proved in a small number of special cases. In this paper we show that the Medvedev-Scanlon conjecture holds for all varieties of positive Kodaira dimension, and explore the case of Kodaira dimension $0$. Our results are most complete in dimension $3$.

math.AG↗
arXiv2016

Power Series with Coefficients from a Finite Set

We prove in this paper that a multivariate D-finite power series with coefficients from a finite set is rational. This generalizes a rationality theorem of van der Poorten and Shparlinski in 1996.

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arXiv2016

Algebraic independence of $G$-functions and congruences "à la Lucas"

We develop a new method for proving algebraic independence of $G$-functions. Our approach rests on the following observation: $G$-functions do not always come with a single linear differential equation, but also sometimes with an infinite family of linear difference equations associated with the Frobenius that are obtained by reduction modulo prime ideals. When these linear difference equations have order one, the coefficients of the $G$-function satisfy congruences reminiscent of a classical theorem of Lucas on binomial coefficients. We use this to derive a Kolchin-like algebraic independence criterion. We show the relevance of this criterion by proving, using p-adic tools, that many classical families of $G$-functions turn out to satisfy congruences "à la Lucas".

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arXiv2015

Transcendence tests for Mahler functions

We give two tests for transcendence of Mahler functions. For our first, we introduce the notion of the eigenvalue $λ_F$ of a Mahler function $F(z)$, and develop a quick test for the transcendence of $F(z)$ over $\mathbb{C}(z)$, which is determined by the value of the eigenvalue $λ_F$. While our first test is quick and applicable for a large class of functions, our second test, while a bit slower than our first, is universal; it depends on the rank of a certain Hankel matrix determined by the initial coefficients of $F(z)$. We note that these are the first transcendence tests for Mahler functions of arbitrary degree. Several examples and applications are given.

math.NT↗
arXiv2015

Some finiteness results on monogenic orders in positive characteristic

This work is motivated by the papers [EG85] and [Ngu15] in which the following two problems are solved. Let $\mathcal{O}$ is a finitely generated $\mathbb{Z}$-algebra that is an integrally closed domain of characteristic zero, consider the following problems: (A) Fix $s$ that is integral over $\mathcal{O}$, describe all $t$ such that $\mathcal{O}[s]=\mathcal{O}[t]$. (B) Fix $s$ and $t$ that are integral over $\mathcal{O}$, describe all pairs $(m,n)\in\mathbb{N}^2$ such that $\mathcal{O}[s^m]=\mathcal{O}[t^n]$. In this paper, we solve these problems and provide a uniform bound for a certain "discriminant form equation" that is closely related to Problem (A) when $\mathcal{O}$ has characteristic $p>0$. While our general strategy roughly follows [EG85] and [Ngu15], many new delicate issues arise due to the presence of the Frobenius automorphisms $x\mapsto x^p$. Recent advances in unit equations over fields of positive characteristic together with classical results in characteristic zero play an important role in this paper.

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arXiv2015

Free algebras and free groups in Ore extensions and free group algebras in division rings

Let $K$ be a field of characteristic zero, let $σ$ be an automorphism of $K$ and let $δ$ be a $σ$-derivation of $K$. We show that the division ring $D=K(x;σ,δ)$ either has the property that every finitely generated subring satisfies a polynomial identity or $D$ contains a free algebra on two generators over its center. In the case when $K$ is finitely generated over $k$ we then see that for $σ$ a $k$-algebra automorphism of $K$ and $δ$ a $k$-linear derivation of $K$, $K(x;σ)$ having a free subalgebra on two generators is equivalent to $σ$ having infinite order, and $K(x;δ)$ having a free subalgebra is equivalent to $δ$ being nonzero. As an application, we show that if $D$ is a division ring with center $k$ of characteristic zero and $D^*$ contains a solvable subgroup that is not locally abelian-by-finite, then $D$ contains a free $k$-algebra on two generators. Moreover, if we assume that $k$ is uncountable, without any restrictions on the characteristic of $k$, then $D$ contains the $k$-group algebra of the free group of rank two.

math.RA↗
arXiv2015

On Noncommutative Finite Factorization Domains

A domain $R$ is said to have the finite factorization property if every nonzero non-unit element of $R$ has at least one and at most finitely many distinct factorizations up to multiplication of irreducible factors by central units. Let $k$ be an algebraically closed field and let $A$ be a $k$-algebra. We show that if $A$ has an associated graded ring that is a domain with the property that the dimension of each homogeneous component is finite then $A$ is a finite factorization domain. As a corollary, we show that many classes of algebras have the finite factorization property, including Weyl algebras, enveloping algebras of finite-dimensional Lie algebras, quantum affine spaces and shift algebras. This provides a termination criterion for factorization procedures over these algebras. In addition, we give explicit upper bounds on the number of distinct factorizations of an element in terms of data from the filtration.

math.RA↗
arXiv2015

Iterative algebras

Given a finitely generated free monoid $X$ and a morphism $ϕ: X\to X$, we show that one can construct an algebra, which we call an iterative algebra, in a natural way. We show that many ring theoretic properties of iterative algebras can be easily characterized in terms of linear algebra and combinatorial data from the morphism and that, moreover, it is decidable whether or not an iterative algebra has these properties. Finally, we use our construction to answer several questions of Greenfeld, Leroy, Smoktunowicz, and Ziembowski by constructing a primitive graded nilpotent algebra with Gelfand-Kirillov dimension two that is finitely generated as a Lie algebra.

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arXiv2014

Embeddings of quotient division algebras of rings of differential operators

Let $k$ be an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero, let $X$ and $Y$ be smooth irreducible algebraic curves over $k$, and let $D(X)$ and $D(Y)$ denote respectively the quotient division rings of the ring of differential operators of $X$ and $Y$. We show that if there is a $k$-algebra embedding of $D(X)$ into $D(Y)$ then the genus of $X$ must be less than or equal to the genus of $Y$, answering a question of the first-named author and Smoktunowicz.

math.RA↗
arXiv2014

The minimal growth of a $k$-regular sequence

We determine a lower gap property for the growth of an unbounded \(\mathbb{Z}\)-valued \(k\)-regular sequence. In particular, if \(f:\mathbb{N}\to\mathbb{Z}\) is an unbounded \(k\)-regular sequence, we show that there is a constant \(c>0\) such that \(|f(n)|>c\log n\) infinitely often. We end our paper by answering a question of Borwein, Choi, and Coons on the sums of completely multiplicative automatic functions.

math.NT↗
arXiv2014

Growth degree classification for finitely generated semigroups of integer matrices

Let $\mathcal{A}$ be a finite set of $d\times d$ matrices with integer entries and let $m_n(\mathcal{A})$ be the maximum norm of a product of $n$ elements of $\mathcal{A}$. In this paper, we classify gaps in the growth of $m_n(\mathcal{A})$; specifically, we prove that $\lim_{n\to\infty} \log m_n(\mathcal{A})/\log n\in\mathbb{Z}_{\geqslant 0}\cup\{\infty\}.$ This has applications to the growth of regular sequences as defined by Allouche and Shallit.

math.NT↗
arXiv2014

$3x+1$ inverse orbit generating functions almost always have natural boundaries

The $3x+k$ function $T_{k}(n)$ sends $n$ to $(3n+k)/2$ resp. $n/2,$ according as $n$ is odd, resp. even, where $k \equiv \pm 1~(\bmod \, 6)$. The map $T_k(\cdot)$ sends integers to integers, and for $m \ge 1$ let $n \rightarrow m$ mean that $m$ is in the forward orbit of $n$ under iteration of $T_k(\cdot).$ We consider the generating functions $f_{k,m}(z) = \sum_{n>0, n \rightarrow m} z^{n},$ which are holomorphic in the unit disk. We give sufficient conditions on $(k,m)$ for the functions $f_{k, m}(z)$ have the unit circle $\{|z|=1\}$ as a natural boundary to analytic continuation. For the $3x+1$ function these conditions hold for all $m \ge 1$ to show that $f_{1,m}(z)$ has the unit circle as a natural boundary except possibly for $m= 1, 2, 4$ and $8$. The $3x+1$ Conjecture is equivalent to the assertion that $f_{1, m}(z)$ is a rational function of $z$ for the remaining values $m=1,2, 4, 8$.

math.CV↗
arXiv2014

On a dynamical version of a theorem of Rosenlicht

Consider the action of an algebraic group $G$ on an irreducible algebraic variety $X$ all defined over a field $k$. M. Rosenlicht showed that orbits in general position in $X$ can be separated by rational invariants. We prove a dynamical analogue of this theorem, where $G$ is replaced by a semigroup of dominant rational self-maps of $X$. Our semigroup $G$ is not required to have the structure of an algebraic variety and can be of arbitrary cardinality.

math.AG↗
arXiv2014

Differential polynomial rings over rings satisfying a polynomial identity

Let $R$ be a ring satisfying a polynomial identity and let $δ$ be a derivation of $R$. We show that if $N$ is the nil radical of $R$ then $δ(N)\subseteq N$ and the Jacobson radical of $R[x;δ]$ is equal to $N[x;δ]$. As a consequence, we have that if $R$ is locally nilpotent then $R[x;δ]$ is locally nilpotent. This affirmatively answers a question of Smoktunowicz and Ziembowski.

math.RA↗
arXiv2014

The Dixmier-Moeglin equivalence for cocommutative Hopf algebras of finite Gelfand-Kirillov dimension

Let $k$ be an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero and let $H$ be a noetherian cocommutative Hopf algebra over $k$. We show that if $H$ has polynomially bounded growth then $H$ satisfies the Dixmier-Moeglin equivalence. That is, for every prime ideal $P$ in ${\rm Spec}(H)$ we have the equivalences $$P~{\rm primitive}\iff P~{\rm rational}\iff P ~{\rm locally~closed~in}~{\rm Spec}(H).$$ We observe that examples due to Lorenz show that this does not hold without the hypothesis that $H$ have polynomially bounded growth. We conjecture, more generally, that the Dixmier-Moeglin equivalence holds for all finitely generated complex noetherian Hopf algebras of polynomially bounded growth.

math.RA↗
arXiv2014

The Dynamical Mordell-Lang problem

Let X be a Noetherian space, let f be a continuous self-map on X, let Y be a closed subset of X, and let x be a point on X. We show that the set S consisting of all nonnegative integers n such that f^n(x) is in Y is a union of at most finitely many arithmetic progressions along with a set of Banach density zero. In particular, we obtain that given any quasi-projective variety X, any rational self-map map f on X, any subvariety Y of X, and any point x in X whose orbit under f is in the domain of definition for f, the set S is a finite union of arithmetic progressions together with a set of Banach density zero. We prove a similar result for the backward orbit of a point.

math.NT↗
arXiv2013

A Skolem-Mahler-Lech theorem for iterated automorphisms of $K$-algebras

This paper proves a commutative algebraic extension of a generalized Skolem-Mahler-Lech theorem due to the first author. Let $A$ be a finitely generated commutative $K$-algebra over a field of characteristic $0$, and let $σ$ be a $K$-algebra automorphism of $A$. Given ideals $I$ and $J$ of $A$, we show that the set $S$ of integers $m$ such that $σ^m(I) \supseteq J$ is a finite union of complete doubly infinite arithmetic progressions in $m$, up to the addition of a finite set. Alternatively, this result states that for an affine scheme $X$ of finite type over $K$, an automorphism $σ\in {\rm Aut}_K(X)$, and $Y$ and $Z$ any two closed subschemes of $X$, the set of integers $m$ with $σ^m(Z ) \subseteq Y$ is as above. The paper presents examples showing that this result may fail to hold if the affine scheme $X$ is not of finite type, or if $X$ is of finite type but the field $K$ has positive characteristic.

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