arXiv subjects

Steven R. Groen

Publications and source records attributed to Steven R. Groen.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

On the classification of indecomposable Ekedahl-Oort strata in unitary Shimura varieties, and related Newton polygons

In this paper, we give a complete classification of indecomposable Ekedahl--Oort strata of Shimura varieties associated to the unitary group $\mathsf{GU}(a, b)$ over an odd inert prime. We show that each indecomposable stratum is one of four types: unitary unicycle, unitary bicycle, Serre unicycle, or Serre bicycle; the latter two types are named for a tensor construction of abelian varieties developed by Serre. We provide an algorithm that translates the description of a stratum in terms of words in the alphabet $\{\texttt{f},\texttt{v}\}$ to the corresponding Weyl group coset representative. Finally, using a $p$-adic lift, we construct a `tautological' point in each Ekedahl--Oort stratum, and compute its Newton polygon. As an application, we show that the indecomposable Ekedahl--Oort strata corresponding to unitary unicycles and Serre unicycles always intersect the supersingular locus.

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arXiv2025

Ekedahl-Oort types of $\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$-covers in characteristic $2$

In this article we study the Ekedahl-Oort types of $\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$-Galois covers $\pi:Y \to X$ in characteristic two. When the base curve $X$ is ordinary, we show that the Ekedahl-Oort type of $Y$ is completely determined by the genus of $X$ and the ramification of $\pi$. For a general base curve $X$, we prove bounds on the Ekedahl-Oort depending on the Ekedahl-Oort type of $X$ and the ramification of $\pi$. Along the way, we develop a theory of \emph{enhanced differentials of the second kind}. This theory allows us to study algebraic de Rham cohomology in any characteristic by working directly with differentials, in contrast to the standard \v{C}ech resolution.

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arXiv2025

The Ekedahl-Oort and Newton stratification of the $\mathsf{GU}(3,2)$ Shimura variety

This paper concerns the characteristic-$p$ fibers of $\mathsf{GU}(3,2)$ Shimura varieties. Such Shimura varieties parametrize abelian varieties in characteristic $p$ of dimension $5$ with an action of signature $(3,2)$ by an order in an imaginary quadratic field in which $p$ is inert. We completely describe the interaction of two stratifications of these Shimura varieties: the Ekedahl-Oort stratification, based on the isomorphism class of the $p$-torsion subgroup scheme, and the Newton stratification, based on the isogeny class of the $p$-divisible group. We identify which Ekedahl-Oort and Newton strata intersect.

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arXiv2025

Intersections of the Ekedahl-Oort and Newton Strata of $\mathcal{A}_{5}$

The moduli space $\mathcal{A}_g$ of principally polarised abelian varieties of dimension $g$, defined over an algebraically closed field of characteristic $p >0$, is studied through various stratifications. The two most prominent ones are the Newton stratification, based on the isogeny class of the $p$-divisible group of an abelian variety, and the Ekedahl-Oort stratification, defined by the isomorphism class of its $p$-torsion group scheme. In general, it is not known how the strata of these two intersect. In this paper we completely determine which of these intersections are non-empty in dimension five. As a consequence, we give an explicit description of the induced Ekedahl-Oort stratification on the supersingular locus $\mathcal{S}_{5}$.

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arXiv2025

Traverso's Isogeny Conjecture for Some Unitary p-Divisible Groups

The isogeny cutoff of a $p$-divisible group $X$ (defined over an algebraically closed field of characteristic $p$) measures the amount of $p$-torsion necessary to determine its isogeny class. The minimal height of $X$ measures its distance to the closest minimal $p$-divisible group (in the sense of Oort). In this paper, we study these invariants for supersingular unitary $p$-divisible groups of signature $(a,b)$. We provide a complete description of the possible minimal heights. As an application, we establish bounds on the isogeny cutoffs for these $p$-divisible groups. Finally, we rephrase our results in the language of the $\mathrm{BT}_m$ stratifications of unitary Shimura varieties of signature $(a,b)$.

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arXiv2025

Heuristics for (ir)reducibility of $p$-rank strata of the moduli space of hyperelliptic curves

Let $\mathcal{H}_g$ denote the moduli space of smooth hyperelliptic curves of genus $g$ in characteristic $p\geq 3$, and let $\mathcal{H}_g^f$ denote the $p$-rank $f$ stratum of $\mathcal{H}_g$ for $0 \leq f \leq g$. Achter and Pries note in their 2011 work that determining the number of irreducible components of $\mathcal{H}_g^f$ would lead to several intriguing corollaries. In this paper, we present a computational approach for estimating the number of irreducible components in various $p$-rank strata. Our strategy involves sampling curves over finite fields and calculating their $p$-ranks. From the data gathered, we conjecture that the non-ordinary locus is geometrically irreducible for all genera $g> 1$. The data also leads us to conjecture that the moduli space $\mathcal{H}^{g-2}_g$ is irreducible and suggests that $\mathcal{H}^f_g$ is irreducible for all $1 \leq f \leq g$. We conclude with a brief discussion on $\mathcal{H}^0_g$.

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arXiv2025

The $p$-rank stratification of the moduli space of double covers of a fixed elliptic curve

In this paper we investigate the $p$-rank stratification of the moduli space of curves of genus $g$ that admit a double cover to a fixed elliptic curve $E$ in characteristic $p>2$. We show that the closed $p$-rank strata of this moduli space are equidimensional of the expected dimension. We also show the existence of a smooth double cover of $E$ of all the possible values of the $p$-rank on this moduli space.

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arXiv2024

Powers of the Cartier operator on Artin-Schreier covers

Curves in positive characteristic have a Cartier operator acting on their space of regular differentials. The $a$-number of a curve is defined to be the dimension of the kernel of the Cartier operator. In \cite{BoCaASc}, Booher and Cais used a sheaf-theoretic approach to give bounds on the $a$-numbers of Artin-Schreier covers. In this paper, that approach is generalized to arbitrary powers of the Cartier operator, yielding bounds for the dimension of the kernel. These bounds give new restrictions on the Ekedahl-Oort type of Artin-Schreier covers.

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arXiv2024

Ekedahl-Oort strata in the $\mathsf{GU}(q-2,2)$ Shimura variety

This paper concerns the characteristic-$p$ fibers of $\mathsf{GU}(q-2,2)$ Shimura varieties, which classify abelian varieties with additional structure. These Shimura varieties admit two stratifications of interest: the Ekedahl-Oort stratification, based on the isomorphism class of the $p$-torsion subgroup scheme, and the Newton stratification, based on the isogeny class of the $p$-divisible group. In this paper, we present several novel techniques that give a better understanding of the Ekedahl-Oort stratification and of the interaction between the two stratifications for a general signature $(q-2,2)$.

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arXiv2023

$a$-Numbers of Cyclic Degree $p^2$ Covers of the Projective Line

We investigate the $a$-numbers of $\mathbb{Z}/p^2\mathbb{Z}$-covers in characteristic $p>2$ and extend a technique originally introduced by Farnell and Pries for $\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}$-covers. As an application of our approach, we demonstrate that the $a$-numbers of ``minimal'' $\mathbb{Z}/9\mathbb{Z}$-covers can be deduced from the associated branching datum.

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arXiv2023

Doubly isogenous genus-2 curves with $D_4$-action

We study the extent to which curves over finite fields are characterized by their zeta functions and the zeta functions of certain of their covers. Suppose C and C' are curves over a finite field K, with K-rational base points P and P', and let D and D' be the pullbacks (via the Abel-Jacobi map) of the multiplication-by-2 maps on their Jacobians. We say that (C,P) and (C',P') are *doubly isogenous* if Jac(C) and Jac(C') are isogenous over K and Jac(D) and Jac(D') are isogenous over K. For curves of genus 2 whose automorphism groups contain the dihedral group of order eight, we show that the number of pairs of doubly isogenous curves is larger than naive heuristics predict, and we provide an explanation for this phenomenon.

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arXiv2023

A parametrized set of explicit elements of $\Sha(E/\Q)[3]$

In this paper, we give explicit equations for homogeneous spaces corresponding to a rational isogeny of degree $3$. An explicit set of elliptic curves with elements of order $3$ in their Tate-Shafarevich group is constructed. Combining this gives explicit examples of plane cubics over $\Q$ that have a point everywhere locally, but not globally.

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