Let $K$ be a number field. Let $S$ be a finite set of places of $K$ containing all the archimedean ones. Let $R_S$ be the ring of $S$-integers of $K$. In the present paper we consider endomorphisms of $\pro$ of degree 2, defined over $K$, with good reduction outside $S$. We prove that there exist only finitely many such endomorphisms, up to conjugation by ${\rm PGL}_2(R_S)$, admitting a periodic point in $\po$ of order $>3$. Also, all but finitely many classes with a periodic point in $\po$ of order 3 are parametrized by an irreducible curve.
We provide a complete classification of possible graphs of rational preperiodic points of quadratic rational functions defined over the rationals with a rational periodic critical point of period 3, under two assumptions: that these functions have no periodic points of period at least 5 and the conjectured enumeration of points on a certain genus 6 affine plane curve. We show that there are exactly six such possible graphs, and that rational functions satisfying the conditions above have at most eleven rational preperiodic points.
In this article, we prove that every quadratic rational map whose multipliers all lie in the ring of integers of a given imaginary quadratic field is a power map, a Chebyshev map or a Lattès map. In particular, this provides some evidence in support of a conjecture by Milnor concerning rational maps whose multipliers are all integers.
Given a number field $K$ and a finite set $S$ of places of $K$, the first main result of this paper shows that the quadratic rational maps $ϕ:{\mathbb P}^1\to{\mathbb P}^1$ defined over $K$ which have good reduction at all places outside $S$ comprise a Zariski-dense subset of the moduli space ${\mathcal M}_2$ parametrizing all isomorphism classes of quadratic rational maps. We then consider quadratic rational maps with double unramified fixed-point structure, and our second main result establishes a geometric Shafarevich-type non-Zariski-density result for the set of such maps with good reduct…
Fix a rational basepoint b and a rational number c. For the quadratic dynamical system f_c(x) = x^2+c, it has been shown that the number of rational points in the backward orbit of b is bounded independent of the choice of rational parameter c. In this short note we investigate the dependence of the bound on the basepoint b, assuming a strong form of the Mordell Conjecture.
The purpose of this note is give some evidence in support of conjectures of Poonen, and Morton and Silverman, on the periods of rational numbers under the iteration of quadratic polynomials. In particular, Poonen conjectured that there are at most 9 periodic points defined over the rational numbers for any map in the family x^2 + c for c rational. We verify this conjecture for c values up to height 10^8. For quadratic number fields, we provide evidence that the upper bound on the exact period of Q-rational periodic point is 6.
We classify the graphs that can occur as the graph of rational preperiodic points of a quadratic polynomial over $\bold Q$, assuming the conjecture that it is impossible to have rational points of period $4$ or higher. In particular, we show under this assumption that the number of preperiodic points is at most~$9$. Elliptic curves of small conductor and the genus~$2$ modular curves $X_1(13)$, $X_1(16)$, and $X_1(18)$ all arise as curves classifying quadratic polynomials with various combinations of preperiodic points. To complete the classification, we compute the rational points on a non-mod…
Let $S$ be the collection of quadratic polynomial maps, and degree $2$-rational maps whose automorphism groups are isomorphic to $C_2$ defined over the rational field. Assuming standard conjectures of Poonen and Manes on the period length of a periodic point under the action of a map in $S$, we give a complete description of triples $(f_1,f_2,p)$ such that $p$ is a rational periodic point for both $f_i\in S$, $i=1,2$. We also show that no more than three quadratic polynomial maps can possess a common periodic point over the rational field. In addition, under these hypotheses we show that two n…
For rational numbers $c$, we present a trichotomy of the set of totally real (totally $p$-adic, respectively) preperiodic points for maps in the quadratic unicritical family $f_c(x)=x^2+c$. As a consequence, we classify quadratic polynomials $f_c$ with rational parameters $c\in\mathbb{Q}$ so that $f_c$ has only finitely many totally real (totally $p$-adic, respectively) preperiodic points. These results rely on an adelic Fekete-type theorem and dynamics of the filled Julia set of $f_c$. Moreover, using a numerical criterion introduced in [NP], we make explicit calculations of the set of totall…
Bounding the number of preperiodic points of quadratic polynomials with rational coefficients is one case of the Uniform Boundedness Conjecture in arithmetic dynamics. Here, we provide a general framework that may reduce finding periodic points of such polynomials over Galois extensions of $\mathbb{Q}$ to finding periodic points over the rationals. Furthermore, we present evidence that there are no such polynomials (up to linear conjugation) with periodic points of exact period 5 in quadratic fields by searching for points on an algebraic curve that classifies quadratic periodic points of exac…
For a quadratic endomorphism of the affine line defined over the rationals, we consider the problem of bounding the number of rational points that eventually land at the origin after iteration. In the article ``Uniform Bounds on Pre-Images Under Quadratic Dynamical Systems,'' by two of the present authors and five others, it was shown that the number of rational iterated pre-images of the origin is bounded as one varies the morphism in a certain one-dimensional family. Subject to the validity of the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture and some other related conjectures for the L-series of a s…
Let $f \in Q(z)$ be a polynomial or rational function of degree 2. A special case of Morton and Silverman's Dynamical Uniform Boundedness Conjecture states that the number of rational preperiodic points of $f$ is bounded above by an absolute constant. A related conjecture of Silverman states that the canonical height $\hat{h}_f(x)$ of a non-preperiodic rational point $x$ is bounded below by a uniform multiple of the height of $f$ itself. We provide support for these conjectures by computing the set of preperiodic and small height rational points for a set of degree 2 maps far beyond the range …
Approximation in this paper is of vectors on the unit $d$-cube by the projection of integer lattice points onto the same cube. We define badly approximable vectors on a rational quadratic variety and show that sets of these vectors, which are (naturally) indexed by $m \in \QQ$, are winning and strong winning in the sense of Schmidt games. From the winning property, it follows that these sets have full Hausdorff dimension and, moreover, so does their intersection. In most cases, these sets are known to be null sets.
Using half-integral weight modular forms we give a criterion for the existence of real quadratic $p$-rational fields. For $p=5$ we prove the existence of infinitely many real quadratic $p$-rational fields.
We consider the polynomials $\displaystyle f(x)=x^d+c$, where $d\ge 2$ and $c\in\mathbb Q$. It is conjectured that if $d=2$, then $f$ has no rational periodic point of exact period $N\ge 4$. In this note, fixing some integer $d\ge 2$, we show that the density of such polynomials with a rational periodic point of any period among all polynomials $f(x)=x^d+c$, $c\in\Q$, is zero. Furthermore, we establish the connection between polynomials $f$ with periodic points and two arithmetic sequences. This yields necessary conditions that must be satisfied by $c$ and $d$ in order for the polynomial $f$ t…
This article addresses the existence of $\Q$-rational periodic points for morphisms of projective space. In particular, we construct an infinitely family of morphisms on $¶^N$ where each component is a degree 2 homogeneous form in $N+1$ variables which has a $\Q$-periodic point of primitive period $\frac{(N+1)(N+2)}{2} + \lfloor \frac{N-1}{2}\rfloor$. This result is then used to show that for $N$ large enough there exists morphisms of $¶^N$ with $\Q$-rational periodic points with primitive period larger that $c(k)N^k$ for any $k$ and some constant $c(k)$.
We refine a result of R. Benedetto in p-adic analysis in order to exhibit infinitely many quadratic polynomials with rational coefficients having a specified graph of rational preperiodic points.
We find all quadratic post-critically finite (PCF) rational maps defined over the rationals. We describe an algorithm to search for possibly PCF maps. Using the algorithm, we eliminate all but twelve rational maps, all of which are verifiably PCF. We also give a complete description of possible rational preperiodic structures for quadratic PCF maps defined over Q.
This article examines dynamical systems on a class of K3 surfaces in $\mathbb{P}^{2} \times \mathbb{P}^{2}$ with an infinite automorphism group. In particular, this article develops an algorithm to find $\mathbb{Q}$-rational periodic points using information modulo $p$ for various primes $p$. The algorithm is applied to exhibit K3 surfaces with $\mathbb{Q}$-rational periodic points of primitive period $1,...,16$. A portion of the algorithm is then used to determine the Riemann zeta function modulo 3 of a particular K3 surface and find a family of K3 surfaces with Picard number two.
We provide a complete classification of possible graphs of rational preperiodic points of endomorphisms of the projective line of degree 2 defined over the rationals with a rational periodic critical point of period 2, under the assumption that these maps have no periodic points of period at least 7. We explain how this extends results of Poonen on quadratic polynomials. We show that there are 13 possible graphs, and that such maps have at most 9 rational preperiodic points. We provide data related to the analogous classification of graphs of endomorphisms of degree 2 with a rational periodic …
Let $K$ be a complete, algebraically closed non-archimedean valued field, and let $φ(z) \in K(z)$ have degree two. We describe the crucial set of $φ$ in terms of the multipliers of $φ$ at the classical fixed points, and use this to show that the crucial set determines a stratification of the moduli space $\mathcal{M}_2(K)$ related to the reduction type of $φ$. We apply this to settle a special case of a conjecture of Hsia regarding the density of repelling periodic points in the non-archimedean Julia set.
The surface corresponding to the moduli space of quadratic endomorphisms of $\mathbb{P}^1$ with a marked periodic point of order $n$ is studied. It is shown that the surface is rational over $\mathbb{Q}$ when $n\le 5$ and is of general type for $n=6$. An explicit description of the $n=6$ surface lets us find several infinite families of quadratic endomorphisms $f: \mathbb{P}^1 \to \mathbb{P}^1$ defined over $\mathbb{Q}$ with a rational periodic point of order $6$. In one of these families, $f$ also has a rational fixed point, for a total of at least $7$ periodic and $7$ preperiodic points. Thi…
For each odd prime $p$, we prove the existence of infinitely many real quadratic fields which are $p$-rational. Explicit imaginary and real bi-quadratic $p$-rational fields are also given for each prime $p$. Using a recent method developed by Greenberg, we deduce the existence of Galois extensions of $\mathbf{Q}$ with Galois group isomorphic to an open subgroup of $GL_n(\mathbf{Z_p})$, for $n =4$ and $n =5$ and at least for all the primes $p <192.699.943$.
We compute the genus of a rational quadratic form in terms of the K-theory of a C*-algebra attached to the adelic orthogonal group of the form. As a corollary, one gets a higher composition law for the rational quadratic forms. As an illustration, we consider the Gauss composition of the binary quadratic forms.
Given a family of quadratic twists of a fixed elliptic curve defined over $\mathbb{Q}$, we investigate the average rank in the subfamily of twists having a nontorsion rational point of almost minimal height. We show in particular that the average analytic rank is greater than one.
Consider the celebrated Lyness recurrence $x_{n+2}=(a+x_{n+1})/x_{n}$ with $a\in\Q$. First we prove that there exist initial conditions and values of $a$ for which it generates periodic sequences of rational numbers with prime periods $1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10$ or $12$ and that these are the only periods that rational sequences $\{x_n\}_n$ can have. It is known that if we restrict our attention to positive rational values of $a$ and positive rational initial conditions the only possible periods are $1,5$ and $9$. Moreover 1-periodic and 5-periodic sequences are easily obtained. We prove that for inf…
The conjecture due to Bertrand and Rodriguez Villegas asserts that the 1-norm of the nonzero element in an exterior power of the units of a number field has a certain lower bound. We prove this conjecture for the exterior square case when the number field is a real multi-quadratic Galois extension of any degree of the rationals.
We study the ``imaginary" binary quadratic form equations ax^2+bxy+cy^2+g=0 over k[t] in rational function fields, showing that a condition with respect to the Artin reciprocity map, is the only obstruction to the local-global principle for integral solutions of the equation.
We investigate the number of curves having a rational point of almost minimal height in the family of quadratic twists of a given elliptic curve. This problem takes its origin in the work of Hooley, who asked this question in the setting of real quadratic fields. In particular, he showed an asymptotic estimate for the number of such fields with almost minimal fundamental unit. Our main result establishes the analogue asymptotic formula in the setting of quadratic twists of a fixed elliptic curve.
Let $ξ, ζ$ be quadratic real numbers in distinct quadratic fields. We establish the existence of effectively computable, positive real numbers $τ$ and $c$, such that, for every integer $q$ with $q > c$ we have $$ \max\{\|q ξ\|, \|q ζ\| \} > q^{-1 + τ}, $$ where $\| \cdot \|$ denotes the distance to the nearest integer.
In this paper, we remove certain hypothesis in the theorem of Bertolini-Darmon on the rationality of Stark-Heegner points over narrow genus class fields of real quadratic fields. Along the way, we establish that certain normalized special values of $L$-functions are squares of rational numbers, a result that is of independent interest, and can be regarded as instances of the rank zero case of the Birch and Swinnerton-dyer conjecture modulo squares.
In a recent paper of Blomer, Bourgain, Radziwiłł and Rudnick, the authors proved the existence of small gaps between eigenvalues of the Laplacian in a rectangular billiard with sides $π$ and $π/\sqrtα$, i.e. numbers of the form $αm^2+ n^2$, whenever $α$ is a quadratic irrationality of certain types. In this note, we extend their results to all positive quadratic irrationalities $α$.
We study real numbers $β$ with the curious property that the $β$-expansion of all sufficiently small positive rational numbers is purely periodic. It is known that such real numbers have to be Pisot numbers which are units of the number field they generate. We complete known results due to Akiyama to characterize algebraic numbers of degree 3 that enjoy this property. This extends results previously obtained in the case of degree 2 by Schmidt, Hama and Imahashi. Let $γ(β)$ denote the supremum of the real numbers $c$ in $(0,1)$ such that all positive rational numbers less than $c$ have a purely…
We prove that the arboreal Galois representation attached to a large class of quadratic polynomials defined over a field of rational functions in characteristic zero has finite index in the full automorphism group of the associated preimage tree. Moreover, we show that the index is bounded, in most cases, independently of the polynomial.
We study rational numbers with purely periodic Rényi $β$-expansions. For bases $β$ satisfying $β^2=aβ+b$ with $b$ dividing $a$, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for $γ(β)=1$, i.e., that all rational numbers $p/q\in[0,1)$ with $\gcd(q,b)=1$ have a purely periodic $β$-expansion. A simple algorithm for determining the value of $γ(β)$ for all quadratic Pisot numbers $β$ is described.
Let n be an odd number and F an imaginary quadratic field with odd discriminant. We show that there exists infinitely many cubic fields K such that the class number of K is divisible by n and the Galois closure of K contains F.
We formulate a conjecture about the distribution of the canonical height of the lowest non-torsion rational point on a quadratic twist of a given elliptic curve, as the twist varies. This conjecture seems to be very deep and we can only prove partial results in this direction.
In 2016, in the work related to Galois representations, Greenberg conjectured the existence of multi-quadratic $p$-rational number fields of degree $2^{t}$ for any odd prime number $p$ and any integer $t \geq 1$. Using the criteria provided by him to check $p$-rationality for abelian number fields, certain infinite families of quadratic, biquadratic and triquadratic $p$-rational fields have been shown to exist in recent years. In this article, for any integer $k \geq 1$, we build upon the existing work and prove the existence of infinitely many prime numbers $p$ for which the imaginary quadrat…
Given a pair of regular quadratic forms over $\mathbb{Q}$ which are in the same genus and a finite set of primes $P$, we show that there is an effective way to determine a rational equivalence between these two quadratic forms which are integral over every prime in $P$. This answers one of the principal questions posed by Conway and Sloane in their book {\em Sphere packings, lattices and groups}, Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften [Fundamental Principles of Mathematical Sciences], Vol 290, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1999; page 402.
We investigate the average number of solutions of certain quadratic congruences. As an application, we establish Manin's conjecture for a cubic surface whose singularity type is A_5+A_1.
This paper presents a new result concerning the distribution of 2-Selmer ranks in the quadratic twist family of an elliptic curve with a single point of order two that does not have a cyclic 4-isogeny defined over its two-division field. We prove that at least half of all the quadratic twists of such an elliptic curve have arbitrarily large 2-Selmer rank, showing that the distribution of 2-Selmer ranks in the quadratic twist family of such an elliptic curve differs from the distribution of 2-Selmer ranks in the quadratic twist family of an elliptic curve having either no rational two-torsion o…
Let $q$ be a prime power and $ϕ$ a rational function with coefficients in a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$. For $n \geq 1$, each element of $\mathbb{P}^1(\F_{q^n})$ is either periodic or strictly preperiodic under iteration of $ϕ$. Denote by $a_n$ the proportion of periodic elements. Little is known about how $a_n$ changes as $n$ grows, unless $ϕ$ is a power map or Chebyshev polynomial. We give the first results on this question for a wider class of rational functions: $a_n$ has lim inf $0$ when $q$ is odd and $ϕ$ is quadratic and neither Lattès nor conjugate to a one-parameter family of exceptio…
In this note, we give an elementary proof of the following classical fact. Any positive definite ternary quadratic form over the rational numbers fails to represent infinitely many positive integers. For any ternary quadratic form (positive definite or indefinite), our method constructs certain congruence classes whose elements, up to a square factor, are the only elements not represented over the rational numbers by that form. In the case of a positive definite ternary form, we show that these classes are non-empty. This shows that the minimum number of variables in a positive definite quadra…
We study rational periodic points of polynomial $f_{d,c}(x)=x^d+c$ over the field of rational numbers, where $d$ is an integer greater than 2. For period 2, we classify all possible periodic points for degrees $d=4,6$. We also demonstrate the nonexistence of rational periodic points of exact period 2 for $d=2k$ such that $3\mid 2k-1$ and $k$ has a prime factor greater than 3. Moreover, assuming the $abc$-conjecture, we prove that $f_{d,c}$ has no rational periodic point of exact period greater than 1 for sufficiently large integer $d$ and $c\neq -1$.
We consider elliptic surfaces whose coefficients are degree $2$ polynomials in a variable $T$. It was recently shown that for infinitely many rational values of $T$ the resulting elliptic curves have rank at least $1$. In this article, we prove that the Mordell-Weil rank of each such elliptic surface is at most $6$ over $\mathbb Q$. In fact, we show that the Mordell-Weil rank of these elliptic surfaces is controlled by the number of zeros of a certain polynomial over $\mathbb Q$.
We present a proof, which is conditional on the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture for a specific abelian variety, that there do not exist rational numbers x and c such that x has exact period N = 6 under the iteration x |-> x^2 + c. This extends earlier results by Morton for N = 4 and by Flynn, Poonen and Schaefer for N = 5.
We propose polynomial-time algorithms for finding nontrivial zeros of quadratic forms with four variables over rational function fields of characteristic 2. We apply these results to find prescribed quadratic subfields of quaternion division division algebras and zero divisors in $M_2(D)$, the full matrix algebra over a division algebra, given by structure constants. We also provide an implementation of our results in MAGMA which shows that the algorithms are truly practical.
In a series of papers we classify the possible torsion structures of rational elliptic curves base-extended to number fields of a fixed degree. In this paper we turn our attention to the question of how the torsion of an elliptic curve with complex multiplication defined over the rationals grows over quadratic fields. We go further and we give an explicit characterization of the quadratic fields where the torsion grows in terms of some invariants attached to the curve.
